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| With the Superbowl out of the way, now we can focus on the upcoming XFL season! Go Chicago Enforcers! |
- TNA have formed a working relationship with Pro Wrestling NOAH, easily the best named company in the world. Seems like TNA have started turning things around lately.
- The Rock, WWE Studios and Stephen Merchant are working on a film about Paige and the Knight Family. How very strange, I honestly have no idea what is going on with Paige anymore, and even more so as to WWE stance on her. Things be weird, yo.
- The Rock'n'Roll Express are the second inductees into the WWE Hall of Fame Class of 2017. I've never seen any Rock'n'Roll Express matches, but from the clips shown on RAW, they look like my kinda team. Might have do some digging on the Network.
- Apparently ol' Slap Nuts himself Jeff Jarrett is in talks with ITV to run the World of Sport, with them being more interested in bringing it back full time. I suppose Jarrett isn't the worst of people to have run it, and its sure as shit better than someone at ITV who doesn't know a lot about wrestling.
- Next week on NXT its Tyler Bate's first defence of the UK Championship, taking on British Strong Style partner, Trent Seven. Excited for this one!
Monday Night RAW
Best Match on RAW (6/2/17): Roman Reigns vs Samoa Joe
Its The Destroyer's first match on RAW, taking on the show's other Samoan Joe, Roman Reigns.
They did a real good job in this match to make sure Joe looked like a legitimate threat, and more importantly, a monster. Reigns did get a good amount of offence on the debuting star, but they kept it so that whilst it clearly affected him. Joe was stumbling around and getting groggy from it all, but it took quite a bit to get Joe off his feet.
Another good addition to this match was Joe did a big ol' number on Roman. The nature of the match called for Joe's more strike and power based performances, featuring a large dollop of outside action. Joe's punches are always great, and he landed some top shots in this one, such as;
It was pretty back and forth between the two Samoans, taking turns to assert their dominance on the other. It was got to looking pretty even as we neared the closing minutes, with Reigns just slightly tipping ahead. Braun Strowman came out for interference, and allowed Joe to pick up the win, using a new finisher!
Super Uranage! Good match here, with it being a nice showcase for Joe. From what I remember, the fans were into it, and I hope Joe gets some more big moments in the lead to Mania and has a nice spot on that card.
SmackDown! LIVE
Best Match on SD! (7/2/17): The Miz vs Baron Corbin vs Dean Ambrose vs AJ Styles
Opening the show on SmackDown! LIVE, its a Fatal-4-Way comprised of competitors in this coming Sunday's Chamber match.
I ragged on Ambrose a fair bit, but I have to say I think he works well in multi-man matches. He's not always present so there's some more variety going on, and whatever offence he does get in, it blends in a series of everyone else's.
This 4-way did feel very much like the ones where you split it into pairings of two going at it and sub one in/out every so often. However, there were some instances where this rhythm was altered by either working in a 3 or 4 man spots, or changing things much faster.
Corbin was kept to look as a dominant force, just laying everyone out in a couple instances, which is something I'd like to see continue. I seems like SmackDown! has a lack of big mean bastards to knock people around, and since his performance at the Rumble notably eliminating Braun Strowman, he looks to be being pushed as that guy.
This match did deliver me a nice treat in the form of one of my favourite moves in wrestling, AJ Styles's Stylin' DDT;
Fuck me, Ambrose makes up for all the things I hate by taking that so well. It wasn't too long after that when we would see the finish of the match. Big Banter Baron Corbin picked up the 'W' after landing an End of Days on Styles.
Real nice match here on SmackDown!, getting me real excited for Elimination Chamber. Looks like a promising card, hope they pull it off. 5 bucks says Styles hits a Clash on the steel floor.
205 Live
Best Match on 205 Live (7/2/17): Jack Gallagher vs Mustafa Ali vs Noam Dar vs Cedric Alexander vs TJ Perkins - No.1 Contender's Elimination Match for the WWE Cruiserweight Championship
This is exactly what I've been wanting from 205 Live since its inception, and is probably the best match the show has seen. We have a hot crowd (thank fuck for once) and they ate up this match and rightfully so. We got lots of snappy action, people in and out pulling out big spots, including this;
Just lovely. This was very much one-in one-out, with a couple 3rd man inclusion, but that didn't really detract at all. This matched thrived from having a quick 'boom-boom-boom' pace for all the guys to get it, show off, get out.
However, the above statement was true for the most part. With this being an elimination match, numbers started to fall and the match responded accordingly. By the time we were in the last three, we had some decently length face-offs between participants, and some nice ring psychology.
In the end it came down to Gallagher and Perkins, with the latter being a bit heelish in his eliminations of Cedric and Ali, capitalising on foul play and working an injured arm respectively. Gallagher wins with his corner dropkick and is set to face Neville at Fastlane. EN-GUR-LUND! EN-GUR-LUND! EN-GUR-LUND!
NXT
Best Match on NXT (8/2/17): Heavy Machinery (Tucker Knight & Otis Dozovic) vs The Revival (Dash Wilder & Scott Dawson)
Tag team action here on NXT this week, with the Top Guys in The Revival taking on Tucker Knight and Otis Dozovic, now under the new moniker of 'Heavy Machinery', which I think is just the coolest.
Heavy Machinery were pretty dominant in this one, showing off possibly my new favourite tag team move of just passing Dash like a ragdoll between them;
Hugs all round! With such a massive team in Tucker and Dozovic, Dash and Dawson had to rely on their wits and tandem offence to try and cut down the behemoths. Knight had a very Big Cass-esque hot tag, mainly so due to the fact he let out a big ol' howl after laying both out. The Revival would end up gaining a victory after some misdirection and Dawson DDT. Probably for the best that way, because I would hate to see Dash have to have one of these gargantuan men fall on him for the Shatter Machine.
I really like Heavy Machinery, they've got some wrestling chops to them and I am a sucker for matching tag team gear, especially singlets. I hope we get more of these guys soon. Post match we had some stuff between The Revival and The Authors of Pain. Unless #DIY move on up, I'm guessing it'll be AoP vs The Revival vs #DIY at Orlando.
Ring of Honour
Best Match on ROH TV (Episode 281): Lio Rush vs Jay White vs Johnathan Gresham vs Donovan Dijak vs Alex Shelley vs Chris Sabin - No.1 Contender's Match for ROH World Television Championship
Main event-ing this week's episode of Ring of Honour television, we have a 6-Man match for the Number 1 Contendership for Marty Scurll's ROH TV title. Scurll filled the void of colour commentator for this match, and I thought he was awesome at it.
This was one fall to a finish and was contested with lucha rules, meaning when one man leaves/gets thrown out of the ring, anyone is free to step in and become legal. This led to some pretty swift shake ups of those in the ring. In this line up you've got some guys who are well versed in pulling off some high-flying antics, the 6'7 giant Dijak included. We had a spot with everyone diving on each other, culminating in a twisting senton from Dijak that was just amazing.
The Rebellion - Rhett Titus, Caprice Coleman and Kenny King - came out and attacked people, with them being all weird and trying to recruit Lio Rush, leaving Rush and Dijak in the ring. There was some lovely back and forth in this, and as a big fan of both, it was great to see. I can't exactly remember how it happened, but Dijak used an ungodly amount of power to hoist up Rush for the Feast Your Eyes, and ended it. Dijak vs Scurll inbound.
As always you can watch ROH TV for FREE on either www.rohwrestling.com/tv/current or on the Fite TV app.
ROH: Undisputed Legacy
Best Match on UL: The Bullet Club (Adam Cole, Hangman Page & The Young Bucks (Matt & Nick Jackson)) vs Search & Destroy (The Motor City Machine Guns (Alex Shelley & Chris Sabin), Lio Rush & Jay White)
We're in kinda/sorta house show territory now, with ROH hanging around San Antonio a little after the Rumble, bringing us Undisputed Legacy. Topping the card this time around, its ROH's Bullet Club made up of Cole, Page and The Bucks taking on the team of Lio Rush, Jay White and The Motor City Machine Guns, now called 'Search and Destroy'.
It was the type of all over match you could expect from a lineup such as this, with a whole host of multi man spots and sequences popping the crowd and me myself. The end spot was my favourite moment, with a joint Indytaker and Rite of Passage done by Page to both men. Other than that, I can really think of much more to say about this match. It wasn't the best of these sort of matches I've seen from ROH, but it was good. It was designed to be a big slobberknocker to get the crowd on their feet to end the show, and that it did.
Good, solid match here.
SUPERKICK COUNTER: 15
ROH: Honour Reigns Supreme
Best Match on HRS: The Young Bucks (Matt & Nick Jackson) vs The Briscoes (Jay & Mark Briscoe) - ROH World Tag Team Championship 2 Out of 3 Falls Match.
Overall, I thought this show was much better than Undisputed Legacy. Taking the cake for this show was a rematch from Final Battle, with The Young Bucks defending their ROH World Tag Team Championships against The Briscoes.
The stipulation of this match was a weird but I was excited for it; the first fall would be traditional ROH rules, the second under lucha rules (as described earlier) and then, if needed, the third under no disqualification.
We kick things off with the first fall being really rather good. Both sides are great tag teams, and they provided a similar quality to the fantastic match that they had in December. Lots of tandem offence and all the good things you'd expect from the ROH tag division. The Briscoes won the first fall from a roll up, and then came the second. The promised lucha rules part of the match was probably my most anticipated piece of this, however this was taken away from me with The Briscoes deciding to jump The Bucks with chairs, costing the fall but ushering in the No DQ portion, starting in their favour. I applaud the creativity, but I felt just a tad slighted.
Things started to really pick up from then on. We had Nick Jackson climb one of the building support beams and did a moonsault off the fucker. Awesome. The four took it up to the stage for a bit, and when we got back in the ring, we had a repeat of the unloading of superkicks on the kneeling Briscoes. We were moving to a head from then, with the climax seeing a Meltzer Driver securing the victory for The Young Bucks. I thought that was an awesome match.
SUPERKICK COUNTER: 20
NJPW: The New Beginning in Sapporo
Best Match on NBiS: Kazuchika Okada vs Minoru Suzuki - IWGP Heavyweight Championship Match
Going across to Japan now, and its the first of two 'New Beginning' shows. Staged in Sapporo, we have the IWGP Heavyweight Championship on the line, with Kazuchika Okada defending against Minoru Suzuki.
Hard hitting this one, with both men laying into one another, especially on Suzuki's part. We'd get into exchanges with both throwing forearms and boom, Suzuki hits like an open hand slap and floors Okada. I thought those moments of sudden change and Suzuki on top were great.
For quite a sizeable portion of the bout, Suzuki worked the knee of Okada. In some aspects it was great, and others not so much. Minoru was awesome at putting on loads of different holds and attacks on it. However, I felt some holds went on too long. Like, we'd get a hold for a bit, Okada would reach the ropes and it felt like in to time at all we were back on the mat with Suzuki pulling at the joint. Also, whilst in one, Okada did a wonderful job at selling, screaming like a Screamapillar.
Then, when he got the upper hand, he kinda just shook it off. Now I'm good with the whole 'adrenaline numbs the pain' sort of thinking in a match, but when you're kipping up, doing a big dropkick and dropping a neckbreaker on that injured knee, I'd expect you to feel some effects, mate.
In all, we had a really good wrestling match here. The heavyweights in New Japan aren't always my favourite thing to watch on the card, but I have to appreciate that these guys put on a hell of a wrestling match. Whilst Okada's selling was patchy, you can still watch this an leave satisfied.
NJPW: The New Beginning in Osaka
Best Match on NBiO: Hiromu Takahashi vs Dragon Lee - IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Championship Match
Honourable Mention(s): Katsuyori Shibata vs Will Ospreay - RPW British Heavyweight Championship Match
Its part deux of the New Beginning shows and I enjoyed this Osaka show more than the one Sapporo and the major reason for this was the IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Championship Match contested between Hiromu Takahashi (FKA Kamaitachi) and Dragon Lee.
This was a bell-to-bell barn burner. These guys are known for having awesome matches with each other, whether it be State-side in ROH, in Mexico with CMLL or here in Japan. We're talking a whole host of big spots that peppered this match to make it as awesome as it was. Even in the matches infant minutes we had a crazy 'Ticking Timebomb';
Just a whole load of crazy stuff in this. Accompanying all the insanity, we had some real good wrestling and some proper stiff strikes. Some of Dragon Lee's looked to properly get some connection upside Hiromu's head. I've seen it before, but I think Lee's crowning moment in this match was this uber-cool huricanrana, the best example of it I've seen by far;
The woman in white at the end of that match looks like she's observing Lee for her evil boss as a target.
We had some playing around with Lee's mask, and Takahashi even fully tore it off at one point, showing the world the luchador's face. I was super surprised by this, with masks in lucha libre being pretty sacred. He scrambled it on and left it half tied for the rest of the match, and I thought it was gonna come off again.
I have no idea how Takahashi has manged to go as he has for this long, he wrestles with a death wish, but luckily for him he manages to kill Dragon Lee in the process.
Takahashi would end up coming out the victor, retaining his championship and living to fight another day. I thought this match was incredible. It had the ground game, the mask struggle made it more dramatic, the high spots and the nasty striking. I thought this match was so incredible that...
The Verdict
Best Match of the Week: Hiromu Takahashi vs Dragon Lee - IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Championship Match
Yes indeed. I loved this match, start to finish had me super engaged with elements of everything that modern wrestling has built itself upon. Both guys went hard, and it majorly paid off. They played off each other's intensity and it elevated it all to whole new level. For what its worth I had the Bucks/Briscoes match slated for the best match before watching the Osaka show. Then Shibata/Ospreay took the prize and this immediately claimed it as its own.
And with another week sifted through, here's how the leaderboard shakes up nowadays.
Now for a segment barely staying alive, its 'The Best Wrestling Quote of the Week';
"He needs to stop dicking around" - Silas Young on Cody Rhodes (I think)
That wraps me up for this week my dear readers, I hope you liked this, and maybe its even enticed you to come back for another one down the line. Either way, thank you for coming, it means the world to me. I hope the next 7 days in your corner of Earth are full of just the nicest things, so garlic bread. I'll catch your ass down the road.
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