1) Kazuchika Okada: I'm in no way a fan of the guy, but Kazuchika Okada deserves the top spot this week. The first show of the week was NJPW's King of Pro Wrestling, which has had some fantastic Heavyweight Title matches throughout its history. While Okada's defense this week wasn't on par with the incredible 2012 and 2013 main events, it was the third best. He and Naomichi Marufuji told a great story and put on my second favorite IWGP Heavyweight Title match this year (only behind Naito/Ishii). Okada has been one step behind Marufuji since losing to him back on the first night of the G1 Climax. Okada was able to finally get one over on Marufuji and defeated him to retain the title.
2) Katsuyori Shibata: Okada vs. Marufuji was arguably the match of the week but one is neck and neck with it. That would be the NEVER Openweight Title match between Katsuyori Shibata and Kyle O'Reilly. O'Reilly recently moved up to the heavyweight division and this was his first real test there. O'Reilly bested Shibata at ROH's Field of Honor event (the match aired on ROH TV this past week) and was also trying to get some revenge for his partner, Bobby Fish, who lost to Shibata last month. O'Reilly and Shibata had just the kind of match I was hoping for. They played to their strengths and in the end, Shibata was able to retain the title. Outside of a month and a half, he's had a hold on the NEVER Title throughout all of 2016.
3) Chris Hero: Unfortunately, I wasn't able to see any of the shows yet, but Evolve 70 and 71 were this week. Chris Hero has arguably been the MVP of Evolve in 2016 and it seemed to continue here. At Evolve 70, Hero defeated Drew Gulak in a match that has gotten some pretty high praise. On Evolve 71 though, Hero was part of the main event and bested Evolve's hottest star, Matt Riddle, in a match that got even more positive things said about it. Any way you look at it, Chris Hero is not just one of the best performers of 2016, he's one of the best on the planet.
4) Pentagon Dark: Lucha Underground season three has been fun, but has gotten off to a slow, rocky start. One of the things that I haven't liked is that a certain Pentagon Jr. has seemed to be a bit lost so far. They don't really seem to have much planned for him right now. However, he took a big step forward this week. In a triple threat match against Rey Mysterio Jr. and Chavo Guerrero Jr., Pentagon Dark came out on top. Not only that, but he pinned Mysterio to avenge a loss from the season premiere. it made Pentagon only the second man in Lucha Underground to pin Mysterio, joining the champion, Matanza Cueto.
5) The Miz on Randy Orton in November 2010; Raw: When John Morrison and the Miz split, I was in the small group of people that knew Miz was going to be a bigger star and I am happy to say that I was right. In 2010, I was completely in on the Miz train. I loved his work as the United States Champion, as part of Show-Miz and with the briefcase. When he finally cashed in on Raw, it is something I remember clearly. He had talked so much about guaranteeing to become Champion that I was worried he'd cash in and lose, especially when he did so against Randy Orton, who wasn't in as bad shape as some of the other victims of cash ins. But they worked a short match, and Miz was able to win. The booking of his reign was shit, thanks to playing third wheel at WrestleMania and the awful Jerry Lawler, but Miz deserved this moment.
4) Dolph Ziggler on Alberto Del Rio in April 2013; Raw: Again, we got a lackluster run after a great cash in. At the time, I was a big Dolph Ziggler fan and badly wanted him to win the World Title. He had just finished going over John Cena on Pay-Per-View to retain it, but I was upset to see him in a Tag Title match at WrestleMania. 24 hours later, he cashed in on Alberto Del Rio in front of one of the hottest crowds in history. The pop for his arrival and eventual title win is unmatched among cash ins. The short match with Del Rio was good and I loved his counter to the Cross Armbreaker. Special moment and it's unfortunate that his concussion derailed his run.
3) CM Punk on Jeff Hardy in June 2009; Extreme Rules: Another personal favorite of mine right here. Based on shock factor, I think I enjoyed his first cash in better. However, it was still stunning that a face CM Punk cashed in on Jeff Hardy after a grueling ladder match. Unlike the previous two cash ins I listed, this one solidified Punk as a top guy. He and Jeff went on to have a great feud over the title. While the WWE still mishandled Punk at different times until he promo in Las Vegas, this changed things for him. It showed that his first win wasn't a fluke and set the stage for heel Punk, which was always my favorite.
2) Seth Rollins on Brock Lesnar in March 2015; WrestleMania: Man, this was very close to topping the list. Cashing in during the main event of WrestleMania is a ballsy move, especially when the two guys at war were Brock Lesnar and Roman Reigns. Seth is another guy that I've been a huge fan of, since his days as Tyler Black in the Age of the Fall and Do It For Her. Seeing him leave WrestleMania with the top belt was an incredible feeling. The cash in was tremendous, perfectly timed and done by the right guy. Again, the WWE hasn't booked his reign perfectly, but it doesn't take away from the cash in.
1) Edge on John Cena in January 2006; New Year's Revolution: Here we have a case of the original being the best. Unfortunately, I missed this moment live. It was at a time when I didn't care to order all 13 or 14 Pay-Per-Views the WWE was producing. I recall asking my friend at school the next day who won at the PPV and he said Edge. It confused me as, at the time, I still expected him to cash in for an actual match instead of when Cena was down. I've gone back and watched this countless times and it never gets old. Edge was the perfect Mr. Money in the Bank. This changed the game and sent the "Ultimate Opportunist" into the next level.
Raw History
Episode #52
February 21st, 1994 | Mid-Hudson Civic Center in Poughkeepsie, New York
We are live, which is always a treat. Macho Man is joining Vince McMahon for commentary.
WWF Tag Team Championship
The Quebecers (c) w/ Johnny Polo vs. 1-2-3 Kid and Razor Ramon
This was scheduled to be Marty Jannetty and Razor Ramon. I’m pretty sure Marty is gone for a while from the company. As has become the norm with Quebecer title matches, their opponents start hot and force them to regroup. Razor gets the crowd behind him as Vince McMahon announces the upcoming ladder match at WrestleMania. Johnny Polo gets involved so Razor, wanting none of that, ends him with a Razor’s Edge on the floor. Razor and Kid work very well together, which is expected due to their real life friendship. They are in control until Diesel shows up in the aisle. Kid starts to play the face in peril, which is exactly how it needs to be. Razor gets the hot tag and hits a second rope back suplex. He ends up incredibly close to winning, only for Shawn Michaels to come in and cause a DQ.
Winners via disqualification: 1-2-3 Kid and Razor Ramon in 16:05
Pretty solid tag team match here. People don’t mention it often, but the Quebecers have been steady performers and some of the best people to watch in recent months. Despite the outcome being very obvious with Diesel out there, I rather liked this. ***
Next week, Macho Man goes for his third WWF Championship as he faced Yokozuna. God, imagine if he would have won and it led to Bret Hart vs. Macho Man?
Jim Cornette is out to tell Macho Man that he has no chance next week. He then introduces Tom Pritchard.
Bret Hart vs. Tom Pritchard w/ Jim Cornette
The two men go through some mat exchanges that Bret always gets the better of, so Pritchard blames hair pulling. Vince McMahon points out Nikolai Volkoff in the front row, leading Randy Savage to straight up call him ugly. He then tells us that Donnie Wahlberg will be at WrestleMania! Pritchard takes control and wears down Bret for a bit. When Bret begins his comeback, Cornette tries to get involved, only for Macho Man to leap up and lay him out. Cheating managers are sure running into trouble this week huh? As Bret lands outside, Owen rolls him inside, saying Bret needs his help. Pritchard is too much of a scrub to take advantage though, and ends up submitting to the Sharpshooter.
Winner: Bret Hart in 12:14
Decent little match here but rather disappointing. Tom Pritchard was always a decent hand but he did nothing not note here. **½
Owen Hart’s reaction to Bret winning is priceless. Bret wants to fight now, but officials keep it separate.
Todd Pettengill and his dumb hat bring us the WrestleMania Report. Less than 4 weeks away! Little Richard, Jennie Garth, Donnie Wahlberg, Bucky and Vinny and Sy Sperling will appear. He runs down the card, starting with the Falls Count Anywhere and Ladder matches. He announces a Women’s Championship match, but no opponent for Alundra Blayze, Bigelow and Luna facing Doink and Dink and Ludvig Borga vs. Earthquake. That last match would not happen.
Jim Cornette brings out Yokozuna to get his racket back from Macho Man. Savage and Yokozuna go to brawl as the show goes off the air, leaving you in suspense for next week.
Overall: 7.5/10. The show only had two matches but both were relatively solid. That’s much better than the usual fare of squash match after squash match. I thought the Tag Title match was good and the Bret Hart match was decent. The show didn’t have too much flak, using the rest of the time to build towards next week’s WWF Title match and WrestleMania.
Raw History
Episode #53
February 28th, 1994 | Fernwood Resort in Bushkill, Pennsylvania
Tonight’s episode is taped. Harvey Wippleman is with Vince on commentary.
WWF Championship
Yokozuna (c) w/ Mr. Fuji vs. “Macho Man” Randy Savage
Yokozuna takes too long to get ready so Savage attacks but it backfires. Yokozuna pounds away on Savage and is already sweating profusely. Savage sends Yokozuna outside with a high knee and takes out Mr. Fuji. He then hits a double axe handle onto Yokozuna outside and the crowd is going nuts as we head to commercial. When we return, Savage is having issues because he can’t bring Yokozuna back in the ring. Yokozuna beats on him there, but Savage hits a cross body inside for two. The crowd buys into every Savage near fall. When Yokozuna gets back in control, Savage looks to be out of it but avoids a leg drop. Jim Cornette is out and distracts the official. Fuji gives Yokozuna a bucket but Savage blocks the shot and levels Yokozuna with it. He only gets two because he took too long to cover. He climbs up and hits the elbow but Crush runs out to ruin things.
Winner via disqualification: Randy Savage in 10:57
I figured that was going to be the finish but Randy Savage did everything in his power to not only get a good match out of Yokozuna, but to build sympathy and have the fans buy into him winning the title with a few weeks until WrestleMania. That takes something special. ***¼
Bret Hart comes out next to help Macho Man and then Lex Luger shows up as well. They take out the evil duo of Yokozuna and Crush.
Bam Bam Bigelow w/ Luna Vachon vs. Mike Khoury
Bigelow goes on the offensive instantly and just beats on Mike Khoury. Khoury avoids a headbutt and hits a dropkick but Bigelow no sells and slams him. Poor Bigelow is good, but is stuck in this dumb Doink feud. He wins with an enziguri.
Winner: Bam Bam Bigelow in 2:36
Bigelow is hit or miss in his squash matches but this was one of the easier ones to watch. It was short and all Bigelow, which is how I like them. *
Earthquake vs. The Black Phantom
According to Vince, Earthquake’s return was “triumphant”. I mean, he won, but it wasn’t a big deal. Phantom tries to his Quake but it has little to no effect. Vince announces that Borga is injured and we’ll get Earthquake vs. Adam Bomb at WrestleMania. Earthquake hits a damn dropkick, which was shockingly decent. He finishes with the ass splash.
Winner: Earthquake in 1:38
Similar to the last match it was kept short. That’s even better when it’s someone like Earthquake. ¾*
This week’s WrestleMania Report is more of the same old news except that we get told about the Tag Team Title match between the Quebecers and Men on a Mission, as well a ten man tag pitting Sparky Plugg, 1-2-3 Kid, Tatanka and the Smoking Guns against the Headshrinkers, Rick Martel, IRS and Jeff Jarrett. This match would end up not making the card.
Kwang vs. John Crystal
While Kwang goes through his offense, Sy Sperling calls in to talk about giving Howard Finkel a makeover. Kwang brings the green mist this week instead of the red.
Winner: Kwang in 1:32
Hey look at this. Another short squash from another guy who I don’t tend to enjoy. Alright. ½*
Stan Lane as an interviewer goes to interview Shawn Michaels but he’s just in a towel and wants to put something more on. All he does is put the Intercontinental Title over the towel. He is asked about Razor Ramon being the undisputed IC Champ, but Shawn is obviously disputing this. Shawn says that he will take Razor’s belt and give it to Diesel.
Next Monday, Crush and Owen Hart face the Smoking Gunns. I just realized that I’ve been calling them the Smoking Guns with one “n” this whole time.
Men on a Mission w/ Oscar vs. Brooklyn Brawler and Steve Smith
Men on a Mission plod through their awful offense. Mo is somehow more winded than Mabel and looks like he’s dying on the apron. Mabel squashes Smith in the corner and splashes him for the 1-2-3.
Winners: Men on a Mission in 3:13
Vince McMahon’s reactions to Men on a Mission on commentary is far and away the best thing about their matches. That should say something. ½*
Overall: 5.5/10. Not a bad episode. Our big WWF Title match was better than I thought it would be and, while the rest of the show was full of squash matches, at least they were kept short. That made them inoffensive, but still not exactly “must see” television.
Raw History
Episode #54
March 7th, 1994 | Mid-Hudson Civic Center in Poughkeepsie, New York
Another pre-recorded episode tonight. Ted Dibiase is out to join Vince on commentary.
Crush and Owen Hart w/ Mr. Fuji vs. The Smoking Gunns
Owen Hart starts against Bart Gunn and they go through a relatively fast paced exchange. Bart even hits a body press on Crush. It’s bugging me that the Gunns are wearing different shades of blue in their jeans. MATCH DAMMIT! Owen Hart is the key to this, putting on the best performance of anyone included. The Gunns get near victory after a bit but Crush breaks up the pin. He then chop blocks Bart, which Vince believes is like the dirtiest move ever. Owen does the Sharpshooter and Bart gives.
Winners: Owen Hart and Crush in 6:57
Decent little tag team match here. About as good as one could expect from a makeshift team and a duo like the Gunns. **
Time for the WrestleMania Report, where Todd Pettengill confuses people by talking about next Sunday’s “March to WrestleMania” show featuring Bret Hart vs. Crush.
Jeff Jarrett vs. Virgil
I can’t believe Virgil is still employed. He works a hammerlock and that’s about all he does. Well to be fair, he also does a sloppy sunset flip for two. Jarrett hits a DDT to win.
Winner: Jeff Jarrett in 3:45
Too much Virgil offense and too much time in general. Jeff Jarrett has been pretty dull since his debut and this was no exception. ¼*
Doink w/ Dink vs. “Iron” Mike Sharpe
Commentary spends the match explaining the rules of the upcoming mixed tag team match at WrestleMania. Mike Sharpe and his loud selling are again a highlight. Doink wins with the Whoopee Cushion.
Winner: Doink in 2:19
Typical Doink squash made a tad better by Mike Sharpe and his selling. ½*
Vince McMahon now leads a segment with Chief Wahoo McDaniel, Chief Jay Strongbow and another guy that hands Tatanka a ceremonial Indian headdress. He cries a bit and they embrace in a segment wasn’t very good.
IRS vs. Mark Thomas
Oh great. Another IRS squash. I bet you this is boring. He goes through some dull stuff on the jacked jobber. IRS sweats a hell of a lot for a guy who does next to nothing in the ring. Maybe it’s the attire. He wins with the Write Off.
Winner: IRS in 3:38
I was right. IRS puts on another boring performance. ¼*
Vince McMahon interviews Jim Cornette at ringside because Jimmy Del Ray of the Heavenly Bodies will face Lex Luger on the “March to WrestleMania”. He tries to diss things “made in the USA” like Luger, but fudges up the line. He wants Jimmy to busy up Luger before WrestleMania.
Overall: 3/10. After two relatively enjoyable episodes, this one falls back down. The hyped tag match was decent at best and the rest was a bunch of squash matches that nobody cared about and weren’t interesting in the least.
1) Sasha Banks: Sorry for the delay on posting this. It was a busy start to the week with No Mercy and King of Pro Wrestling. It was hard to choose between Sasha Banks and Dolph Ziggler. Both had monumental title wins but I'm going with Sasha for one reason. Whether it felt like a warranted main event or not, Sasha Banks and Charlotte closed out Monday Night Raw, joining Lita, Trish Stratus and Stephanie McMahon (though her match involved The Rock) as the only women to do so. While this match wasn't as good as their previous Raw outing, they more than delivered in a big main event. Sasha won her second Women's Championship and as long as injuries stay away, she can get a nice long reign with the title.
2) Dolph Ziggler: It was the biggest angle of his career and one of the best matches of his career as well. In a match that should have absolutely main evented the Pay-Per-View, Dolph Ziggler captured his fifth Intercontinental Championship by defeating the Miz at No Mercy. He put his career on the line and things felt important. In what was arguably the match of the night, Ziggler overcame everything Miz threw at him, including Maryse's spray and the Spirit Squad, to win. It felt like a big deal and was a feel good moment. The only real question is what happens next. Do we get the same tired Ziggler IC Title reign that we've seen before or is this one finally going to mean something. Hopefully, it's the latter
3) AJ Styles: If Miz vs. Ziggler wasn't the best match of the week, then AJ Styles vs. John Cena vs. Dean Ambrose was. They opened No Mercy and had one of the better triple threat matches in recent memory. They didn't do the tired "two men wrestle and one rests outside" stuff. All three guys were heavily involved and all did their part. AJ Styles tapped out to Cena and Dean, but since you can't lose a match like this in that manner, things continued and Styles used a chair to get his third pinfall win over Cena. That makes AJ 3-1 against him and the one loss came in a six man tag. It was the second successful title defense for Styles.
4) Eddie Edwards: I'd say Eddie Edwards has made a career out of winning titles when he wasn't expected to. I remember thinking that Davey Richards was in line to be ROH Champion but Edwards swooped in and won the title before him. Now, it looked like EC3 would have won the TNA Title at Bound for Glory. Instead, he lost and Lashley's next challenger was Edwards. The same Edwards who lost at Bound for Glory to Aaron Rex in what I heard was a pretty shitty match. However, on Impact this week, Edwards dethroned Lashley, who has been one of the most dominant champions in all of wrestling this year. It was arguably the biggest win of Edward's career to this point, though the ROH Title win is right up there.
5) Matanza Cueto: Successfully defended the Lucha Underground Title against company ace Prince Puma.
First, we see Dragon Azteca Jr. getting ready for the night, talking to a photo of his father. Chavo Guerrero shows up and attacks him with a chair for taking his chance for revenge against Pentagon Dark. Rey shows up afterwards and realized it was Chavo, leading to a very cheesy "CHAVOOOOOOOO" scream like this was Wrath of Khan or something.
Dr. Wagner Jr. and Famous B w/ Brenda def. Mascarita Sagrada and Son of Havoc in 5:26
Sagrada and Havoc showed up on bike and sidecard. They did stereo dives and worked well as a team. Once the match actually got going, Brenda talked smack on the outside. Wagner did most of the work since Famous B was wearing his trademark white suit. Sagrada nearly beat Famous B, but Dr. Wagner showed back up. He took out SOH and hit the Wagner Driver on Sagrada. Famous B entered and took the cheap pin. Way more fun than it had any right to be. I like Famous B because he's not what we typically get in LU. He brings a highly entertaining, different brand of wrestling. **1/2
We get informed that next week, Matanza will defend his title but in bigger news, Mil Muertes goes one on one with Prince Puma in a rematch for their Ultima Lucha match, which I gave ****1/4.
Gift of the Gods Championship: Sexy Star (c) def. Jack Evans in 9:13
Recently, Evans has seemed to have some issues with the rest of the Worldwide Underground. He got on the mic beforehand and said that this was gonna be the end of Sexy's career. He'd add "star destroyer" to his "dragon slayer" legacy. She slapped him and this got going. Sexy started hot but Evans turned it around and sent her into the corner. She came back and hit a surprising Gory special for two. Johnny Mundo appeared and speared Sexy but she still survived the pin by Evans. Aerostar and Drago came out to stop Mundo and PJ Black, evening the odds. Sexy got a kendo stick and hit Evans low, followed by a neckbreaker to win. Another fun match. It had the right amount of interference and some good back and forth between Evans and Sexy. ***
In his office, Dario Cueto got a phone call about Dragon Azteca being in the hospital. Chavo was in the office and he was gonna put him against Pentagon Dark. Rey Mysterio barged in, called Chavo a piece of shit and wanted to face him. They had a short, wacky fight scene which Dario loved. He made the main event a three way match with the two of them and Pentagon.
Pentagon Dark def. Chavo Guerrero and Rey Mysterio Jr. in 8:39
Whatever they seem to do with his character, Pentagon remains the most over guy on the roster. They played this like a match where three guys all wanted to get their hands on each other. Chavo wanted revenge on Pentagon for breaking his arm, Rey wanted Chavo for hurting Dragon and Pentagon wanted to avenge a loss to Rey earlier in the season. Chavo continued his role of smart heel that takes every short cut. Pentagon and Rey working together was easily the highlight. After getting rid of Chavo, Pentagon hit the package piledriver and I believed he joined only Matanza as guys to pin Mysterio. Another good match. ***
Pentagon went to break Rey's arm but Rey got free and knocked him outside. Chavo went on the offensive, grabbing the steel chair. He launched it at Rey. Chavo closed the show by bashing Rey's leg with the chair in the tree of Joey Lawrence.
Overall: 6.5/10. I think this was a solid episode. All three matches were pretty entertaining but in a rarity for Lucha Underground, there wasn't a lot of advancement in many stories. It's fine to take a week off from that, but I'm just not convinced on centering an episode around Chavo Guerrero in 2016.
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!
NJPW King of Pro Wrestling
October 10th, 2016 | Ryogoku Kokugikan Sumo Hall in Tokyo, Japan | Attendance: 9,671
If NJPW has a “big four”, I’d say King of Pro Wrestling is one of those shows. Over the past few years, it has featured some big matches including Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Minoru Suzuki (*****), Tanahashi vs. Kazuchika Okada (*****) and AJ Styles vs. Okada (****). There was a dark match on this show, based on a recent anime that began airing in Japan. Tiger Mask W defeated Red Death Mask. It aired on NJPW World but I’m pressed for time and couldn’t check it out. I do know that Tiger Mask W was played by Kota Ibushi. So he’s doing this (even if it’s a one-off or part time), instead of signing committed deals.
CHAOS (Tomohiro Ishii, Will Ospreay and YOSHI-HASHI) def. Bullet Club (ROH World Champion Adam Cole, Bad Luck Fale and Yujiro Takahashi) in 8:40
Fale didn’t go after the ring announcer tonight. It’s a Bullet Club match, so of course it began with them attacking Chaos before the bell and a brawl. You’d think their opponents would be expecting it by this point. This went exactly as expected. Cole got some shine early to continue to try and get his character over with the Japanese audience. YOSHI played the face in peril for a while and Ospreay got a hot tag that led to work with Cole which was fine, but like their match in Destruction, not great. Ishii got the last big tag for his team and even on a night where it wasn’t his stage, he’s still damn good. They did a series of everyone getting something in, ending with Ospreay diving out onto Cole and Fale. That left Yujiro to fall victim to a brainbuster. Fine opener that did everything I thought it would. **¾
ROH Television Champion Bobby Fish, Great Bash Heel and Ryusuke Taguchi def. CHAOS (GHC Jr. Heavyweight Tag Team Champion Jado, Roppongi Vice and GHC Heavyweight Tag Team Champion Toru Yano) in 8:11
Toru Yano and his tag team partner Naomichi Marufuji beat Kazuchika Okada and YOSHI-HASHI in the main event of the most recent NOAH show. On that night, Jado and Gedo beat the best junior tag team going, Atsushi Kotoge and Daisuke Harada for some stupid reason. This wasn’t quite as good as the opener, but again did what it needed to. They seemed to be building towards GBH being the next challengers in NOAH for Yano and Marufuji, which sounds much better than anything going on in the IWGP Tag Title scene. While some of the guys tried, it was a forgettable NJPW multi-man tag. Honma pinned Romero with Kokeshi. It was yet another loss for Romero and they teased more tension with RPG Vice. While I’d like a shakeup in the junior ranks, I don’t know how much either guy would add to the singles division. Makabe went after Yano post-match. **¼
Go Shiozaki, Katsuhiko Nakajima, Masa Kitamiya and Maybach Taniguchi def. Manabu Nakanishi, TenKoji and Yuji Nagata in 11:49
Pro Wrestling NOAH vs. New Japan Dads. They did a similar match at the G1 Climax finals (though that one included Shibata) and it was awesome. Both teams attacked each other before the match officially began. Even without Shibata, this ruled. Everyone just went to war like eight guys who had serious beef. The New Japan Dads are always fun and it showed here. Nakajima and Shiozaki have played the dick heels very well in their NJPW appearances so far. The crowd ate all of this up. Kojima got fired up and started hitting cutters on everything moving. He made the hot tag to Nagata, who was his usual great self. Watching Shiozaki and Nakanishi chop the shit out of each other was a blast. Go eventually put him down with a lariat to win a really fun match. Give me more NOAH tags on these shows please. They’ve been a highlight so far with hot crowds, smart work and intense battles. Everyone, outside of Nakanishi who was helped to the back, brawled after the bell. Nagata and Nakajima slapped the taste of each other’s mouths and it was grand. ***¾
IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Tag Team Championship: The Young Bucks (c) def. David Finlay and Ricochet in 12:47
Finlay and Ricochet wore matching gear despite it being their first time as a team. Well, mostly matching. They do hold two-thirds of the NEVER Openweight Six Man Tag Team Championship, while the Bucks are also the ROH World Tag Team Champions. The Bucks ran down Finlay, telling him that his dad sucked and that he was just a young boy. Finlay and Ricochet worked smoothly together, to the point where you’d think they have been a team for a long time. They played off of everyone knowing each other well, leading to a frantic series of close calls from both teams. Ricochet got the hot tag and came in like a flying madman. I like Ricochet using the cutter since it works as homage to Kojima. Ricochet cut off the Meltzer Driver and they did the Finlay roll/SSP combo, but Matt got his knees up on the SSP. Ricochet cut off their finisher again, leading to a well done flash fin fake out by Finlay. They finally took out Ricochet and beat Finlay with More Bang for Your Buck. One of, if not the most enjoyable Bucks match in 2016. It was fast paced, I didn’t find myself annoyed and the stuff done made sense. The false finishes and early counters were great too. Give me Ricochet and Finlay over Ricochet and Sydal any day of the week. ***½
IWGP Tag Team Championship: The Guerillas of Destiny def. The Briscoes (c) in 13:58
Surprisingly, no face paint for Tama Tonga and Mark Briscoe cut his hair. I prefer this look for him. I gave this match **½ at Dominion and I was being way too generous. It’s just so uninteresting. I honestly can’t even write too much about this because it was hard to pay attention to. Jay hit a suicide dive and Mark nailed a block buster off the apron but the crowd mostly sat on their hands. Haku’s mediocre kids broke up a doomsday device and eventually regained the titles with their DDT combo. So goddamn boring. I shit on the NJPW booking of the junior divisions a lot, but their heavyweight tag team division might be the worst of all. The Briscoes are almost always interesting, but they were saddled with shit Bullet Club tags throughout this reign. **
The Young Bucks showed up and the four Bullet Club members put the boots to the Briscoes. Tomohiro Ishii ran out to make the save but got taken out too. So this was all seemingly done so the Tag Champions could be in the World Tag League (since the Briscoes have to be in ROH for that). Hirooki Goto and Ishii are going to most likely win that so this was a way to set up the eventual match. However, where was the CHAOS guys to help Ishii? They pulled a John Cena on him.
Hiroshi Tanahashi, Jay Lethal, KUSHIDA and Michael Elgin def. Los Ingobernables de Japon (IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Champion BUSHI, EVIL, SANADA and IWGP Intercontinental Champion Tetsuya Naito) in 11:42
In a totally unsurprising moment, Tetsuya Naito and LIDJ were the most over act on the show. As always, Steve Corino fist bumped Naito during his entrance. Like a Bullet Club match, this started because of Naito attacking before the bell. It is so weird to see Lethal team with the babyfaces, especially Elgin, considering his alliance with LIDJ earlier this year. Tanahashi was surprisingly the guy to take the heat in this one. EVIL hit him with a BIG BOY SENTON and I marked. KUSHIDA got some revenge on BUSHI and then fast ball punched Naito. I’d still kill for a KUSHIDA/Naito match. They did some fine work together here. Elgin dragged KUSHIDA to give him the hot tag and he started kicking Naito’s ass. Elgin is a great hot tag powerhouse. They went into the barrage of big moves before Naito ate the Lethal Injection and Elgin’s powerbomb combos to end it. A lot of fun because LIDJ is the BEST THING IN NJPW. They set up future stuff as both Elgin and Lethal (who beat Naito in ROH) are in line for IC Title shots. ***½
Post-match, Elgin grabbed the title and held it up while standing on Naito. All hell broke loose as EVIL did his chair spot to KUSHIDA while Lethal and Elgin just basically watched. KUSHIDA also took the MX from BUSHI with the chair. KUSHIDA did a stretcher job.
I’m not sure where it happened, but Elgin suffered a fractured face during the match. Ouch.
NEVER Openweight Championship: Katsuyori Shibata (c) def. Kyle O’Reilly w/ Bobby Fish in 18:06
Far and away the most interesting and exciting match on the card. At last month’s “Destruction in Tokyo”, Shibata beat Fish so now his partner gets a shot. Also, back in August, O’Reilly beat Shibata in a non-title match in ROH. We got some grappling early and this had a gritty feel throughout it. They transitioned to strikes but both guys missed their big attempts. Kyle was first to actually lay in the strikes. He tried an armbar but Shibata blocked it and everything felt like a struggle in a good way. He was in control after a vicious series of strikes. Shibata sat up after a kick to the chest and brushed off the next one. He caught one and just walloped Kyle with a right hand. They started trading stuff and the match really got going. O’Reilly hit the brainbuster for two and went into a triangle choke. Shibata fought out of it and ended up in an armbar but reached the ropes. This led to an exchange of suplexes and kicks, before a forearm battle that ended with them hitting simultaneous big boots. Shibata ended up using the sleeper to set up the PK but went right back to the sleeper. O’Reilly passed out and Shibata retained. Exactly what I wanted. A war between two of my favorites and the big match performance that O’Reilly needed to solidify his heavyweight change. Awesome stuff. Extra love for Fish as the corner man shouting “BITE THE HAND” anytime Shibata got the sleeper in. ****¼
After the match, Go Shiozaki showed up looking for a shot at the NEVER Openweight Title. He left the ring and EVIL showed up to nail Shibata with the STO. It looks like Shibata’s next two title defenses are set. Maybe EVIL at Power Struggle and Go in the Dome? Or maybe EVIL at a “Road to” show, Go at Power Struggle and hopefully Nakajima in the Dome.
Wrestle Kingdom 11 Title Shot: Kenny Omega w/ The Young Bucks def. Hirooki Goto in 21:52
This is a rematch of the G1 Finals. I’ve yet to watch that match and don’t plan on it since it doesn’t interest me in the least. Omega obviously won it and Goto gets another shot for some reason here, though he’s a perennial loser. Goto turned the tables on Omega by attacking before the bell and leveling him with the title shot briefcase before also taking out the Young Bucks. Omega weathered that storm and things got evened out. I actually watched the last two matches with English commentary (I stopped watching for the Nationals/Dodgers game and clicked English by accident and didn’t bother to change it) and they hammered home Goto coming up short throughout his career. Red Shoes ejected the Young Bucks and YOSHI-HASHI. Omega took a backwards bump through a table outside and hit his head on the guardrail. Goto could have won with a countout, but like a complete buffoon, brought Omega back into the ring. THIS IS WHY YOU’RE A CAREER LOSER! Goto picked up some near falls but no part of me ever believed he would win. Omega hit a stiff knee and nearly won with Goto’s own Shouten Kai. Once that failed, One Winged Angel ended it. This was good, but far from great. Part of it was that the outcome was never in doubt. Goto will forever be Gedo’s personal whipping boy. They constantly talk about him coming up short, but it never leads anywhere. Omega is now guaranteed to get his Heavyweight Title shot in the Tokyo Dome, no matter how bad of an idea I think that is. ***½
IWGP Heavyweight Championship: Kazuchika Okada (c) w/ Gedo def. GHC Tag Team Champion Naomichi Marufuji w/ NOAH dudes in 28:00
Ace vs. Ace. Their match on the first night of the G1 saw Marufuji kick Okada’s ass. It was grand. Okada used his size advantage early, which Marufuji combated with his quickness. They did the fighting outside thing, where Marufuji hit a nice bulldog type move onto the guardrail. From there, Marufuji kicked Okada’s ass and lit him up with chops. Even when Okada could get in control, Marufuji was ready with kicks that Okada couldn’t find an answer for. It fit the buildup where Marufuji constantly was one step ahead of him. Marufuji hit a goddamn apron piledriver, which Okada should not be taking. The champion just barely beat the count back into the ring and Marufuji instantly dropkicked him. He hit Shiranui and for a second, I believed he won but Okada kicked out. Still, Okada looked dead until he countered a second Shiranui into a modified Rainmaker. Marufuji countered a second one into a small package for a really close two count. Okada then hit a piledriver, stole Marufuji’s Emerald Flowsion and won with another Rainmaker. The streak of Okada having his only great matches against guys that are better than him continues (see Tanahashi, Nakamura, Styles, Naito, Ishii, etc.) and this worked great for me because it wasn’t just typical Okada formula. They actually told a really great story and Okada had to overcome and find a way to finally overcome this guy that has had his number. ****¼
Gedo called out Kenny Omega for the Wrestle Kingdom 11 stare down. Omega did most of the talking and was highlighted by claiming that he was gonna treat Okada like a bitch, just like they did in America.
Overall: 8/10. A better show than I expected considering the card. The Young Bucks match was actually a lot of fun, the main event over delivered since they didn’t do the typical Okada formula, Goto/Omega was good and Shibata and O’Reilly stole the show. The NOAH tag was damn good and I like how they set up a lot of upcoming stuff. The Los Ingobernables tag was also fun and the only bad thing on the show was the Guerillas of Destiny tag (as always). Enjoyable stuff.
WWE No Mercy
October 9th, 2016 | Golden 1 Center in Sacramento, California
This show has some shuffling around. Baron Corbin vs. Jack Swagger was moved from the pre-show to the main card, most likely to fill time after Becky Lynch’s injury. The Kickoff show had an eight man tag that saw American Alpha and the Hype Bros take on the Ascension and the Vaudevillains. It was a pretty fun match. Mojo Rawley was insane self and American Alpha got to run wild a bit. After 9:09, AA got the win for their team with Grand Amplitude. (**¾)
WWE Championship: AJ Styles (c) def. Dean Ambrose and John Cena in 21:07
In a moment that has only happened about three other times, the WWE Championship match opened the Pay-Per-View (though it was the first time that happened and a World Title didn’t close the show). This had a big fight feel and worked better than a lot of triple threat matches. It wasn’t one of those where two guys wrestled, while one rested outside. That did happen a few times, but for the most part, all three men were involved and it led to some excellent sequences. They did a spot where Dean used the calf crusher and Cena did the STF at the same time on AJ, who tapped out. The bell rang but the referee rightly restarted things because you can’t win a triple threat match that way. AJ wisely brought a chair into play after Cena hit the AA on Ambrose. He laid out Cena with it and retained the title. I really liked this. Dean and Cena could claim they really won since AJ tapped, Dean got protected by not eating the pin, Cena did the job on the way out to film a TV show and AJ kept the title. I also love that AJ isn’t a cowardly heel. He only resorts to chair shots and low blows when he needs to. ****¼
Nikki Bella def. Carmella in 8:02
I’ve liked this feud. Carmella came in as a face getting booed and watched as Nikki, who was a bitch for most of the past two years, returned and got all of the fan’s love. So Carmella just started beating Nikki’s ass. Speaking of Nikki’s ass, she came out wearing daisy dukes. It felt like a slight nod to John Cena’s attire. Anyway, I wanted more from this match but it was still solid. Carmella did alright in her first PPV singles match and Nikki gave her a lot of offense. Hell, Nikki has given her a ton throughout this program. Nikki won with the Rack Attack 2.0, which I expected since the babyface has to give the heel her due at some point. I also think that the company sees money in Nikki vs. Becky at some point for the title, so this is fine. **½
WWE Smackdown Tag Team Championship: Heath Slater and Rhyno (c) def. The Usos in 10:18
The Usos winning here was a foregone conclusion in my mind. I assumed they’d win and set up a program with American Alpha. However, this outcome worked for me. More on that in a bit. The match itself was good stuff. Heel Usos have been rejuvenated and it showed. They cut the ring in half, attacked a body part and it all came off well. They came close after hitting a double team move on Slater and locking in the tequila sunrise. Rhyno hit a Gore outside and broke up the submission before hitting another Gore and retaining the gold. I like the decision because Slater and Rhyno are massively over and connecting well as a team. It kind of hurt the Usos to lose, but keeping the title on a popular, entertaining duo isn’t a bad thing. ***
Baron Corbin def. Jack Swagger in 7:31
Man, this was disappointing. Swagger is usually pretty good and Corbin has been pretty entertaining for a while now. They worked the right style of match for their strengths, it just never clicked the way I hoped. Swagger did his stuff, like the Swagger Bomb, but the crowd didn’t seem to care much. They teased the ankle lock finish from Smackdown this past week but Corbin didn’t tap and eventually won with the End of Days. I think they need to go in a new direction with Swagger. Repackage him because doing the same thing over and over isn’t working. I hope they plans for Corbin outside of random midcard feuds too. **
WWE Intercontinental Championship vs. Career Match: Dolph Ziggler def. The Miz (c) w/ Maryse in 19:41
If people want to ask why Smackdown is doing so well, just point to this feud. They’ve made most people care about a Ziggler/Miz feud, to the point where this should have main evented the show. The crowd was way into this from the opening bell. They worked at a good pace but it wasn’t clicking quite on the level of their awesome Backlash match. Then the shenanigans started and in this situation, it actually helped the match. It wasn’t like it was done for the sake of it. It all made sense. Maryse sprayed Ziggler in the face and Miz hit the Skull Crushing Finale, but Ziggler got his foot on the ropes. Maryse brought out Kenny and Mikey of the Spirit Squad to help him out but Ziggler survived that as well and kicked out of another Skull Crushing Finale. The referee ejected them and Ziggler nailed the superkick to get the big emotional win. Another great performance by both men. While Backlash was better to me as a match, this one had the added story and emotional impact to give it a boost. Miz sold the loss like it was devastating, they hit all the right points from the rivalry and it just clicked by the end. I think the better move was to keep the title on the Miz, but it was a feel good moment and I’m intrigued by what comes next. The fact that this didn’t main event was a travesty. ****
Naomi def. Alexa Bliss in 5:24
Becky Lynch had to miss this show due to injury. Alexa Bliss will get her title shot on November 8th in Glasgow, Scotland, which is very specific. Anyway, Alexa came out to talk smack and was interrupted by Naomi, leading to this match. Against Becky, Alexa could have had the star making performance she needed. Unfortunately, Naomi is no Becky Lynch. It felt boring, seemed longer than five minutes and the fans didn’t really care. Bliss was alright, showing aggression and working the arm, only to lead to a fluke win for Naomi. Why? Alexa is the one getting pushed right now and even if they wanted to push Naomi, this isn’t how you do it. The fluke win did nothing for either girl. Just bad all around. *¼
Bray Wyatt def. Randy Orton in 15:43
While part of the buildup for this has been goofy, at least it has been different and fresh from a lot of stuff. My biggest gripe with this match was that it was so basic. Like, these dudes have done some wild shit in recent weeks. The mind games have been everything in the feud so far so I think the match should have been out there. I’m not sure right now how I’d have done it, but they didn’t do anything interesting. It felt like two guys killing time until the big moment. That big moment was the return of Luke Harper, who distracted Orton enough to allow Bray to hit Sister Abigail and win. A lackluster match that really didn’t feel main event worthy at all. It looks like the feud will continue too. **¼
Overall: 7/10. I don’t think was quite as good as Backlash, but more enjoyable than SummerSlam and Clash of Champions in the post-draft era. The obvious strong points were the opening WWE Title match and the Intercontinental Title match. The first two-thirds of the show are actually really strong, including the kickoff eight man tag. However, once you get past the IC Title match, the last two matches strongly under deliver.
