Alpha-1 Wrestling The Purge
July 3rd, 2016 | Knights of Columbus in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada
This is my third review of Ethan Page’s Alpha-1 Wrestling promotion. So far, the first two shows could be described in one word: fun. The shows move along at a brisk pace, feature some intriguing storylines and you get to see a cool mix of talent. In just two shows I’ve seen Carlito, Heidi Lovelace, Shane Douglas and Michael Elgin.
The opening video and theme of the show seems to a play off of the “Purge” film franchise.
Zero Gravity Championship: Alessandro Del Bruno w/ Ms. Chung def. Mike Bailey in 12:33
“Speedball” made quite the name for himself before a visa issue caused him to not be able to work in the US for five years. Del Bruno won the title at the previous show. Quick paced start and both guys laid in the stiff kicks. The crowd was way behind “Speedball.” Del Bruno suplexed Bailey into the corner for a near fall. Bailey came back with his signature aerial offense, including a moonsault knee drop and a springboard moonsault to the outside. Bailey connected on a big spinning tornado kick and a standing corkscrew moonsault for two. He went for a shooting star press but Bruno avoided it. The offensive moves got bigger as things progressed. Del Bruno caught him with a huge kick to the head and hit a big backbreaker for two. Bailey came back with a shooting star press but Ms. Chung interfered. With there being no rules, Bruno whacked Bailey with a briefcase for the win. Fun opening contest with a lot of action. Bailey was fun and Del Bruno has consistently been one of the highlights of each Alpha-1 show I’ve seen so far. ***¼
Josh Alexander and Selezyia Sparx came out and Josh cut a quick promo about introducing chaos into every match tonight. There will be various “Virus” members around the ring and they’ll pretty much be the people introducing weapons into the matches.
Ethan Page def. Cheeseburger in 15:20
Page brought a cheeseburger to the ring and asked Cheeseburger if they were related. Cheeseburger said it was his momma but Page found a pickle! He then stomped on it! THE BASTARD! Things got weird when Page wanted to taste Cheeseburger and even went to get ketchup and mustard. Cheeseburger got in a cheap shot and things got going. He looked like he was going to go for a dive onto a seated Page outside, but instead he stopped and went for a soft cross body off the apron. Page caught Cheeseburger and sat him down. He ran around the ring to charge up but ran into a chair shot. Page turned it around and ate another cheeseburger, which could have been Cheeseburger’s uncle. Cheeseburger hit a damn palm strike into the chair into Page’s face, which was pretty cool. Page got the win shortly after with the Head Shot onto a chair. A surprising mix of comedy and hardcore. Cheeseburger looked good and credible and part of it was because of the chair, which was smart. Another fun match. ***
Alpha-1 Tag Team Championship: Theory of Evolution (c) def. Tabarnak de Team (Thomas DuBois and Mathieu St. Jacque) in 10:28
After a short feeling out process, Space Monkey entered with nun chucks! SPACE NINJA MONKEY! It does nothing though because he’s quickly stopped. Space Monkey took the heat and the challengers proved themselves to be a straight forward manly duo. He eventually made the tag to Nye, who came in hot. DuBois managed to stop him in his tracks with a big nun chuck shot. Space Monkey slide a lightsaber to Nye! It doesn’t much though since it’s plastic. Monkey sprinboarded in but got caught in a double buckle bomb. Nye took a kendo stick to the side before a sitout powerbomb but somehow kicked out. Dubois made a mistake and nailed his partner with the kendo stick before getting nailed with nun chucks. The Rocket launcher finished it. The theme continues. This was enjoyable and wacky in the best way. **¾
Dick Justice def. Danny Orlando in 3:32
Dick Justice is now just a civilian while Orlando is an officer. Orlando attacked during Dick’s entrance. Once in the ring, Orlando planted a lengthy kiss on Justice and leaped into his arms. They ended up trading gum in the exchange. They did some more comedy with Dick running the ropes to get tired. He quickly won with a black hole slam. Comedy match that didn’t really feature enough actual wrestling to get a rating. As a comedy angle it seemed to work well. The crowd enjoyed it. NR
After the match, Orlando offered a handshake. Justice shook it but Orlando attacked. He cuffed Justice to the ropes and beat him up. The referee somehow had the power to suspend Orlando.
King of Hearts Tournament Qualifying Match: Cheech, Gavin Quinn and Justin Sane def. Alex Daniels, Brent Banks and Rickey Shane Page in 9:18
The winner gets into the following month’s tournament. This started as a calm match but then they remembered the show is under “purge” rules and all hell broke loose. While Cheech and Daniels worked in the ring, the other four men paired off on the outside. I believe the Cheech team are the babyfaces and they all busted out some sweet dives. Quinn’s corkscrew moonsault was certainly a highlight. Chairs and a ladder got brought into play. It led to Page taking a tower of doom spot onto the ladder. That ladder didn’t look like it had any give. Like, it really looked painful. Everybody brought out some nice offense towards the finish before Quinn beat Banks with a short superkick. A chaotic match that picked things back up after the previous bout. It fit right into the purge theme. ***
Rickey Shane Page went nuts and beat up all five guys with various weapons. Gregory Iron has to come out and force feed RSP pills to get him to stop.
Kobe Durst def. David Starr in 12:20
Durst has arguably been the MVP of the Alpha-1 shows I’ve seen so far. Starr came out firing and hit some tope suicidas instantly. His final dive outside was less impressive though. They brawled outside a bit before taking it inside. Durst delivered a vicious sounding chop but Starr was unfazed and fired back. Starr goes to the weapons first, bringing a chair into play. He hits him in the ribs with it twice though he seemed uncomfortable with it. He then pulled a Steve Corino and applied a chinlock while sitting on the chair. Durst got hot and they went into a big exchange of forearms. Durst got two on a Fameasser onto the chair. They didn’t do a great Yoshi tonic spot. Durst nailed an elbow and step up enziguri before winning via piledriver. This was going very well but had some sloppy moments that held it back. I do feel like Durst has all the makings of a breakout star. ***
Alpha Male Championship: Heidi Lovelace (c) def. Selezyia Sparx and Veda Scott in 9:05
No offense to Kobe Durst but I take back what I said earlier. Lovelace has been the MVP recently. I also have a huge crush on Veda Scott. Sparx and Scott attacked Lovelace while she was introduced. She wrapped her legs around the ring post and bashed it with a chair. Sparx and Veda quickly turned on one another. Sparx hit a buckle bomb and Scott hit a great Russian leg sweep variation. Sparx put Lovelace in a Gory special and worked a camel clutch on Scott at the same time. She broke it up to slam Lovelace on Scott. Scott and Lovelace traded some sweet suplexes but Sparx came in and took them both over with a rather ugly double Northern lights suplex. A Virus member brought a table into play. Scott got Sparx on her shoulders but could barely hold her. Lovelace tried a super double knee drop through it but Sparx missed the table and hit her head hard. The table spot goes to Veda instead as she took a powerbomb through it for two. Veda came back and poured out thumbtacks! It backfired because Lovelace planted her with an STO onto the tacks. A senton off the top finished it off. This was on pace to be the best match of the night. Things got a little off when the weapons started coming into play and some moves didn’t come off the way they should have. It was still good and major props to Veda for the tack spot. ***¼
Josh Alexander and Kobe Durst def. Ethan Page and Scotty O’Shea in 28:09
Alexander and O’Shea had to choose mystery partners, leading to Page and Durst. Page and Alexander have a history as a tag team for years. They immediately brawled and Page whacked Durst with a keyboard. This just continued to be a war. There were ring bells bashed into private areas, a double stomp onto a table, and the inclusion of trash cans and ladders. Things finally got back to the ring and Alexander blocked Page’s Head Shot, playing off of their history. He sent Page back first onto a chair. O’Shea hit a sick Lethal Injection type move with a chair wrapped around Alexander’s head. The heels took over but O’Shea seemed to save things only to get hit with the keyboard. O’Shea took a DVD through a table but Page broke up the pin. Page and Alexander went at it, again showing how well they know each other. Page back body dropped him onto two open chairs to win that exchange. Durst got involved with a ladder, but took a fall away slam through it in the corner! The carnage continued and two tables got set up in the ring. Durst got up on one with a fallen O’Shea. Page came off the top with the Head Shot and they went through the second table. Alexander then hit O’Shea with a moonsault but the table didn’t break. Page and Alexander ended up trading blows and Alexander had it won. He brought in a Virus member. It is revealed to be Page’s friend, Joey Kings. He elbows Page and Alexander wins with the tombstone. A wild war that fit the billing of the main event of a show like this. I do think it went a bit too long, clocking in at nearly a half hour. ***
The beating continued after the bell. Space Monkey, Heidi Lovelace and other faces came down but also got beat up. Lovelace got powerbombed onto O’Shea on a table. Page got on the microphone and wanted to fight but knew he was outnumbered. He challenged Kings to a match at the show in August. He also announced that he is bringing in Matt Riddle to face Alexander because Virus will not win this war.
Overall: 7/10. From a match rating standpoint, this would probably be a bit below the other Alpha-1 shows I watched. However, I have to commend it for again being an easy watch and for being just a fun show. The purge idea is really cool, though the weapons in matches did become a bit diminished over time. However, the story advancement and angle work continues to be a highlight. I’m three shows in and I’m very invested in the Virus storyline, I pull for Lovelace each time out, Del Bruno continues to deliver, etc.
it's time for another episode of Lucha Underground.
Sexy Star is shown in the locker room. Dario Cueto comes up to her to tell her that her friend The Mack is hurt after Matanza took him out. He says that she can keep defending her title and maybe lose it or prove she isn't scared and actually face Matanza. Tonight, she won't be defending it because she'll be teaming with the Trios Championship against Worldwide Underground in an Atomicos Match! Sexy looked all kinds of great here. Johnny Mundo shows up looking for Taya. He says that he's never formally introduced himself to Sexy. He offers a hand and she shakes it. He pulls her in and says that he's the next Gift of the Gods Champion.
Prince Puma def. Siniestro de la Muerte in 4:48
Puma sported the darker colors tonight. They started with a slugfest, which worked since the point of the match was to show that Puma could get serious in his feud with Mil Muertes. Mil came down towards the end and nearly got involved but Puma stopped him. He hit a spinning Michinoku Driver and won with Mil's Flatliner finisher. This was a fun little match that accomplished what it set out to do. **1/2
Prince Puma wasn't done there, diving out onto Mil Muertes and going at it with him. Muertes sent him inside before Catrina took him to the back.
Cortez Castro comes into Dario's office. Dario hugs him and apologizes for the loss of Mr. Cisco, saying he wants to bring the killer to justice. He even brings up that it could have been Big Ryck.
Pentagon Dark def. Cortez Castro in 1:07
Casto came right out of Dario's office. Well, you can tell Dario knows about Cortez since he booked him against Pentagon. Cortez started hot but was quickly overwhelmed by Pentagon. Pentagon continually stared a hole through Vampiro. He won with the Package Piledriver. Not really anything to rate, but this accomplished a fair amount, moving forward Pentagon/Vampiro and Dario/Cortez.
Pentagon Dark proceeded to break Cortez's arm. He then got on the microphone and said that he doesn't care who wins the main event. In the ring, he doesn't even respect his mother. Cero fucking Miedo.
Atomicos Match: Worldwide Underground def. Aerostar, Drago, Fenix and Sexy Star in 8:50
It'll be interesting to see if Jack Evans continues his attitude from the last time these teams got involved. Taya started with Sexy. Lots of fast paced stuff between them and everyone else who gets involve.d Mundo really seemed to be taking on the "leader" role of the group. We thought Fenix got a hot tag but he ran right into a superkick from Johnny. Taya really connected on a shot to Sexy and her nose got busted. The Trios Champions busted out a cool sequence that included a springboard 450 by Fenix but the pin was broken up. Fenix got Johnny back with a superkick before diving outside onto his partner and PJ Black. This was followed by a few really awkward sequences involving Sexy Star. Evans beat Sexy with a backslide. Fun match but it had too many flubs and odd moments to be really good. Strange to have Evans pin Sexy. ***
Taya seemed to mess up her leg at one point and needed to be helped to the back.
Cartina, Mil Muertes and Siniestro de la Muerte are in some dark room. Catrina says that Siniestro failed them for the last time. She snaps his neck and sucks his soul out. GODDAMN! She wants Mil to do the same to Prince Puma.
Dragon Azteca Jr. def. Chavo Guerrero in 7:05
Rey Mysterio Jr. was the special guest referee. This match turned out to be the first bad one in the short career of Azteca. It was boring and featured way too much from Chavo. At this point in his career, Chavo doesn't bring much besides the Guerrero name to the table. He controlled a lot of this and made for a dull atmosphere. Chavo argued with Rey and attacked him, so Rey hit back. Azteca won with a rana. This did nothing for Azteca. He looked like he got lucky and won a shitty, boring match. Rey hit Chavo with a post-match 619. *
Black Lotus was shown for the first time this season. She lit some candles and is sending the Black Lotus tribe to get Pentagon Dark.
Overall: 6/10. Not a very fun or important episode. The Atomicos match was fun and I liked the angle advancement of the Puma match. However, the main event sucked ass and was one of the worst matches in LU since Demon Jr./Texano at Ultima Lucha. The stuff involving Pentagon, as well as the Catrina stuff was alright too.
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 using Fubo.tv!
1) Tetsuya Naito: There were a lot of shows this week, but Tetsuya Naito is a clear-cut winner here. His match against MIchael Elgin at Destruction in Kobe was the best of the week and another feather in the cap of the guy that I think makes the best argument against AJ Styles for wrestler of the year. Naito's win earned him his first ever IWGP Intercontinental Title. That would be enough to put him first but the win was more than that. It made Naito the first Grand Slam winner in NJPW. He has held the IWGP Tag Team, Heavyweight, Intercontinental and NEVER Openweight Championships, to go along with G1 Climax and New Japan Cup victories. Naito is easily the MVP of NJPW this year and this proved it again.
2) Roman Reigns: Roman Reigns is consistently a guy having very good to great matches for the most part. His character is just so bad and unlikable that mysel and many others just can't get behind him. This week, he didn't put on some of his best matches but he did rack up two major wins. First, in the main event of Raw, he defeated the WWE Universal Champion Kevin Owens in a Steel Cage match. Then, at Clash of Champions, he bested Rusev to win his first WWE United States Championship. Though it is a midcard title, Reigns is still seen as one of, if not the top guy on Raw and his run as champion will most likely see the title be held in higher regard.
3) The New Day: I like the New Day. I really do. I disagree with the decision to have them retain at Clash of Champions though. It's about time Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson become champions. Either way though, the New Day retained their Tag Team Titles at the PPV in the best match they've had against Gallows and Anderson so far. The win marks a milestone for the team as they surpassed 399 days as champions and crossed into the 400 day section. It's nearly uncharted territory as they join only Demolition as 400+ day champions and now have less than 80 days remaining until they can break the all-time record.
4) Kevin Owens: Yes, he lost in the Steel Cage match main event of Monday Night Raw to Roman Reigns. Yes, his first Pay-Per-View main event match turned out to be very disappointing. Still, Kevin Owens did successfully defend his WWE Universal Championship in the Clash of Champions main event against former two-time WWE Champion Seth Rollins. The match was kind of an overbooked mess but it showed that the company had some faith in Owens to carry the title for more than just a few weeks. A win over Roman Reigns on Monday and a better match with Rollins would have certainly placed Owens higher.
5) TJ Perkins: Successfully made his first defense of the Cruiserweight Championship against The Brian Kendrick at Clash of Champions.
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!
