Ultima Lucha Night Two Review

The big second act of Ultima Lucha began with two of the biggest names in the company. Alberto El Patron took on Johnny Mundo in a match that has been well built up. I really enjoyed it as it was a good mix of wrestling and brawling. They used the unique environment that is the Temple well. Mundo threw dirt from under the ring at El Patron and they threw into the wall by the window that actually made this feud so personal. In a fun twist, Melina made her debut by hitting El Patron with his AAA Title. That allowed Mundo to win in about 13 and a half minutes. After the bell, Melina and Mundo made out until El Patron got back up. He attacked and sent Mundo threw the window in a bit of revenge. He also spanked Melina before she checked on the very bloody Mundo. It ended with a trademark El Patron wink. While I was never a big fan of them, having Melina and Mundo together could be fun. I'm also intrigued by what will happen with Mundo's face since they were saying he's scarred. Really good start here. ***3/4

In a change of pace from what we just saw, we move to  Vampiro taking on Pentagon Jr. I'm no Vampiro mark, but it was cool to see him come out in the old facepaint. Pentagon Jr. attacks early and seems to injure Vampiro. They do the fake stretcher job which turns this into a sick war. It involvesd a ripped mask, tables, thumbtacks and light tubes. At times, Vampiro looked like he couldn't walk, but would then do something impressive like a top rope dive onto tacks. This was an absolute war that told a masterful story and made Pentagon Jr. look great. He won after putting Vampiro through a flaming table, which is a great callback to the rivalry. After the 14 minute bout, Vampiro shouts for Pentagon to break his arm, which he does. Pentagon shouts into the microphone for his master, only for Vampiro to reveal that he was the master the whole time. Fantastic storytelling and an absolute war. I may be giving it a higher rating than most, but I really enjoyed everything about this. ***1/4

It was time for another change of pace during Ultima Lucha as we go from a barbaric war to a high flying spotfest. The Gift of the Gods match came next as Aerostar, Sexy Star, Big Ryck, Fenix, King Cuerno, Jack Evans and Bengala did battle for the Aztec Medallions and a future shot at the Lucha Underground Championship. This was, like Cage vs. Mack last week, an absolute blast. The action never stopped and featured big spots like Aerostar's huge dive and fun moments like Marty Martinez appearing and creeping on Sexy Star. Fenix pulled out the win after about 12 minutes. This was what it needed to be. A bunch of spots at a breakneck pace that was enjoyable. ***1/2

Next, we got the only bad thing on Ultima Lucha as Blue Demon Jr. took on Texano. The match was made into a No DQ contest so the Crew could interfere on Demon's behalf. Chavo Guerrero appeared and sided with Demon, allowing him to win. This was kind of just there and, while it advanced an angle, it's not one I'm interested in. At least it was kept short. 1/2*

The main event came next as Prince Puma defended the LU Title against Mil Muertes. This ended up being tied with the Mundo/Puma All Night Long match as my favorite Lucha Underground Title match in history. I liked everything about this. The use of weapons like a chair and stairs were used sparingly, but correctly. Puma looked magnificent as he showed off that famous high flying ability and mixed it in with impressive feats of strengths by lifting Mil. Both guys kick out of each other's finishers until Mil wins with a massive super Flatliner. Cartina posed to end things with her four champions. The match was great and a fitting end to a great season of television. ****1/4

To actually end the show, a video package is shown that lets us see everyone going their separate ways, but giving the illusion that they may be back. It's really well done and ends with a "to be continued". I hope we a second season, especially knowing that a future Fenix/Muertes match should be coming and they had my LU match of the year back in March. Combined with Ultima Lucha night one, this was one of my three favorite shows of the year. This two hour block was the best part of it and deserves all of the praise if gets. 9/10.

Rowdy Raw Review

After the tragic passing of "Rowdy" Roddy Piper, Raw opens with a ten bell salute. Following a beautiful video package, out comes Seth Rollins. He has a new John Cena parody shirt which is great. He brags about breaking Cena's nose and plays it on the screen numerous times. The WWE would show and discuss it about 38 times throughout the night. He challenges Cena to a title for title match at SummerSlam. The crowd is pro Seth as he issues an open challenge for his belt. After a commercial, he reveals that he has qualifications for it. The challenger has to be under 6 feet and less than 200 pounds. Jojo, interviewing him, says that leaves El Torito. Instead, Neville answers because he's basically a hobbit. The match they have is better than the one right after Neville debuted. Despite his booking as of late, the crowd and myself bit hard on a Red Arrow near fall. He tries it again, but misses and eats a Pedigree. Well done segment here. This did more for Neville than the past three or so months and Seth looks great as he won without help. Bravo.

Next, we get an eight man tag team match teaming the Ascension with the New Day against Los Matadores and Lucha Dragons. Sound familiar? That's because it just happened on Smackdown. See why Smackdown doesn't matter? Even when you get a fun match, it'll just get repeated on Raw. The Prime Time Players were on commentary again and did well. Kofi Kingston pinned Kalisto to win another fun outing but it's clearly leading to a multi team match at SummerSlam, which just feels like such lazy booking. Can a legit tag team division not be booked? To close out hour one, the girls get the slot again. Charlotte and Becky Lynch faced the Bella Twins. They, along with Paige are now known as the Submission Sorority. The match itself was solid but unspectacular. It again suffered from one of my biggest issues with Raw and that's the fact that we have to go commercial during pretty much every match. It's annoying and takes me out of things. It went about twelve minutes and Charlotte made Nikki tap out. It does seem like they're building Charlotte to be the one to dethrone Nikki, which is fine. Jojo interviews Team BAD backstage and it's not one of their better promos. Naomi handles most, which may explain it. She also calls out Ronda Rousey, which is not a wise move.

                  The Miz came out to host MizTV next, and gave credit to Piper for wrestling talk shows. His guests were Cesaro and Kevin Owens, which is interesting since one guy is great on the mic and one isn't. However, Cesaro did a good job here. He didn't trip over his words and kept things short and sweet. Everyone played their role here. Owens was the dick heel, Cesaro was the badass babyface and Miz's facial expressions throughout everything was priceless. Cesaro wanted to fight but Owens didn't, only to attack him and bail when Cesaro got the upper hand. This has been a fun feud, but does anyone else think it would have been better if the US Title was involved?

They showed Ronda Rousey's tribute to Roddy Piper from UFC 190 before moving into Rusev vs. Mark Henry. Rusev has been incredibly entertaining as of late, but not when he only is allowed to work a dull match with someone like Henry. In the department of "Rusev can still CRUSH" it worked fine as he beat a big guy with no nonsense. Moving on, Bray Wyatt and Luke Harper cut a promo in what looked like Eric Foreman's smoky basement. For some reason, Sheamus is there too. I mean, yea they're teaming up tonight but it kind of takes away from the aura of the Wyatts. Next, King Barrett faced Zack Ryder and I don't know why. I understand wanting to get Barrett a win but did this really accomplish anything? Everyone beats Ryder and Barrett is still a joke. Also, his work on the mic has gone downhill fast in this role. To close hour two, Paul Heyman came out to hype SummerSlam. Of course, he had to show us recaps of Battleground and the night after because we all apparently have short term memory loss. He brought Brock, who grabbed steel steps and stood on them while Heyman talked for some reason. Heyman claims that last time, Undertaker needed an ambulance and a year off after facing Brock, but this time, he'll need last rites. Heyman can sell a PPV like no one else, but I still don't see the appeal in this match. It's certainly not the reason I'll be watching SummerSlam. Still, the segment did what it needed to.

The "Divas Revolution" that we hear Michael Cole plug so often continues next. We get Paige taking on Naomi next. I didn't like this idea. We've seen these two wrestle a fair amount of times and most haven't been very good. They mention on commentary that Naomi is upset because everyone says that Charlotte is the most athletic Diva now and not her. Why not do Becky Lynch and Paige vs. the Bella Twins earlier and a fresh match like Charlotte vs. Naomi here? Instead, Paige and Naomi have a dull match that seemed to go on forever. Paige wins with the PTO before going off and doing a rather fun interview on the Steve Austin podcast. We go to the Piper tribute video again before Dean Ambrose, Roman Reigns and Randy Orton cut a promo about the main event. That main event comes on and turns out to be better than I expected. All six men (Orton, Ambrose, Reigns, Wyatt, Harper and Sheamus) worked hard and had a fun, chaotic brawl. Reigns speared Sheamus for the win and that's how the show ended. It seemed like a lackluster way to end the show though. I would have opened with this match and closed with Seth/Neville. The six man tag came off as a dark match segment where the faces stand tall. All in all, Raw was a mixed bag this week. There was good (Neville/Rollins, the fun main event and MizTV) and bad (the lackluster close, Paige/Naomi & Barrett/Ryder). Honestly though, a middle of the pack show is better than some nights. 6/10.

Fave Five 7/27/15 - 8/2/15

1) Katsuyori Shibata: Before getting NJPW World earlier this year, I had only heard about Katsuyori Shibata but never got to see him wrestle. I first did when I watched Dominion and he was awesome. However, he's been possibly my favorite performer in the G1 Climax. After losing his first match against AJ Styles, he has reeled off win after win and currently leads A Block and the entire G1 in points with eight. This week, he beat Bad Luck Fale and Kota Ibushi, who are both also having good tournaments. He managed to pull off a good match with Fale but before that, his match with Ibushi was the best of the G1 so far. You need to see that outing as it is the best under 15 minute match that I have ever witnessed.

2) Kota Ibushi: The man who topped this list last week,Kota Ibushi, comes in second here. He split his two matches this week while some guys went undefeated but I couldn't leave him off of this list. He has been pretty damn great throughout the entire G1. He lost to the number one guy this week, Katsuyori Shibata, in a match of the year candidate to start the week. No shame in that, especially considering the performance by Ibushi. Then he pinned the NWA World Heavyweight Champion, Hiroyoshi Tenzan in another solid match to earn more points. I don't believe he's going to win the G1, but it has been full of great showings from him as he continues his great 2015.

3) John Cena: I disagree one million percent with the decision to have Seth Rollins tap out to John Cena this past Monday night on Raw. It was a horrible booking decision, especially heading into SummerSlam. Despite that, Cena did once again successfully defend the United States Championship and did so against the WWE Champion. It was another good match on his resume for a very good 2015 run with the belt. Not only that, but he broke his nose in ugly fashion during the match and finished it. I've seen guys finish matches with worse injuries in the past, but it is still a badass thing for Cena to do. I may not be a big fan, but the man tends to deliver in the ring.

4) The Disciples of Death: I couldn't find a good picture of them so you get this instead. The Disciples of Death were able to dethrones the entertaining team of Angelico, Ivelisse and Son of Havoc at Ultima Lucha night one. While it wasn't up to par with some of the other Trios Title matches I've seen this year, it was still fun and incorporated Catrina into the match well. This wasn't one of the best performances of the week, but the Disciples of Death won a pretty important Championship during a week without any other title changes. Due to their win, Catrina is one step closer to controlling pretty much all of Lucha Underground. For now it's big, though I don't see them holding the belts for long in season two.

5) Becky Lynch: A rather surprising choice for the fifth spot here. Becky Lynch came up with Charlotte and Sasha Banks as part of the "Divas Revolution" but was a bit of an afterthought for the first week. While Charlotte and Sasha Banks racked up wins, Becky was in the background. That changed on Raw, when she made Alicia Fox tap out to the newly named Dis-Arm-Her in a tag team match. She was scheduled to face Nikki Bella on Smackdown, but that changed when Nikki stayed with John Cena due to his injury. Instead, she made Brie Bella tap out in a very good match on Main Event. She was also the recipient of a very well done vignette on Smackdown. When it comes to women's wrestling, this week belonged to Becky Lynch.

My Thoughts on Hot Rod

I’m writing this and I don’t know exactly where to stay or go with it.

I think I’m just going to talk about Roddy Piper. No real direction

behind it or anything like that. Just simply Roddy. Now I have to get

something off my chest before this goes any further. I have never

considered myself a big Roddy Piper fan. Growing up, I only saw most

of Roddy’s WCW run, which honestly wasn’t very good. However, as I’ve

gotten older, I’ve gone back and educated myself on the man and in

doing so, I discovered some of his greatness.

Despite seeing him mostly in WCW, my oldest memory of him was in the

WWF. You see, as a kid, I used to rent Royal Rumble 1992 all the time.

It just so happens to be a historic show in the career of Piper. For

someone who played a pivotal role in the wrestling boom of the 1980’s,

it wasn’t until 1992 that Piper won gold. He defeated the Mountie to

win the Intercontinental Championship after one of my favorite promos

of his. In response to Mountie saying he was going to take his

manhood, “I come here to fight, I don't know what you come here to do.

I came here to win two titles, I can't do that til I win the first

one. I think you've been dreaming, I think it's been all wet, too.”

Classic. I’ve seen this title win too many times to count, but it’s

always fun. My favorite memory of Piper also comes from 1992. At

WrestleMania VIII, Piper defended that Intercontinental Title against

Bret Hart. Bret was my favorite growing up and this is my favorite

Piper match. If you haven’t seen it, I suggest that you do. I won’t go

into detail, since that’s not what this is about, but it’s a classic.

A lot of people get called legends and don’t really deserve the

accolade, but Roddy Piper certainly does. Hot Rod has no qualms with

playing the villain, relishing in it even. He loved being the bad guy

because he was so damn good at it. Part of the reason that Hulkamania

and WrestleMania were the successes that they were was because Piper

was the perfect foil. He wasn’t some campy cartoon like character. He

was real. There was something about him that was different. He was

intense, he was in your face and he seemed like he was legitimately

out of his mind. He set the tone for a lot of future heels in the

business. Piper was a major star and trailblazer. He set an incredibly

high bar that honestly, hasn’t been reached often.

Even when he returned in his later years, Roddy Piper was

entertaining. Whether it was winning the Tag Team Titles with Ric

Flair for a short while in 2006, competing at WrestleMania 25 or

helping Cyndi Lauper on the road to Raw 1000, Piper was must see TV. I

mean, he was even one of the most entertaining guys I saw on TV all of

last year on Legends House. Watching his friendship with Jim Duggan

blossom was an absolute joy. It’s the only thing my girlfriend

remembers from catching bits of Legends House in the background while

I watched it. He had a charisma that made you stop and see what he was

doing. No matter how you slice it, this is one of the biggest losses

in an industry full of them. I don’t know exactly what to say here or

if this even makes for a good read. I just know that I’ll miss Roddy

Piper.

Smackdown 7/31/15 Review

The WWE Champion opens things by talking about how he doesn't like the "you tapped out" chants and how he broke John Cena's nose, even showing footage of it. This brings out Cesaro, who basically talks about how Seth never shuts up. They end up having their scheduled match now and Kevin Owens casually strolls out. He joins commentary, making Tom Phillips, Byron Saxton and Jimmy Uso look like amateur hour. Just as Cesaro starts to gain momentum, Owens interferes and teams with Seth to beat down on the Swiss Superman. It was all fine, but it's similar to what we see on Smackdown a lot. It's like there's a set format that they can't stray far from.

Since it's Smackdown, we have to have multiple variations of tag team matches. Teddy Long would be proud as we get an eight man tag. The Ascension teams with New Day against Los Matadores and the Lucha Dragons. The Prime Time Players are out on commentary to scout. New Day cuts a fun promo beforehand, as always. The match was a fun ten or so minutes and Viktor eats a pin, leading to a post match argument between them and New Day. Keeping with the tag team theme, backstage, Kevin Owens tells Cesaro to find a partner to face him and Seth. A special vignette airs to profile Becky Lynch. She was supposed to face Nikki Bella tonight but Nikki missed the taping. Instead, Becky had a good outing with Brie on Main Event that you should go check out.

Bray Wyatt and Luke Harper cut a promo in their weird smoke filled room about Bray giving Luke's life a purpose. It's relatively fine stuff but I think less is more for Wyatt promos. They'd be more special and feel less repetitive if he didn't have to do one on nearly every show. Rusev and Summer Rae are out next. Rusev has easily been one of the most entertaining things about the WWE lately. He cuts a promo on "fish Lana", mentions "hot Summer" and "Dog Ziggler." The dude has been great. He faces home state boy Jack Swagger for the billionth time. They go about twelve minutes with Rusev winning again. He attacks after, but Swagger turns it around and stands tall. I don't get why. I mean, I know it's his hometown but he's literally going nowhere and Rusev has been great lately. Moving on, R-Truth takes on Stardust. Stardust wins in relatively short time. After, he cuts a short promo, even saying "YOU HAVE FAILED THIS CITY" and tries to put a Stardust mas on Truth, but Neville runs out. They brawl and when he goes for the Red Arrow, Stardust makes a quick exit. You know, I could get really into a Stardust/Neville feud but it needs more depth. It's basically been a series of weird villain promos from Stardust and Neville standing around looking confused. It's like they only put Neville in this spot because he does the Red Arrow and they're leading to something with the Green Arrow.

Main event time as Kevin Owens and Seth Rollins await the reveal of Cesaro's partner. It turns out to be Dean Ambrose, which would be random, but his feud with Seth is pretty much never ending. The eleven minute match is the usual fare that you would expect from Smackdown. Fun match but nothing spectacular. Cesaro and Ambrose had good chemistry and got the win. Overall, this was a decent episode of Smackdown. The main event was fine and the eight man tag was good, but nothing really stood out. You could have missed this episode and not missed anything of importance. 5.5/10.

Ultima Lucha Night One Review

Since its inception late last year, I've done my very best to follow Lucha Underground. Despite losing access to El Rey Network, I've managed to see a good chunk of it. Last night, was the beginning of the end for season one. Ultima Lucha is upon us. We got to see part one, which kicked off with a Falls Count Anywhere match between The Mack and Cage, billed as the Mack vs. the Machine. This was exactly how I'd want a Falls Count Anywhere match to go. Cage attacked during Mack's entrance and they almost never used the ring. The fight was all around the temple and it involved weapons and big spots. An especially good one saw Mack hit Cage with a cooler. When beers spilled out, he picked up two, smashed them together, drank some and hit Cage with a Stunner, complete with Steve Austin like trash talk. There was also a nice suplex spot and a powerbomb from the top through a table. Nothing topped the finish though as Cage went American History X on Mack by curb stomping him through a fucking cinder block! Sick finish to my favorite opening match all year as it was non stop action. ****

One of my favorite things all season about Lucha Underground has been the Trios Champions. Angelico, Ivelisse and Son of Havoc have a dysfunctional chemistry that has been magical. Here, they defended the belts against the Disciples of Death. It's all part of Catrina's plan to pretty much rule LU as these guys get a shot here and Mil Muertes has a shot at the big belt coming up. This was the usual hectic affair from the Trios Champions. Angelico topped all of his previous insane bumps with a cross body from the top of the Temple to his opponents outside of the ring. Ivelisse was able to get her hands on Catrina, but the tables turned and she was knocked out with that big stone. I forget the official name for it. That allowed a Disciple to pin her and capture the belts. Another fun match as that's the name of the game for Lucha Underground. Entertainment for sure. ***1/2

The main event of Ultima Lucha night one saw the first ever Believer's Backlash match. This involved fans with straps around the ring, which they could use on the competitors. The match was between Drago and Hernandez. Now, of course, because they like Drago and hate Hernandez, who has made fun of them for believing in Drago, they only went after the former Super-Mex. Due to that, the outcome was never really in doubt, but it still made for relatively fun TV. I think that it was underwhelming as a main event, especially considering how strong next week's finale looks but still enjoyable stuff here. Drago wins after a splash through a table and another inside the ring. ***

A good start to Ultima Lucha here. The opener is an absolute blast, the Trios Tag Team Title match the usual chaotic fun and the main event is decent. If this was it for Ultima Lucha it would actually be a disappointment, but it worked as a solid opening act. Next week, we get a much stronger looking card that should be excellent. 7.5/10.

Raw Oklahoma Review

After a few weeks without it, we got back to the weekly Authority opening promo. Triple H, Stephanie McMahon and Seth Rollins come out to hype SummerSlam being four hours. I won't lie, I completely expect that to mean we get more musical performances and an extra long in ring segment like WrestleMania. They run down the card for tonight, hyping everything as being" FIRST TIME EVER!" They literally say that as often as they would say "$9.99" last year at times. John Cena interrupts and is surprisingly nice to the Authority despite them making his life hell last year. Cena runs down Seth again and wants a title shot. Stephanie tells the fans no but Triple H decides that we get the match tonight, only it'll be for the United States Title. We're also told that the Stone Cold podcast will be back next week, with special guest Paige. She certainly seems like a lesser name than his usual interviews, which makes me think this was Hulk Hogan's spot, which obviously can't happen now.

Dean Ambrose vs. Big Show opens the show and is surprisingly, a first time ever match. Miz was on commentary. I honestly have no idea what the point of this match was. Show beats up Ambrose for the majority of it but Ambrose keeps getting up. Show just keeps putting him down and wins via countout. Show tried to attack after the match but Ambrose dodged and he went through the usual corner guardrail spot. Did we need to see that Ambrose was resilient? Have we not seen that already? Did Show need to look dominant only to look like a dumb fuck after? Just strange booking.

Moving on, Neville beat Fandango in a fine little old school lower card match. Stardust cut one of his strange promos after. Give Cody Rhodes a ton of credit because he absolutely lives and breathes this gimmick. He gives it his all. I need more from Neville and creative to buy into this feud more though. With all of the rumors flying around, it's like Neville is a placeholder for Stephen Amell and he deserves better. We got a backstage argument between Team BAD and Paige, Charlotte and Becky. This was fine but my biggest gripe was how they just had to bring up how Stephanie McMahon is the reason for the Divas Revolution. Like, it was fine for her to introduce them to give it an important feel, but leave it alone. The Smackdown video package for Sasha Banks airs against as she and Paige get the first hour main event slot. I really wish Sasha Banks would come out with her title. She talks about being champion, she has it backstage and she has it in her match graphics. Either have her with it or don't mention it, stick with one. Early on, this wasn't the best, but once they got going, it clicked. Sasha Banks is, in my opinion, the best female wrestler in the history of the WWE and she's only 23. Paige is someone else I enjoy but she's been pretty bad since Mania, so seeing her motivated and having a good match was great. Sasha won with the Bank Statement in about fourteen minutes, in the best thing on the show so far.

Rusev and Summer "Lana" Rae come out for a promo, which turned out to be glorious. This entire feud should be atrocious but Rusev is comedy gold right now. He brought out a dog as a gift for Summer, but because it was ugly and neutered he called it DOG ZIGGLER! The next gift is a dead fish that he calls Lana. Rusev is on fire. Lana comes out and rubs Summer's face into the fish before slapping Rusev. When she leaves, RUSEV THROWS THE FISH AT HER! It was short, hilarious and I can't get over the image of him throwing the fish. Next week on Raw, Brock Lesnar will return, which will be in San Jose, the location where he lost the WWE World Heavyweight Title.

As Los Matadores takes on the Lucha Dragons, the Prime Time Players are on commentary. They bill this as FIRST TIME EVER, but it was on a Smackdown earlier this year. I guess Smackdown really is irrelevant. Titus was gold on commentary and the match was solid. New Day came out and, like Rusev, was comedy gold. Kalisto gets the win for his guys but it felt like it played second fiddle to the New Day/PTP beef. Either the match was pointless or there's a multi-team title match coming up at SummerSlam. Why build an actual tag feud for a big PPV when you can just throw a bunch of teams into it?

          We were joined by Bray Wyatt and Luke Harper for the next in ring segment. Coming into the show, there were tons of rumors about Adam Rose returning as Leo Kruger and joining the Wyatts. That didn't happen as this was just Harper recommitting himself to Bray. It was overly long, dragged and not very entertaining. What came next however, was enjoyable. Becky Lynch and Charlotte took on NIkki Bella and Alicia Fox. Two Divas matches are the norm now huh? It wasn't as good as Sasha vs. Paige, but was still a fun tag match. Becky made Alicia tap to her armbar, which was good since she's gotten the least amount of shine among the recent NXT callups, despite her being the second best in my eyes.

Do you know what kind of match came next? A FIRST TIME EVER ONE! Kevin Owens faced Randy Orton. Now these are two of the best guys on the roster and I would love to see a big program between them. Sheamus was on commentary and, after eleven or so minutes, he caused the disqualification by attacking Orton. Cesaro ran out to even the odds, but got taken out by Owens. Owens and Sheamus stood tall, but it was nice that Owens stared a hole through Sheamus since they did have beef last week. Overall, this was fine stuff and I'm glad we didn't get the clean finish as Owens/Orton could be great in the future.

          Time for the main event, as John Cena defends the United States Title against Seth Rollins. Commentary hyped this as the FIRST TIME EVER THAT CENA DEFENDS THE US TITLE VS SETH! That's reaching. These guys wrestled too many times at the end of 2014 so it's not fresh at all. The match itself was good and Cena took a knee to the nose which clearly broke it. He was gushing and his nose was out of place. Still, he fought through it and ended up winning. Via submission. There is my problem. Seth has been booked poorly as champion but this may have been the worst. He couldn't get himself DQed so Cena wins and can still earn the shot at SummerSlam? Hell, there were tons of better ways to do this and they went with the worst possible option. Cena continues to have good matches, but the booking baffles me at times.

All in all, I'll say this was a middle of the road episode of Raw. Some stuff was good, like the main event match, Sasha vs. Paige, Rusev and the New Day, but some stuff was really bad, like Seth tapping out, the Ambrose segment and the dull Bray Wyatt stuff. For me, the good slightly outweighed the bad. 5.5/10

Fave Five 7/20/15-7/26/15

1) Kota Ibushi: Obviously, the bulk of this week was taken up by the G1 Climax. It's usually really easy for WWE guys and girls to clog the list with all of their TV time each week. Well, there were five G1 shows and NJPW dominates this time around. Leading the pack is a guy that has greatly impressed all year, Kota Ibushi. I first saw him in Ring of Honor back in 2008 and liked him, but he is on another level now. He started the week by losing in a great match to Hiroshi Tanahashi. No shame in that. Then, he defeated Doc Gallows in what was one of the better Gallows' singles matches I've seen. He topped it all on day five by beating AJ Styles in what many are calling the match of the tournament so far. Day five is the only one I've yet to see, but I like both guys so I'm sure I'll be a fan. Basically, Ibushi is the MVP of the G1 Climax so far.

2) Karl Anderson: On night two of the G1 Climax, we were treated to our first upset. In the main event of that show, Shinsuke Nakamura, most people's favorites to win the entire G1, lost to "Machine Gun" Karl Anderson. The most shocking thing was that it was a clean win. No Bullet Club shenanigans or anything. He just beat Nakamura 1-2-3. On night four, he went out and beat the IWGP Intercontinental Champion, Hirooki Goto. While the quality of his matches haven't been up to par with some others on this list, they were both still enjoyable. The major reason he ranks so high is that both could be considered major upsets. He is surprising many as one half of the IWGP Tag Team Champions is doing more than fine for himself in this extremely competitive and important tournament.

3) Tetsuya Naito: Honestly, I was very tempted to put Hiroshi Tanahashi in this spot. Instead, I chose to go with someone who has completely won me over during this tournament. Tetsuya Naito and his new heel persona has been entertaining as hell. On night one of the tournament, he defeated Bad Luck Fale in a match that was kind of just there. Things picked up when he lost in a really good match against Katsuyori Shibata. It is probably my second or third favorite match of the G1 so far. His shining moment came on night five, when he topped Tanahashi. That is a pretty damn big win for Naito. His matches have been good, he's tied for the lead with 4 points and he's been super entertaining.

4) Hiroshi Tanahashi: The "John Cena of New Japan" is having a good G1 as expected. On the first night, he defeated our number one spot, Kota Ibushi in the main event. Following that great match, he competed in another main event against Hiroyoshi Tenzen and won that won as well. While it wasn't as good as the match with Ibushi, it still delivered and was worthy of a main event. On night five, he took on Tetsuya Naito in the match I discussed in Naito's spot. Besides having the obvious tie for first with four points, he also makes the list based on match quality, which has been, as expected, damn good.

5) Michael Elgin: When it was announced that Michael Elgin would compete in the G1 Climax, I saw a lot of unhappy people. There are a ton of fans who strongly dislike him. I honestly got out of following ROH during his run and missed a lot of his work. I figured the G1 would give me a chance to see him in action. So far, he has looked great. He has surprised a lot of people by putting on two very good matches. While he may not have any points, he deserves a spot for his performances. His match against IWGP Champion Kazuchika Okada was masterfully booked as he came off looking like a beast. Then, he went toe to toe with Satoshi Kojima in another good match and another losing effort. While I don't expect him to rack up many wins, he is showing that he can hang, at least for now.

Death Before Dishonor 13 Review

So last night was Ring of Honor's Death Before Dishonor Pay-Per-View event. I have actually seen multiple Death Before Dishonors live in the past. Now, unfortunately, I missed the opening contest between Silas Young and Will Ferrara, though it honestly was the match I was looking forward to the least. 

I started during the Cedric Alexender vs. Moose match. Moose was on a huge winning streak and Cedric was on a bit of a losing skid when Cedric defeated him on ROH TV. With Cedric showing more heel tendencies, Veda Scott left Moose to manage Cedric. I thought this match was pretty solid. Moose hasn't been wrestling long but has done pretty well for himself in that time. Alexander won by nailing Moose with a foreign object. There is some good heel potential for Alexander. **3/4

Up next, Roppongi Vice took on the Briscoes. Part of me looked at this like it was kind of an off night for the Briscoes. They've been pretty high on the card lately, especially Jay, and this was a bit lower. There was no rivalry here or anything, but commentary did a good job in selling the fact that a win here would put either team in Tag Team Title contention. It was a blast and I really enjoyed seeing Roppongi Vice get more aggressive as the match went on and Trent had a busted eye. They got some near falls before the Briscoes picked up the win. Really fun stuff. ***3/4

I was pretty excited to see Adam Cole vs. Dalton Castle. Castle may not be known for being the best worker that ROH has, but his character is an absolute joy to watch. His matches are usually enjoyable but this was extra fun. Cole played off of him perfectly with some fun facial expressions. It was good to see Castle step into the ring against someone who has been to the top of ROH. As expected, Cole won here and showed Castle respect after the bell. Quality action here. Silas Young ran out to attack Castle after the match. ***1/2

When this actual match happened live, my stream got all messed up, but I found a way to watch it fully this morning. Adam Page faced ACH in a No Disqualifications match. Early on, I wasn't a big fan of this as it started rather slow. Once they got into the actual no disqualification work by bringing in weapons and such. They got creative, which really helped this out. This wasn't overly long and, after involving a ladder and table, Page won. Pretty solid stuff. ***

I was looking forward to the Four Corner Survival Tag Team Title match. The Addiction defended against reDRagon, War Machine and the Kingdom. Right off the bat, Maria Kanellis stole the show by looking amazing. I felt like this had potential to be much better, but it wasn't bad by any means. All four teams worked hard, but War Machine stood out to me. They busted out some impressive offense and looked to be doing their best to go above and beyond. Adam Cole was out on commentary to further build his issues with the Kingdom. This was chaotic, but just a bit underwhelming. The Addiction retain following Celebrity Rehab. ***

It was now time for the main event, pitting Jay Lethal vs. Roderick Strong. Strong is billed as Mr. ROH and Lethal currently holds the World and Television Titles. While this is a big match, I think it's good for a first defense as a win over Strong means a fair amount. The match itself is a really good outing from both guys, but they end up going with the time limit draw. It's hard to have a match go for an hour and not have it feel a bit long but this felt like 60 minutes. I've seen much better hour matches and much worse, but this was in the middle. I also don't agree with the draw decision. I get that they may want to do the rematch down the line, but having Lethal's first defense not end via decisive pin is disappointing and kind of hurts him. I've seen people split on this. Some hated it and some called it a MOTY candidate. I'm more towards the middle as it was good, but not great. ***1/2

Overall, I think this was another good showing for Ring of Honor. I don't believe it was a classic or great event, but it was really solid. Nothing gets more than four stars from me and nothing got less than **3/4. Outside of the main event, the show moved quickly and, while I may not agree with every booking decision, I found the show enjoyable. 7/10

Smackdown 7/23/15 Review

This week's Smackdown is important for me to see since it's Sasha Banks' in-ring debut on the show. However, we actually begin with the arrival of Dean Ambrose. He comes out, followed by Sheamus, who cuts a short promo saying that Ambrose isn't courageous, but reckless. Ambrose says that Sheamus looks stupid and the match starts. I enjoyed this, even more than their King of the Ring match from earlier this year. Thanks to a distraction from Bray Wyatt and Luke Harper, Sheamus defeats Ambrose with the Brogue Kick. Hey, Mr. Money in the Bank actually got a win! We cut backstage, where Jojo interviews Neville, who says that Stardust is unlike anyone he's encountered. He calls him a coward and leaves before Stardust appears on the screen behind him in typical weird fashion.

Speaking of Neville, he's out to take on Adam Rose like this is 2014 NXT or something. This ends exactly the way you'd expect, as Neville picks up the win in about three minutes. Stardust appears on screen, mocking Neville and says that the sharpest arrows, no matter the color, come crashing down. He even throws in a Dusty Rhodes line for good measure. Possible build for Stardust vs. Green Arrow it seems. They run a great Sasha Banks video package. I hope Charlotte and Becky Lynch get these as well. Next, King Barrett comes out to cut a promo and try to salvage his career. He talks about how he beat three "top" Superstars in 24 hours to become King and he took care of R-Truth too. This was standard stuff but I can honestly no longer take Barrett seriously. Moving on, Kevin Owens shows up to cut a promo. He says that he tapped out at Battleground because he didn't want to risk injury while he has a family to feed. I liked this reasoning and it should have been shown on Raw to more viewers. He takes on Rusev and they have a pretty good hard hitting match but Kevin Owens continues his string of walking out on matches, resulting in him taking a countout loss. The prize fighter needs to start finishing matches if he's ever going to earn another shot at a prize. He then cuts off a Cesaro backstage interview and gets in his face. Cesaro tells him to "walk Owens walk."

The Divas were in action next, as Sasha Banks made her Smackdown debut, teaming with Naomi to face the Bella Twins. This was given about twelve minutes and they worked through a commercial break. It was really cool seeing Sasha work with Nikki Bella, as I think there is a good match in the future between them. All four girls brought their working boots. The Bellas continue to show improvement and Naomi seems to have stepped her game up now that the NXT girls are here, showing good chemistry with Sasha. Sasha was her usual great self, giving us a good match. Nikki dropped Naomi with the Rack Attack, giving Team Bella their first win since the "Divas Revolution" began.

In our main event, WWE World Heavyweight Champion Seth Rollins faced off with Cesaro. As anyone who knows these two would expect, this was a fourth good match of the evening. Both guys are incredibly talented in the ring and Cesaro continues to have entertaining matches now that he's been given the chance. After a few close calls, Cesaro ultimately falls short after getting poked in the eyes and eating the Pedigree. Kevin Owens appears post match and hits a popup powerbomb on Cesaro. Overall, this was a really enjoyable episode of Smackdown. The opening match, Rusev/Owens, the women's tag and the main event were all good matches, the fluff was kept to a minimum and we got the fun Stardust promo. This episode gets an 8/10.