NJPW Best of the Super Juniors Night Two Review

NJPW Best of the Super Juniors Night Two
May 22nd, 2016 | Kiramesse Numzazu in Numazu, Shizuoka, Japan

Night two of this year’s Best of the Super Juniors Tournament didn’t air live on NJPW World. Instead, just the tournament matches were uploaded later in the day. They are all shot in single camera format, similar to some of the G1 shows last year.

B Block: Ricochet [2] def. Tiger Mask IV [0] in 9:53
Ricochet is one half of the IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Tag Team Champions. They worked some back and forth early before Ricochet’s athleticism and quickness gave him the upper hand. The height he gets on his springboard stuff is absurd at times. Tiger Mask was smart, trying to ground the high flier. He went for a few submissions, including an armbar and then he countered the Benadryller into an ankle lock. Ricochet rolled through into a version of the Manjigatame to make Tiger submit. I thought this was fine but nothing special. I appreciated them going with a submission finish as it was unexpected. **½

B Block: Jushin Thunder Liger [2] def. ROH World Television Champion Bobby Fish [0] in 11:30
While I like the NJPW dub theme for reDRagon, I really liked that they’ve got their official theme so far in the tournament. There was some early trash talk, which made things fun. Fish worked the leg and was really good at playing the heel here. I didn’t expect it but he pulled out some underhanded tactics and mixed it in with the trash talk, making for a good heat segment. He came close to winning with a knee bar only for Liger to rally behind the crowd and reach the ropes. In a great turn of events, Liger blocked the Fishhook by holding the ropes and leaning down on Bobby, using them for leverage and getting the three count. Solid work from both guys. Extra points for heel Bobby, the hot crowd, their back and forth banter and Liger turning the heel tactics around on him. ***¼

B Block: Beretta [2] def. Volador Jr. [0] in 12:04
I’m pretty sure Beretta clearly said “I DON’T GIVE A SHIT ABOUT LUCHA LIBRE” just before the bell. Volador had the early upper hand until things spilled outside. Beretta did something that the damn single camera missed and it gave us a countout tease. As Volador began a comeback in the ring, he removed his tear away pants and nailed a dive outside. Back inside, Volador removed his mask. If this went any longer, he might have been naked by the finish. There was a cool spot where Volador leapt over a Beretta spear attempt on the apron and went right into an Asai moonsault. Beretta survived a super rana before putting Volador away with the Dudebuster. Another good match as they did well with being given the most amount of time on the card. I look forward to more from both guys as the tournament progresses. ***

B Block: Chase Owens [2] def. Will Ospreay [0] in 9:58
Easily the most shocking result of the first two nights but more on that later. It was clear from the start that Ospreay was fired up. He wowed the crowd early with his athleticism, including a really nice handspring moonsault to the outside. The lack of commentary allowed us to hear just how vocal Ospreay is during his matches. Ospreay tired his Chaos buddy Okada’s Rainmaker, complete with pose, but Owens was ready and blocked it before hitting a nice spinning backbreaker. Ospreay’s high flying style cost him as he springboarded right into a superkick, followed by a gutbuster and package piledriver, giving Owens the upset. Ospreay entered as a heavy favorite to win the entire thing and a loss to Owens, probably the blandest guy in the tournament, was unexpected. Either way, this was easily the best match I’ve ever seen from Owens and Ospreay is in a zone in 2016 where he seemingly can’t have bad matches. Unfortunately, he’s now 0-2 in singles matches in NJPW. ***¼

Overall: 6/10. Clearly this set of matches lacked the must see aspect that KUSHIDA/O’Reilly had on night one. However, this is a very solid set of matches. None of them are bad and they all mostly fly by. Fish/Liger and Ospreay/Owens were the best matches, while Beretta/Volador was pretty good. The fact that the tournament has had so many early upsets makes for interesting watches as you don’t know what to expect.

Fave Five 5/16/16-5/22/16

1) Kyle O'Reilly: Last year, Kyle O'Reilly lost in the finals of the Best of the Super Juniors Tournament to KUSHIDA in a match that ranked 15th in my Top 100 Matches of 2015 list. They met on the first day of this year's tournament and managed to put on an even better performance. Their chemistry is off the charts. For twenty minutes, they had a MOTY candidate, which included one of the best spots I've seen in years. Kyle was able to make KUSHIDA, the IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Champion, submit to his armbar before getting on the microphone and promising to win the entire tournament. He's a safe bet and my pick to win it as well. If he wins, it should lead to another match between these two, this time for the title.

2) The Miz: While KUSHIDA and O'Reilly had the best match this week, the IC Title match was a close second. The Miz, Cesaro, Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn went out and completely stole the show. Honestly, all four of them have strong cases for making the list, but I went with the winner, the Miz. True, he had to sneak in to steal the win, but that was perfect. I saw a lot of complaints about the result and I get that. However, Miz is the best heel they have (along with Owens) and elicits the actual heel response that the WWE wants. He's the best kind of chickenshit champion and I fully expect Cesaro to dethrone him soon to a massive pop. For now though, Miz continues to be awesome.

3) Rusev: TONG PO! There was no result on Extreme Rules that I was happier about than seeing Rusev regain the United States Title. I like Kalisto, but his run as champion was lackluster for the most part despite some good matches. Rusev has easily been one of the most entertaining acts in all of wrestling over the past few months. He was even the only tolerable part of the awful love rectangle angle with himself, Lana, Summer and Ziggler last year. Rusev deserves a chance to get somewhere with his personality and I hope they do it here. Of course, he could just be keeping it warm for a week until John Cena returns and wins it bac

k because Memorial Day and America and all of that stuff.

4) KUSHIDA: Considering how great the match between KUSHIDA and Kyle O'Reilly was, both had to make it. As noted, they put on a classic and both guys deserve all of the credit for their efforts. KUSHIDA came close on several occasions, but dropped a tough one to O'Reilly. KUSHIDA is still the reigning IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Champion though, and it's very possible that he wins out the rest of his block before coming close to or making the finals. Either way, he earned his spot here and will probably make it again over the next two weeks with consistently stellar performances.

5) Seth Rollins: Returned and took out WWE Champion Roman Reigns.

Extreme Rules 2016 Predictions

Ugh. Baron Corbin should have just beaten Dolph Ziggler at Extreme Rules. WWE's penchant for 50/50 booking is horrible and it has already reared its ugly head when it comes to Corbin. I'm surprised to see a stipulation match on the Kickoff Show. Anyway, if the WWE wanted to book this properly, Corbin would absolutely run though Ziggler. Knowing them, Ziggler wins this with another rollup. Still, I say this falls in the middle where Corbin wins a hard fought bout.

Winner: Baron Corbin

Man, I hate this feud. Both girls are solid in the ring (though Charlotte is horeshit at selling since the main roster call up), but why should I give a shit? Their characters are still just "my family wrestled". Not having Ric at ringside should allow for the match to be better than the Payback one and hopefully it doesn't have a screwy finish. Give Charlotte the win and move the title to Sasha Banks already dammit. This waiting is just stupid.

Winner: Charlotte

This is a tough one to call. One the one hand, Chris Jericho has been rumored to leave back to Fozzy for a while now and that would signal a loss for him here. On the other hand, Dean Ambrose never seems to win on Pay-Per-View. Considering he got a rare one at Payback, the numbers would point to him losing again. It's kind of a toss up. If Jericho sticks around, he wins here and I suspect Dean gets the rubber match. If Jericho leaves, Dean wins and picks up some momentum. I think the latter happens.

Winner: Dean Ambrose

At Payback, I picked Miz to retain against Cesaro with a rollup or something like that. I was right. Here it's tougher. Again, it would be tough to see the WWE pass up another chance to put the strap on Cesaro. He returned to great pops and has put on some really strong matches already. I feel that Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn are going to cancel each other out. They'll brawl and continue their rivalry, leaving the outcome to be between Cesaro and Miz again. With Money in the Bank coming up next, I could see Miz sneaking out another win and allowing Cesaro to enter that match as a possible winner. Hell, I'm gonna predict that.

Winner: The Miz

TONG PO! Rusev is the only example I can recall of a guy getting absolutely obliterated by John Cena, only to have his career be better within the year. Sure he's no longer the unstoppable monster heel, but he's been allowed to showcase a much different side. Rusev has allowed his personality to shine through and is consistently one of the most interesting people to watch on the roster. Kalisto is also a lot of fun, but his reign has been handled poorly. They haven't treated him like he's important. Instead, he wrestles and loses in tag matches or wins on Main Event and Superstars. It's time for a new champion. Let the era of the real Rusev begin.

Winner: Rusev

Even before the unfortunate injury to Enzo Amore, I had the Vaudevillains picked as the winners of the Tag Team Tournament. Save the Enzo and Cass/New Day feud for down the line, which should be golden. The Vaudevillains were getting next to no heat until the Enzo injury, so it happened to help them out. Still, I don't think they have enough traction to be champions quite yet. The New Day still rank among the most entertaining acts in all of wrestling and I could see them reaching the one year mark as champions.

Winner: The New Day

Oh fuck this. I was looking forward to the arrival of Karl Anderson and Luke Gallows in the WWE. Hell, even the AJ Styles angle was very interesting for a while. Now, it's just non-stop tag match after six man tag match after tag match. I've seen this far too many times for me to care. Yea the tornado rules will allow it to be worked differently but at this point, why should I give a shit? I'll go with the Good Brothers to take this one.

Winners: Karl Anderson and Luke Gallows

 Talk about potential that has kind of gone down the drain. This feud was all sorts of intriguing heading into Payback and the match itself mostly delivered outside of the shenanigans. Since then though, this feud has mostly disappointed with only a few moments to really interest me. I expect this will be another good match between two guys that know what they're doing. Unfortunately, with the new of the returns of John Cena, Randy Orton, Bray Wyatt and a few others, I could see AJ Styles being taken out of the main event spotlight. Regins retains and moves onto another small feud before we get Reigns/Cena or something at SummerSlam.

Winner: Roman Reigns

2016 Prediction Record: 18-14
2015 Prediction Record: 60-35

NJPW Best of the Super Juniors Night One Review

NJPW Best of the Super Juniors Night One
May 21st, 2016 | Korakuen Hall in Tokyo, Japan

Today, the annual Best of the Super Juniors Tournament kicked off. The first night is all A Block matches. There are a lot of shows in a short span of time, so I’m not trying to get too burnt out. In an effort to avoid that, I’ll only be reviewing the actual tournament matches. I’ll be using a similar format for the G1 Climax later this year.



A Block: Rocky Romero [2] def. David Finlay [0] in 11:52
Rocky Romero wore another mask of Tiger Mask to the ring. I wonder if there is any plan for this going forward. Finlay was out to prove that he’ snot going 0-7 like last year, as he dropkicked Romero before the bell and this started with some brawling outside. That was great since it is a change of pace from a lot of this tournament. Romero had his shoulder taped, so Finlay was smart and made that the target of his offense. Romero’s comeback saw him pay tribute to former Chaos member Shinsuke Nakamura, which got a nice pop. Everyone bought into the upset when Finlay applied the stretch muffler and prevented Rocky from reaching the ropes. Rocky still fought to the ropes and they managed a strong finish. Romero hit a running knee, though it didn’t connect too well, for the win. Exceeded my expectations and was far better than anything we would have gotten with Matt Jackson. ***½

A Block: Gedo [2] def. BUSHI [0] in 11:34
You could tell how over Los Ingobernables are judging by the amount of BUSHI masks in the crowd. It was way more than I expected. It showed that the group hasn’t only been good for Naito. This also continued the rivalry between Chaos and LIDJ. Gedo’s trash talk throughout was on point. This was a good back and forth match and it was cool to see two heels try to out cheat each other. Gedo used the ring bell hammer and both guys pulled out low blows. Gedo survived a codebreaker before blocking a second. It sent BUSHI into the referee, opening the door for a low blow. He hit his own variation of the Rainmaker and a roll up, giving us our first surprise result so far. I found this to be a fun match where two guys played to their strengths and it worked. ***¼

A Block: Ryusuke Taguchi [2] def. Matt Sydal [0] in 10:48
Taguchi came out with a giant Big Bird balloon on his head. I shit you not. They shook hands before the bell. This was only Sydal’s second singles match in NJPW, while Taguchi is a veteran of the division and tournament. It was nice to see Sydal work a body part, as he focused on the leg. He busted out a few submissions to do so before Taguchi turned the tide with a dragon screw and ankle lock. Taguchi got busted open on the dragon screw as Sydal’s elbow hit him in the eye. The problem is that neither guy seemed to really care about selling the leg work. Taguchi only did after getting his knees up on the Shooting Sydal Press. Sydal countered him for a rollup, but still fell to Dodon. A bit of a surprising result. This would have been better if they just sold the leg more. It seemed like they worked it for the sake of working a body part. Still pretty good though. **¾

A Block: Kyle O’ Reilly [2] def. KUSHIDA [0] in 20:08
The rematch of last year’s finals! No dubbed over version of O’Reilly’s theme as he got the official “Dance Away”. They came face to face during KUSHIDA’s entrance, giving this even more of a big fight feel. These two jockeyed for position early, with neither one gaining a clear advantage. It showed how evenly matched they are. Since he normally works the arm for his finish, it was surprising to see O’Reilly go after the leg. He used an ankle lock on it but still went to the armbar to combat KUSHIDA’s. It felt like Kyle was desperate to win, even resorting to a knee breaker onto an open steel chair. I love that feeling in a match. In an insane moment, Kyle went for an apron dropkick with KUSHIDA seated in the chair outside. KUSHIDA jumped from the chair and caught him in midair into an armbar, crushing the chair in the process! It was one of the coolest and most innovative spots I’ve ever seen. They got inside and exchanged kicks, but wisely, KUSHIDA kicked the arm and Kyle kicked the leg. They had a fantastic back and forth finishing stretch, doing the important little things like O’Reilly having an armbar in and trying to also latch onto KUSHIDA’s legs. Finally, an armbar became too much and KUSHIDA tapped out. I thought this was better than their finals match last year, since the shorter time frame worked for them and the Korakuen crowd was awesome. This a must see MOTY candidate. Maybe I’m rating it extra high because I literally just watched two of my favorites go out and be incredible, but whatever. ****¾

After the match, KUSHIDA didn’t shake Kyle O’Reilly’s hand. He got on the microphone and said that even though he didn’t do that, KUSHIDA is still the best opponent he’s ever stepped into the ring against. He said some things in Japanese and promised to win the tournament.

Overall: 8/10. A really strong start to the tournament. Last year wasn’t the best of showings but we’re off to a great start. Romero/Finlay was better than I expected it to be, while BUSHI/Gedo proved to be a fun battle between two heels. Sydal/Taguchi was alright but the obvious reason this show worked was KUSHIDA/O’Reilly. They are two of the best on the planet, regardless of weight class and proved it here. The hot Korakuen crowd added to a spectacular main event that is must see and among the five best matches I’ve seen so far this year.

NJPW Best of the Super Juniors Preview: B Block

Beginning this Saturday, May 21st, New Japan Pro Wrestling will begin their annual Best of the Super Juniors Tournament, which started way back in 1988. Two blocks of eight wrestlers compete in a series of singles matches. The top two competitors from each block advance to the Semi-Finals and face off, before the winners of those matches meet in the finals. Or, maybe they won't even do the Semi-Finals anymore after last year. The winner of the entire thing earns himself a shot at the IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Championship. This year's tournament runs from 5/21 until 6/7.

Beretta

The other half of Roppongi Vice, and another Chaos member, the former Trent Baretta gets a shot at some singles work. He's most known for the tandem with Rocky Romero and is entering his second BOSJ. Last year, he managed eight points and, like Romero, I suspect he finishes around the middle of the pack. That's actually where I have most of the tag guys and where I would have put the Young Bucks had they been able to compete. I've always liked Beretta and it should be fun to see him work singles matches, especially against some of the top guys in the block.

Prediction: 6 points

Bobby Fish

Bobby Fish is probably happy to know that he's not the oldest guy in his block (thanks Liger). It'll be interesting to see how he gets handled in this tournament. Earlier this month, he cleanly defeated Tomohiro Ishii, a NJPW heavyweight, to become the ROH Television Champion. Juniors don't beat heavyweights often. NJPW could either ignore it or use it to book Fish a bit stronger. Either way, I don't see him coming out of the block, but I'd predict that he lands in third place, finishing with the same amount of points that he had last year.

Prediction: 10 points

Chase Owens

It's as if New Japan went out of their way to try and find the most boring possible replacement for Nick Jackson. Chase Owens is the bottom of the barrel when it comes to Bullet Club members. We're talking lower than Yujiro Takahashi and probably Cody Hall. He participated last year, earning eight points, but I don't him reaching that total here. He is in a tough block and, as a replacement, it's clear there weren't many plans for him. Hopefully, he can actually impress this time around but if he's anything like he's been in recent memory, it's not likely.

Prediction: 4 points

Jushin Thunder Liger

You all know Jushin Thunder Liger. He's the ultimate veteran of the junior heavyweight division and has been seen in ROH, WCW and even NXT last year. Liger will be competing in his twenty-fifth BOSJ and is a three time winner ('92, '94 and '01). Even though he got some recent shine in a Jr. Heavyweight Title match against KUSHDIA at Wrestling Dontaku, don't expect a big showing from Liger this time around. He'll have good matches, be super over and nab a few wins, but he most likely won't threaten to win. Like a lot of veterans, he knows that his job is to help put over the other guys in the field.

Prediction: 6 points

Ricochet

For a guy that isn't consistently around, Ricochet has had a lot of success in the division. He is one of the current (and two time) IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Tag Team Champions, has had shots at the Jr. Heavyweight Title itself and even won the BOSJ back in 2014. He took part in 2013 and also did pretty well then. Ricochet is one of my picks to finish in the top two of B Block. He's always booked strong and look for him to have some of the top matches in the block. Make sure to especially watch out for his bout against Will Ospreay, as their match in Evolve earlier in the year was great.

Prediction: 12 points

Tiger Mask IV

Like Jushin Thunder Liger, Tiger Mask has found past success in the tournament, winning it in 2004 and 2005. This time around, he also finds himself in a position like Liger. He's there to be a veteran, have some decent matches and put guys over. Last year, two of his eight points came at the expense of a forfeit and another came due to a young lion that lost every single match. Don't expect Tiger Mask to pick up many points.

Prediction: 4 points

Volador Jr.

Since I am unable to follow CMLL on a regular basis, I haven't seen much of Volador Jr. He has gotten some relatively rave reviews from some fans and I'm looking forward to seeing him. I've heard a lot of people are especially stoked for his match with Ospreay. Anyway, CMLL tends to have a representative in this tournament often and they usually finish around the middle of the pack. I think we get more of the same here, but he'll end up on the higher end of the middle. It's his first BOSJ and I think he'll make a bit of an impact.

Prediction: 8 points

Will Ospreay

It's quite scary to think about how good Will Ospreay is at the ripe age of 22. He's been one of the best wrestlers so far in 2016, with multiple excellent matches. I've seen him tear it up against Ricochet, Marty Scurll, Zack Sabre Jr. and KUSHIDA in his NJPW debut, just to name a few. He's a heavy favorite in this and I damn near picked him to win out his block completely. I decided against that, but still see him winning the block. He's pretty much a lock to finish in the top two here and I have him in the finals. Ospreay should have great matches and a lot of victories.

Prediction: 12 poins

Semi-Final Predictions (if they happen: Will Ospreay over BUSHI, Kyle O'Reilly over Ricochet

Finals Prediction: Kyle O'Reilly over Will Ospreay

NJPW Best of the Super Juniors Preview: A Block

Beginning this Saturday, May 21st, New Japan Pro Wrestling will begin their annual Best of the Super Juniors Tournament, which started way back in 1988. Two blocks of eight wrestlers compete in a series of singles matches. The top two competitors from each block advance to the Semi-Finals and face off, before the winners of those matches meet in the finals. The winner of the entire thing earns himself a shot at the IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Championship. This year's tournament runs from 5/21 until 6/7.

BUSHI

BUSHI has quickly become my second favorite Japense junior heavyweight, behind only KUSHIDA. His recent role with Los Ingobernables de Japon has led to him being involved in some very high profile matches, with the highlight being a great Jr. Heavyweight Title match against KUSHIDA back at the New Beginning in Osaka. This will be his fourth BOSJ as he missed last year's with an injury. He ranked towards the bottom in previous years, but I'm picking him to make a marked improvement. Like his profile itself, BUSHI will make a leap in points and I believe he'll be one of the two semi-finalists to come out of this block.

Prediction: 10 points

David Finlay

A late addition to the tournament is the young lion, David Finlay. He replaces Matt Jackson since both Young Bucks are out with injuries. I don't think this injury will change that much. The Young Bucks don't usually rack up many singles wins and Finlay himself won't get many, if any. The young lions always lose and Finlay is the young lion that always loses to other young lions. That doesn't equal a recipe for success. It will be his second BOSJ run and he went 0-7 last year. Unfortunately, I sense more of the same this time around.

Prediction: 0 points

Gedo

NJPW's resident booker man and CHAOS member, Gedo, enters his tenth BOSJ. While he has been a runner up in the past, his more recent years have seen him as more of a jobber. He's never really a threat to any titles, which is fine at this point of his career. However, he can still be entertaining at times, especially when he yells obscenities at his opponents, making for some fun TV. I can see him putting on some solid matches, especially against the top guys of the block, but not really amass many wins. Expect him at the bottom of teh standings.

Prediction: 4 points

KUSHIDA

The crown jewel of the New Japan juniors division. I've made note of my disappointment in most of the division, but none of that applies to KUSHIDA. On my "Top 100 Matches of 2015" list, KUSHIDA appeared in every Jr. Heavyweight match. He is undoubtedly the best they've had for a while. He enters his sixth BOSJ and does so as not only the defending tournament winner, but also as the IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Champion. Despite these accolades, I don't see him in the final four. I have him tied for second place, but losing the tiebreaker with BUSHI and not making it. He'll watch on the sidelines as some new challengers rise.

Prediction: 10 points

Kyle O'Reilly

Last year, Kyle O'Reilly made his BOSJ debut. He promptly impressed, reeling off a hot streak and making it to the finals. While he lost to KUSHIDA, it was a fantastic match that I rated at ****1/2. It was a solo coming out party for one half of reDRagon and solidified him as a threat to the title. While he spent the rest of 2015 competing for the Jr. Heavyweight Tag straps, I'd like to see him focus on the singles belt this year. He, along with KUSHIDA, Will Ospreay, BUSHI and a few others, could lead a resurgence for the division. I'm picking Kyle to finish first in the standings and then to go on and win the entire block. Picking a winner of the whole thing is tough, but if he beats KUSHIDA on day one (which I'm predicting), he could win it all and give us the rubber match (not counting their RPW outing) at Dominion.

Prediction: 12 points

Matt Sydal

Matt Sydal enters his first BOSJ as one half of the IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Tag Team Champions. Unfortunately, the atrocious booking of that division renders that relatively meaningless. He's really only worked tag matches since coming to NJPW, losing in his only singles performance against Kenny Omega last year. Despite that, he's been booked rather strongly in tag matches and I get the sense that he does rather well in the tournament. I could see him just finishing above .500. He might have done better if he didn't share a block with O'Reilly and KUSHIDA.

Prediction: 8 points

Rocky Romero

Another member of Chaos appears here. Rocky Romero, one half of Roppongi Vice, steps into his seventh BOSJ. He had two appearances in the mid-2000s before making each one since 2012. He has a career record of 22-23-1 in the tournament and mostly finishes around the middle of the standings. I suspect more of the same. He's pretty much a fixture in the tag ranks and hasn't been a threat to the singles title. I don't expect that to change after all these years. Get ready for some fun matches, but not many wins from Rocky.

Prediction: 6 points

Ryusuke Taguchi

I do not like Ryusuke Taguchi. He is only ahead of the Young Bucks and Yujiro Takahashi when it comes to acts in wrestling that I dislike. Last year, he nearly made the finals and now enters his eleventh tournament. More impressively, it's his tenth in a row! Taguchi should fill a similar role to Gedo this year. He'll work some undercards and do his usual stuff, but not pick up many wins. That's fine as he's past the point of his career where he should be a viable contender. He fills his role as a comedy act and that's fine for him.

Prediction: 4 points

Lucha Underground 5/18/16 Review

This week's episode begins with a recap of everyone winning their Gift of the God's Aztec Medallions.

Cage enters Dario Cueto's office and is pissed about Chavo Guerrero stealing his medallion. Dario says that if Chavo puts the medallion in place, he will be in the match and not Cage. Cage joins him in the ring to stop Chavo from doing so. Dario brings out everyone with a medallion. His response of "spooky" at the sight of Siniestro de la Muertes is priceless. They all put the medallion in the title and leave. Chavo is last with the medallion and a steel chair. Cage dares him to enter the ring and when he does, Cage beats his ass. He takes the medallion and pulls it out of the bag, but IT'S A FAKE! Chavo nails him with a chair and puts the real medallion in place. he eats a nasty discus clothesline for his troubles.

Daga def. Argenis, Kobra Moon and Mascarita Sagrada w/ Famous and Brenda in 4:57
Famous B stops Melissa Santos' introductions, puts his arm around her and says that "he's got this" before introducing his client, Mascarita Sagrada. It's awesome that Sagrada is now from "Little Hollywood". Sagrada started hot, which was great because Famous B got to get in some fun comments on the outside. Most of the action is fast paced, but featured a few sloppy moments. Daga was the star, though Famous B was excellent at ringside. I love that he's mic'ed up. Kobra Moon hit Sagrada with Emerald Fusion and backed off so Daga could win. She clearly had the hots for Daga and that angle means I get more Daga, which is welcome. **3/4

Returning from break, we see Killshot getting ready in the back. Marty Martinez is a creep and comes up to him before saluting and saying that he's reporting for duty. Marty makes some more soldier references and points his fingers at Killshot's head like a gun. Killshot kicks his ass and takes him down. He rubs the bullseye on his mask and points at Marty with a "bang". Marty lays on the ground laughing because he's weird as fuck.

Killshot def. Marty Martinez in 7:08
Marty again creeped on Melissa during the introductions. He also took off his shirt and did a dance towards her. He nails his character. Despite that, the story of the match was Killshot. He's easily one of the more underrated guys in Lucha Underground. He nailed a Death Valley Driver on the apron, which along with a sweet fosbury flop, where the highlights of this. Marty got two on a Curb Stomp that would anger Seth Rollins. Killshot won with the storm cradle driver but Marty attacked after the bell and beat him up outside. He stole Killshot's dog tags and hit a second Curb Stomp. Good start to the feud as the match really picked up near the end. ***

Gift of the Gods Championship Match: Chavo Guerrero def. Aerostar, Joey Ryan, the Mack, Sexy Star, Siniestro de la Muerte and Texano in 8:31
The original Gift of the Gods Title match at Ultima Lucha last season was really good. Early on, we got fun moments from Joey Ryan as he tried to make out with Sexy Star just moments after shoving her to the mat. Sexy and the Mack continued their friendship with stereo flying headscissors before going at it themselves. Then everybody just goes at it while Sexy Star sells a leg injury outside. She then knocked Joey off the top before diving out onto everyone else. I believe Texano's new gimmick is just him yelling obscenities in Spanish. Chavo got a lot of "chickenshit" chants throughout. He found himself surrounded by everyone, who all got their shots in. I'm talking a Codebreaker from Sexy, Stunner from Mack, Texnano bomb and two springboard dives from Siniestro and Aerostar. Cage then showed up to get some, but instead went after the other six competitors. He took them all out, saving Joey for last with a screwdriver. He put Chavo on Joey and the three was counted. The match was solid but not on the level of last year's. ***

After the match, Cage handed Chavo the belt. Chavo scurried away as Cage got a microphone. He says that Dario Cueto agreed to defend the belt if he won it, which Chavo denies. Next week, Chavo defends against Cage.

Overall: 7/10. All in all, a pretty good episode. Even on weeks where there are no real standout matches, like this one, the show flows smoothly and they manage to advance the storylines and angles well. The matches were all fun and entertaining, making for an enjoyable hour.

If you do want to check out Lucha Underground, which you absolutely should, and don't get El Rey Network (like me), you can sign up for the streaming service Fubo.TV. It's a great way to support the company and channel while streaming the show online. You can sign up and get Lucha Underground right here with Fubo.tv!

Raw History: Episodes #37-39

Raw History
Episode #37
October 25th, 1993 | Mid-Hudson Civic Center in Poughkeepsie, New York

Due to the close of last week’s episode, Randy Savage is not on commentary. We see a recap of Crush and Yokozuna’s attack.

Crush w/ Mr. Fuji vs. Phil Apollo
Crush is in his new goofy purple and black gear along with the stupid face paint. To be fair, it’s still a better look than his face gear from earlier in the year. Crush dominates in his typical boring fashion and wins with the coconut crush, which I assume has a new name.

Winner: Crush in 2:48
Crush pretty much is incapable of having an interesting math. This was a dull squash with the only good thing being Bobby Heenan making fun of Randy Savage on commentary. ¼*

Johnny Polo calls Marty Jannetty and the 1-2-3 Kid losers, saying he could beat both with his hands tied behind his back.

1-2-3 Kid vs. Marty Jannetty
This should be pretty good if Marty Jannetty is on form. They start with some good old fashioned WRESTLING! They work some quick stuff, ending with stereo nip ups. STANDOFF! As they continue to work at a fun, fast pace, Johnny Polo shows up at ringside. He trips up Jannetty, giving Kid a near fall. Kid then misses a somersault from the top, giving Jannetty a near fall. Polo now trips up Kid. Jannetty gets mad, but still goes for a pin which made me chuckle. Jannetty nails a snap suplex but his next move is countered into a German suplex. Kid’s offense was far different from most of what the roster was doing at the time. We get a ref bump before Kid kicks the hell out of Marty. He goes for a dive outside but Polo shoves Jannetty into the ring post and Kid hits the mat hard. This leads to a double countout.

Double countout in 10:40
I actually enjoyed this match. It was a bit disappointing considering the two guys in the ring but overall, it was fun. They had a good series of counters though I could have done without the Polo side stuff. ***

After the match, both guys get Johnny Polo and beat him up. No help from the Quebecers for him.

Time for another Jeff Jarrett vignette, where he puts down country singers and says that he’s the best. He calls out the Steiners, Mr. Perfect and the Undertaker. That’s like, four of the five guys I wouldn’t call out on the current roster.

Ludvig Borga vs. Mike Bucci
Ludvig Borga attacks before the start and dominates. He slams Bucci down and drops an elbow, while jawing with the fans in between. He does hit a decent looking shoulder block before using the torture rack to win.

Winner: Ludvig Borga in 3:45
While he dominated, it wasn’t what I want to see from a badass heel in a squash. There was too much downtime and talking with the fans. He should have just abused this guy. ½*

Ludvig Borga gets interviewed by Bobby Heenan about being undefeated. Borga challenges Tatanka and promises to end his streak.

Men on a Mission w/ Oscar vs. Steve Greenman and Tom Mata 
Surprisingly, Men on a Mission is over as hell. Mo starts with Greenman, who looks like Danny McBride. Mo hits an ugly second rope clothesline while commentary tells us that they have a Tag Team Title shot this weekend. Tag comes to Mabel who plods through his offense. The fans chant “hey ho” and “womp there it is”. Outside of that, everything going on is bland. Mabel squashes Mata to end the pain.

Winners: Men on a Mission in 5:32
This sucked hard. Men on a Mission were both so bad and this somehow lasted half as long as Jannetty vs. Kid. Awful. DUD.

We get the Survivor Series Report, telling us of the double main event that was announced last week. They add Bigelow, the Headshrinkers and Bastion Booger take on four Doinks. Riveting. The other new match does sound good though as Razor Ramon teams with the 1-2-3 Kid, Marty Jannetty and Mr. Perfect to take on IRS, Diesel, Rick Martel and Adam Bomb.

Diesel vs. Dan Dubiel
The Diesel push is beginning. With Shawn Michaels gone, he’s getting some in ring time to shine. He seems to forget what move he’s trying and just awkwardly tosses Dubiel. Much like the Ludvig Borga squash, this has some stalling as Diesel can win within a minute but stretches this out. After a while he nails the big boot and Jackknife for the 1-2-3.

Winner: Diesel in 4:02
Another squash match that was uninteresting due to them dragging it out. Blah. ¼*

The battle of undefeated streaks between Tatanka and Ludvig Borga will take place on Superstars. Normally, I’d be upset that I’ll miss a match between two undefeated guys, but it’s Tatanka and Borga, so I’m not fussed.

Overall: 3/10. There is a good match on this show between the 1-2-3 Kid and Marty Jannetty. The problem is that everything else around it sucks something fierce. When the four other matches can’t combine to equal one star, you know there’s a problem.

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Raw History
Episode #38
November 1st, 1993 | Mid-Hudson Civic Center in Poughkeepsie, New York

The show opens to the awful sight of Bastion Booger eating a ton of raw food as Bobby Heenan tries to interview him. Get it? Raw food? Because this show is called Raw?

Non-Title Match
Bastion Booger vs. Razor Ramon
The theme music of Bastion Booger is nothing but fart sounds. Vince McMahon and his love of gross out comedy has never been more evident. He splashes Razor and then does the Friar Ferguson dance. Razor gets pissed that he would remind us of that gimmick and sends him outside. They fight out there for a bit as the crowd tries to rally Razor. Booger applies the bearhug because he’s already blown up. He actually gets a near fall on another splash. Since he has no other offense, Booger goes back to a bearhug. Even Vince calls the match lethargic. Razor finally is able to slam him and calls for the finish. He can’t hit it because Bastion is too fat. When he sits on Razor, the Champion flips it over and scores the win on the rollup.

Winner: Razor Ramon in 7:10
Far too long for a Bastion Booger match. Razor Ramon did the best he could, but there’s nothing positive you can do with Bastion. Not good. ¼*

The Survivor Series Report now airs, led to Todd Pettengil and while I never liked him, he is better than the random guy we had last time. We see a clip from Superstars and the epic clash between Tatanka and Ludvig Borga. With a distraction from Mr. Fuji and the help of a steel chair, Borga ended the undefeated streak of Tatanka. Yokozuna and the Foreign Fanatics attacked and even beat up Lex Luger when he tried to make the save.

Vince McMahon is now in the ring to conduct an interview with the Foreign Fanatics. Jim Cornette handles the talking for his team, which is best considering the cast of characters on this team. They announce that Ludvig Borga will face Scott Steiner next week. They run down Scott before Cornette puts over everyone on the team. Honestly, he’s the only good thing about this entire segment.

Mr. Perfect vs. The Executioner
Man, the WWF really ran the Executioner character for years huh? Mr. Perfect went from hot face at the start of the year to midcard face with no direction. Executioner actually gets in a solid looking hip toss, but he misses a corner splash and Perfect kicks him in the guy, field goal style. He goes into some of his trademark offense for a bit. Vince say something about “has the foot” and it sounds like “how the fuck?” The Perfectplex connects to end this.

Winner: Mr. Perfect in 4:52
Not the best Mr. Perfect squash as it lasted a bit too long, but it was still kind of fun to see him twist the Executioner around like a pretzel at times. *

We get another Jeff Jarrett vignette, where he runs down Billy Ray Cyrus, Razor Ramon, 1-2-3 Kid and Men on a Mission. He promises to send Men on a Mission back to homelessness. Ouch. That’s “J-E’DOUBLE F J-A-DOUBLE R-E-DOUBLE T”.

The Smoking Guns vs. Well Dunn w/ Harvey Wippleman
Well Dunn’s attire looks like they’re wearing g strings. This is interesting since it shouldn’t be an actual squash match considering Well Dunn is a rather legit team. Billy and Bart trade getting in offense and hit a suplex/cross body double team that Timothy Well breaks up. Thanks to some interference from Harvey, Well Dunn is able to work a heat on Bart. When Vince gets mad at them trying a move from the top, Heenan responds with “when the Steiners take a man to the top and throw him into the balcony” nobody says anything. Classic. He also tries to make a joke about “well done” being on “raw”, but it goes WAY over Vince’s head. Billy gets the mild tag and takes out both guys. Harvey ends up causing the DQ to save his boys.

Winners via disqualification: The Smoking Guns in 7:55
Technically, this was fine. They did standard tag formula and worked it well. The heels had the cheap heat from the manager and the crowd was behind the Guns. **

Macho Man calls in as Bobby Heenan makes fun of the fact that he bit his tongue. Macho Man returns to commentary next week.

Adam Bomb w/ Harvey Wippleman vs. Virgil
When the hell does Virgil’s contract finally run out? Vince McMahon always tried to hype Virgil as a threat but he isn’t. He does cause Adam Bomb to regroup for a bit outside. His flurry doesn’t last long as Adam is back on offense. He starts to throw Virgil around, dominating. Virgil tries to rally with a cross body but Adam kind of just avoids it and he crashes. A powerbomb follows to seal the deal.

Winner: Adam Bomb in 5:24
I don’t mind this going five minutes as it wasn’t a total squash and Virgil got in some offense. Still, it’s Virgil and it isn’t very good. *

Overall: 4/10. While the last episode had a higher ceiling, this one was overall slightly more enjoyable. The Booger/Razor match was bad, but everything else was at least watchable and they did a decent job of building towards Survivor Series.

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Raw History
Episode #39
November 8th, 1993 | Fernwood Resort in Bushkill, Pennsylvania

This is the first ever Raw in the state of Pennsylvania. There is a hype video to open things for the Scott Steiner/Ludvig Borga match. It features the side profile short promos and Vince McMahon’s voiceover work. 

Ludvig Borga vs. Scott Steiner
In typical Ludvig Borga fashion, he attacks before the bell. He hits a second rope flying clothesline but doesn’t cover, since his goal is to eliminate Scott before Survivor Series. Scott comes back with an impressive show of strength and has the crowd roaring. The fans are eating this up as once Borga works a chinlock, they go right into “USA” chants. Scott just belly to belly suplexes Ludvig because he was a beast. He mostly whiffs on a dropkick, marking the first thing he’s done that doesn’t look good. The Quebecers show up leading into the commercial. Rick comes out to make sure nothing happens while his brother continues to beat Ludvig down. Scott gets multiple near falls while busting Ludvig’s nose open. Ludvig brings Rick in the ring, leading to a giant brawl that ends things.

Winner via disqualification: Ludvig Borga in 10:31
I guess Ludvig Borga wins because, even though he brought in Rick, he ended up eating a suplex. The match itself was solid until the finish, mainly because Scott was being all kinds of awesome. **¼

Another Jeff Jarrett vignette airs.

Men on a Mission w/ Oscar vs. Steve Smith and Cory Student
Mabel starts and dumbass Steve Smith tries to attack. The dude is 500 pounds and you’re a jobber. This won’t end well. Oh my goodness, Men on a Mission do a double dropkick. Mo goes through his atrocious offense before Mabel plants Cory with a DDT. Mo then pushes Mabel onto Cory for the win. That’s it.

Winners: Men on a Mission in 3:35
At least this was shorter than their previous terrible squash. It still sucked though. ¼*

Cut to Todd Pettengil for the Survivor Series Report! Tatanka is kayfabe injured and needs to be replaced. That replacement will be announced on Superstars. Bret Hart cuts a promo on how Jerry Lawler and his Knights will go down. We also see clips of the Headshrinkers getting ready for a match on Superstars when multiple Doinks appeared on the screen. They announce one of the weirdest matches in WWF history, as the Smoky Mountain Tag Team Titles will be on the line when the Rock n Roll Express take on the Heavenly Bodies.

Rick Martel vs. John Paul
This is just being lazy with the jobber names. Rick Martel takes this lightly and for good reason as he pretty much dominates. He wins with the Boston Crab.

Winner: Rick Martel in 2:52
Standard squash. It was kept short and Rick Martel did it right. *

Knowing that Crush is coming out, Macho Man goes nuts and has to be held back by Vince McMahon. Savage shoves McMahon to the ground and attacks Crush. A bunch of officials have to run out to make the save but they continue to brawl until a commercial.

Barry Horowitz vs. Bob Backlund
Both of these guys would actually be headed towards pushes over the next two years. While they work some ground based stuff, macho Man comes back to a massive pop. He threatens Heenan but doesn’t beat him up. Clearly the match doesn’t matter as we see Crush burst out of his locker room and Macho Man runs to the back to attack him. They don’t even bother to show us a finish to the match.

They hype next week’s episode as this one ends.

Overall: 2.5/10. Even though the opener wasn’t anything special, it was a solid start with some fun Scott Steiner work. After that, show fell off a cliff. Men on a Mission suck, the Martel squash was there and the last match didn’t even have a finish.