NJPW Road to Wrestling Dontaku
April 22nd, 2017 | Korakuen Hall in Tokyo, Japan
Hirai Kawato vs. Syota Umino
Umino is a newer young lion and the son of referee Red Shoes. He debuted on the recent Lion’s Gate show, which I saw most of, but didn’t have time to review. Kawato is one of the more fun young lions, connecting with the crowd through his willingness to take a beating and bump like a madman. They worked some solid back and forth, which was helped by the crowd being into it. Kawato tried a few quick pins but Umino responded with forearm shots. Umino survived a camel clutch, but couldn’t escape the young lion crab. He tapped when Kawato added the knee to the back at 4:49. Short, sweet and energetic. Kawato continues to be a blast, while Umino was solid in his Korakuen debut. [**¼]
Tomoyuki Oka vs. YOSHI-HASHI
I firmly believe that Oka can be a big player once his young lion stuff is up. He brought the power here, sending YOSHI to the mat with a shoulder block. Pissed as this young boy for kicking his ass a bit, YOSHI upped the aggression with loud chops before wearing him down a bit. YOSHI called for Oka to hit him harder but YOSHI continued to shrug his shots off. Oka brought a spinebuster and saito suplex when YOSHI fought off the crab. YOSHI slapped the crab on him. I guess even after your young lion status is over, you never forget these things. Oka tried fighting off the butterfly lock but had to submit at 9:43. Another solid match involving a good young lion. Oka got a good amount of offense, while YOSHI still managed to look superior. I hope they don’t send Kawato or Oka off to ROH or something for an excursion. I don’t think it’ll help them as much as sticking around. [**½]
Jado and Toru Yano vs. TAKA Michinoku and Takashi Iizuka
This sounded like absolute dog shit from the start. And I say it as a guy who enjoys Yano and thinks TAKA is solid. Iizuka has been awful since the Suzuki-Gun return and Jado is the worst wrestler in NJPW. They brawled outside during introductions because it’s Suzuki-Gun. Jado took the heat, while Suzuki-Gun worked all their usual bullshit. Underhanded tactics galore. This went on for what seemed like forever. Iizuka saved TAKA from a crossface, then used the iron hand or whatever on Jado, ending it at 9:33. I take back everything I said about CHAOS vs. Bullet Club sucking. I’ll take that any day over CHAOS vs. Suzuki-Gun. Yano wasn’t as entertaining as usual and Jado continues to suck the life out of everything he’s involved in. [½*]
Bullet Club (Chase Owens, The Guerrillas of Destiny and Yujiro Takahashi) vs. David Finlay, Katsuya Kitamura and TenKoji
Sometimes, the New Japan Dads like to team with their kids. Kitamura looked to make an early impression, demanding to start for his team. Owens saw Kitamura flex and was like “NOPE” and tagged Tama Tonga in. The numbers game eventually overcame him. After a brutal chop to Owens, Kitamura tagged Tenzan. Time for the dads to teach their sons a thing or two. Finlay came in and took a bit of a beating to give the heels the advantage. Kojima got the next big tag, lighting up the BC with chops. Roa cursing up a storm while taking them was funny, which is all I think he’s good for. Kitamura got a hot tag and ran wild. Dude is absolutely ripped. Unfortunately, he’s still a young lion, so he was here to eat the pin, falling to a Yujiro DDT at 11:36. This was better than expected. Everyone seemed to bring something to the table, with Kitamura showing a ton of fire. I’m liking this crop of young lions. [**¾]
CHAOS (NEVER Openweight Champion Hirooki Goto, Roppongi Vice and Will Ospreay) vs. Suzuki-Gun (El Desperado, Minoru Suzuki and IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Tag Team Champions Taichi and Yoshinobu Kanemaru)
This is to build the upcoming Jr. Tag Title match with Roppongi Vice and the NEVER Title match between Goto and Suzuki. Guess how this one started? A Suzuki-Gun attack during introductions. How original. Following some floor brawling, RPG Vice took over inside. Things went back outside for a bit, and Rocky ended up taking the heat for his guys. We got Goto vs. Suzuki, which was good hard hitting fun and a small sample of their upcoming match. Suzuki worked a knee bar but Goto reached the ropes. Ospreay ended up getting worked over by the three heel juniors but was saved by his teammates. The final stretch saw everyone get involved and RPG hit stereo suicide dives. Ospreay got left alone with Desperado and hit a flurry of offense capped with the Oscutter to win at 13:52. I enjoyed this despite the similar formula in all Suzuki-Gun matches and the Jr. Tag Champions being shit. There was enough energy from Ospreay and manly battling between Goto and Suzuki to make up for it. Also, Will’s win gives him some momentum before BOTSJ. [***]
Juice Robinson, YOSHITATSU, NEVER Openweight Six Man Tag Team Champions Hiroshi Tanahashi, Ricochet and Ryusuke Taguchi vs. Los Ingobernables de Japon (BUSHI, EVIL, IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Champion Hiromu Takahashi, SANADA and IWGP Intercontinental Champion Tetsuya Naito)
Oh, fuck. YOSHITATSU is back. This is the latest chapter in LIDJ vs. Tanahashi and his lads, though they came out to Juice’s theme here. This builds Ricochet/Hiromu (which should be phenomenal since Hiromu is legitimately up for WOTY so far), a future NEVER Tag Title match, Tanahashi/EVIL and Juice/Naito. Naito literally kicked the IC Title to the ring. This started with yet another before the bell brawl. So uncreative. Naito got stuck taking a series of corner attacks from the lads. There were some good spots, like Naito pulling Juice’s hair for added leverage and Tanahashi doing a double dragon screw on SANADA and EVIL. Ricochet and Juice showed off some great tandem offense that made me want to see them as a straight tag team, even for just a few matches. YOSHITATSU gets left alone to take a kicking and taps to Skull End at 9:51. This was an awesome sprint. These guys all click and Ricochet killing it canceled out YOSHITATSU’s awfulness. Non-stop action and it made me want to see the upcoming bigger matches even more. [***½]
After the match, Naito jumped Juice, SANADA tied up Taguchi outside and Takahashi showed off his strange dolls with his and Ricochet’s names on them.
Bad Luck Fale and Kenny Omega vs. IWGP Heavyweight Champion Kazuchika Okada and Tomohiro Ishii
Fale meets Okada and Ishii takes on Omega at Wrestling Dontaku. Oh shit. We got black tights/no shirt Omega, which typically means he cares about this match. Okada and Fale started, with Fale beating him down. Ishii came in and took the heat, with Fale and Omega using quick tags to keep him in their corner. Their offense wasn’t anything special but Ishii sells so well that you feel sympathy for him. Ishii made the hot tag but Okada fucked up and tried to slam Fale. He failed at first but used a head of steam to nail it the second time. The interactions between Ishii and Omega were great and their rematch could be even better than the New Japan Cup outing. Ishii fought off the One Winged Angel a bunch again. They ended up outside, while it came down to Fale and Okada. Okada escaped the Grenade but then fell to his own tombstone at 17:19. This was a really good main event. Omega and Ishii were awesome together and Fale was booked tremendously. He looked like a threat and pinning Okada with his own move was a great decision. I’m slightly more interesting in their match now. [***½]
After the match, Fale beat down on Gedo and hit the Grenade on Okada. Omega cut a promo about the title coming to the Bullet Club. When Ishii interrupted, Omega ordered Fale to splash him.
Overall; 6/10. Standard “Road to” show from NJPW. An undercard that featured some solid but unspectacular matches before things picked up in the second half. An easy way to spend two and a half hours (especially if you skip Jado) but if pressed for time, just check out the final two matches.
Raw History
Episode #91
December 19th, 1994 | Mid-Hudson Civic Center in Poughkeepsie, New York
Once again, Shawn Michaels is co-hosting with Vince McMahon. They’re wearing Santa hats.
IRS w/ Ted Dibiase vs. Lex Luger
A druid shows up to stand at ringside with Ted Dibiase. Luger is on offense to start, causing IRS to catch a breather outside. Luger gets two on a clothesline, though he surprisingly doesn’t scream with it. Consider me disappointed. As they head to commercial, the camera zooms in on the druid’s ring, which looks familiar according to Vince. IRS hits a backbreaker for two. IRS takes control and Luger starts to rally with a knee lift. He goes after the druid because he is easily distracted. The druid is revealed to be Tatanka. SHOCKER! Luger again comes off looking like a buffoon as he gets counted out.
Winner via countout: IRS in 7:01
As expected with these two, this wasn’t the most exciting of matches. They went through the motions until the finish with nothing of note happening. *¼
A recap is shown of the start of the Tag Team Championship Tournament from Superstars. Tatanka and Bigelow defeated Men on a Mission. Mo got pinned by one finger.
Another Jeff Jarrett in Las Vegas promo is shown. He runs into Rip Taylor, who happens to be a Jarrett fan.
The Smoking Gunns vs. Chris Avery and Roy Raymond
Shawn Michaels decides that the Smoking Gunns are going to be his verbal whipping boys tonight. He disses them throughout the entire match. As expected, the Smoking Gunns get in pretty much all of the offense. They work a few double team moves highlighted by a jumping leg drop/side slam combo. They win with one I haven’t really seen yet. It looked very sloppy and it seems like they have a new finisher each time out. They haven’t quite figured it out yet.
Winners: The Smoking Gunns in 4:07
Fine little squash here. It flew by because they busted out some okay double teams.
Next week, the British Bulldog faces Tatanka and Henry Godwin makes his Raw debut.
King’s Court time, with Jerry Lawler’s guest, Bob Backlund. Lawler talks about Backlund realizing his dream only for Diesel to ruin it. Backlund badmouths the fans, Vince McMahon and Bret Hart. He rambles on for far longer than he should. He even calls Diesel by his real name. Michaels takes credit for telling Backlund that Diesel’s name is Kevin Nash. He then just walks away.
Bob Holly vs. Chris Kanyon
Remember a few weeks ago when Kanyon was much better than the guy squashing him? Well that’s actually not really the case here. Kanyon’s attire is pretty ridiculous, but he actually bumps rather well again. He also gets in some offense this time. Holly wins with a flying elbow though.
Winner: Bob Holly in 3:36
Another solid little squash here. Bob Holly and Chris Kanyon were both pretty game tonight and it made for an alright bout.
Time for our first Royal Rumble Report, which is a little over a month away from Tampa, Florida. Since it is a beach theme, the host of the Rumble will be Baywatch’s Pamela Anderson. This was huge at the time because she was a massive star. Also, the main event is announce as Diesel defends the WWF Title against Bret Hart! Diesel cuts a promo on the match, putting over Bret, but himself even more. It’s not bad but isn’t really good either. Also, ten names have been announced for the Royal Rumble match itself. Lex Luger, Bob Backlund, King Kong Bundy, Doink, Kwang, Henry Godwin, Duke Droese, Aldo Montoya, Adam Bomb and Dick Murdoch.
The Bushwhackers w/ Howard Finkel vs. Well Dunn w/ Harvey Wippleman
Howard Finkel is in Bushwhackers gear and does their trademark walk with them. They start hot and send Well Dunn outside before celebrating with the Fink. Well Dunn ends up in the driver’s seat for a bit, beating on Luke. None of this is really well done, pun intended. Steven Dunn comes off the top with the awful spot where he goes for no move but leaps right into Luke’s boot. I’ve always hated that spot. Butch comes in hot after a tag. Harvey tries to cheat but Fink pulls him off the apron, removing his pants in the process. Butch sits on Dunn, I think, and gets the win.
Winners: The Bushwhackers in 5:20
This wasn’t as bad as a lot of Bushwhackers matches that I see from this era. That being said, it still wasn’t something I’d classify as good. At least it wasn’t offensively bad. ¾*
Jim Neidhart vs. Nick Barberry
Surprisingly, there is no Owen Hart with Jim Neidhart tonight. Before the match, Neidhart shouts at the Spanish announce team for some reason. Poor guys never catch a break. Neidhart bullies and dominates the ham and egger here, finishing him with the camel clutch.
Winner: Jim Neidhart in 2:16
The usual squash from Jim Neidhart.
Overall: 2.5/10. It’s not a good thing when the best part of the show are the squash matches. The two actual competitive matches are pretty bad and the King’s Court is just Bob Backlund rambling for far too long. Not a good episode, but at least we got Royal Rumble news.
Raw History
Episode #92
December 26th, 1994 | Liberty Central in Liberty, New York
Here we go with the final Monday Night Raw of 1994. I can’t believe I’ve covered two full years already. Things start with Vince McMahon doing a voiceover hyping the Raw return of the Undertaker and Diesel being on the King’s Court. Shawn Michaels is Vince’s co-host.
British Bulldog vs. Tatanka w/ Ted Dibiase
Like a lot of WWF matches in this era, the babyface starts very hot and causes the heel to regroup. I feel like Tatanka’s heel turn made him give up. He’s packed on a fair amount of pounds in recent months. Tatanka gets a near fall just as we go to commercial. There goes that poor timing again. Bulldog gets two on a cross body and Tatanka kicks out so hard he sends him outside. You don’t see that happen to a powerhouse very often. Tatanka comes off the top with a chop but Bulldog hits him in the stomach and rallies. Dibiase pulls the top rope down, causing Bulldog to fall outside. Lex Luger runs out to check on Bulldog. A pissed Luger gets in and brawls with Tatanka, causing a DQ.
Double disqualification in 6:41
Not a bad match but it didn’t really ever get going. It was kind of just there and neither guy seemed to really bring their “A” or even “B” games. *½
Todd Pettengill brings us the Royal Rumble Report. Six more participants have been added to the Royal Rumble match itself and they include Mabel, Mo, Bob Holly, the 1-2-3 Kid, the British Bulldog and Shawn Michaels. Two more matches are also added. Jeff Jarrett gets a shot at Razor Ramon’s Intercontinental Title and Undertaker gets to face IRS in what was most likely a dull affair.
Henry Godwin vs. Mike Khoury
Raw debut alert! It’s just Henry Godwin, but still. It seems like they were trying to really make Henry seem gross. He has stains all over his ripped shirt and he scratches his back on the entrance. I’m glad they went away from that a bit over time. Godwin dominates, just pounding on his opponent. HOG takes the win with the Slop Drop.
Winner: Henry Godwin in 3:46
Perfectly acceptable debut here. Henry Godwin got to have a dominating win and looked alright in doing so.
HAKUSHI IS COMING TO THE WWF! I loved his look. It is kind of funny how his hype video shows him wrestling in a WWF ring.
Jerry Lawler introduces his guest for the King’s Court, the WWF Champion Diesel. Lawler congratulates Diesel on his success and offers a handshake. Diesel squeezes his hand until Lawler begs for mercy. Lawler now runs down Diesel and puts over Shawn Michaels as the guy that knows Diesel well enough to beat him. He then says that Diesel bit off more than he can chew by offering an open challenge to Bret Hart. Diesel gets tired of this, steals Lawler’s crown and tosses him outside.
Footage is shown from Superstars, where the Heavenly Bodies beat the Bushwhackers to advance in the tournament.
Kwang w/ Harvey Wippleman vs. Rich Myers
While Kwang squashes Rich Myers, Howard Finkel appears on a split screen to apologize for pulling Harvey’s pants down last week. Kwang is just tossing Myers around. Tonight has not been the night for jobbers to get in offense. Kwang uses a spinning heel kick for the 1-2-3.
Winner: Kwang in 2:43
Typical Kwang squash. Nothing special.
We now devote some time to hype an upcoming boxing match. Vinny Pazienza talks while working out about an upcoming fight that I give no fucks about.
HE’S TOUGHER THAN TYSON! MORE MENACING THAN SEGAL! FASTER THAN VAN DAMME! HE’S KAMA! THE SUPREME FIGHTING MACHINE! Oh boy.
Backstage, Stephanie Waind and her weird face interviews Ted Dibiase. Lex Luger and British Bulldog challenged Bigelow and Tatanka. Dibiase is pissed, but accepts.
The Undertaker w/ Paul Bearer vs. The Brooklyn Brawler
It’s one of the most legendary Superstars in history and one of the most legendary jobbers in history. THE IRRESISTIBLE FORCE MEETS THE IMMOVABLE OBJECT! The Brawler charges but runs right into a big boot. Shawn Michaels does the weekly USA movie plug while Undertaker throws the Brawler around. We also get told that Jeff Jarrett will finally make his singing debut next Monday. Undertaker is tired of kicking ass and hits the Tombstone.
Winner: The Undertaker in 3:12
Completely one-sided, but it gets some cool points because Undertaker was a rare treat on Raw even then.
IRS shows up after the match with some druids. Nothing happens.
Overall: 4.5/10. Not the ideal way to end the year, but actually not a bad episode. While the Bulldog/Tatanka match wasn’t anything special, the squash matches did their job. Henry Godwin looked alright and the Undertaker is always cool to see. The King’s Court was kind of just there, but this episode actually kind of flew by.
As a special treat, here are my top ten matches in Raw history so far!
WWF Championship: Bret Hart (c) vs. 1-2-3 Kid – 7/11/94 - ****½
2 Out of 3 Falls: Doink vs. Marty Jannetty – 6/21/93 - ****
Loser Leaves WWF: Mr. Perfect vs. Ric Flair – 1/25/93 - ****
WWF Intercontinental Championship: Shawn Michaels (c) vs. Marty Jannetty – 5/17/93 - ***¾
Bret Hart and British Bulldog vs. Owen Hart and Jim Neidhart – 11/7/94 - ***½
Razor Ramon vs. Shawn Michaels – 8/1/94 - ***½
WWF Intercontinental Championship: Shawn Michaels (c) vs. Marty Jannetty – 7/19/93 - ***½
Doink vs. Mr. Perfect – 5/24/93 - ***½
WWF Championship: Bret Hart (c) vs. Fatu – 3/1/93 - ***½
WWF Championship: Yokozuna (c) vs. Macho Man – 2/28/94 - ***¼
Raw History
Episode #93
January 2nd, 1995 | Liberty Central in Liberty, New York
The first Raw of 1995 seems to have been recorded at the end of 1994. Jeff Jarrett cuts a promo about his singing debut. Gorilla Monsoon and Shawn Michaels are the hosts, standing in front of a horrid green screen.
Bam Bam Bigelow and Tatanka w/ Ted Dibiase vs. British Bulldog and Lex Luger
The tandem of Lex Luger and British Bulldog don’t quite have the “Allied Powers” name yet. The heels attack Luger as he enters the ring before Bulldog arrives. HBK correctly points out that Luger again looks like a moron. He has to be setting a record for that since his face turn. Bulldog makes the save and this breaks down into a standard tag match. Shawn Michaels actually says “you gotta wonder what Lex Luger would do if he couldn’t use the clothesline”, basically calling out the SCREAMING CLOTHESLINES like I have. Luger ends up taking the heat, while Tatanka applies the lazy bearhug. The heels cut the ring in half on him. Dueling tags to Bulldog and Tatanka, who have a better encounter here than their match last week. Because he’s on fire, Dibiase pulls Bulldog outside. This leads to a big brawl that results in a double countout.
Double countout in 8:44
About as basic and average as you can get. The things they did were solid in theory, but the execution was lacking, making for a match that I didn’t really enjoy. *¾
Todd Pettengill brings us the Royal Rumble Report. It doesn’t seem like he has anything new to tell us.
Duke Droese vs. Mike Bell
Gorilla Monsoon tells us that Duke Droese has entered himself into the Royal Rumble. Umm, does he have the power to do that? Also, he was announced weeks ago. Duke gets in almost all of the offense and wins with the Trash Compactor. We also find out that William Shatner will be on the second anniversary of Raw special next week.
Winner: Duke Droese in 1:35
They kept it short. That’s what I’m talking about.
Another Kama vignette airs. I’m sure he’s going to light the WWF on fire.
King’s Court time with Owen Hart. Jerry Lawler loves what Owen did to Bret at the Survivor Series to get the belt off of him. He even says that Stu and Helen may put him up for adoption. Owen laughs about it but then says that he’s going to do what Bret did, only better. He’s going to win the Tag Team, Intercontinental and WWF Titles, but he promises he won’t give them up and that he’ll retire as champ.
We find out that Owen Hart has been added to the Royal Rumble.
Next week, on Raw’s 2nd Anniversary, Owen Hart meets Razor Ramon in an Intercontinental Title match. Also, Harvey Wippleman takes on the Fink in a Tuxedo Match.
Jeff Jarrett w/ the Roadie vs. Buck Quartermaine
Jarrett hits all of the offense while HBK talks about partying with him. Before Jarrett applies the Figure Four, he sends Roadie to get the guitar. Quartermaine submits.
Winner: Jeff Jarrett in 2:43
This was just there. Nothing to write home about.
It’s time for Jeff Jarrett’s musical performance but he stalls through it. He has sound issues and spotlight issues, so he declines singing. Monsoon highlights this by asking “WHERE’S KEVIN DUNN?”
Gorilla Monsoon interviews SUPER DAVE, who is just gonna have an upcoming TV show. It’s just a plug.
Bam Bam Bigelow and Tatanka w/ Ted Dibiase vs. British Bulldog and Lex Luger
Since this match had the non-finish earlier, they’re finishing it now and we join it in progress. I wasn’t exactly clamoring for more. Shawn Michaels again destroys Luger on commentary, saying he’s been exposed for his lack of talent. He also throws in, “Luger’s bad, not good.” Wow. Luger is again taking the heat. Shawn says this match feels like it has been going all night. I mean, he’s not wrong. Hot tag to the Bulldog. DOUBLE NOGGIN KNOCKER! After some slams, Bulldog whips Tatanka into Bigelow, knocking him off the apron. Then Bulldog just covers him.
Winners: British Bulldog and Lex Luger in 4:59
Why didn’t they just do this earlier? Having it extend later into the show accomplished nothing. I’ll just include the earlier portion with this for an overall score that gets lowered by the dumb decision to split it. *½
Overall: 2/10. The first Raw of 1995 doesn’t do much to improve on a very lackluster 1994. I’ll slightly excuse it since it was recorded in 1994. We’ll start officially getting into ’95 with next week’s second anniversary show. Anyway, this show featured a pretty bad marquee match and they basically did it twice, while the rest of the show was blah.
With a bit more than a quarter of the year behind us, here's an updated list of great matches I've seen in 2017 so far.
****+ Matches by company
WWE
WWE World Championship: AJ Styles [c] vs. John Cena - Royal Rumble - ****3/4
NXT Tag Team Championship: The Authors of Pain [c] vs. #DIY vs. The Revival - TakeOver: Orlando - ****3/4
WWE United Kingdom Championship Tournament Finals: Pete Dunne vs. Tyler Bate - UK Championship Tournament - ****1/2
WWE World Championship Elimination Chamber: John Cena [c] vs. AJ Styles vs. Baron Corbin vs. Bray Wyatt vs. Dean Ambrose vs. The Miz - Elimination Chamber - ****1/2
AJ Styles vs. Shane McMahon - WrestleMania 33 - ****1/4
WWE United Kingdom Championship Tournament Semi-Finals: Mark Andrews vs. Pete Dunne - UK Championship Tournament - ****
NXT Tag Team Championship: #DIY [c] vs. The Authors of Pain - TakeOver: San Antonio - ****
AJ Styles vs. Dean Ambrose - Smackdown 1/31 - ****
NXT Women's Championship: Asuka [c] vs. Ember Moon - TakeOver: Orlando - ****
WWE Cruiserweight Championship: Neville [c] vs. Austin Aries - WrestleMania 33 - ****
NJPW
IWGP Heavyweight Championship: Kazuchika Okada [c] vs. Katsuyori Shibata - Sakura Genesis - ****3/4
IWGP Intercontinental Championship: Tetsuya Naito [c] vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi - Wrestle Kingdom 11 - ****1/2
RPW British Heavyweight Championship: Katsuyori Shibata [c] vs. Will Ospreay - New Beginning in Osaka - ****1/2
IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Championship: Hiromu Takahashi [c] vs. Dragon Lee - New Beginning in Osaka - ****1/2
IWGP Intercontinental Championship: Tetsuya Naito [c] vs. Michael Elgin - New Beginning in Osaka - ****1/2
New Japan Cup First Round: Kenny Omega vs. Tomohiro Ishii - New Japan Cup - ****1/2
IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Championship: KUSHIDA [c] vs. Hiromu Takahashi - Wrestle Kingdom 11 - ****1/4
IWGP Heavyweight Championship: Kazuchika Okada [c] vs. Kenny Omega - Wrestle Kingdom 11 - ****1/4
New Japan Cup Semi-Finals: Katsuyori Shibata vs. Tomohiro Ishii - New Japan Cup - ****1/4
IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Championship: Hiromu Takahashi [c] vs. Ryusuke Taguchi - 45th Anniversary Show - ****
Kazuchika Okada vs. Tiger Mask W - 45th Anniversary Show - ****
PROGRESS
Flash Morgan Webster, Jimmy Havoc and Mark Haskins vs. Pete Dunne, Trent Seven and Tyler Bate - Old Man Yells at Cloud - ****1/4
PROGRESS Championship No Disqualifications: Pete Dunne [c] vs. Jimmy Havoc - Galvanize - ****1/4
PROGRESS Atlas Championship: Matt Riddle [c] vs. Trent Seven - PROGRESS: Orlando - ****1/4
No Disqualifications: Pastor William Eaver vs. Sebastian - Old Man Yells at Cloud - ****
PROGRESS Tag Team Championship: Trent Seven and Tyler Bate [c] vs. The South Pacific Power Trip - Galvanize - ****
Fans Bring The Weapons Loser Leaves PROGRESS: Jimmy Havoc vs. Will Ospreay - I Like To Chill Out Here and Shoot Some Dinosaurs - ****
JML vs. The South Pacific Power Trip - PROGRESS: Orlando - ****
PROGRESS Championship: Pete Dunne [c] vs. Mark Haskins - PROGRESS: Orlando - ****
Evolve
Chris Hero vs. Zack Sabre Jr. - Evolve 77 - ****1/4
Evolve Championship: Timothy Thatcher [c] vs. Zack Sabre Jr. - Evolve 79 - ****1/4
Donovan Dijak vs. Keith Lee - Evolve 81 - ****1/4
ACH vs. Matt Riddle - Evolve 76 - ****
Keith Lee vs. Ricochet - Evolve 80 - ****
Fred Yehi vs. Matt Riddle - Evolve 81 - ****
Pro Wrestling NOAH
GHC Heavyweight Championship: Katsuhiko Nakajima [c] vs. Go Shiozaki - Great Voyage in Yokohama - ****1/4
GHC Jr. Heavyweight Championship: Hajime Ohara [c] vs. Daisuke Harada - The First Navigation 1/21 - ****
GHC Tag Team Championship: Go Shiozaki and Maybach Taniguchi [c] vs. Kenoh and Masa Kitamiya - The First Navigation 1/21 - ****
Eddie Edwards vs. Go Shiozaki - Spring Navigation 3/25 - ****
Dragon Gate
Big R Shimizu vs. Takehiro Yamamura - Open the Truth Gate 2/2/17 - ****
CIMA, Dragon Kid, Eita, Naruki Doi and Takehiro Yamamura vs. Cyber Kong, El Lindaman, Punch Tominga, Shingo Takag and T-Hawk - Glorious Gate 3/8/17 - ****
RevPro
RPW British Heavyweight Championship: Katsuyori Shibata [c] vs. Matt Riddle - RevPro High Stakes - ****1/4
Style Battle
Anthony Henry vs. Fred Yehi - Style Battle S1:E1 - ****
FIP
FIP Championship: Fred Yehi [c] vs. Brian Cage - Ascension - ****
ROH
Bobby Fish vs. Jay Lethal - 15th Anniversary Show - ****1/4
The Briscoes, Kazuchika Okada and Will Ospreay vs. Cody Rhodes, Kenny Omega and the Young Bucks - Honor Rising - ****
ROH World Television Championship: Marty Scurll [c] vs. Lio Rush - 15th Anniversary Show - ****
BJW
BJW Tag Team Championship: Twin Towers [c] vs. Strong BJ - Big Japan 1/2/17 - ****
PROGRESS: Orlando
March 31st, 2017 | Orlando Live Events Center in Fern Park, Florida
I believe this is the last show from WrestleMania weekend I need to check out. It was the first live PROGRESS show and they brought the big guns and a stacked card to Florida.
The opening video set to “Started From The Bottom” by Drake was tremendous. Jim Smallman opened the show as always and just looked elated at how far the company has come. Lenny Leonard and Excalibur handled commentary with the usual PROGRESS team in England.
Jimmy Havoc vs. Zack Sabre Jr.
Smug Sabre with three titles will never not be fun. Commentary notes they’re 1-1 against each other. They know each other well, so their feeling out process sees neither gain an advantage. Sabre is surprised to see Havoc hang with him on the mat. Even Jimmy seems a bit surprised. A suicide dive by Havoc picks up the pace, so Zack takes things back to the ground as quickly as possible. Sabre’s new aggressive demeanor is touched upon but Havoc is a bad dude himself and hits a forearm. Havoc’s shots are brutal and Sabre gets busted open horribly. It opened back up in later matches that day. Sabre counters the Acid Rainmaker into a submission. They struggle for advantage there until they’re back up. Sabre again counters the Acid Rainmaker, this time into a bridging pin to win at 10:41. Great way to start the show. The crowd was rabid, they didn’t overdo anything and worked a smart, even match. [***½]
James Drake vs. Rockstar Spud
Spud has special PROGRESS themed gear for the evening. His entrance to Bon Jovi gets a great reaction. Drake and his new aggressive style jumps Spud before the bell. Commentary fills in a backstory where Drake started his career as part of Spud’s entourage. Spud can’t get going and Drake kind of has his way with him. The work is fine but the crowd doesn’t seem too interested in it. Spud fires up to awaken the fans. He hits a suicide dive and tornado DDT but Drake proves to be too much. He puts Spud down with a sitout DDT at 9:33. Solid little match that told the right story. Drake was vicious and wanted to punish his former buddy, while Spud played a good fiery babyface. I just wish the crowd was more into it and the heat from Drake was a bit more interesting. [**¾]
After the match, Drake attacked Spud.
Jinny vs. Toni Storm
This was originally set for a three-way involving Dahlia Black, but she broke her leg a week earlier. Both ladies are set for the finals of a tournament to crown PROGRESS’s first Women’s Champion. This starts hot, with both girls getting right into it. Storm uses her ass as a weapon. Who does she think she is, Ryusuke Taguchi? Jinny talks a bunch of smack while wearing Storm down with a submission. Jinny is so offended by Storm’s looks that she puts a trash bag over her. Storm rallying while covered in the bag is a funny sight. She comes close to winning with a fisherman suplex and muscle buster. Storm avoids the Acid Rainmaker and nails a big headbutt. Unfortunately, the finish falls flat. Storm is pulled off the top to no reaction and Jinny pins her with her feet on the ropes at 9:39. I dug the match as the women seemed to hate each other. They played it just right and I thought the finish would’ve been fine if handled slightly differently. [***]
JML (Sami Callihan and Shane Strickland) vs. The South Pacific Power Trip (TK Cooper and Travis Banks) w/ Dahlia Black
Dahlia Black, ever the trooper, is here in a walking boot. Callihan is the only guy in this match I don’t care for. Instantly, this is bonkers as the teams don’t even go to their corners. They just go at it right out of the gate. Each guy gets in a dive, capped by Cooper’s corkscrew moonsault to the outside. After more brawling outside, Strickland hits a spider suplex on Cooper as he hits a superplex on Sami. Banks immediately then lays out Strickland with a coast to coast dropkick. The action stays wild, never slowing down. A ridiculous barrage of kicks sees Cooper and Strickland get their feet stuck together and Sami and Banks taking each other out. JML busts out a powerbomb/diving double stomp combo for a near fall that Sami turned into the stretch muffler. Cooper struggles and finally breaks it up. Strickland gets left alone and falls to an elevated spike DDT at 13:23. What a frantic war. They threw traditional tag team wrestling out the window and had a non-stop action filled tornado match. Sami & Shane worked well together, while the SPPT continued to shine. I’d put them in the top three teams right now along with the Revival and DIY. Their versatility is key, having matches like this and the one with Bate & Seven recently. If you want a sub-fifteen minute thrill ride, this is your match. [****]
After the match, the two teams embraced.
Jim Smallman makes note of Kris Travis’ untimely passing last year.
PROGRESS Atlas Championship: Matt Riddle (c) vs. PROGRESS Tag Team Champion Trent Seven
The fans erupted for this one. Things start calmly enough but quickly progress to slaps and an exploder form Riddle. Though Riddle has an insane UFC knockout in his past, Seven brings his own vicious strikes. Riddle brings a middle rope fisherman buster and it’s barely been five minutes. The big lads just start throwing each other around with various suplexes. Riddle has several answers for lariat attempts, blocking them with kicks and avoiding them like the plague. Seven avoids a springboard knee and comes close to a win with a spinning piledriver. It’s a great near fall if you know that Riddle took similar moves a day prior against Drew Galloway. Riddle turns it around with a jumping tombstone for his own near fall. Seven looks dead before firing up and hitting the Seven Star Lariat for a close call. Riddle nails a piledriver and Seven KICKS OUT AT ONE! Riddle quickly traps him in the Bromission and Seven taps at 10:47. I LOVE BIG LADS WRESTLING! Smallman promised they would kick the shit out of each other and they delivered. It stayed in Riddle’s wheelhouse of 10-15 minutes and was intense throughout. Like the previous match, it felt different from everything else on the show. My kind of wrestling. [****¼]
WWE United Kingdom Championship: Tyler Bate (c) vs. Mark Andrews
Bate interfered in Andrews’ PROGRESS Title match a week earlier. This is the first time a WWE Title is defended outside of the WWE since 1994. It’s interesting that Bate is a heel but was portrayed as a babyface during the UK Tournament. It shows early when Bate gives a handshake following some good back and forth grappling. Andrews matches Bate there, so Bate shows off his athleticism, which is Andrews’ strong suit. Most of the match is played evenly. Andrews gets a highlight with a standing sliced bread #2 on the apron. They eventually start trading blows before Bate hits a Michinoku Driver for two. In a strong closing sequence, Bate busts out a standing shooting star press! Andrews comes back with his own and a Vertebreaker for two. That move should always finish a match. They trade a bit more offense before the Tyler Driver ’97 keeps Andrews down at 17:14. This was strong but failed to make me believe the title would change hands. The chance of it happening was slim but they never made me buy into it, even on the Vertebreaker spot. I wanted more from this, though the finishing stretch was a highlight. [***¼]
PROGRESS Championship: Pete Dunne (c) w/ Trent Seven and Tyler Bate vs. Mark Haskins
British Strong Style do Triple H inspired water spits during their entrance. Haskins was the PROGRESS Champion but had to vacate it due to injury. It was then that Dunne came from out of nowhere to win the title. Haskins gets in early trouble thanks to distractions from BSS. He uses a dive (after a Dunne moonsault accidentally hits BSS) to take them out. It’s temporary though as they distract again when Haskins slaps on a Sharpshooter. The referee tosses them to a mixed reaction. Dunne gets in control and wears down Haskins. When Haskins starts coming back, Dunne dares him to hit harder. Haskins moves to submissions, which he’s great at. Dunne survives and delivers two tombstones, including a jumping one. They both look nasty, especially given Haskins’ injury problems. Dunne gets a bunch of heat for a Pedigree near fall. Mark’s final stand is a great rally. Dunne almost taps to the star armbar but counters. He hits the Bitter End for two and transitions to a crossface. He rears bank enough to make Haskins submit at 19:12. A great capper to a great show. Haskins fighting from behind after the BSS stuff was great and Dunne came off like a legitimate champion after they left. His work on Haskins’ neck was well done and made sense. [****]
Overall: 9/10. Not just arguably the best show over WrestleMania weekend, it has a case for best show I’ve seen in 2017. Everything delivers with only one match getting less than three stars and even that one coming close. There’s great variety up and down the card. Technical back and forth to open the show, a good women’s match, wild tag team wrestling, an awesome hoss fight, a big fight feel main event and more.
