WWE Fastlane
March 11th, 2018 | Nationwide Arena in Columbus Ohio | Attendance: 15,119
It’s no secret that Smackdown has been the weak point of WWE for a long time. After killing it in the back half of 2016, they died around WrestleMania last year. Randy Orton won the WWE Title and everything went downhill. The WWE Title picture was a drag, the US Title saw a string of disappointment matches and overbooking, while the Women’s Title was littered with dull ladies. At least the Tag Team division was fun. Anyway, it’s Smackdown’s final stop before WrestleMania. Can they end a drag of a year (Mania to Mania) on a high note?
Kickoff: Breezango and Tye Dillinger vs. Chad Gable, Mojo Rawley, and Shelton Benjamin
I love the new Team Angle. This was a thrown together match that wasn’t announced until the Kickoff Show started. Tye, Mojo, and Breezango haven’t had much TV time lately. Luckily, they all brought energy here. When I watch a Kickoff match, all I expect is something fun, which is what we got here. Mojo was great at the character stuff. He played to the crowd and drew a lot of heat. There were some moments that didn’t fully click, but this ultimately worked. Tye got the win with the Tye Breaker on Mojo at 7:27. To me, this kind of felt like an NJPW undercard. It was a meaningless, but fun multi-man match. [**¾]
Rusev w/ Aiden English vs. Shinsuke Nakamura
On this Rusev Day, the crowd was MOLTEN for both men. Aiden English basically rapped Rusev to the ring, which is worth about three stars on its own. I’ve harped on about the lack of effort Nakamura has put in since coming to the WWE (other than the Zayn match). He’s had some good ones against Cena, Balor, and Orton, but that’s about it. I guess with Mania around the corner, he’s bringing the effort. He and Rusev killed it here. It wasn’t just Nakamura working from behind, which isn’t his strong suit. It was evenly matched, with both guys having counters for almost everything the other threw at them. When Rusev stopped the Kinshasa with a Machka Kick, I nearly jumped out of my seat. Nakamura countering the Accolade and hitting a Kinshasa to the back of the head was excellent. He added another to win in 14:29. Easily the best Nakamura match in almost two years. Tons of great counters, Rusev being awesome, and the best Nakamura we’ve seen in a long time. [***¾]
WWE United States Championship: Bobby Roode [c] vs. Randy Orton
I fully came into this match expecting to be put to sleep. That didn’t happen, but boy did they come close. Look, these are two wrestlers who are technically fine. They do their moves and do them well. But that’s not enough to put on a compelling contest. The pace was incredibly slow. I don’t mind that kind of pace at all, but these guys do everything in such a hollow manner, there was nothing behind it to get me interested in any way. Things got good near the end, but it was too little, too late. I’ll compare to NJPW again. I hate when their matches have a dreadfully slow start and only seem to matter late. That was this, only with a less interesting closing stretch. Orton won his first US Title with the RKO after 19:30 that felt like it went 35:30. Like I said, it was technically fine, but with no real heart.[**]
Post-match, Jinder Mahal came out for a brawl. He has been the saving grace of this feud. But man, this Triple Threat sounds nowhere near as interesting as Raw’s IC Title one for Mania.
Becky Lynch and Naomi vs. Carmella and Natalya
Becky and Carmella looked incredible here. With that out of the way, we can focus on the match. It was your standard tag team match. The heels cut off a babyface (Naomi) from making the tag. Carmella and Natalya work as a team, because Nattie handles the technical side, while Carmella does the top notch character work. Becky’s hot tag run was good stuff. However, a Nattie distraction set her up to eat a superkick, giving Carmella a rare win in 8:53 It was a fine match, though something that didn’t really feel like it belonged on PPV. I could’ve seen this on any episode of Smackdown for the most part. [**¼]
WWE Smackdown Tag Team Championship: The Usos [c] vs. The New Day w/ Big E
These teams engaged in an incredible series of matches last year. Their high profile matches ranged from ***½ to ****¾. With Woods in over Big E, it reminded me of their great Battleground match. So, I came in saying it might be weird for them to have a normal tag after the war they had back in October. But, never count these guys out. They found a new way to put a spin on these matches. New Day did the Usos’ offense and the Usos busted out classic New Day stuff. What a brilliant way to keep things fresh. Just as the match was nearing a great level, the Bludgeon Brothers came out and attacked both teams for a double DQ after 8:57. That was really fun, though the finish kept it from being great. I get that it sets up another potential Triple Threat for Mania (one that should be all kinds of awesome) and it made sense, it just cut the match short. They hyped this up so well with the Smackdown promo and video package, only to have it set up something different. [***½]
WWE Smackdown Women’s Championship: Charlotte [c] vs. Ruby Riott
Ruby Riott is the first interesting person involved in the Smackdown Women’s Title scene since WrestleMania 33. On my first watch, this match lacked a lot. A second viewing helped as I paid more attention. Ruby delivered here. She sold well, had some good looking offense, and did all the little things right. Her submission on Charlotte right in front of Becky and Naomi (who ran out after Liv Morgan and Sarah Logan appeared) was great, as was her use of the signature Flair chops. I appreciated the Riott Squad outsmarting Becky and Naomi by tricking them into getting ejected, only to get ejected themselves after. With it back to being one on one, Charlotte pulled off a SUPERMAN style power up and won with the Figure Eight in 13:44. The outcome was never in doubt, which hurt the drama. I also wasn’t a fan of the finishing stretch. However, Ruby was great and with a better opponent and a better laid out match, I think she can put on a banger. [**¾]
After the match, Asuka came out and officially declared she was coming for Charlotte and Smackdown Women’s Title at WrestleMania. It’s a big time match and one that really feels much more important than whatever the Raw Women’s Title match ends up being. I think it can be a great match, though I’m interested in how it gets laid out. Charlotte is at her best when she plays a dominant role, not someone fighting from behind, which is what she’ll probably be in this match. Either way, I’m cool with this.
WWE Championship Six Pack Challenge: AJ Styles [c] vs. Baron Corbin vs. Dolph Ziggler vs. John Cena vs. Kevin Owens vs. Sami Zayn
Shane McMahon came to ringside for this. I honestly don’t know how anyone can cheer for him anymore. He’s been a horribly written character for a long time. Anyway, like most matches on the card, this had a predictable outcome, but they worked at such a torrid pace, it didn’t matter. You were engaged. Cena opened with four AAs on everyone but AJ, giving us a great start. From there, the match never slowed down. There were great elements of storytelling for the most part. Even the guys who weren’t directly involved in that (Baron and Dolph) still had good action moments. Owens and Zayn had a great moment where Sami went to lay down for him, only to roll him up. That set up one of their classic hockey style fights. I love it. Shane got superkicked by Owens after arguing with Sami. So, when Owens had the match won, Shane pulled the referee out. Then, Sami had it won, and Shane pulled him out. See? He’s awful. The closing stretch was wild and, after a barrage of stuff, Styles returned from taking an AA through a table to win with the Phenomenal Forearm on Ziggler at 21:52. Great main event. They managed to feature a ton of action without going too long and telling several stories. They established the Nakamura/Styles match, while also adding layers to other potential Mania matches. [****¼]
Overall: 7/10. Historically, Fastlane has been a drag of a PPV. 2015 had a great Reigns/Bryan match, but it mostly feels like filler. While most of this show had expected results, it was mostly fun. The Roode/Orton match was boring, while the women’s tag was okay, but everything else seemed to click. The Women’s Title was solid, the Tag Title was good, the Kickoff show was enjoyable, Rusev/Nakamura ruled, and the main event was great. Thumbs up.
Talk about a match that doesn't matter. I love Becky and Carmella. If I were booking, that would be the main title program on Smackdown. You've got the best babyface against the best heel. Anyway, I think Carmella and Natalya could use the win much more. But, Carmella has the Money in the Bank briefcase, which basically means she must lose a ton. That'll happen here.
Winners: Becky Lynch and Naomi
RUSEV DAY! Honestly, I wish Rusev won the Royal Rumble and we got Rusev/AJ Styles at WrestleMania. I guarantee the build would've been better. Also, Rusev has been putting in effort over the past year, while Nakamura has mostly slept walked since the Sami Zayn match when he debuted. But yea, we know the outcome. Nakamura wins.
Winner: Shinsuke Nakamura
It was the best tag team rivalry, arguably in history. Since it happened so recently, it'll be kind of odd to watch again. Not that it won't be good, but they're only a few months removed from a violent Hell in a Cell match. Now, we get a regular tag match, so it'll feel strange. Regardless, it should be great and my pick for the match of the night. It's a tough call, since they like to switch titles often. However, I think the Usos should hold the titles going into Mania. So, I'm picking a New Day title switch.
Winners: The New Day
Are you guys ready for a high quality **1/2 match? That's about what I'm expecting here. Randy Orton has been dreadful outside of a handful of matches (thanks AJ and Luke Harper) since 2017. You know a feud is dull when the saving grace of it has been Jinder Mahal. Really think about that. Jinder Mahal. Roode wins and we get some kind of multi-man match at Mania.
Winner: Bobby Roode
I badly want Carmella as Smackdown Women's Champion. However, Ruby Riott is a great alternate. I just need one of them to save me from the dire Smackdown Women's Title picture because Naomi, Natalya, and Charlotte are the most boring trio of champions I can ever recall in a row. Ruby would be a great choice, but there's no way she wins here. With Alexa seemingly set up for something new on Raw, I suspect Charlotte retains and gets challenged by Asuka for Mania. Hopefully, Asuka just runs her over.
Winner: Lady Big Dog
Road Dogg is a terrible booker. That's been the case since the start of 2017 and this is another example. When you can't book a competent story, you just throw a bunch of guys into a clusterfuck. That's what we've got here. Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens have the most compelling story in this, which I'd like to see either end with a singles match at Mania or a tag against the Usos for the titles. Dolph is a waste of space, while Corbin lost all momentum. Cena's obviously not winning his record 17th at Fastlane. AJ Styles retains and the fans get their AJ/Nakamura matchup at Mania.
Winner: AJ Styles
2018 Prediction Record: 12-4
2017 Prediction Record: 81-37
2016 Prediction Record: 72-41
2015 Prediction Record: 60-35
Fastlane Prediction History: 16-6
PROGRESS Chapter 64: Thunderbastards Are Go!
February 25th, 2018 | Electric Ballroom in Camden, Greater London | Attendance: 700
One thing I’ve noticed about recent PROGRESS shows is that they’ve been getting longer and longer. This one clocks in at just around three hours, which is the best choice. Jim Smallman opened it with his usual brand of comedy with the crowd.
The Anti-Fun Police vs. David Starr and Jack Sexsmith
Chief Deputy Dunne has a partner in Los Federales Santos Jr. Fantastic. I’ve never seen him before, but apparently, he’s made a name for himself as a comedy guy around the UK indies. Santos requested that “Senor Smallman” do his introduction in Spanish, but threw a fit when Starr suggested that would be fun. That set the tone for a match ripe with funny moments. To be fair, there was also some romance. You’ll get that if you check out the match. A short heat got worked on Starr, leading to Sexsmith getting a hot tag. The Anti-Fun Police had a cool spot where Dunne sat on Santos’ shoulders and hit the equivalent of a Doomsday Chokeslam. In the end, Sexsmith got the win with a BDSM/Product Placement after 15:03. It went a bit long, but it was a lot of fun. Very good comedy stuff and a blast of a way to open a show. Give me more Santos, please. [***]
Post-match, Sexsmith cut a short promo about his upcoming title shot at Chapter 69. He also issued a challenge to the Tag Team Champions, Jimmy Havoc and Mark Haskins.
Charlie Morgan w/ Jinny vs. Millie McKenzie
At Chapter 63, Morgan aligned herself with Jinny and the House of Couture. Meanwhile, Millie missed out on a title shot at the last chapter because of injury. Millie looked like she would get early control, only to run into a superkick. That put Charlie in charge for a bit. When Millie hit her first suplex, the crowd ate it up. “SUPLEX MILLIE.” Charlie took a rough bump on an apron German. It looked brutal. There was a great shot of Jinny proudly looking on as Charlie had Millie trapped in a submission. It was subtle, but well done. Millie got hot late, but a cheap shot from Jinny stopped her in her tracks. Jinny hit her with her boot, but missed the first time and it was hard to tell that’s what happened. Morgan used an implant DDT to score the win in 9:20. I found to be a solid match, with a weak ending. The House of Couture needs wins, so the result made sense. [**½]
Natural Progression Series V First Round: Mark Davis vs. Maverick Mayhew
To qualify, both guys beat their respective tag partners. Davis had a star making match against WALTER at Chapter 63. Early “please don’t die” chants towards the smaller Mayhew. Davis looked happy to be the aggressor again after taking a beating from WALTER. Davis took to Twitter to say he would “WALTER” Mayhew and he did just that. When Mayhew managed to get in some hope spots, the fans couldn’t help but really get behind him. Davis was too much, though. He won with an INSANE pull-up piledriver at 7:09. That finisher is one of the wildest things I’ve ever seen. One hell of a short match. [***½]
Mayhew got a standing ovation before leaving.
PROGRESS Tag Team Championship: Jimmy Havoc and Mark Haskins [c] w/ Vicky Haskins vs. Grizzled Young Vets
Havoc and Haskins won the titles from GYV at Chapter in a decent match. The crowd was against everyone, chanting things like “none of these guys” and “you’re all wankers.” This went on fine for a few minutes until Havoc did a diving double stomp onto his opponents. He messed up his knee and everything stopped. Havoc had to be taken to the back. With the champs gone, Gibson went into promo mode and verbally cut them down. Mark and Vicky came to the stage, where Gibson really tore into him. He called Vicky Mark’s beard, said Mark already walked away from one title reign, and said Marks’s son would grow up to be a bitch. Damn. Haskins hit the ring and threw it back to his babyface days. He showed a lot of fire and had the crowd behind him. The ref was bad at being consistent about the legal man stuff. Havoc returned to the ring, only to get tagged and immediately beaten with Ticket to Mayhem. The whole thing went 18:04. What a weird match. The heel/heel stuff was lackluster, while the Haskins solo run was strong, but the finish fell way flat. Not a fan of the title change, either. [**¾]
Jonah Rock vs. Zack Sabre Jr.
It’s Jonah Rock’s PROGRESS debut. This match happened at PWG’s Battle of Los Angeles last year (***½). Jonah is a BIG BOY. Sabre was a great choice for his first opponent. They know each other and Sabre’s small enough for Jonah to look incredible when throwing him around. Of course, this is Sabre, so he gets his fair share of counters and wacky submission attempts in. Similar to Sabre’s work against Chris Hero, this wasn’t his usual case of being in complete control. The stuff he did felt like it came out of desperation. He knew he was overmatched and in trouble. There was a great moment down the stretch, where Jonah missed a moonsault and ate a PK, only to kick out at one. Shortly after that, Sabre caught him in a heel hook for the submission victory at 16:19. Some may question that finish for a big guy like Jonah, but Sabre’s at a point where tapping to him is in way a bad look. Jonah got to look great in his debut. The fans ate up his offense. They told a tried and true story of power vs. technical skill and it worked great. [***¾]
Number One Contender’s Thunderbastard Match: Chris Brookes w/ Kid Lykos vs. Eddie Dennis vs. Flash Morgan Webster vs. Mark Andrews vs. Pete Dunne vs. TK Cooper vs. Trent Seven vs. Tyler Bate
What a loaded field. For those unaware, a Thunderbastard match follows Royal Rumble style entrances, but eliminations are via pinfall, submission, and TKO. Brooke and Bate were the first two entrants. Their exchange was fine, but nothing more. The intensity picked up when TK Cooper arrived at #3. His feud with Brookes, over Travis Banks’ affections, led to a big brawl. Trent Seven was fourth. He and Bate worked together for some fun spots. The fun stopped when Eddie Dennis came in at #5. He did his thing for a bit and badly wanted Mark Andrews next. Instead, #6 was Flash Morgan Webster. Obviously, he came in hot. #7 was Pete Dunne, who handed out explexes like it was his job. Eventually, everyone got back into the ring to right as the final entrant, Andrews, hit the ring. Everyone cleared out to set up Dennis/Andrews. However, TK snuck in and rolled up Dennis to eliminate him before they could interact. GREAT tease of that feud. From there, we got a barrage of action, with almost everyone getting time to showcase their stuff. The next elimination came thanks to the brilliance of TK. He hit Bate and Seven with low blows, so their buddy Dunne kicked him low. The referee caught him and DQed the WWE UK Champion. To add to it, TK then rolled up Seven and got rid of him. His run ended when Brookes bested him with a Praying Mantis Driver, leaving it down to Brookes, Bate, Andrews, and Flash. Brookes got hit with a series of moves, ending with an SSP, to get eliminated. We got a sense of Bate’s power, with an airplane spin and big swing at the same time. A Tyler Driver ’97 eliminated Andrews. Flash and Bate, the final two, went into a series of near falls. The final exchange was great and hard hitting. Vicky Haskins came out to distract the referee when Bate got close to a win. Flash got in her face and sent her to the back. He pulled Bate into a pin that earned him the win in 34:28. A great blend of in-ring stuff and storytelling. Flash and TK, who needed it most, came out looking great. Major props to PROGRESS for telling a compelling Dennis/Andrews story without them wrestling yet. Awesome. [***¾]
PROGRESS World Championship: Travis Banks [c] vs. Matt Riddle
Their first two matches in PROGRESS were stellar (****½ and ****¼). Riddle won the first and Banks took the second. Much more of a mixed reaction than usual for the champ. Like their previous matches, this was filled with intensity. Hard strikes and physical offense. When Banks hit an exploder into a bunch of chairs, a hush came over the crowd and Riddle had to get checked on by ringside staff. I liked how they showed their knowledge of one another. Riddle cut off the coast to coast dropkick with a knee, before hitting his own BROAST TO BROAST. The rest of the match played off their history and saw them trade bombs late. As the match progressed, the fans got more and more behind Riddle. They badly wanted a new champion. Riddle came close to unseating Travis with a top rope Tombstone, but he didn’t capitalize in time. He pounced and applied the Bromission, only for Banks to turn it into a fluke pin and retain after 16:06. Probably the worst of their series, but still a banger. The crowd was fascinating and added a lot to this. A great way to close the trilogy, if this was the end. [****]
Riddle was in disbelief. The image of him standing, while the winner struggled on the mat, was perfect. They shook hands and Riddle left. Flash Morgan Webster came out to the stage and motioned for the title. Who was he with? Vicky Haskins. Having her around has been cool, but some explanation to the stuff she does would be nice.
Overall: 8/10. As usual, this was another PROGRESS show filed with quality wrestling. The storytelling elements are coming together better than most of 2018. Dennis/Andrews has been fantastically built and things with people like Banks and Webster are getting more interesting. There are no bad matches at all, with a few hitting the great level.
NJPW Anniversary Event
March 6th, 2018 | Ota Ward Gymnasium in Tokyo, Japan | Attendance: 3,864
New Japan celebrates their anniversary with this event. Last year, we had some cool moments like TenKoji winning the Tag Titles, a great Hiromu/Taguchi match, and Tiger Mask W against Kazuchika Okada. This year’s show looks significantly worse on paper, with Tetsuya Naito working Taichi and a main event featuring two of my least favorite wrestlers in NJPW. But, I’m always up to be surprised, so let’s see if this show delivers.
Katsuya Kitamura was supposed to finish his trial series today, but was pulled from the show due to a concussion.
Hiroyoshi Tenzan, Jushin Thunder Liger, KUSHIDA, Ryusuke Taguchi, and Tiger Mask IV vs. Ren Narita, Tetsuhiro Yagi, Tomoyuki Oka, Shota Umino, and Yuji Nagata
Nagata is partaking in “bring your kids to work’ day. His Young Lions jumped their opponents before the bell, trying to get the upper hand since they know they’re in serious trouble. Once it calmed down into something more traditional, we got your usual New Japan opener. Everyone got some shine. The highlights were Tenzan and Nagata going at it, as well as KUSHIDA’s run. He was in his hometown and the crowd was hot for him. I liked he and Oka putting KUSHIDA and Taguchi into stereo submissions. KUSHIDA got left alone with Umino, who he made tap to the Hoverboard Lock in 7:31. As I said, it was your typical opener. Fine action, the lions worked hard, and mostly everyone got showcased. [**½]
David Finlay, Juice Robinson, and Toa Henare vs. NEVER Openweight Champion Hirooki Goto, Tomohiro Ishii, and Toru Yano
You know, as much as I want to see Juice and Finlay as a team, I’d be all for Juice dethroning Goto. Speaking of Juice, he sported some new gear tonight. Henare continued to bring it to Ishii, as he has on recent shows. He’s like a bigger Hirai Kawato in how he refuses to show fear. Finlay ended up playing the face in peril role, before making the hot tag to Juice. The fans have really grown to like him. His run included him hitting all three CHAOS guys with his trademark punches. Henare got tagged again and Yano was wise enough to tie up Juice, allowing Goto to beat Henare with the GTR at 7:41. A good little six-man tag. Henare/Ishii continues to be fun, while Juice and Finlay always bring energy. I hope we get Ishii/Juice in the New Japan Cup. [**¾]
IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Tag Team Championship: Roppongi 3K [c] w/ Rocky Romero vs. BUSHI and Hiromu Takahashi vs. El Desperado and Yoshinobu Kanemaru
I hope they’re saving LIDJ/RPG 3K for a bigger show. It’s far and away the best potential matchup and it ruled in the tournament last year. Anyway, at least Desperado is here. He, Sabre, and Suzuki are the saving graces of Suzuki-Gun. SHO got beaten by up the two sets of challengers. They’ve really been booked to mostly get their asses kicked. It’s strange. I get the sympathetic babyfaces, but it’s so consistent. SHO’s back was a target and he got trapped in a Boston crab for a bit. I like people using that on RPG 3K, as a nod to still seeing them as Young Lions, though they need to grow out of it soon. SHO sold it all very well. The champs rallied once YOH got the tag, leading to the next stage of the match being a step up. In the end, BUSHI’s mist got negated by Kanemaru spitting whiskey at him. Desperado rolled up the misted SHO to win the titles in 16:34. It was a good, fun match with some great exchanges down the stretch. RPG 3K continue to sell very well. However, it remains hard to care about this division. The booking is ATROCIOUS. Just merge the tag divisions so Gedo can poorly book one instead of two. [***¼]
IWGP Tag Team Champion SANADA vs. YOSHI-HASHI
I enjoyed their New Japan Cup match last year. In fact, I liked it more than SANADA’s recent Heavyweight Title shot. These guys were given a lot of time and mostly made it work. SANADA controlled most of it, showing an aggressive side to go with his incredible athletic skillset. On some nights, HASHI is very good and this was one of them. He brought a lot of babyface fire in his comebacks, and got the crowd behind him. That’s a tough task considering how popular SANADA is. When SANADA got trapped in the Butterfly Lock, he looked completely out of it, but rallied to reach the ropes and survive. He countered Karma into Skull End and looked to have it won, only to let go. Never fear, as it was just to go up top and connect on the moonsault, getting the win in 17:38. Another good match, with some strong performances by both guys. HASHI got the crowd behind him, while SANADA continued to show promise. [***]
Taichi vs. Tetsuya Naito
This kind of booking would get RIPPED apart if this were WWE. The guy who should’ve won the top title over “the guy” has fallen and ended up wasting time against the worst of the worst. However, Naito proved why he’s a top three wrestler on the planet. He got a high quality match out of Taichi here. Taichi jumped Naito and powerbombed him on the stage. That allowed him to work a heat segment that made sense, without making Naito look bad. Thankfully, Taichi didn’t play the cowardly heel too much. He still brought heel tactics, but it wasn’t done in the annoying fashion of his Jr. matches. Naito had to resort to his own rule breaking style to turn the tide. That included breaking the microphone stand over Taichi’s head, followed by Destino that finished this in 14:07. I ended up enjoying that way more than expected. Naito got the best out of Taichi and it made for an interesting match. I appreciated the effort and how smartly this was laid out. [***¼]
IWGP Intercontinental Championship: Minoru Suzuki [c] vs. Togi Makabe
When you get these two together, you can expect a hard hitting match. And yes, that’s exactly how they came out of the blocks. They traded bombs for most of the match. As Minoru moved to using a chair, Red Shoes was tough enough to stand in front of him and stop the assault. Like he did against Tanahashi, Minoru’s focus was the knee of his opponent. Makabe combated it with his power, though once the knee became damaged, he couldn’t do it as much. He fought from behind and showed more heart and effort than we typically get from him. He went for broke and came up short, missing the King Kong Knee Drop. From there, it was Suzuki’s dominance. Makabe had fight left in him and survived a bit, but ultimately fell to the Gotch Piledriver in 19:04. Another match I liked more than I thought I would. They worked to their strengths, told a fine story, and left the Suzuki-Gun shenanigans to the side. Minoru as IC Champ has already been loads better than his NEVER Title run. [***½]
IWGP Heavyweight Champion Kazuchika Okada vs. IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Champion Will Ospreay
They ran a similar back in 2012 when Heavyweight Champion Okada (yea, he’s basically always champ) faced Jr. Champ Kota Ibushi. This is quite the drop off. They showed respect to one another before the match, being stablemates and all. Okada came in with a plan, going after the leg to neutralize Ospreay’s high flying offense. Early on, Ospreay showed that he can do more than flip around the ring when he wants to. Unfortunately, the match turned into the basic Okada formula we’ve come to expect. It doesn’t make for a bad match, just one that isn’t very exciting. Okada dominated at times, with Will only getting in a few small hope spots. Of course, Okada held on for the Rainmaker, it got countered a few times, he ended up hitting, etc. You know the drill. Eventually, one of them was enough to keep Ospreay down after 25:25. As I said, this was a fine wrestling match. It just had nothing about it to make it special. It felt like just another match. Like one you’d get from Okada in the middle of the G1. I was hoping they’d bring more, all things considered, but they didn’t. [***]
Overall: 6.5/10. A solid show from NJPW, just one that didn’t feature a standout match. Taichi/Naito and the IC Title match were nice surprises, while Ospreay/Okada lacked. The Jr. Tag Title match was also good, though the title change was pointless and dumb, as usual. Nothing on the show is bad and cutting out all the usual Suzuki-Gun nonsense we were hammered with last year has helped make sure shows this year don’t have that standout bad match or two. However, NJPW has felt very lackluster in 2018. It hasn’t been bad, but I’m waiting to be blown away and I haven’t outside of two or three matches. Hopefully, things pick up heading into Sakura Genesis and beyond.
It's that time of the year again. My seventh NXT show in Ohio. I went to Columbus twice in 2015 and this was my fifth time in Cleveland (two in 2015, one year after). At a brisk 34 degrees, this was BY FAR the best weather we've had while waiting in line to get into the show. The seating at the Agora Theatre is first come, first serve, so we try to get there early. We didn't exactly get front row this time, but we managed seats right by the entrance. I got to see behind the curtain and spotted Jason Albert, Serena Deeb, and several wrestlers warming up.
The opening contest was Heavy Machinery against Cezar Bononi and Adrian Jaoude. The latter are both from Brazil. I don't think I've ever cared less about a live NXT match. Heavy Machinery are on the bottom of the list of people I enjoy on the roster. Otis Dozovic was surprisingly over and got even more cheers when he busted out a cartwheel. Heavy Machinery won with their finisher on Bononi in like, five minutes. They kept it short.
Up next was Dakota Kai vs. Shayna Baszler. I absolutely love Dakota and it was great to see her live for the first time. I got a high five and a Twitter shoutout for calling her the BIG DOG on her way out. Shayna is incredibly intimidating live. She pretty much murdered Dakota, though Dakota still got several good hope spots in. Shayna hit a knee that I swear knocked her out at one point. Even the security guard next to me was surprised at how vicious it looked. Shayna won and Dakota got a standing ovation. Great match and Shayna won me over here.
Lars Sullivan vs. Kassius Ohno followed. This was fine, but not as good as their TakeOver match. Ohno nearly got hurt when Lars tried a popup powerslam that he barely connected on. Lars is freakishly huge. He won with the Freak Accident and, on his way out, asked, "WHO'S THE MAN, CINCINNATI?" Even though we were in Cleveland.
Adam Cole took on Chris Dijak next. Oh baby, it's ROH 2014. Adam Cole was the most over person on the show to this point. I got a video of the crowd doing the BAYBAY chant with him. This was a fun little match. Cole had the crowd in the palm of his hands. Dijak impressed and sold the hell out of a Cole superkick. Cole used that and a knee to the head to win. Good stuff.
To close the first half, Kyle O'Reilly and Bobby Fish took on the Street Profits. Fish and O'Reilly had their own version of the Undisputed Era theme and it was total garbage. It sounded awful. At the last minute, the ref got word from William Regal to make it a Tag Title match. Up to this point, it was the second best match behind Dakota/Shayna. Fish and Ford had great banter as they talked trash throughout. The early portions were literally built around a series of headlocks and they made it very entertaining. Ford busted out a cool dive in front of us down the stretch. The champs retained via a Fish rollup. Both teams are really fun live and I'd dig this as a Tag Title match.
During intermission, Lacey Evans got a promo on the screen to talk down about Cleveland. She kicked off the post-intermission stuff against Kairi Sane. Kairi is tiny and adorable. Even after bashing Cleveland, Evans got no response. She has some of the heel mannerisms down and had a funny spot on the top rope where she fell trying to mock Kairi's elbow, but she clearly needs a ton of work in the ring. She slowed this down a lot. It was the worst match of the night, though Kairi tried her best. She won with her awesome elbow.
The semi-main event was Aleister Black vs. Velveteen Dream. They both got promos on the tron earlier in the night. Dream's ended with a shot of his bare feet for about 10 seconds for reasons I don't know. Anyway, Dream surpassed Cole and everyone else as the most over guy so far. Black was a close second. The fans on the opposite side of the ring were apparently hampered by the lights in the arena, so they spent the first few minutes chanting for the arena to shut them off. Black and Dream started slow, probably to weather this storm. Once the lights got fixed, they picked up the pace and the match turned out to be great. The final stretch was a lot of fun and Black won with Black Mass.
The main event saw Andrade Almas and Zelina Vega against Johnny Gargano and Candice LeRae. Almas and Zelina came out first. Zelina is crazy small. Like, ridiculously tiny. They tried cutting a pre-match promo, but couldn't because there was a legitimate 6-7 minute "Johnny Wrestling" chant. It went uninterrupted and was one of the wildest things I've experienced live. Once he and Candice came out, the place went nuts. The match was a ton of fun. They kept cutting off the hot tag to Candice and it was very well done. Johnny and Candice got to hit stereo dives. There were so many good spots. Candice and Johnny won when they used stereo Gargano Escapes, with Zelina tapping. After the match, Johnny spent a few minutes saying goodbye to the fans and telling his hometown how much he appreciated them. His family, trainer, and friends were all in attendance and also got cheers. Johnny made a joke that the people in the back were probably annoyed that he took so much time up at the end, but he didn't work there anymore, so it was all good. Candice reminded him that she still has to work here, which got a laugh.
All in all, another very fun event. They run less than three hours and everything flies by. The best matches, in order, were the main event, Black/Drean, and Dakota/Shayna, with the Tag Titles fourth. Most over were Johnny & Candice, Dream, Black, and Cole. I got a bunch of pictures and several cool moments with a few wrestlers.
You can find the pictures and videos that aren't in this post on my Instagram: @the_kevstaaa
WWE Elimination Chamber
February 25th, 2018 | T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada | Attendance: 15,126
Most of WWE has been excellent in 2018. Other than Smackdown, the weekly shows are usually giving us high quality wrestling and some strong storytelling. Raw was on a roll heading into this Pay-Per-View. Could they keep it up or live up to the great Royal Rumble PPV?
Bo Dallas and Curtis Axel vs. Karl Anderson and Luke Gallows
Recently, we’ve been treated to high quality Kickoff matches. This felt more like the days of King Barrett vs. R-Truth. This was a fine television style match and nothing more. Anderson took a short heat segment, before Gallows got to run a bit wild. A Magic Killer on Axel scored the win for the Good Brothers in 8:49. Like I said, this was fine, but totally forgettable and basic. [**]
WWE Raw Women’s Championship Elimination Chamber: Alexa Bliss [c] vs. Bayley vs. Mandy Rose vs. Mickie James vs. Sasha Banks vs. Sonya Deville
This had potential to shit the bed or be really good. Thankfully, it was the latter. Bayley started against Sonya Deville and they had a fine exchange. Mandy joined next and the Absolution girls teamed up on Bayley for what was easily the dullest part of the match. It only lasted a few minutes, but dragged on since Sonya and Mandy aren’t that good just yet. Sasha came in to even the odds and the match really gained momentum. Absolution against Bayley and Sasha proved to be one hell of a battle. Mickie entered next and had a strong run. It eventually came down to Alexa against Bayley and Sasha. Alexa ran from them and climbed the Chamber, which was fun. Sasha turned on Bayley, of course, kicked her off a pod like this was the Lion King or something. Bayley got rolled up in a slightly awkward moment, leaving it to Sasha and Alexa. Alexa busted out Twisted Bliss off a pod, that Sasha countered into the Bank Statement, which also didn’t come off too smoothly. Alexa weathered the storm and won with a hanging DDT in 29:38. A great match with some very good moments sprinkled in throughout. All the ladies worked hard and bumped their asses off. A few things lacked at some points (the Absolution team up and the final segment between Alexa and Sasha), but this was mostly great. [***¾]
WWE Raw Tag Team Championship: The Bar [c] vs. Titus Worldwide w/ Dana Brooke
I’ve enjoyed most of their TV matches. This was about as good as their last title match. There were several fun exchanges. Apollo took the heat, which made sense as he’s more sympathetic than Titus. However, the crowd still hasn’t been given quite enough reason to get behind the group, so they weren’t as into the babyface stuff as you’d want. Titus had a fine hot tag, though it was nothing special. The Bar put Apollo away with a tandem White Noise after 11:41. Very enjoyable tag team wrestling, highlighted by the Bar being their consistent selves, and by Apollo having one of his better PPV performances. [***]
Asuka vs. Nia Jax
If Nia won, she’d join the WrestleMania Raw Women’s Title match. There’s not much interest in this, as we’ve seen it a bunch in NXT and even on TV recently. The concern of, “Can Nia be the one to beat Asuka?” wasn’t there. I will give them props for the shot of Nia stepping on Asuka’s mask before the match. That was cool. Anyway, the match was similar to their prior matches, though not on the level of the TakeOver or Osaka bouts. They did play off the finish of those, which was nice. Asuka rolled through a pin to remain unbeaten at 8:10, before Nia attacked her after the match. It was fine pro wrestling that played to what works for both characters, it just lacked anything to really make it even a little exciting. [**¾]
Bray Wyatt vs. Matt Hardy
Like Asuka/Nia and Titus Worldwide/The Bar, we also got this on television in 2018. Bray basically squashed Matt on Raw 25. That, coupled with the terrible segments between the two, made for one of the most unappealing matches in recent memory. That happens a lot with Bray, huh? Anyway, this felt like more television filler. There was little life or energy behind anything, and the crowd cared about everything but the stuff going in the ring. Matt got the win with the Twist of Fate in 10:10 and we can all just move on with our lives. The definition of a “nothing” match. [½*]
Ronda Rousey came out to sign her contract next, complete with Kurt Angle, Triple H, and Stephanie McMahon in the ring. The segment moved along relatively fine, though Ronda is clearly still not comfortable on the microphone. She didn’t talk for a long time, but I still cringed a bit. Once Kurt Angle opened his mouth, the segment was saved. He hilariously confessed that HHH and Stephanie were still unhappy with Ronda for WrestleMania 31 (between this and what we find out was the Universal Title match, might as well call this year’s Mania WrestleMania 31: The Sequel) and they wanted to control her. With Ronda no longer talking, the segment took off. She put HHH through a table with a great looking spinebuster. Stephanie did slap her, but Ronda just gave her a look and she went running. Ronda signed the contract, setting up some kind of mixed tag at Mania most likely. It started slow and Ronda could definitely use a mouthpiece, but it ended with a bang and made me interested in Ronda. Success.
Elimination Chamber: Braun Strowman vs. Elias vs. Finn Balor vs. John Cena vs. The Miz vs. Roman Reigns vs. Seth Rollins
A seven-man Chamber should be wild. I was so happy that Finn, Seth, and Miz started. Their match on Raw in 2017 was the most underrated of the year. They started the match hot, making for some great moments. Things really picked up once Braun entered. He got most of the highlights and literally eliminated everyone until it came down to himself and Roman Reigns. I have to point out that the best spot was Braun launching Miz off a pod onto everyone below. Braun kicked out of EVERYTHING, surviving so much until the end. When it came down to him vs. Roman, it was good, but not on the level of their great encounters last year. Reigns hit him with everything in his power to pull out the expected win after 40:11. I did like how Finn and Seth lasted a long time (they were the last two eliminated before Braun) and got so much time in the match. They clearly weren’t afterthoughts. Watching live, I reacted to a lot of my friends were popping for, but missed a few things. I re-watched on my own this morning and liked it a fair amount less. It wasn’t as chaotic as you’d expect from something involving so many people and the final encounter wasn’t that great. It’s a very good chamber, just not the standout one I wanted, especially after the excellent gauntlet match on Raw. [***½]
Overall: 6.5/10. Raw has been a very good show so far in 2018. However, their exclusive PPV performed like most of their others since the brand split. It was above average and nothing more. The two chambers were very good and certainly the highlights, but the rest of the card felt like filler. Even with Asuka/Nia being solid and the Tag Title match being good, they didn’t really feel special. Other than the Chambers, it felt like an episode of TV. The same goes for the Ronda segment, even though it was good.
I honestly don't think much is going to come of this. Part of me expected someone to interrupt, but I get the sense they might save that for one of Ronda Rousey's Raw appearances. At most, I could see a lower card woman interrupting and getting wrecked, but even that is doubtful to me.
This feud has been a disaster. It's just been two guys talking in circles and doing nothing to make me want to see the match. Plus, Bray already basically squashed Matt in a few minutes at Raw 25. I'm gonna say Bray wins here to gain some momentum before doing a lot of nothing at WrestleMania. Maybe he'll be a battle royal favorite.
Winner: Bray Wyatt
I feel like we've seen this match a bunch in recent weeks. Luckily, their last match for the titles was actually quite good. I can't imagine The Bar dropping the titles to Titus Worldwide, but I'm expecting a fun little match. I'd be okay with a title chance, as Apollo and Titus have been very entertaining in recent months. However, I've got The Bar going into Mania with the titles.
Winners: The Bar
Nobody would be dumb enough to waste Asuka's years of build on a loss to Nia Jax at Elimination Chamber, right? I mean, it's even worse than building up Charlotte's Pay-Per-View streak, only to lose in unceremonious fashion at Fastlane last year. Since there's no talk of a pin or submission, some believe Nia wins via DQ or countout, but that seems shitty to me. Asuka for the win.
Winner: Asuka
Like the women's Money in the Bank and Royal Rumble, this could either be a good first outing or a disaster. For the most part, MITB succeeded (even with the dumb booking after) and the Rumble was great. This one is tougher, as it's a tricky match to book, especially with unproven entities like Mandy Rose and Sonya Deville. At this point, not having Alexa as champion going into Mania would be dumb, but I'm thinking Sasha pulls this out.
Winner: Sasha Banks
Come on. We've known this for a year. To be fair, I'm not complaining. I think Roman Reigns is a great choice for champion, as he's constantly putting on good to great matches. It's better than his 2015-2016 push, because he's not the focal point of TV the way he was back then. It should come down to Braun Strowman and Roman Reigns, with Reigns getting a win back over Braun for the first time in about a a year.
Winner: Braun Strowman
2018 Prediction Record: 9-2
2017 Prediction Record: 81-37
2016 Prediction Record: 72-41
2015 Prediction Record: 60-35
