Evolve 80
March 30th, 2017 | Orlando Downtown Recreation Complex in Orlando, Florida
WrestleMania weekend officially kicks off with Evolve 80! Quick note, the venue looked awesome and was one of the best Evolve has ever run in.
To start the show, Drew Galloway was in the ring and steals the microphone from Lenny Leonard. He only trusted himself to set the tone for this big event. He put over the company and called this Wrestling Week, not WrestleMania Week. He called out Matt Riddle for their match.
Drew Galloway vs. Matt Riddle
Galloway opened things with a headbutt and they went to war from there. Riddle brought strikes, but Galloway overpowered him. He hit an impressive slam on the apron but also took a Bro to Sleep outside. A table was brought into play and Galloway delivered a piledriver off the apron through it. That felt like the end but Galloway wasn’t done. He put an exclamation point with the Future Shock inside and ANOTHER piledriver to end it at 7:15. That was shorter than I expected, but it worked for what they were going for. Galloway looks like a BEAST going into the WWN Title match this weekend. This was intense and I dug it. [***¼]
Drew Galloway looked to continue the assault but Chris Dickinson and Jaka ran out for the save.
Chris Dickinson vs. Timothy Thatcher w/ Stokely Hathaway
Timothy Thatcher goes from almost two years as Evolve Champion to the second match. His performances in the past year fit the card placement. I’m also not big on Dickinson, so my hopes weren’t high coming into this. They worked the mat early, with Dickinson, as always, playing the aggressor. It was typical Thatcher stuff. Outside of the Zack Sabre Jr. match last month, he’s had almost non-stop dull, lifeless matches. The highlight was probably Dickinson curb stomping him. In the end, Thatcher fought off a powerbomb, hit a kick and won with a submission at 9:16. Like I said, nothing special and rather lifeless. [**¼]
Jaka vs. Jason Kincaid vs. Lio Rush
This was scheduled to be a singles match, but it was announced that Lio Rush didn’t want to wait until scheduled return tomorrow and it was made into a three way. Rush and Kincaid had a fun exchange early until Jaka showed the power and ran him over. Jaka kept dumping Rush out of the ring. I’m not a fan of the tired trope where one guy gets thrown out to make these matches a series of one on one encounters. When all three were involved, the match was at its best. Rush nearly killed Kincaid with a kick and a reverse rana. Kincaid did a dangerous double super rana that nearly saw Rush and Jaka land on each other. Rush got the win with the Dragon’s Call, which looked great at 9:06. I was worried that turning it into an impromptu three way would cause issues. Instead, it made things better than I expected since Rush was the highlight here and was mostly used well. It was high energy, moved briskly and was entertaining. [***]
Façade and Michael Richard Blaze w/ Dani vs. The Gatekeepers w/ Ethan Page
I’ve never heard of Façade and MRB. I was genuinely confused when they came out. One looked like a shitty FCW era Seth Rollins cosplayer. The Gatekeepers did exactly what they needed to and squashed these geeks in 2:03. They needed that after some recent losses. [NR]
Ethan Page got on the microphone, saying this show is part of the “era of ego.” He demanded to be part of the Evolve Title match but since nobody gave him a shot, he called out his opponent for the night.
Austin Theory vs. Ethan Page w/ The Gatekeepers
Austin Theory is just 19 and one of the guys to be featured on several WWN shows this year. He seemed to tweak his knee early but was mostly fine. Page took the time to wear down Theory, grounding the youngster. Most of it was dull. Page hit the RKO-Ego but Theory surprisingly kicked out. I think that could’ve been a bigger deal but it fell flat. Theory ate a series of kicks and Page won with a uranage. This was just bland. It worked as an extended squash at 7:17 but I would’ve liked Theory to get in a few more hope spots to get the crowd more invested. [*]
More promo time from Ethan Page as he berated Theory on his way out. After Theory exited the ring, Priscilla Kelly strolled to the ring. She got in Page’s face before the cameras caught a bunch of people in bloodied scrubs bringing a body bag to the ring. They had their faces painted too. They lifted the body bag but Page and the Gatekeepers attacked them before they opened it. The Gatekeepers slammed the body bag down without even opening before launching it into the rest of the guys outside. He was brought back in and the bag was opened to reveal Darby Allin. He awoke and took out the Gatekeepers with a pipe. Page scurried during this and Allin challenged him to a match tomorrow. It’ll be an anything goes match apparently. That was a strange segment that dragged on too long so the crowd was dead for some of it. I loved seeing Priscilla Kelly though.
Keith Lee vs. Ricochet
This was part of Keith Lee’s “Trial Series.” It should make for an interesting clash of styles. Ricochet’s early grapple attempts were fun. He turned to try his athleticism but Lee showed off his skill in that department with a great dropkick. Ricochet was game for this and bumped like an absolute madman for Lee. He finally got an opening after snapping off a big rana and nailing a dive to the outside. Lee survived some of Ricochet’s best shots. Ricochet then impressed everyone with a reverse rana and Benadryller. It wasn’t the best Benadryller but just picking up Lee was huge. Lee survived a series of kicks and avoided the SSP. After a series of strikes, Lee hit an awesome sitout powerbomb but Ricochet got the shoulder up. Lee went for the moonsault that broke the ring in San Antonio but missed. Ricochet hit a springboard 450 for two and then the SSP. Lee kicked out so hard he launched Ricochet into the turnbuckle. Ricochet hit another but Lee grabbed him by the throat, so Ricochet had to fight him off. Kicks after kick and Lee barely got down. Finally, a 630 got Ricochet the win at 17:13. That was the best Lee match thus far. I was surprised he lost but he looked awesome in defeat. Ricochet threw everything he had at Lee, over and over, and it was still barely enough. Ricochet bumped like crazy for him though I’d still have preferred a Lee win. [****]
Evolve Tag Team Championship: Fred Yehi and Tracy Williams (c) vs. Donovan Dijak and Michael Elgin
Williams and Elgin started, with Williams having an advantage in the technical aspect. Yehi and Dijak had some good exchanges, like Yehi stomping on his feet and Dijak tossing him like a rag doll. The champs showed off some solid tandem offense. Dijak impressed with his fosbury flop. He’s a big dude and does it rather well. Williams got worked over the challengers. Yehi got the hot tag and was his awesome self. Tracy seemed to have issues with the size of his opponents. He survived a moonsault from Dijak and then delivered a sick dragon screw into an ankle lock. I thought Dijak’s leg was broken. The challengers came back with a series of big offensive moves on both champs. Williams somehow kicked out of a middle rope powerbomb and one of Dijak’s best moves. Yehi, like a wild man, hit Elgin with a damn Canadian Destroyer! They hit a double powerbomb on Dijak that he kicked out of, so Tracy transitioned to a crossface. Dijak fought to his feet only for Yehi to dropkick his knees. Dijak tapped at 18:25. Like most title matches since Yehi & Williams won the titles, this was good but not quite great. They did a good job of making fans believe Elgin and Dijak could win despite not being Evolve regulars. The champs fought from behind, using their smarts and technical acumen to overcome their size disadvantage. [***½]
Larry Dallas showed up to stir more shit. He claimed Yehi and Williams allowed Riddle to get hurt ahead of the WWN Title match on Saturday. Yehi said he hoped Riddle wasn’t hurt and looks forward to their match tomorrow. They sent Dallas packing, before Chris Dickinson and Jaka wanted to know where their title match was. Tracy wants them to focus on the matches signed for this weekend.
Evolve Championship: Zack Sabre Jr. (c) vs. ACH
Zack Sabre Jr. only brought out one of his titles. ACH startled him in the beginning with a soccer kick. Sabre retaliated with a kick of his own to the hand, looking to set up later submissions. He took the time to bend and twist ACH in awkward ways. ACH sold it well and Sabre continued to go after it. Sabre’s best matches are the ones where he doesn’t just do submissions for the sake of it, but here they made sense and focused on something. He caught an ACH dive into a submission but was too close to the ropes. ACH rallied by escaping a corner submission. He got close on a pinning combination and a bridging German suplex. Someone started a “USA” chant so the rest of the crowd booed him. ACH went into a flurry of offense only for his 450 splash to be caught in a triangle choke! He transitioned to another submission at 15:16 to make ACH submit. This was really good but lacked things to take it to the next level. I feel like ACH brought it but I wish Sabre sold some of his stuff better. Still, this was a worthy main event with some great moments. [***½]
Overall: 7/10. I’d say this was solid outing from Evolve. There were some things that missed the mark (Page/Theory, Thatcher/Dickinson, the Allin segment) but most of the show featured good matches. Riddle/Galloway is an intense sprint, the two title matches are both very good, the three way is fun and Ricochet/Lee was awesome. Consider that the first must-see match from the weekend.
The Architecture of NXT
Episode #122
June 20th, 2012 | Full Sail Arena in Winter Park, Florida
Yes, this is going to be a series covering NXT from the very first episode at Full Sail University. The WWE Network recently began adding the original Full Sail run, so I thought it would be fun to check that era out. Maybe one day they’ll add the hilarious NXT season three for me to review. Since I do the weekly reports for NXT on 411mania, I’ve seen and covered over two years’ worth of episodes. Eventually, this series will take me to revisit those, but that won’t be for a while.
So here it is. Episode #122 of NXT, but the first at Full Sail. Previously, NXT was a show where contestants did strange challenges and competed before being voted off by the fans. Wade Barrett, Kaval, Kaitlyn and Johnny Curtis won the first four seasons. The fifth season, titled “Redemption” was a long, strange journey that eventually went nowhere and was replaced by this. A new weekly third brand of developmental meant to give talent a feel for the main roster but on a smaller scale.
The show opens with shots of Superstars before explaining that NXT is the show of people trying to make their own history. Footage of Seth Rollins, Jason Jordan, Corey Graves, Xavier Woods, Tyson Kidd, Kassius Ohno, Paige, Derrick Bateman and several others are shown. The Coheed and Cambria “Welcome Home” intro > “Roar of the Crowd.”
It might not look like much compared to now, but this entire setup was awesome. Jim Ross comes out first and introduces the interim NXT General Manager, Dusty Rhodes! Dusty announces the main event as Tyson Kidd vs. Michael McGillicutty. They throw to a video package of a new NXT star, Bo Dallas. He comes across here as a massively generic babyface, plugging his family history. “I’ve got a smile that shines for miles, a fist that breaks bricks and a chin that won’t give in.” Wow.
Bo Dallas def. Rick Viktor in 2:17
This is pre-Ascension era Viktor. William Regal joins JR in the booth, giving us a splendid commentary tandem. He notes Viktor was the last man to come from the Hart Dungeon, which is a sad statement. Viktor gets no entrance and Bo treats him like a jobber. Viktor gets in a few early shots before Bo tosses him around the ring. Bo scores with a spear to win. THE ORIGINAL BIG DOG BO DALLAS! Not the hottest way to start a new show but it was clear they had early plans for Bo. NR
He gets interviewed atop the stage and says he came in with a game plan and executed it. It’s just the beginning.
VIGNETTE ~ Seth Rollins gets a video package. Though he isn’t on this episode, he instantly stuck out me since I loved him as Tyler Black. He debuts next week.
VIGNETTE ~ Former rugby player Antonio Cesaro! And he’s making out with Aksana! Remember these days? He also debuts next week.
Damien Sandow comes out for a match against future NXT Tag Team Champion, Jason Jordan. He has a mini-afro and it benefits him that he got a haircut down the line. Sandow introduces himself and it appalled at his unworthy opponent. He will not compete and does it for the benefit and welfare of the fans. That was a great way to showcase how much of a pretentious dick Sandow is.
VIGNETTE ~ WELOME TO THE WASTELANE! The OG Ascension, featuring Konnor and Kenneth Cameron (future ex-husband of Charlotte and TNA multi-contract signee Bram) get to cut a strange promo, which is over the top and rather funny.
RAW REBOUND ~ Since I’m not watching the weekly shows from 2012, this should be kind of fun. On Monday, John Laurinaitis had his goodbye after getting fired. He booked one final match, pitting himself, Big Show and David Otunga against John Cena. Show walked out due to his ironclad contract. Otunga in main events was a bad idea, but I actually really enjoyed Big Johnny as a GM. Being the bully that he is, Cena hit him with AA after AA.
The Ascension def. CJ Parker and Mike Dalton in 1:13
JUICE ROBINSON AND TYLER BREEZE! The Ascension’s entrance is over the top and a bit strange since it cuts to random shots of them, which could be confusing to some. Konnor had probably been in development for about a decade at this point. They just dominate and beat Parker with the Downcast. Another fine squash that did what it needed to. NR
VIGNETTE ~ It’s Bray Wyatt! Every single thing about this and the Bray character are so goddamn cool. The WWE made far too many mistakes with him as he could’ve been special.
Derrick Bateman is walking backstage and enters the men’s bathroom looking for Johnny Curtis. Johnny busts out of a stall and claims to be sick. Bateman thinks he’s faking it so he can get out of next week’s main event. They both have been pondering what they’re gonna do to each other next week. Curtis leaves and Bateman asks if he’s gonna wash his hands, so Curtis wipes them on Derrick’s shirt. I guess it’s Fandango vs. EC3 next week.
Tyson Kidd def. Michael McGillicutty in 13:33
Michael McGillicutty is such a stupid name. He was a runner-up in NXT season two, where he cut the ridiculously absurd “genesis of McGillicutty” promo. They go through a solid feeling out process, with Kidd winning out and causes McGillicutty to regroup outside. Knowing he has the power advantage, McGillicutty takes it to a test of strength, but Kidd uses his speed and athleticism to win out. McGillicutty turns it around a bit but gets sent outside and Kidd greets him with a tope suicida. After a short commercial, McGillicutty takes over. Props to Kidd for taking the Hart family sternum corner bump. Kidd gets a few hope spots and flash pins, but McGillicutty remains in control. He misfires when putting Kidd in the tree of woe and tries a baseball slide but hits the ring post. McGillicutty does Mr. Perfect like bumps when Kidd kicks him in the leg. It’s straight out of SummerSlam 1991. Kidd springboards into a dropkick, stopping his momentum. Kidd does score with a moonsault (JR incorrectly calls it a reverse moonsault) for two. McGillicutty avoids a submission and puts Kidd in the Sharpshooter, though he reaches the ropes. Kidd gets few rollup attempts before applying the Dungeon Lock, complete with kicks to the face, to get the win. Awesome main event. Two guys that are very talented in the ring but weren’t getting a chance to show if off on the main roster, so they made the first NXT main event their bitch. Great exchanges and I loved the callbacks to the Hart/Hennig rivalry. Maybe I’m going a bit high, but this was my kind of match. ***¾
Overall: 7/10. A strong effort for a first show. The two squashes were clearly nothing special, but accomplished the goals of establishing the Ascension and Bo Dallas. That’s key because they’d both play major parts in the early stages of NXT. The main event was great, I loved the commentary team and the production was top notch. This was a damn good way to let people know that NXT was different this time around.
Taboo Tuesday 2005
November 1st, 2005 | iPayOne Center in San Diego, California | Attendance: 6,000
After the failure of This Tuesday in Texas, the WWE did away with the idea of a Tuesday night Pay-Per-View. That changed in 2004, when they brought in Taboo Tuesday. Considering the time period, the concept of the show made sense. Fans voted for various things like competitors, match types, etc. and their choices played out on screen. This would be the last of two Taboo Tuesday events before it was moved to Sundays as Cyber Sunday.
Right after the opening video, this goes straight to the opening match without much introduction from commentary. It is Joey Styles and Jerry Lawler on it though.
For the opener, the fans were choosing the Smackdown guys to face Chris Masters and Edge. Their options were Christian, Matt Hardy, Hardcore Holly, JBL and Rey Mysterio. This is also coming off of the heels of the personal Hardy/Edge rivalry. Lita and Edge get on the mic and say there’s no reason to compete because he doesn’t care about Matt, Raw or the fans. He brings out Snitsky as a replacement, so that’s extremely disappointing.
Interpromotional Match
Chris Masters and Snitsky vs. Matt Hardy and Rey Mysterio
There are two referees in the ring, one from each brand. The heels attack quickly but Rey and Matt don’t stay down for long since they are resilient faces. It’s so odd watching both refs trying to do their jobs. Matt gets two on the Side Effect and then hits a damn second rope DDT on Snitsky. Surprisingly, it seems like Matt is going to take the heat here. Snitsky and Masters do well as the powerful heel combination for a bit. The hot tag eventually comes to Rey, but his hot streak can’t last long against his larger opponents. Masters gets Rey in the Masterlock, which nobody had broken at this point. Rey kicks off and lands on top of Masters, pinning his shoulders. The Smackdown ref counts but the Raw ref stops him. This leads to Rey and Matt diving out onto both opponents. Shortly after, Masters takes the 619, Twist of Fate and a springboard splash to lose.
Winners: Matt Hardy and Rey Mysterio in 13:46
Decent little opener here. Matt Hardy and Rey Mysterio made for a good team and Chris Masters and Snitsky worked better than expected. The two ref stuff was odd and I think it would have been better off with Rey taking the heat since he’s a better sympathetic babyface. This also screamed TV and not PPV match. **½
Eugene and Jimmy Snuka vs. Rob Conway and Tyson Tomko
What kind of hell is this? The fans had to choose between Jim Duggan, Jimmy Snuka and Kamala as Eugene’s partner. Eugene is in for the entire match, taking heat after a slightly hot start. Nothing that Rob Conway and Tyson Tomko do is really interesting in any way. Jimmy Snuka gets the mild tag, though Eugene still handles most of the work. He hits a rock bottom on Conway before Snuka nails the Superfly Splash and gets the 1-2-3.
Winners: Eugene and Jimmy Snuka in 6:21
This was pretty bad Jimmy Snuka clearly couldn’t do much and the other three guys in the match weren’t really good enough to overcome that. ¾*
Tyson Tomko tries to attack Jimmy Snuka after the bell, but Kalama and Jim Duggan show up to make the save and give the fans a nice little moment of nostalgia.
Carlito vs. Mankind
The fans got to vote on which of Mick Foley’s personalities would face Carlito tonight. Commentary puts over Mankind like he’s Cactus Jack, making me think they expected Cactus to win the vote. Mankind overwhelms Carlito early and often until he gets a steel chair. Carlito avoids it with a drop toe hold that sends Mankind and the chair into the steel steps. That turns the tide for Carlito, who ends up trying to choke Mankind out. Mankind fights out and pulls his hair out, to show how much he likes pain. To show that there’s still some Cactus in him, Mankind hits the Cactus apron elbow. Joey Styles pulls a Michael Cole and calls it VINTAGE MANKIND! Mankind pulls out Mr. Socko, complete with a Carlito like afro, and wins with the Mandible Claw.
Winner: Mankind in 7:22
I wouldn’t call this a really bad match but I wouldn’t call it good either. It was kind of just there. The fans got a nice little nostalgia moment again from Mankind but this didn’t really do anything for Carlito and was completely forgettable. **
Backstage, Vince McMahon shows up and is disappointed in Eric Bischoff for losing to Smackdown on his own Pay-Per-View.
Todd Grisham now shows us who the fans voted to join John Cena and Kurt Angle in the main event. Shawn Michaels obviously beats out Kane and Big Show for the slot. That means Show and Kane will now team up.
World Tag Team Championship
Lance Cade and Trevor Murdoch (c) vs. Big Show and Kane
The challengers go after the champions outside. Lance Cade throws a fit to hype himself up, trying to overcome his fear, but it fails. Cade and Murdoch try to get the upper hand, but Big Show and Kane seem to be too much. Each time it seems like they may have an opening, Show or Kane shrug off their offense and kick their asses. The champions finally do something of note after knocking Kane off the top and hitting Sweet and Sour outside. They work a very short heat segment on Kane before Show gets the tag and dominates. Kane and Show double Chokeslam Cade to give us new champions.
Winners and New World Tag Team Champions: Big Show and Kane in 7:59
Oh man, this was not very good. I get that Kane and Big Show are big men but this did nothing but make Cade and Murdoch look like chumps. There wasn’t really any structure to this match, as they seemed to just kill time until the end. *
For some reason, Trevor Murdoch yells at Kane that he didn’t get chokeslammed. You know, because that’s more important than being upset about losing the belts. He eats a double Chokeslam himself.
Todd Grisham brings out the Divas because the fans are about to choose what they wear for the upcoming battle royal. The fans choose lingerie over cheerleaders and leather and lace.
Non-Title Street Fight
World Heavyweight Champion Batista vs. Jonathan Coachman w/ Goldust and Vader
For this match, the fans choose between arm wrestling match, debate or street fight. Yea, that was an obvious outcome. Coach was supposed to face Steve Austin but that couldn’t happen and instead, Austin couldn’t make it and Batista replaced him. Yes, the two men with Coach are super random. Due to there being no real rules in this, Coach sends his henchmen in to pound on Batista. Goldust even brings a kendo stick into play. Coach whips Batista with a belt until the “Animal” comes back and starts whipping everyone. He then plants Coach with the Batista Bomb to end it.
Winner: Batista in 4:22
Not much to really discuss here. Batista took a short beating, came back and won like the World Champion should. It wasn’t very fun though, despite seeing guys like Goldust and Vader. Matches like this really showed why the brand exclusive PPVs had issues a lot of the time. ½*
Shawn Michaels is interviewed about getting voted into the main event for the second straight Taboo Tuesday. HBK says it’s good to be the popular kid. Kurt Angle interrupts to say he doesn’t like Shawn but wants to put their differences aside to take out John Cena. Shawn responds by saying that he’ll think about.
WWE Women’s Championship Fulfill Your Fantasy Battle Royal
Trish Stratus (c) vs. Ashley Massaro vs. Candice Michelle vs. Maria Kanellis vs. Mickie James vs. Victoria
Because I’m this kind of guy, I’m going to rank the girls based on how they look tonight. Trish, Mickie, Ashley, Maria, Candice and Victoria. This starts as a standard women’s battle royal but there is added intrigue here because of the Trish and Mickie story. Mickie saves Trish from elimination a few times. Maria, the interviewer, is first out courtesy of Mickie and Trish. Like an idiot, Candice showboats after a move on the apron and is knocked out. Victoria hits the best move of the match with a big tilt-a-whirl slam on Trish. Victoria eliminates Ashley next. Victoria and Trish go at it, with Trish nearly getting eliminated but Mickie saves her. Victoria again nearly eliminates Trish, but Mickie again saves her, before brawling Victoria to the outside and sacrificing herself so Trish can retain.
Winner and Still WWE Women’s Champion: Trish Stratus in 5:23
The actual wrestling in the match wasn’t the greatest, but the story told in this made it lightyears better than other women’s battle royals. Mickie saving her idol Trish so many times was part of the bigger story that led to Mickie and Trish having a great WrestleMania match in my favorite women’s storyline of all time. The outfits worn helped the enjoyment factor too. **¼
WWE Intercontinental Championship Steel Cage Match
Ric Flair (c) vs. Triple H
The rivalry between these two guys was pretty well done. The fans voted the Steel Cage match over a straight up match and submission match since Ric Flair basically begged for it on TV leading up to this. There is certainly tension in the air as they trade blows in the early stages. HHH is the first to send his opponent into the steel and Flair is instantly gushing blood. He continues the assault, grating Flair’s’ face across the cage for a gruesome visual. He tries to leave but Flair catches up and they both get crotched. Triple H gets a chain and uses it to pulverize Flair some more. Flair’s loud selling is good here as he sounds like he’s in absolute agony. To add insult to injury, HHH locks in the Figure Four. Flair is able to counter and send HHH into the steel. Triple H is now bleeding and Flair pounces, even biting him. Flair lays into Triple H and takes him down with the chop block. Joey Styles does a great job in pointing to the leg as a weak point for the Game after his quad injury. HHH survives the Figure Four but gets hit with a low blow. A chair gets brought into play and Flair stops HHH from using it with the TESTICULAR CLAW! Flair then levels Triple H with the chair and escapes the cage.
Winner and Still WWE Intercontinental Champion: Ric Flair in 23:45
An absolutely gruesome match. There were buckets of blood spilled and it was certainly brutal. They told a good story and had the match I expected from these two. Their next encounter later in the month was better, but this was still pretty damn good and our match of the night so far. ***½
WWE Championship
John Cena (c) vs. Kurt Angle vs. Shawn Michaels
Within five seconds, Kurt Angle already takes out Shawn Michaels to squander any ides of them teaming up. The guys go through the classic “two guys in the ring while one is thrown outside” scenarios. When everybody is in together, the match it at its best. Angle starts suplexing the world with Germans and overhead belly-to-belly suplexes for everyone. Michaels counters the Ankle Lock, sending Angle right into the FU. Angle blocks and Cena almost gets hit Sweet Chin Music, but he blocks it too. That was a pretty cool sequence. Shawn and Kurt end up working together to take out Cena. Not content with just tossing him outside, they double front suplex him through the Spanish announce table. Now Angle and Michaels start going at each other, which makes sense given their rivalry during 2005. They were tied at one and then the rubber match was a draw, so this a treat. After some great back and forth, Angle hits a top rope Angle Slam but Shawn kicks out. THE STRAPS ARE DOWN! Cena is back though and takes out Angle. Shawn survives Cena’s attacks and somersaults onto Angle outside. Inside, Shawn goes into some of his trademark comeback offense on both guys. Angle stops him in his tracks with a belly to belly that sends him outside. He turns into Cena, who does his Five Knuckle Shuffle stuff. Angle avoids the FU and applies the ankle lock. Just a few months into Cena’s reign and the fans are very mixed already. Cena struggles to avoid tapping and Michaels breaks it with an elbow on Angle. My only issue with that is that Shawn took his time climbing, which made sense because he’s selling, but was a dumb move overall because Cena may have tapped. Sweet Chin Music to Angle and then Cena hits the FU on Michaels to retain.
Winner and still WWE Champion: John Cena in 16:42
A great capper to a pretty lackluster show. While John Cena would go on to become significantly better in the ring, he was clearly a step behind his opponents at this point. Despite that, the work between Angle and Michaels was spectacular, and the closing minutes of this were pretty damn awesome. Paint by numbers finish, but still a great match that probably would have been an all-time classic with a more polished Cena. ***¾
Overall: 3.5/10; Not good. Honestly, this was on the way to being one of the worst Pay-Per-Views I have ever seen. Nothing during the first two hours was worth watching. The Divas Battle Royal was okay and then the final two matches saved this from being abysmal. Those two matches are worth checking out but other than that, skip this show. Next up on “Random Network Reviews” will beSummerSlam 2009!
NJPW Road to Sakura Genesis
March 26th, 2017 | Korakuen Hall in Tokyo, Japan | Attendance: 1,743
I wish NJPW would keep the Korakuen Hall shows to the bigger “Road to” events. This one doesn’t exactly fit that bill.
Bad Luck Fale def. Tomoyuki Oka in 1:14
Though he’s a young lion, Oka’s probably already better than Fale. Fale threw him around but Oka had a hope spot or two. Fale wasn’t trying to work a lengthy match though and finished quickly with the Grenade. I like Oka, but this was fine and different. NR
Suzuki-Gun (El Desperado, TAKA Michinoku and Takashi Iizuka) def. Hirai Kawato, Jushin Thunder Liger and Tiger Mask IV in 10:38
Young lions run to the ring, and the second Kawato slid in, Suzuki-Gun jumped him. Surprisingly, it didn’t lead to the typical Suzuki-Gun ringside brawl. Maybe they’re saving it for later. Kawato got his ass handed to him here. At one point, Liger saved him and slapped him around, basically telling him to wake the hell up. Tiger Mask eventually got the hot tag, which is less fun than Liger getting it. Thankfully, Liger came in shortly after and worked his magic. The finishing stretch was rather hot, with Iizuka bringing a chair into play and Kawato picking up a few near falls. Kawato is a young lion though, so he eventually fell to El Desperado’s finisher. Better than I expected. Suzuki-Gun have been a big group of suck since their return but Kawato being a wild man and Liger playing angry dad made this fun. **¾
IWGP Tag Team Champions TenKoji and Togi Makabe def. David Finlay and War Machine in 9:10
This was here to build towards TenKoji vs. War Machine at Sakura Genesis. That’s far and away the most interesting IWGP Tag Team Title match in years. Finlay and War Machine did their best Suzuki-Gun, attacking before the bell. You know Makabe on these “Road to” shows. Minimal effort and bumping. He might as well not have been there. Tenzan took the heat, with War Machine doing several heel things. They didn’t get booed much though since they’re popular and they’re teaming with a babyface. We got highlights of the tandem offense that makes War Machine so good. Hanson mistakenly took out Rowe with a dive, leaving Finlay to take the Koji Cutter and lariat. I enjoy everyone in the match except Makabe and this was good. It protected both tag teams and made me want to see their singles match more. **¾
Suzuki-Gun (Minoru Suzuki and IWGP Jr. Tag Team Champions Taichi and Yoshinobu Kanemaru) def. CHAOS (Gedo, NEVER Openweight Champion Hirooki Goto and Jado) in 11:56
While the IWGP Tag Title match at Sakura Genesis sounds fun, the Jr. Tag Title match sounds dreadful. Guess how this starts? With the sneak attack and ringside brawl. You’d think they’d get tired of working the same match so often. Suzuki beat up Goto in the crowd. I suspect that Goto beats Zack Sabre Jr. at Sakura Genesis and then gets Suzuki for the title. The only joy I found in this match was watching Suzuki abuse Jado and some of the Suzuki/Goto interactions. In the end, the Jr. Tag Champions used Taichi’s microphone stand and a title belt before Kanemaru hit the diving DDT to win. Typical stuff from these guys. That upcoming Tag Title match is gonna suck. *¾
CHAOS (Beretta, Tomohiro Ishii and Toru Yano) def. The Bullet Club (Chase Owens, Kenny Omega and Yujiro Takahashi) in 12:46
Seeing this made me realize how little the Bullet Club is doing at Sakura Genesis. Not that I mind, since the group is BEYOND stale and the only one I care to see anymore is Omega. Since this wasn’t building to anything specific, it truly felt like filler. Chase Owens did look motivated though, probably happy to be back in NJPW for the first time in 2017. Omega was in his “I don’t care” gear, so we got the expected effort from him. Beretta took the heat and sold rather well. Ishii got the hot tag and was his usual awesome self. We got some fun interactions between Yano and Omega, leading to Yano getting beaten up. In the end, Yano was Yano and used a low blow and rollup to beat Owens. About what you’d expect here. Only Owens and Ishii seemed interesting in working and while it wasn’t bad, it was kind of just there. **½
Hiroshi Tanahashi, Juice Robinson, KUSHIDA, Manabu Nakanishi and Ryusuke Taguchi def. Los Ingobernables de Japon (NEVER Openweight Six Man Tag Team Champions BUSHI, EVIL and SANADA, IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Champion Hiromu Takahashi and IWGP Intercontinental Champion Tetsuya Naito) in 12:16
Tanahashi and lads against LIDJ are fun matches but we can only see them so many times. The legitimate matches the feud spawns are great (Tanahashi/Naito, Naito/Elgin, SANADA/Tana, EVIL/Tana, Taguchi/Hiromu, Hiromu/KUSHIDA, etc.) but it means we get the same tag combinations. I’d have loved if we got Naito/Juice at Sakura Genesis. LIDJ attacked before the bell because it must happen at least twice a show in Gedo’s world. They did a lot of the stuff we’ve become accustomed to here. Taguchi ass offense, Takahashi and KUSHIDA giving us a preview of Sakura Genesis, Naito and Juice being fun, etc. After most guys got involved in a barrage of offense, it came down SANADA and Juice, which is a match I’d be interested in. Juice escaped Skull End and won with Pulp Friction. On the lesser end of the spectrum of their matches. We’ve seen it a ton and replacing Elgin with Nakanishi at this point doesn’t help. **¾
LIDJ jumped the faces after the match.
Katsuyori Shibata and Yuji Nagata def. IWGP Heavyweight Champion Kazuchika Okada and YOSHI-HASHI in 17:39
I love Shibata and Nagata and I like YOSHI-HASHI. This served as a preview for Okada/Shibata at Sakura Genesis. They kicked things off but kept it light, leading to YOSHI against Nagata. Their G1 match last year was good. It was fine this time around too but clearly everyone wanted Shibata and Okada. Their next interaction was a bit more heated but still didn’t give too much away, which is the right way to go. I dug how it progressed, with Shibata coming in and just booting Okada off the apron. Annoyed, Okada slid in and they exchanged blows. Of course, Okada can’t hit nearly as hard and got put in the sleeper. YOSHI broke it up but ended up in one himself. The PK finished him off, giving Shibata more momentum. A good main event. It was nothing great but accomplished the goal of hyping Shibata/Okada. ***
After the match, Okada and Shibata had a stare down.
Overall: 4.5/10. Not one of the better “Road to” shows. Only the Jado & Gedo tag was something I’d consider reasonably bad but the rest of the show is either bland or stuff we’ve seen before for the most part. The only thing of real interest was TenKoji against War Machine and the Shibata/Okada interactions. Only one match clocked in at three stars.
PROGRESS Chapter 45: Galvanize Review
March 19th, 2017 | The Ritz in Manchester, England
Following a strong Chapter 44, PROGRESS returned less than a month later with a card that sounded even better. Both the PROGRESS Title and the Tag Team Titles are defended, while big names are lined up and down the card.
As always, Jim Smallman opened things by having fun with the crowd. Maybe it was just me, but the sound was off and I didn’t catch much of what he said.
PROGRESS Tag Team Championship: British Strong Style (Trent Seven and Tyler Bate) (c) def. The South Pacific Power Trip w/ Dahlia Black in 14:16
Obviously, Bate and Seven are well known and held in high regard, but SPPT have quickly become one of my favorite tag teams in all of wrestling. The only title the champs had was Bate’s WWE UK Title. I loved how SPPT showed no intimidation. Cooper slapped Seven defiantly and then took out both champs with a great corkscrew dive. Despite this, it was Cooper who took the heat for a good chunk of the match. Banks’ eventual hot tag ruled. He’s awesome. This was where things got taken to the next level. SPPT fired up after a double German from Seven, leading to an insane exchange of strikes and offense from all four men. The titles nearly changed hands after a Cooper springboard 450 knee drop. The champs got overconfident until Dahlia Black helped her guys turn the tide. Bate and Seven were too much though, winning after a second rope piledriver into the Tyler Driver 97. An awesome way to start the show. Bate and Seven again showed why they’re held in high esteem, while SPPT killed it again too. The best PROGRESS Tag Title match I’ve personally ever seen. ****
Jimmy Havoc hit the ring with a steel chair. He beat the shit out of Bate and Seven with it, looking to eliminate them ahead of his title match. This was great because it made sense for Havoc and the champions didn’t look weak because of how it was done. One thing I didn’t like was how the cameras showed Bate and Seven leave on their own accord. If the plan was to have them taken out for the main event, I’d have had them get help to the back or not show it at all.
Zack Gibson def. El Ligero in 10:28
El Ligero came out to an Irish drinking song and seemed to still be celebrating St. Patrick’s Day. Gibson cut a hateful promo, while Ligero continued to have fun acting drunk. After Zack removed Ligero’s giant St. Patty’s Day head, an El Generico mask was under! That got a pop and led to more fun. We finally got to Ligero’s real mask and an interesting spot where he sat on a fan in a wheelchair’s lap and together they drove his boot into Zack’s face. Ligero picked up a few near falls inside, including one on a great springboard cutter. Just as he was nearing a win, Nathan Cruz appeared on the stage wearing a Ligero mask he stole. The distraction was enough for Gibson to win. Fun match that continued the rivalry it needed to. The crowd was way into it as well. ***
James Drake def. Jack Sexsmith in 9:38
Sexsmith is certainly popular, but I’m not fully on that train. Drake attacked before the bell, continuing to look like a ruthless bastard. Sexsmith turned it around and took a nasty bump on a somersault to the outside. The story of this saw Drake on the offensive, while Sexsmith drew sympathy and found random hope spots. Sexsmith’s rally saw him Mr. Cocko and a crossface, but Drake survived both. He then hit a forearm and a DDT to put Sexsmith away. Not a bad match, I just couldn’t get into it. I do like what they’re doing with Drake right now though. **¼
Mark Andrews def. Will Ospreay in 11:38
Heel Will Ospreay is an interesting sight. He wore jeans and came out aggressively, dropkicking Andrews out of the gate. Similar to the last match, this saw the heel with the advantage thanks to being aggressive and the babyface rallying from behind. However, it worked much better here because Andrews excels in that role, Ospreay is interesting as a heel and they’ve wrestled so much that their chemistry is strong. Andrews fired up after eating a bunch of kicks. The top rope seemed to snap or something at one point from the speed and impact of these guys. Andrews snapped off a great reverse rana and had the balls to hit a top rope dragonrana. I can’t believe he didn’t die. He had the 630 cut off but realized he couldn’t use the top rope for much. He had to dig deep and bust out the Vertebreaker to win. Good stuff here. They worked in some spots they’re familiar with, while also managing to make it different by incorporating Ospreay’s new persona. ***½
Jimmy Havoc returned and beat Ospreay down with a steel chair before hitting the Acid Rainmaker.
Ringkampf def. The Hunter Brothers in 14:37
Ringkampf consists of Axel Dieter Jr. and WALTER, while Jim and Lee Hunter make up the Hunter Brothers. I’ve never seen the Hunter Brothers before, but Ringkampf are damn good. There were a few “WALTER’s gonna kill you” chants and he kind of did just that. They had an answer for nearly everything the Hunter Brothers tried. Whether it was through good tag team wrestling or WALTER being a beast. Jim Hunter got a mild tag. I say mild because the crowd wasn’t really into them. They got close on a splash but WALTER kicked out hard to show it wasn’t that close. Ringkampf won with a great European uppercut/powerbomb combination and the fans counted along in German. I understood why Ringkampf dominated at times, but it meant the setup was for a hot tag to a team that barely got a reaction. That made that part of the match lackluster. It felt like a showcase for Ringkampf and if that was the intention, it should’ve been shorter. **½
Flash Morgan Webster def. Nathan Cruz in 17:37
It’s Webster’s first singles match in PROGRESS since returning from injury. He started hot but Cruz quickly negated that and took it to him. His recent shoulder injury came into play, as he clutched it tightly after being knocked off the top rope. Cruz was content with a countout win but Webster goaded him into a fight outside. It didn’t help much and Cruz continued to attack the shoulder. Webster’s comeback still saw him favor the arm, which was appreciated. In a great moment, Webster nearly had second thoughts about a high risk move, only for it backfire anyway as he took a top rope lung blower for a close near fall. Cruz attempted the Showstolen but Webster countered into the Strangler and made him tap out. I dug the shoulder work here as it looked good and made sense. Props to Flash as he sold well and never forgot about it, while the finish was smart. ***¼
Cruz jumped him after the match.
Natural Progression Series IV Semi-Finals: Jinny def. Nixon Newell in 7:36
This tournament will determine the first PROGRESS Women’s Champion. Nixon is way over and the crowd sings her theme song. Jinny attacked at the bell before wiping Nixon out with a dive outside. Nixon returned the favor and then some with two suicide dives. They went at it harder than expected with forearms and headbutts. Nixon missed a moonsault but then kicked out at one from a Rainmaker. She also kicked out of a spike X-Factor type move but Jinny had enough. She planted her with Nixon’s own destroyer to win. Many saw this is a bit of an upset. Though Jinny has been around a while, Nixon has been making waves. It makes sense though with the news that she’s WWE bound. Much better than I expected by the way. It was short, but intense as hell with a great atmosphere. ***¼
PROGRESS Championship No Disqualification Match: Pete Dunne (c) def. Jimmy Havoc in 25:56
This came about after Havoc beat Dunne via DQ in January and then Havoc earned a shot in a six man tag at the last chapter. Dunne jumped Havoc with a chair during his entrance, which was a nice turnaround from Havoc attacking his buddies earlier. Thought it meant I didn’t get to hear Dunne’s theme, which is a shame. Within minutes, both guys had used chairs and the PROGRESS Title as a weapon. They fought through the crowd and by the bar with an intensity fitting the rivalry. Things got really violent when Dunne stapled Jimmy’s ear. He caught a Jimmy suicide dive into the explex on the apron. It took about eleven minutes for this to get in the ring. Dunne nailed all the little things, from threatening fans to biting barbed wire and letting it hang from his mouth. In other sick moments, Dunne wrapped barbed wire around Havoc’s leg before stomping on it and stapled him in the finger, elbow and side, as well as stapling a streamer to his head. I lost it though when Havoc gave Dunne PAPER CUTS and poured alcohol on them. The barbed wire came into play again when they wrapped it around their hands and traded forearms. Somehow, Dunne kicked out of a Canadian Destroyer into thumbtacks! Jimmy set up the Acid Rainmaker, but Will Ospreay walked to the ring. Havoc fought him off and then hit the Acid Rainmaker, but Dunne got a shoulder up. Havoc was next to kick out of something big, surviving a powerbomb through a table. He hit another Acid Rainmaker, but Ospreay pulled the referee out. That distraction allowed Dunne to hit Havoc with a barbed wire bat and win after the Bitter End. Awesome main event that was the right amount of sick. The paper cut spot had me looking away from the screen, which I rarely do. I loved this, but felt it got a bit overbooked with the Ospreay stuff. Still, a barbaric main event. I love how Dunne has had two fantastic title matches (vs. Sabre late last year) and both were so different. ****¼
Will Ospreay told Jimmy Havoc “this has to end” and beat him with the microphone to close the show.
Overall: 8/10. Another great show from PROGRESS. There’s nothing bad on the card. The women’s match was better than expected with non-stop action for the short runtime and Ospreay/Andrews was another solid chapter in their history. I enjoyed Cruz/Webster and even the matches I gave less than three stars were all solid. The show is bookended by two fantastic and different matches. The show flows nicely, never feels long and almost everyone brings it. PROGRESS continues to be one of the best promotions in the world.
