WWE Clash of Champions
September 25th, 2016 | Bankers Life Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, Indiana
On the Kickoff Show, Alicia Fox went one on one with Nia Jax. This went exactly the way you’d expect. Nia dominated, while Alicia got in some hope spots. The crowd doesn’t care about Alicia though, so their reactions for all of it wasn’t very strong. Alicia looked way sloppy at times. Nia got the win in 4:54 (*).
Raw Tag Team Championship: The New Day (c) def. Karl Anderson and Luke Gallows in 6:43
This feud has been pretty terrible and their match at SummerSlam sucked. However, they came out firing here. Anderson and Gallows took out Woods and Big E quickly, allowing them to isolate Kingston. It was a sound strategy for the heel team. The camera missed Gallows taking out Francheska, which got heat from the live crowd. They worked at a quick pace and the challengers really held serve. Woods nailed Anderson with the trombone, which allowed Kofi and Big E to hit their finish and retain. Easily their best work together so far, but it came off weird. The heels dominated, yet still couldn’t beat New Day and feel like a joke after all these months. Strange booking decision. **¾
WWE Cruiserweight Championship: TJ Perkins (c) def. The Brian Kendrick in 10:31
TJ Perkins now has a video game inspired theme and tron that feels straight out of Scott Pilgrim vs. The World and I love it. They went overboard with the presentation, changing the ropes and lighting to purple and having the word “cruiserweight’ on the screens in the arena. The match itself was good, but never quite got to the level I was hoping for. Kendrick pulled out all of his wily, angry veteran stuff. He used the ring skirt to his advantage and was a bully at times. There were a few sloppy moments throughout as they’re clearly not used to working one another. Another reason I would have gone with Metalik/Perkins in a finals rematch here. TJ missed a 450 but escaped Kendrick’s submission and went for the knee bar. Kendrick escaped and tried his again, only for TJ to get out, hit the pop-up kick and win with the knee bar. A good match but I was really hoping for more. The final stretch was the best part by a lot. ***¼
After the match, Perkins and Kendrick shook hands and hugged, only for Kendrick to headbutt him.
Match Seven in Best of Seven Series: Cesaro [3] vs. Sheamus [3] went to a no contest at 16:37
I feel like this series has produced five (we didn’t see one) damn good matches, but the predictable 0-3 comeback to force a final match is too cliché for my taste. It looked like these guys saved their best for last. Sheamus stopped a hot Cesaro by going after the back that he’s worked on all series long. Cesaro decided to bust out wacky spots as he did a 619 after his uppercut train. They called back to previous matches before a really scary moment came when Cesaro landed on his head on a tope suicida. Cesaro was somehow okay and the match continued at an insane pace. This was on track to easily be the match of the night and the best on the Raw brand since the draft. Unfortunately, Cesaro clotheslined Sheamus into the crowd and the referee called for the match to stop due to their conditions. The only thing that makes up for this finish would be if Sheamus and Cesaro become a team and get a Tag Team Title shot out of this. Even so, it’s tough to stomach because they had two matches, THEN announced the best of seven and we didn’t get a conclusion. It seemed like we were going to get something truly special before the finish. ***¾
Chris Jericho def. Sami Zayn in 15:20
A PPV match between these two is something that I pretty much always wanted. Like a lot of stuff the Raw brand does though, the build to this has been lackluster. It felt like the company forgot they had these guys and decided to put them in a match because of the Kevin Owens connection. I’d also like it if Sami’s character could step away from the Owens connection for a while. Anyway, this was solid but again, didn’t quite live up to the potential. Neither guy seemed to be on their game and there were some blown spots, including Sami missing the moonsault off the guardrail and a badly done tornado DDT. I was surprised with the result because Sami could have used the win more here. Jericho won with the Codebreaker in a match that just never clicked like it should have, but still managed to be pretty good. ***
Raw Women’s Championship: Charlotte (c) w/ Dana Brooke def. Bayley and Sasha Banks in 15:25
You know, this could have been a special match with the right build. Instead, it feels rushed and thrown together. Both faces went after Charlotte early, which led to the typical challengers fighting amongst themselves story. Dana got involved and Michael Cole mentioned that there are no disqualifications. So why wouldn’t she just never stop interfering? Damn logic. Charlotte removed Sasha’s rib tape and focused on the back. The women did some good spots but a few came off rough. Dana prevented Sasha from winning a few times. They did a convoluted finish where Charlotte hit Bayley into Sasha, who was awkwardly being held by Dana. With Sasha out, Charlotte hit Bayley with a big boot and retained. Charlotte’s reign of boredom and terror continues. The writers seem to have no clue what they have in Bayley. She feels like just another girl on the roster and the third wheel here. It’s so bad. If the WWE really thinks that the payoff to Charlotte’s reign should be Dana vs. Charlotte, they are poorly mistaken. Especially since they haven’t even made viewers feel sympathetic for Dana. ***
WWE United States Championship: Roman Reigns def. Rusev (c) w/ Lana in 17:07
I still don’t understand why I’m supposed to cheer for Roman Reigns in this match. Rusev was showing the world how much he loved Lana and Reigns came out to ruin a nice moment and make bad jokes. Reigns is good in the ring, but his character is just so shitty. This match went exactly the way you’d expect. Reigns started hot before Rusev took over and worked his heat segment. It went a bit too long. Lana interfered and instead of disqualifying her, she got ejected. Reigns powered out of the Accolade and hit the Spear out of nowhere to win the title. Both men are capable of more, but the Reigns formula is getting tiresome. This does keep him out of the Universal Title picture but if they don’t do something about his character, it’s never going to work. A disappointment of a match. **¾
WWE Universal Championship: Kevin Owens (c) def. Seth Rollins in 25:06
Oh man. This was a wreck. Just for a comparison, the Backlash main event saw Styles and Ambrose have an awesome match with one moment of shenanigans at the end. This was going alright and then we got shenanigans. It was even worse because the story around this match is shitty, so the shenanigans involved are gonna be shitty. These two seem to be fighting more for Triple H’s affection than for the Universal Title. Triple H showed up to screw Rollins and disappeared, while Stephanie knows nothing and Foley is just there being a tool. Why should I care about the match when it is the Authority who dictates the champion (Rollins, Orton, Owens, Sheamus, etc.)? The crowd was quiet for most of this match, as if they were waiting for the run-ins. They barely popped for an announce table spot (which was lifted directly from the throwaway Wyatt/Kane match at Backlash). They did finally react to a Seth crotch chop and counting for a Seth pin after a ref bump. Jericho got involved but Seth mostly bested him. After an eternity, Stephanie finally brought out a new referee and Owens hit the Popup Powerbomb to retain. I wanted to like it because I’ve seen these two have awesome matches in the past. But this wasn’t a match. It was 20 minutes of killing time until we could get to the overbooking. A massive disappointment. **
Overall: 5/10. A middle of the pack show. A lot of the matches were solid, but the booking decisions baffled at times. While Backlash delivered on wise decisions, Raw got lost. Anderson & Gallows feel lost, the cruiserweight stuff is just kind of there right now and they’re clueless about Bayley. Zayn/Jericho, Rusev/Reigns, Sasha/Bayley/Charlotte and Owens/Rollins all heavily disappointed. Sheamus/Cesaro was MOTN but that got bogged down by a bad finish. There was potential here, but it never lived up to it.
While I don’t think the Raw women’s division has been properly handled, I do have to commend them for the work done with Nia Jax. Her squash matches have been entertaining and, while the Alicia Fox stuff came up strangely, the story of Alicia’s random friend getting destroyed by Nia was at least different. Alicia got murdered herself recently by Nia and I think this goes similarly, with Alicia getting in some offense this time. Nia wins for obvious reasons and I suspect she moves into a rivalry with Paige once she returns from suspension.
Winner: Nia Jax
I have not enjoyed the way this series has been booked. Granted, all of the matches have been good since these two can seemingly have good matches with each other in their sleep. I’m just not a fan of the cheesy, cliche 0-3 comeback. It’s been done before and just doesn’t entice me. I get the idea behind it but it’s not my cup of tea. Cesaro has taken a massive beating throughout this and a loss here would be crushing for a lot of fans. While I could see it happening, I think Cesaro gets the win. If the prize is a Universal Title shot, Cesaro vs. Owens could be a good one-off program for Owens and the title.
Winner: Cesaro
Thank goodness Sami Zayn is back to doing something of relevance. After his MOTY candidate at Battleground where he beat Kevin Owens, being placed in a throwaway pre-show tag match at SummerSlam was a disgrace. Working with Chris Jericho is still a big deal and this is a candidate to potentially steal the show. While the feud itself hasn’t been top notch, the match should absolutely deliver. I think that Sami should win here to set up something for him in the coming months. If Rusev keeps the US Title, I would love to see Sami be the guy to eventually take the title off of him. Expect a great match here.
Winner: Sami Zayn
This is, hands down, the match I’m most excited for. TJ Perkins is one of my favorite wrestlers in the world and his run through the Cruiserweight Classic was all sorts of awesome. The Brian Kendrick is also a guy I like and his new aggressive style is a pleasure to watch. This should be a very interesting contest. Kendrick could win to put the title on a known entity, but I don’t think they’d have Perkins win the CWC just to drop the title in his first main roster match. I believe they’re gonna go the route of Kendrick losing here and then playing the pissed off, grizzled veteran who has to claw his way back to the top. While he does that, Perkins can have some other fun title defenses (Metalik, Alexander, etc.).
Winner: TJ Perkins
When Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson came to the WWE, I had high hopes for this rivalry. The hottest tag team in the WWE in a long, long time against the top tag team from NJPW. However, it has been a massive disappointment. The feud has consisted of a lot of bad jokes, lackluster promos and mostly dull matches. I expected them to do the change at SummerSlam, but since they didn’t, I think it happens here. New Day got past the one year mark and it’s time to make the change. Plus, the Tag Titles eventually moving to Enzo and Cass is the right move, so having Gallows and Anderson as the heel team for them to dethrone is a much better option.
Winners: Karl Anderson and Luke Gallows
The Raw women’s division has the big names, but it isn’t booked nearly as well as Smackdown. I’m the biggest Sasha Banks fan you’ll find and I really like Bayley, but I’m way more invested and interested in Alexa Bliss vs. Becky Lynch. This just feels really thrown together. It’s like, they brought up Bayley to replace Sasha since she was hurt, but she returned earlier than expected and now it’s kind of a mess. The match itself should be good, but the story being told leading up to it has severely lacked. The smart thing to do would be to put the Women’s Title back on Sasha Banks. It makes sense since her title win felt earned and it was ripped away from her due to injury. However, this is Raw and Charlotte seems destined to hold the title forever, no matter how bland or boring it is. Charlotte will retain here and most likely pin Bayley to keep her insane singles PPV record intact.
Winner: Charlotte
I honestly can’t really see Roman Reigns holding anything less than the Universal Title. But, considering how he’s been consistently placed above the Universal Title, I don’t think it matters. Part of me thinks he won’t be United States Champion, but a bigger part of me can’t envision a world where Rusev beats Reigns on a Pay-Per-View. Reigns will win this to prove his dominance. It’ll make Raw book the US Title like it’s important for a short while. Maybe he drops it by getting screwed or something like that. I don’t know and honestly, I don’t care. Rusev is easily one of the highlights on Raw but what can you do?
Winner: Roman Reigns
Here is an interesting matchup. Seth Rollins has been the top heel for about two years right now and Kevin Owens is quickly becoming the new top heel on Raw. Seth has sort of transitioned into a babyface, but not quite fully. The fans are probably going to be very split, since both guys are still very popular among most chunks of fans. Unfortunately, this doesn’t even feel like the most important match on the card. They still feel like they’re behind Roman Reigns on the totem pole and it has hurt some of my interest in the match. Seth has been losing big matches left and right since returning, which ir probably going to be the catalyst for Triple H choosing a new guy. Owens should retain here to further that story.
Winner: Kevin Owens
2016 Prediction Record: 47-25
2015 Prediction Record: 60-35
5) Jerry Lawler: Yes, I know that some people may hate me putting this low on the list here because of how the "King" name in wrestling is synonymous with Jerry Lawler but I can't help it. I just flat out never liked him. As a wrestler, performer, commentator or anything like that. However, I do understand how important the King name is for him. Nobody has held that title longer and the fact that he still sports the crown to this day tells you how much of a King this man is. He also had some very big moments and matches in his heyday down in Memphis as one of the best heels ever.
4) Kings of Wrestling: While they didn't win the king moniker or wear royalty related gear, I had to include them. One of my favorite tag teams in recent memory are the Kings of Wrestling. Whether it was their mid 2000s run or the 2010s stuff, Chris Hero and Claudio Castagnoli were an absolute blast to watch. Granted, they never wore the full "king" getup like some of the Kings of the Ring did, but if they called themselves Kings, I ranked them. They were one of the best tag teams I've ever seen live, putting on great matches with the Briscoes and Wrestling's Great Tag Team in front of me. Awesome chemistry between these kings.
3) Shinsuke Nakamura: Again, I'm toeing the line with the guidelines here, but the "King of the Strong Style" makes my list. When I first got into New Japan Pro Wrestling, the first guy that really caught my eye was Shinsuke Nakamura. Hell, the first time I ever saw him, he came out decked out in a crown at Wrestle Kingdom 9. He is known as the "King of Strong Style" and seems to live up to the billing. After watching him in NJPW for a year, Nakamura moved over to the States and joined NXT. Since then, he had a MOTY contender with SamI Zayn and has gone on to add the NXT Championship to his list of accomplishments.
2) King Booker: Guys have worn the crown but nobody dove completely into the king gimmick like Booker did. After winning five World Titles in WCW during their dying days, Booker T came over to the WWE. He struggled early but got very over and earned some World Title shots. He was unsuccessful in that, but stayed as an integral part of the WWE. Everything changed when he won the King of the Ring in 2006 and turned into King Booker. It led to his long awaited sixth World Title and a complete character change. The addition of Queen Sharmell only added to this as Booker was highly entertaining and successful during this run.
1) Owen Hart: The King of Harts. Growing up, I loved Bret Hart but there was just something about Owen Hart that I was drawn to. I was always split during their rivalries. When Owen won the King of the Ring in 1994, I remember being happy about it. Looking back, it was a great move. 1994 was basically the year of Owen and it's still a shame that he didn't take the WWF Title from Bret. He should have gotten the Bob Backlund reign. Anyway, he kept the nickname of the "King of Harts" until late into his career, and, besides Lawler, I can't think of anyone who had a king moniker for longer.
NJPW Destruction in Hiroshima
September 22nd, 2016 | Hiroshima Sun Plaza in Hiroshima, Japan
It is the second of three Destruction events this month. Though it has some relatively big names involved, it has the weakest card of the Destruction shows in my opinion.
Ricochet and TenKoji def. Captain New Japan, Togi Makabe and YOSHITATSU in 8:19
The Bullet Club Hunters have actually won a few matches in a row on the “Road to” events. This was relatively standard stuff. TenKoji did their thing, while Makabe got in some of his stuff. I mean, TenKoji vs. GBH would have been much better than GBH vs. Haku’s kids or the Briscoes/Bucks stuff. Ricochet got a pretty good pop for his offense. In the end though, one team had Captain New Japan, so of course they lost. He fell to a lariat from Kojima. Like I said, this was basic stuff to get guys on the card. Originally, this was an eight man tag also involving Honma and Sydal, but was changed due to injuries. **
David Finlay, reDRagon and Ryusuke Taguchi def. Manabu Nakanishi, Tiger Mask IV, Tomoaki Honma and Yuji Nagata in 6:47
This originally had Katsuyori Shibata in but his injuries have him off and Tomoaki Honma replaced him. It was good to see David Finlay here instead of in a typical young lion opener. Early on, Nakanishi tried a plancha onto O’Reilly, but mostly caught the floor and it was pretty rough. Fish and Taguchi tried to double suplex him, but failed miserably. Watching reDRagon work with Honma was pretty enjoyable too. Singles matches between Honma and either of them would probably rule. reDRagon got the win after Chasing the Dragon on Tiger Mask. Again, nothing special, but a fine little multi-man tag. O’Reilly spoke to the camera before leaving and said that he’s coming for Shibata. **¼
The Guerillas of Destiny def. Roppongi Vice in 8:33
Ah, the lackluster heavyweight tag division intertwines with the stale junior tag team division. So will there be no Super Jr. Tag Tournament this year? I’m cool with that. Since they’re in the Bullet Club, GOD had to attack during their opponent’s entrance. By the way, this is yet another chapter in the reborn and shit Chaos vs. Bullet Club feud. I honestly don’t have much to say about this match. It was exactly what you’d expect from these teams. Roppongi Vice did their best to be fun and Tama Tonga and Tanga Roa did their best to suck the fun right out of the room. I couldn’t bring myself to care and they didn’t do nearly enough to make me. *¾
Hirooki Goto and Tomohiro Ishii def. Chase Owens and Yujiro Takahashi in 8:39
The only good thing about the Bullet Club members in this is Yujiro’s pimp hat and ladies. Life must be good for Yujiro. He gets paid to come out with scantily clad women who rub up on him and he gets to be shitty at his job. No pre-match Bullet Club attack, probably because Owens and Takahashi would have just gotten their asses kicked. The heels actually do some double team offense, but Goto laid out Yujiro with a lariat and tagged in Ishii. I could just never buy Owens and Yujiro as threats, even after Owens hit Goto with a package piledriver. Goto and Ishii hit the ushigiroshi into a lariat followed by the GTR for the win. Another ho-hum match. Goto and Ishii tried, but you can’t make these Bullet Club guys interesting. *¾
Hiroshi Tanahashi, Juice Robinson KUSHIDA and IWGP Intercontinental Champion Michael Elgin def. Los Ingobernables de Japon (IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Champion BUSHI, EVIL, SANADA and Tetsuya Naito) in 12:39
LIDJ pulled a Bullet Club and attacked before the bell. EVIL used a chair in the aisle to beat up Elgin’s leg, which certainly has to come into play in the Intercontinental Title match. If it doesn’t, I’ll be severely disappointed. Without him, the faces took a bit of a beating. Elgin would get involved again and really take it to Naito. HE DID THE DEAL but only got two. They built to some strong near falls, including one where KUSHIDA even counted with the referee. With everyone brawling outside, Elgin hit the powerbomb combination on EVIL to win. A spirited match here that was easily the most fun of the night so far. Though that’s to be expected since LIDJ is HANDS DOWN the best thing going in NJPW right now. ***¼
KUSHIDA and BUSHI continued to fight in the crowd until Tanahashi came over and broke it up.
IWGP Tag Team Championship: The Briscoes def. The Young Bucks in 15:02
The Heavyweight and Jr. Tag Team Titles get unified. I guess Gedo got tired of booking two divisions poorly and will now just book one like that. The Briscoes wore pants that had grass on them. They looked like The End from Metal Gear Solid 3. It wasn’t good. These teams have met plenty of times before and they didn’t really seem to bring anything new to the table. The Bucks did their flips and kicks, Mark was his crazy self and Jay was the tough guy. The Bucks nearly had it with More Bang for Your Buck but the pin was broken up. Jay broke up the Meltzer Driver but the Bucks still nearly won. That describes the finishing sequence, as it was just two teams relying on the false finish barrage to get a pop. This seemed to last an eternity before the Briscoes won with a Doomsday Device. Blah. Just very uninteresting and unenthused. To make matters worse, the Guerillas of Destiny attacked the Briscoes after the bell. Oh joy. **
ROH World Championship: Adam Cole (c) def. Will Ospreay in 12:07
It’s the internet’s wet dream. Two guys that are held in high standard despite me not believing either is as good as people think they are (though Ospreay is clearly the better of the two). Cole’s them says “ADAM COLE BAY BAY” about fifteen times to hammer it home to the audience that it is his thing. Ospreay seemed to frustrate Cole with his fancy acrobats and arrogance early. Cole turned it around and started to pick apart Ospreay. He tossed Ospreay around and flexed for the crowd. Ospreay started making his rally but, like most of this card, the outcome was never in doubt. Ospreay tried a springboard backflip but was met with a superkick in a spot that barely got a reaction and didn’t come off nearly as well as they hoped. Panama Sunrise and brainbuster on the knee kept Ospreay down. Alright match that never reached the heights most people expected. A lesser Ospreay performance (like most of his back half of 2016, which can partially be attributed to injuries and working a ton in the first half) and nothing much from the new ROH Champion. **½
IWGP Heavyweight Champion Kazuchika Okada def. Bad Luck Fale in 17:02
Holy shit, who got high before this show and said Okada and Fale should go almost twenty minutes? Look, it’s obvious that Fale’s best matches are with top guys (see Nakamura, Tanahashi, Styles, etc.). That being said, you can’t have him wrestle for too long because it just doesn’t work. Add in that Okada has been pretty mediocre when leading matches this year (Goto at New Beginning, most of the G1) and you have a recipe for disaster. Most people are going to put all of the blame on Fale and protect Okada but both guys are at fault here, as well as whoever laid this out to go as long as it did. It followed the typical formula. Fale dominated at times and Okada had to make the big babyface rally. Fale avoided the Rainmaker a few times and Okada did the same to the Bad Luck Fall. He hit a relatively impressive tombstone and won with the Rainmaker. Wash, rinse, repeat. The only positive about this is that Fale lost so we don’t have to see it again in November. **
Kenny Omega def. YOSHI-HASHI in 22:44
Remember what I said about predictable outcomes tonight? This is another. YOSHI-HASHI has had a damn good year but nobody believed he was going to take the Tokyo Dome IWGP Heavyweight Title shot from Omega. If anyone is going to get in the way of Gedo’s beloved Omega/Okada WK11 main event, it isn’t going to be the fourth man on the Chaos totem pole. They brawled outside a bit and Omega gets points from me for exposing the concrete like an old school heel. It backfired, but his BC buddies got involved and sprayed YOSHI in the face with a spray can. Omega stayed on offense for a while but surprisingly didn’t attempt any pins. That was weird and off-putting. It felt like he was trying to get stuff in rather than win an important match. It’s not like this is a heated rivalry where he just wanted to hurt YOSHI. Omega took to using the trash can that the Young Bucks brought out. YOSHI came close a few times and instantly got up after an Omega German, leading to an exchange of strikes. They built to a lot of false finishes before the One Winged Angel got the win. They went a bit longer than they should have, but mostly did good things with the time. While it was nowhere near as good as their G1 match, it was probably match of the night. ***¼
Afterwards, Hirooki Goto wanted another shot at the Tokyo Dome main event. Omega told him “Goto Hell” and declined, saying it sounds like New Japan booking. I could make a joke about NJPW booking, but I’ll refrain.
Overall: 4/10. Since I started watching NJPW full time in 2015, this was easily the worst show I’ve seen them put on. I knew the card wasn’t interesting coming in, but nothing even surprised me by surpassing expectations like guys tend to do sometimes. A lot of the rematches were worse than previous encounters (Omega/YOSHI, Fale/Okada, Tag Titles) and the fresh title match (Ospreay/Cole) was lackluster. It shouldn’t come as a surprise that the worst NJPW show of the year is the one that features the Bullet Club in nearly every match. Destruction in Kobe should be an improvement.
The episode starts with a recap of the debut of Dario's wheel, Pentagon nearly breaking Dragon Azteca Jr.'s arm and the Worldwide Underground being run off by the Trios Champions and Sexy Star two weeks ago.
Things actually open with Azteca and Rey Mysterio sparring in a ring. Rey is trying to get Dragon to focus on their battle and not get caught up in the Pentagon stuff. Chavo Guerrero randomly appears. Dragon Azteca charges at him for lying but gets rolled into the old Lance Storm maple leaf. Rey convinces him to let go and Chavo says that he'll have to teach Azteca the "Guerrero ways."
In the Temple, Dario says that his brother will defend the Lucha Underground Title tonight against whoever comes out on Dario's "Dial of Doom." Dario says that nobody actually believed in Son of Havoc two weeks ago. He spins it and the lucky, or unlucky winner, is the Mack.
Lucha Underground Championship: Matanza Cueto (c) w/ Dario Cueto def. The Mack in 6:04
Matanza waited for the Mack on the steps. I lost connection to the channel for a second but once it came back, Mack hit a stunner on the outside and rolled him in for a near fall. Mack doesn't let that get to him and continued to stay in control. The crowd was way into him. Matanza blocked a second stunner and turned it into a release German suplex. Matana took over from there but Mack responded to some shots with a loud "THAT'S ALL YOU GOT BITCH?" Matanza answered that with a vicious shot. Mack nailed a nice dive outside and went for a bullfrog splash but Matanza got the knees up and retained with Wrath of the Gods. Like the SOH match two weeks ago, this was a lot of fun. The crowd was totally into it, it was a fresh matchup, Mack looked good and Matanza still came off like a monster. ***
The Famous B commercial plays as Son of Havoc somewhere on the "open road." He says he can't stand them. He's chilling with Mascarita Sagrada, who agrees by flipping him off. Havoc's mom shows up with BAGEL BITES for them! Amazing segment.
Johnny Mundo barges into Dario's office, asking for his Lucha Underground Title shot. Dario says that he and his boys get a Trios Titles shot tonight. He says that the Worldwide Underground just cares about him as LU Champion and not the Trios Titles. Mundo is pissed and won't compete tonight. Taya offers to replace him and Dario accepts.
Ultimate Opportunity: Cage def. Texano in 5:51
Dario showed up before this match and announced that it would be for an "Ultimate Opportunity" since both men lost in the first round of his "4 A Unique Opportunity" tournament at Ultima Lucha Dos. Texano took to the air early and did his best to negate Cage's power. He worked the ankle and hit a weak clothesline to take Cage down. They work into an exchange where both guys come close a few times. Cage won with a discus lariat in an uninspired match. It wasn't bad, it was kind of just there. **
Dario Cueto came out of his office to say that Cage wins the "ultimate opportunity", he has to beat Texano two more times because it is a Best of Five Series. Doesn't sound too interesting.
In his office, Dario gets a box with hats. He tosses them aside and opens an envelope with photos in them. It's hard to tell what's on them. Dragon Azteca barges in to demand a match with Pentagon Dark. Dario doesn't want to do it but decides to say that he'll pencil it in. A random dude arrives to ask for a match. He notices the pictures on the desk, which surprises Dario since he threw them in the trash. Dario gives them to the guy and he leaves. Chavo shows up now to say that he needs to talk to Dario.
Trios Championship: Aerostar, Drago and Fenix (c) def. Worldwide Underground in 9:27
Jack Evans was his weird self, blindfolding himself and doing some bootleg karate stuff. It didn't seem to really amuse Taya and Black. Taya came in and worked a very good back and forth with Drago. Jack refuses to tag back in, so Black goes against Aerostar. There continued to be problems with the Worldwide Underground. Evans pouted like a child outside and left Black to take a beating form the three champions, who just work at a very good, quick pace. Taya hit a nice dive outside onto Fenix and Drago. Shortly after that, Aerostar won it with a springboard codebreaker while Evans continued to pout. Good match that told an interesting story, but nothing special. **3/4
Johnny Mundo runs out and jumps the champions along with Taya and PJ Black. Jack Evans still just pouts. Sexy Star shows up and dropkicks Taya and Mundo. She gets help from the champions to run off the Worldwide Underground.
The final segment sees Rey Mysterio in Dario Cueto's office. He tells him that Azteca Jr. asked for a match with Pentagon Dark. Rey is disappointed but Dario says that Chavo wants the same thing. Next week, Azteca takes on Chavo and the winner gets Pentagon. Rey will be the guest referee.
Overall: 6/10. An average episode tonight. They advanced some stories as Lucha Underground almost always does. A lot of Dario tonight, but that's a good thing. The matches were all relatively enjoyable, though I'm not too keen on a best of five between Cage and Texano. The "Dial of Doom", SOH and Mascarita segment and Worldwide Underground issues were all fun.
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!
ROH Glory by Honor VII
September 20th, 2008 | New Alhambra Arena in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Some of my favorite memories of Ring of Honor are from 2008. Up until about 2009, they were in a groove that I don’t think I’ve seen any other company duplicate. Here, a plethora of championships are on the line. All of ROH’s titles, the FIP Title, an NWA Title and some from Pro Wrestling NOAH, who ROH had a strong partnership with. Though I’ve owned this show for nearly eight years, I’ve never watched it all the way through until now.
The show opens with a backstage promo from the new ROH World Tag Team Champions, Kevin Steen and El Generico. Steen says that four years earlier, they wrestled their first ever match in the US in this same building. He plans on becoming a double champion since he feels slanted with only one title on his shoulder. He plans on walking out with the FIP Title tonight, while Generico will become ROH World Champion as he gets a rematch at Nigel McGuinness after coming very close a month earlier.
Jerry Lynn def. Kenny King in 10:18
With the show taking place in the former ECW Arena, Lynn gets quite the homecoming ovation. I’m not sure but this might be Lynn’s first ROH appearance or at least the first in quite some time. He would go on to win the World Title by the following spring, playing off of the film “The Wrestler”. King is still new here, only making some strides in FIP. Lynn has some fun with a small pre-match dance off. They move at a quick pace early on, allowing Lynn to show that he’s still got it. Lynn stays one step ahead because of his veteran savvy. Some heel tactics and general quickness gives King an upper hand where he gets two on a spinebuster. Turnabout is fair play when Lynn does his own eye poking during his rally. King counters the Cradle Piledriver and ties to steal it, but Todd Sinclair catches his feet on the ropes and stops the count. Lynn busts out a top rope rana and Cradle Piledriver for the win. About what I want from an opener. They didn’t go too long, got the crowd invested, worked at a brisk pace and didn’t go overboard. ***
A recap airs of Brent Albright winning the NWA Heavyweight Title at Death Before Dishonor VI a month and a half earlier. I was there that night in the Hammerstein Ballroom. The match was awesome (****¼) and the pop was deafening.
NWA Heavyweight Championship: Adam Pearce w/ Larry Sweeney and Shane Hagadorn def. Brent Albright (c) in 13:57
Pearce takes the title before the bell and hoists it high to boos, so Albright responds and does it back to cheers. Albright’s arm is bandaged up due to an injury a night earlier. Pearce is pretty much the definition of an old school heel. He begs for mercy and throws Albright over the top (a DQ under NWA rules) behind the referee’s back. He does a suplex on the ramp, gaining confidence. Pearce wears down Albright until Hagadorn wedges a chair in the corner, again behind the official’s back. It backfires when Pearce goes headfirst into it. As Albright gets going, Pearce hits a low blow. Again, Hagadorn comes into play to send both competitors off of the top, again behind the ref’s back. Back inside, Albright locks in the crowbar but Pearce gets out and wrenches on a crowbar of his own on Brent’s bad arm. Albright fights but has to submit. Nowhere near the level of their New York encounter. This had far too much going on to recapture that magic. It still managed to be decent though. **½
FIP Championship: Go Shiozaki (c) w/ Larry Sweeney and Shane Hagadorn def. Kevin Steen in 15:20
Kevin Steen is super over as the babyface challenger, while Go is just starting to show off the heel tactics that come with being a member of Sweet n’ Sour Inc. The involvement of Hagadouche again pisses me off. Go refuses to shake hands, instead kicking Steen’s away. They trade shoulder blocks to see who’s stronger until Steen side steps and sends GO outside. He follows up with a somersault off the apron. Go goes old school and starts to pick apart a body part, choosing Steen’s knee. He even smashes Shane’s head into the knee, which made me laugh. He focuses there for a while, going back to it to stop any Steen momentum. Both men go high risk, with Go nailing a knee drop and Steen getting two on a moonsault. He tries a swanton but Go gets the knees up. Go gets vicious and just wails on Steen. He then uses a flurry of moves, including the Go Flasher, to retain. Fine match but nothing more. I liked Go embracing his new heel persona more and more. ***
ROH World Champion Nigel McGuinness shows up after the match and DDTs Steen on the belt. Nigel then cuts a promo about how he’s the best wrestler in the world and says that there is no competition for his title so he’s going to come after the Tag Team Titles.
GHC Jr. Heavyweight Championship: Bryan Danielson (c) def. Katsuhiko Nakajima in 23:03
I can’t believe that I’ve had this show for almost eight years and have never watched this match. Danielson is one of my all-time favorites and Nakajima is someone I find awesome here in 2016. The awesome “you’re gonna get your fucking head kicked in” chant starts us off. They go to the mat early and are mostly even. That angers Danielson, who kicks it up a notch and targets Nakajima’s arm. Danielson twists him around until Nakajima has to get the ropes for a break. Danielson almost gives the “I HAVE UNTIL FIVE” but figured the referee already knows. He hits a loud sounding elbow, sending Nakajima outside, and follows with the big springboard dive he became known for. Nakajima finally gets an opening when he catches a kick and dragon screws it on the middle rope. It’s time for him to work the leg for a while. It works really well since Danielson came in with a brace on that knee. Danielson gets aggressive with uppercuts, but Nakajima hits harder. They begin to power up and trade suplexes until Danielson lands on his feet on a German. Wisely, he at least sells it before charging at Nakajima. Nakajima hits a brutal kick and applies an ankle lock but Danielson survives. Danielson eats a barrage of vicious kicks before KICKING NAKAJIMA’S HEAD IN! After a struggle to get the upper hand by both men, Danielson hits elbows and wins with the Cattle Mutilation. Awesome match. It blows my mind that Nakajima was just 20 years old here. Both guys came in with good strategies, played to their strengths and wrestled a smart match. Danielson was just more experienced and better. ****
Jerry Lynn gets a promo backstage where he talks about wanting a shot at Nigel McGuinness and the ROH World Title.
Erick Stevens def. Rhett Titus in 3:24
CHOO-CHOO! Stevens no longer has his mohawk and, after a pretty substantial 2007 push, he’s cooled off considerably, losing the FIP Title twice and not getting much of a reaction. Rhett gets in early offense so Stevens comes back with chops. Somehow, Stevens gets his nose busted and he’s bleeding everywhere. It’s clearly a broken nose and Rhett actually goes after it, pulling it on it. Ouch. Part of Rhett’s offense is to go for ten corner punches, but instead thrust his dick into Stevens’ face. That fires him up and Stevens murders him with a lariat and doctor bomb. The broken nose made this more interesting than it otherwise would have been. *
Larry Sweeney comes out with a microphone. I love Sweeney but he was ALL over shows in 2008. Sweeney basically offers Stevens a contract to make more money and leave ROH. He declines and attacks, so all of Sweet n’ Sour come out to attack him until the Vulture Squad and Grizzly Redwood try to make the save. They all fail until Roderick Strong joins in and we’ve got an impromptu six man tag.
Sweet n’ Sour Inc. (Chris Hero, Eddie Edwards and Shane Hagadorn) w/ Larry Sweeney, Bobby Dempsey and Sara Del Ray def. Roderick Strong and the Vulture Squad w/ Julius Smokes in 11:08
The Vulture Squad representatives are Jigsaw and Ruckus. Jack Evans was pretty non-existent by this point if I remember right. Once things calm down into an actual match, Hagadorn gets his ass kicked because he’s terrible. The heels fare better when Hero or future ROH World Champion Eddie Edwards is in. Wow, looking at this, I liked Eddie but I would have never pegged him to be the company’s first Triple Crown winner. Jigsaw starts to take the heat for his guys. Strong kills it with the hot tag. While Ruckus does his flippy shit, Strong is delivering backbreakers galore. They go into the typical finisher barrage you see in matches like this. The highlight was Strong stopping Eddie’s Lionsault with a sick kick. Hero then knocks Roddy out with the loaded elbow pad to win. Fine for what it was as it mostly just advanced the Hero/Strong angle. After the match, Sweeney dropped a top rope elbow on Strong. **½
Non-Title Match: GHC Heavyweight Champion Kensuke Sasaki def. Claudio Castagnoli in 14:43
I felt bad for Claudio around this time. He was doing fine as a babyface until he kept coming up short in title matches and the fans turned on him. Here, he has no personality whatsoever. They trade some early shots and holds, but the crowd doesn’t really care. They popped for seeing Sasaki but once the match started, their interest waned. Things get a little more interesting when they begin trading chops and uppercuts. Claudio’s uppercuts are probably the best in the game. Some big clubbing blows from Sasaki are answered by a springboard uppercut. Claudio nails the Ricola Bomb for two. Sasaki rallies to win with the Northern Lights Bomb. Something about this match never clicked. The crowd just didn’t care for either guy outside of the initial entrance pop. Maybe if it was Claudio against one of the NOAH regulars like KENTA or Marufuji it would have worked better. This was a clash of styles that never really got going. **¼
ROH World Championship: Nigel McGuinness (c) def. El Generico in 20:59
Before each title match tonight, they’ve shown clips of the champions winning their title. I think that was a cool way to really make things feel important. Nigel has been champion for over eleven months and this is his 26th defense. A month earlier, Generico came so close to winning the belt in Cleveland. Nigel is sure to take a shot at Bryan Danielson early on with that defense coming up again. As Nigel picks apart Generico and works his shoulder, he gets “same old shit” chants. It was during Nigel’s run that I grew to strongly dislike ROH fans. Boo him all you want, but let’s not act like Nigel wasn’t the man. To be fair, the first half of this match, where Nigel wears down Generico, isn’t great. It doesn’t have the usual interest that Nigel matches give me. It’s smart work, as he attacks the shoulder and continues to go for the London Dungeon. Generico starts the comeback and hits his somersault coast to coast dropkick for two. He has a great counter for the Jawbreaker Lariat, instantly going into the Brainbuster for a near fall. Nigel tries the London Dungeon again, only for Generico to counter into a rollup for another near fall. Nigel tries to use the belt as a weapon but Steen is out to superkick him, leading to the bigger close call of the night. Generico hits the Yakuza Kick and looks for the super Brainbuster in the corner. Nigel slips under and rolls through a jackknife pin to retain. If we’re just talking the second half, this match ruled. The first half lacked something and was a bit too slow to really make this great. The crowd was dead for a lot of it until Generico rallied. ***½
Before the main event, a video package airs to recap the history of the Age of the Fall. It just really makes me miss Lacey.
Steel Cage Warfare: Austin Aries and the Briscoes def. the Age of the Fall (Delirious, Jimmy Jacobs and Tyler Black) and Necro Butcher in 29:09
Steel Cage Warfare is War Games with one cage and elimination rules. Necro Butcher is playing the role of the “wild card”, meaning he can enter at any time and isn’t really on anyone’s side. Austin Aries and Tyler Black, the two best guys in the match, start us out. Black and Aries go at it, trading stuff for a bit until Delirious is about to enter. Once seeing that Aries is down though, Jimmy Jacobs jumps in front and makes it two on one. Aries is bleeding as they beat him up. It’s odd that this cage doesn’t have a door. It’s a gap in the steel. Necro enters fourth, proving he’s a wild card by attacking everyone, regardless of team. He even goes after Todd Sinclair. Jay Biscoe is next and he brings a chair with him. Despite coming in hot, he also ends up bleeding. Aries and Jacobs fight out, which defeats the purpose of the steel cage. Delirious is next and hits Jay with the panic attack. I used to like Delirious but he grew to be pretty stale and I dislike how he books current day ROH. Jacobs and Aries work together to ail on Necro with chairs until Jacobs knocks him down with the spear. Aries hits the Brainbuster and they both pin him to send him home at 14:09. Mark Briscoe is the last man in, bringing a barbed wire table with him. The AOTF dominate a bit, though Delirious gets a bit of a nasty cut on his arm. He throws Jay off the side of the cage and through a table. Mark gets buckle bombed through the barbed wire table, making things hard on DEM BOYZ. The AOTF hit tons of offense on Aries, including three Panic Attacks in a row before Jacobs puts Aries in the End Time. Aries passes out at 21:52. Jacobs wants Delirious to spike Jay but out comes Daizee Haze to try and reason with him. It was her not wanting to date Delirious that caused his turn. A confused Delirious is torn between her and Jacobs until he just spikes Daizee! Jimmy is smiling while Daizee is bleeding. Mark comes off the top of the cage to wipe out of the ATOF. The Briscoes hit the Doomsday Device and Delirious is gone at 25:49. That leaves it up to the Briscoes against Black and Jacobs. The Briscoes fire up when things look lost and hit their finishers in stereo to win the match. Nowhere near as good as the original Steel Cage Warfare. A bit of a mess at times and the Briscoes kind of just MAN UP to take it in the end. Also, this was supposed to be a feud ender but I’m pretty sure it continued after this. **¾
Overall: 5/10. A massive disappointment from ROH. The show is overly long and only one match stands out. Nakajima/Danielson is worth going out of you way to see, especially considering how good Nakajima has gotten over time. The main event is a clusterfuck that doesn’t really deliver. Nigel/Generico is good, but isn’t on the level I hoped for. The rest of the card ranges from very forgettable (Vulture Squad tag and NWA Title) to pretty good (opener and FIP Title match).
1) TJ Perkins: Another week with a totally easy choice. TJ Perkins became a household name and a major star this week. When the Crusierweight Classic names were announced, he wasn't one of the favorites. He wasn't a massive name like Kota Ibushi or Zack Sabre Jr., nor was he under contract like Johnny Gargano or Rich Swann. However, Perkins beat both Gargano and Swann in previous rounds, before beating Ibushi a MOTY candidate in the Semi-Finals this week. Seriously, I don't give the full five out, but I did there. Perkins then went out and had another great match that night, beating Gran Metalik in the tournament finals. Not only did he win the CWC, he was awarded the new Cruiserweight Championship. Perkins now goes to Raw as a champion.
2) Killshot: On a Wednesday filled with great matches, I could see Killshot's performance getting overlooked. He's long been one of the more underused guys in Lucha Underground. Killshot finally got a chance to main event and he delivered. In the first Weapons of Mass Destruction match, Killshot defeated his rival Marty Martinez. Marty deserves credit too, but I'm going with the guy who won. This was a brutal war that didn't feel out of place with the stuff we're used to in the Temple. It was a top three match in a loaded week and showed that Killshot can be a major player in Lucha Underground.
3) Gran Metalik: I enjoyed him as Mascara Dorada in NJPW, but his run during the CWC has made me a big fan of Gran Metalik. Once again, they used him to open up the episode and he produced. Metalik bested Zack Sabre Jr. in a match of two guys with different styles. Despite this, it was the best match for either guy in the tournament up to that point. Metalik pulled off the relative upset to advance to the finals and meet TJ Perkins. That finals contest again proved to be a really great match and though Metalik lost, he deserves a ton of credit for his performances. Metalik finds himself set up for Raw tonight as he's one of the cruiserweights set to debut.
4) BUSHI: Outside of TJ Perkins winning the CWC, BUSHI racked up the biggest accomplishment of the week. In a rare main event for the NJPW juniors, BUSHI ended the nine (should have been fourteen) month reign of KUSHIDA as IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Champion. It came a shock to many, since they saw BUSHI as a credible challenger, but not someone to take the title. A lot of people expected KUSHIDA to hold the title until Wrestle Kingdom and drop it to Will Ospreay. I prefer it this way since it's different and unexpected. Plus, I really love Los Ingobernables de Japon and BUSHI in general. A great win for BUSHI and he becomes the second LIDJ member to win something of meaning this year.
5) Katsuyori Shibata: Retained his NEVER Openweight Championship over Bobby Fish in one of the best matches this week.
