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| 15 Years in the Making |
- Goldberg is your new WWE Universal Champion, meaning that his bout with Lesnar at WrestleMania 33 will be for the gold. Yep, take that how you will.
- In more uplifting championship swaps, Christopher Daniels is the new Ring of Honour World Champion! Having been built up for it especially well, he toppled the third reign of Adam Cole to add his name to the list of champions. Lovely stuff.
- Also in ROH, The Hardys appeared at Manhattan Mayhem VI and won the ROH Tag Team Championships in an impromptu challenge to The Young Bucks! Also, Bully Ray debuted for the company. A truly strange turn of events.
- WWE have announced their first shows for their new United Kingdom Championship division in Norwich of all places. Though the location choice is confusing to some, it is lovely to me as it is like an hour away, and guess who got some tickets! Me and my brother should be opposite hard camera judging by the seat plan, good times!
- Also in good ol' Blighty, TNA owners Anthem and ITV have come to agreements about forming some kind of promotion, I assume along the lines of World of Sport, but who knows?
- 'Ravishing' Rick Rude is the latest addition to the WWE Hall of Fame Class of 2017, a man who deserves it fully and probably already should be in their. Simply ravishing.
- Austin Aries is now officially a member of the cruiserweight roster, having attacked Neville on RAW and debuting on 205 Live. Looks like we might be getting Aries/Neville at 'Mania! Should be a high point on the card.
- It is being reported that WWE have contacted several women wrestlers for mid-May dates, which I presume means this women's tournament is coming our way soon. I look forward to the announcements, seems like I have another guide to write...
Good lord that is possibly the longest news list I've ever done. But now, its time for the syrup on this stack of pancakes of a wrestling blog, its the matches!
WWE Fastlane
Best Match on Fastlane: Neville vs Jack Gallagher - WWE Cruiserweight Championship Match
The saving grace of the pay-per-view known as WWE Fastlane, its Neville defending his Cruiserweight Championship against 'Gentleman' Jack Gallagher. Brit versus Brit, Newcastle versus Manchester, big scraggly beard versus well trimmed moustache.
A pretty hotly contested match up here, starting off with some technicalities but soon turning into a slug-fest. Gallagher was on top form in this match up, with it most definitely being his best showing since the start of the RAW/Cruiserweight merger. He was going all out against Neville, even adding to his already impressive repetoire;
Added to this we saw Jack delivering a good few of his big headbutts and his top rope back suplex, Neville was taking a pretty bad beating. Though this wasn't one sided in any respect. Nev was sure to do some ass kickery of his own, busting out some of his more flashy manoeuvres, like his middle rope Phoenix Splash. The geordie also dropped Jack right on his gentlemanly head with a nasty rebound German suplex, just sickening, but it was great.
Jack was putting up a valiant fight and the man just wouldn't stay down. With the limits being pushed, Neville had to use the one arrow that hadn't been fired yet, the Red Arrow;
And thus, ended the Cruiserweight bout. Neville retains, and then the pay-per-view continues with not the most amazing of shows, but hey ho, at least this match was dope. Great work by both these men, the reign of Neville is a real treat to this division and you can definitely feel the change. Long live the king!
Monday Night RAW
Best Match on RAW (6/3/17): Neville vs Rich Swann - WWE Cruiserweight Championship Match
The Cruiserweights are stealing the show once again, with Big Daddy Nev defending his title for a second time in two days, this time, against the former champion Rich Swann. Since his return and implementation into the Cruiserweight division, Neville has become a reliable source of great match quality on a weekly basis. Gotta love the guy.
Swann seemed to be a bit more aggressive than usual in this one, a nice depiction of him growing and learning from his past encounter with Neville. However the hot start that he kicked the match off with was derailed pretty quickly;
And that boys and girls is the story of how Rich Swann lost his neck.
That shock to the vertebrae of Swann marked a definite turning point of the match that allowed for the king to take the match for himself. There were glimmers of Swann making comebacks throughout, but Nev was soon to shut that shit down. After a superplex from the champion wasn't enough to keep Swann down, things were looking more desperate for Neville, and as we started to wind down, Rich's flair would be the death of him;
Nice match here on RAW, Neville keeping up appearances as a nasty motherfucker, and it was nice to see Swann being put in a position to give a much more competitive match compared to their clash at the Rumble.
SmackDown! LIVE
Best Match on SD! (7/3/17): AJ Styles vs Randy Orton - No.1 Contender's Match for WWE World Championship
SmackDown! continues to hand out stellar matches, particularly in the main event scene, with AJ Styles taking on Randy Orton for the opportunity to challenge for Bray Wyatt's WWE World Championship at WrestleMania 33.
This was great. I'd say its Orton's best match in recent memory, dating back to before he returned at SummerSlam and beyond for sure. There was a nice back and forth between these two men, with it feeling like a very even match up. It could be said Orton had a bit more of a dominant showing in this one, but it didn't really feel like AJ was on the back foot too much.
There was some real nice sequences in this match, with a great counter to the RKO coming from AJ in a pretty slick fashion;
Probably the crowning moment of this match came in the finishing sequence as we saw the OUTTA NOWHERE factor of the RKO negated by Styles, though he did succumb to it pretty soon after;
Real nice match here on SmackDown!, definitely one of the best in the post-split episodes. I just feel that with everything else that went on this week, it may get a tad overshadowed.
205 Live
Best Match on 205 (7/3/17): Austin Aries vs Tony Nese
We're on 205 Live now, and its the return of 'The Greatest Man That Ever Lived', Austin Aries. This week he takes on the man whose abs he's been praising the past few weeks, Tony Nese.
Its kind of strange to see Aries working as a face after all this time, but he had his own dirty tactics peppered in the match, notably the ever so fabled thumb to the eye. Nese did his usual sorta power-agile stuff that we're used to by now, being pretty overbearing of Aries in this one. Ausin was getting worked over pretty thoroughly for the majority of this one, with some plucky comebacks here and there. Ultimately, we would see Aries rise to victory, now using his discus elbow as a finisher; it aint no brainbuster, 450 splash or Last Chancery, but it does the job.
Nice match here, very much to re-familiarise the audience with Aries' in-ring style. I look forward to where he goes in the lead to 'Mania now.
NXT
Best Match on NXT (8/3/17): TJ Perkins vs Shinsuke Nakamura
We've got tapings from the University of Florida now, and taking the forefront of this episode, it was the returning (to TV anyway) Shinsuke Nakamura, taking on Crusierweight Classic winner, TJ Perkins.
I think this is undoubtedly the best match Nak has had on NXT TV in a good long while, though that hasn't been hard when comparing it to the array of squashes against the likes of Wesley Blake and Angelo Dawkins. Much more competitive than any of those, and it sure was refreshing to mix it up from either 'One sided Nak's destroying 'em' or 'BIG PAY-PER-VIEW KING OF STRONG STYLE IS HERE'.
Perkins went to work on the recuperating knee of Shinsuke in a pretty heelish manner, slamming it down on the mat and just generally attacking it with vigour. Its nice to see Perkins out of the constraints of RAW and 205 Live, though it was quite familiar to what we've been seeing lately.
Good match here, though in comparison to what else we've got on the blog this week, I cant help but feel that it falls short.
Ring of Honour
Best Match on ROH TV (Episode 285): The Briscoes (Mark & Jay Briscoe), Bobby Fish & Jay Lethal vs The Bullet Club (The Young Bucks (Matt & Nick Jackson), Adam Cole & Cody Rhodes)
Already wrote this up and accidentally deleted it so I'm annoyed. This wasn't anything too spectacular really. We've got the same sort of match ROH does whenever they decide Bullet Club needs a match to look good or so that no-one in particular gets pinned totally clean and legitimate; stick a load of 'em against a mish mash of a few people. Its Cole, Rhodes and The Bucks against The Briscoes, Lethal and Fish.
We had a snappy, multi-man high spot opening with Bliz Cliz shenanigans peppered throughout; the type of thing typical of these stipulations. About half way through Lethal and Fish got into blows and fucked off through the crowd, leaving The Briscoes to fair on their own. They started off with some resistance, but once The BC got the upper hand, they didn't give it back. They end up winning, its a solid, but forgettable.
As always you can watch ROH TV for FREE on www.rohwrestling.com/tv/current on the Fite TV app
SUPERKICK COUNTER: 17
ROH: Manhattan Mayhem VI
Best Match on MMVI: Dragon Lee vs Will Ospreay
We're in pro wrestling hallowed ground for ROH: Manhattan Mayhem VI, taking us live to the Hammerstein Ballroom. Securing the top spot of best match on the show, it was 'The Aerial Assassin' Will Ospreay taking on Dragon Lee!
This was exciting as all hell. From bell to bell, every sequence, every exchange, every move, nothing fell flat. We didn't just get a big flippity floppity spot fest by any means. There was some impressive power game shown from both these junior heavyweights, some big suplexes and feats of strength that broke up the high pace nicely, giving this match the nice spice of variety. I felt like I saw Ospreay use some more strong style forearms than usual, nastily finding their home in Lee's face, looked absolutely brutal
But make no mistake, there was a good share of absolutely insane shit in this one too. Now I've seen Dragon Lee's running huricanrana to a guy on the apron before, and every time its fucking cool, but this time he leaped over the ropes entirely and found his mark on Ospreay standing ringside, fuckin' AAAAAAHHHHH! Awesome. That was just one instance of me freaking out, add to this a whole host of other fantastic spots and you've got a standout match on your hands.
I thought this match was awesome through and through, definitely see if you can get round to watching this show. It also has Bucks/Hardys which was just insane.
ROH: 15th Anniversary
Best Match on 15th: Bobby Fish vs Jay Lethal
Honourable Mention(s): The Hardys (Matt & Jeff Hardy) vs The Young Bucks (Matt & Nick Jackson) vs Roppongi Vice (Rocky Romero & Trent Barreta) - ROH World Tag Team Championship Match
Taking the cake on Ring of Honour's 15th Anniversary PPV, its the 'Top Contenders' match-up between Jay Lethal and Bobby Fish. With animosity growing between these two over the past couple months as both men aim for World Championship gold, they come head-to-head on this PPV.
I am really enjoying Fish's singles run, and this match touched upon all the reasons that I'm so entertained by him. Though there was no concrete face/heel dynamic in this match, Fish had a twinge of cunning that played into the match, perfectly fitting with his style.
A key point in the match was Fish avoiding a suicide dive, sending Lethal straight into the guard rail, sustaining damage to his chest. I'm not sure I can ever recall seeing anyone work a chest as a targeted body part, the rarity of it making this match feel much different. Fish did this in his MMA-esque kicks, sometimes with some painful looking front on straight punts to the torso. My favourite focus point on this was a strike exchange between the two seeing Lethal lunge out with forearms, only to be dropped to his knees by a swift kick to the chest, crumpling his being to the mat. A nice moment of showing damage and endurance.
As we closed in on the later moments, we had a shift in focus to including Lethal's leg as well, which was worked on expertly by Fish. With a primary use of submissions, his signature knee-bar was applied in his pursuits for a tap out win. Lethal's selling and behaviour in the hold was great, looking like a bear with his foot in a trap; screaming and clawing for the ropes desperately.
I feel this match can be watched in a vacuum with no prior ROH or wider wrestling knowledge, and the story would come across vividly, thanks to the performances of these two men. Lovely match this through and through.
In regards to the honourable mention of this PPV, the tag title match took the form of a Las Vegas Street Fight, and although the Bucks/Hardys interaction left us yearning for more as to keep people excited for Supercard of Honour in April, the three team situation added to the stipulation made for a match with some great moments.
NJPW: 45th Anniversary Show
Best Match on 45th: Hiromu Takahashi vs Ryusuke Taguchi - IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship Match
Honourable Mention(s): Katsuyori Shibata vs Zack Sabre Jr. - RPW British Heavyweight Championship Match
In another anniversary this week, we've got New Japan celebrating their 45th year of operation, with their celebratory show being home of the great match that was Ryusuke Taguchi challenging 'The Ticking Timebomb' Hiromu Takahashi for the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship.
These lads beat the piss outta each other. Taguchi is known for his zany character and in-ring person, using the 'funky weapon' that is his ass/hips to great effect. However, with the title on the line here, whilst those familiar antics were in there, he was pretty unrelenting when he got down and dirty in this. Big ol' slams and power moves taking it right to Hiromu. Takahashi felt a little subdued in this compared to his matches against Lee at The New Beginning and KUSHIDA at WrestleKingdom, but given how much that must take out of him you cant really blame him, he still had a hell of a showing nonetheless.
Real good match here, its become a little foggy in this memory of mine, though I remember liking it a lot more than Okada/Tiger Mask W.
The Verdict
Best Match of the Week: Bobby Fish vs Jay Lethal - ROH: 15th Anniversary
This match was awesome, simple as. The whole chest and then leg injury angle was blissfully done, each targeted attack adding to the drama of the whole ordeal and in effect making the match a ton better. Ospreay/Lee was also incredible, as was Taguchi/Takahashi, Neville/Gallagher and Orton/Styles. Very strong week indeed.
With that done, the new, refreshed leaderboard now looks like this.
And also, its the first official 'Best Promo of the Week', starring Christopher Daniels making the most haunting promo I think I have ever heard, ahead of his championship bout with Adam Cole at the 15th Anniversary, truly amazing stuff.
That does it from me for this week readers, I hope you enjoyed your stay here in my little cottage of the internet. Feel free to stop by any time, see ya!
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