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ROH: Supercard of Honour XI
Best Match on SOH XI: The Hardys (Matt & Jeff Hardy) vs The Young Bucks (Matt & Nick Jackson) - ROH World Tag Team Championship Ladder Match
Honourable Mention(s): Marty Scurll vs Adam Cole - ROH World Television Championship Match
Taking us to Lakeland for Ring of Honour's Supercard of Honour XI, we have the main event claiming the prize of being the best match on the show, seeing the ROH Tag Team Championships being defended in a ladder match. Its The Young Bucks challenging The Hardys, its Too Sweet or DELETE.
They might as well have gone ahead and called this Ladder War 7 because that's what this was. We had a whole goddamn bunch of ladders coming into play in a whole host of structures and spots. We had the see-saw thing that broke Joey Mercury's nose that time make an appearance, Nick got wheelbarrow-ed through a ladder and a metric fuck load of tables were broken, with everyone going through one at some point. With the Bucks and Hardys, they continue to innovate with ladders, just one example here;
Whilst a fair chunk of this match was dedicated to spots using ladders and tables, we had a good share of tag offence and sequences thrown in there too, evening it out a bit. Had some playing on the Too Sweet/DELETE tagline, with pairings of the teams getting in exchanges either on the floor or atop the ladders with the fans chanting along. This was the biggest crowd in ROH history, and everyone in attendance was invested in this, making every moment, every spot that much more dramatic.
I loved this match, Hardys/Bucks has been a dream match for years, and although we've had it here and there over the past few years or so, I believe that this has been the best incarnation of it yet. WONDERFUL.
SUPERKICK COUNTER: 10
NXT: TakeOver Orlando
Best Match on TakeOver Orlando: The Authors of Pain (Akam & Rezar) vs The Revival (Dash Wilder & Scott Dawson) vs #DIY (Johnny Gargano & Tommaso Ciampa) - NXT Tag Team Championship Match
Coming to WWE territory now, its NXT's TakeOver event at the Amway Centre. As has been the trend the past year more or less in NXT, the tag team division takes the cake in becoming the best match on the card. This time around, we have the new champions, the formidable Authors of Pain defending against two of, if not the best teams ever to grace an NXT ring, The Revival and #DIY.
This match had it all. We had some awesome high spots and an incredible story being told in the ring. There were two main aspects to the tale they laid out for us; the longstanding rivalry between Revival and DIY, plus the need for them to join forces to take on AoP. My favourite was the former of the two, though the latter did make some awesome moments;
There were melees that occurred when Revival and DIY occupied the ring, staring each other down and the animosity that exists between them making the pot boil over, but there were subtleties that made it for me, with prior viewing allowing a deeper story to be told. When Gargano saw the submission that ruined his knee be applied to one of the Authors, hesitating before ultimately applying another submission on top.
However, my absolute favourite moment was when a mix up of pairings led to unlikely finisher tandems.
Whilst those four gave this match its highest points, AoP played a key role. They were the ever present big bastards that brought the power and some devastation that rocked the ring. They were there to cut down the others, getting some deep heat lathered on. AoP would eventually win, the causation of both pinfalls that took place.
This match was awesome through and through. It felt like the NXT booking committee sat back and thought 'How can we make our tag matches better than they already are?' and it appears the answer was; throw more tag teams into the match.
WrestleMania 33
Best Match on WM33: AJ Styles vs Shane McMahon
Honourable Mention(s): The Club (Luke Gallows & Karl Anderson) vs Enzo & Cass vs Sheamus & Cesaro vs The Hardy Boyz (Matt & Jeff Hardy) - RAW Tag Team Championship Match
Neville vs Austin Aries - WWE Cruiserweight Championship Match
This match was exponentially better than it had any right to be. I voiced my concerns and displeasure at the fact WWE didn't have AJ in a more prominent role on the card. I felt after such an incredible year, a WWE World Championship match would have been great, whoever the opponent. Shane, although I love the guy and his matches, kinda figured he wouldn't be up to snuff. Boy was I wrong.
The opening few minutes, though fairly simple in respect to the moves performed in comparison to what came later on, saw the story unfold beautifully. Styles started off wrestling circles around Shane, tying him up, misdirecting him, all over him basically. Then he hit that big overhand right to hammer home the disrespect. Shane coming back with the Muay Thai, taking Styles down, launching him overhead was killer, showing that he could fucking go. He fired up with all those punches we've known to expect from him, and he threw in a poppin' elbow right upside AJ's head. Nasty.
That MMA ground game also came into play, making for one memorable moment. AJ hit those ropes like he's done thousands of times, done that rotation he's done thousands of times, but then got a big shock;
Now, this is a Shane McMahon match, so inevitably, he's gonna take some tumbles. We got his jump from the corner to the announce table, the coast to coast, and I was going into this thinking there was a good chance we'd see those. But then, fuck me sideways down the Mississippi River, I did not sit down that night expecting to see the 47-year-old Shane McMahon climb that turnbuckle and do a fucking Shooting Star Press;
I mean, he did miss, but still. Jesus. And the knees! Good lord above that looked sore on those patellas. That then led to Styles finally managing to put the heir to the McMahon empire down for good.
Sweet and sour balls that was amazing. Like I said, much better than I had anticipated. The ring work and story telling was immense, let alone the spots. It delivered and then some, like you just clicked checkout and there's an immediate knock on the door, that's how much it delivered. Faaaantastic.
The Verdict
Best Match of the Weekend: The Authors of Pain (Akam & Rezar) vs The Revival (Dash Wilder & Scott Dawson) vs #DIY (Johnny Gargano & Tommaso Ciampa) - NXT Tag Team Championship Match - Takeover: Orlando
Ah yessir, NXT takes the top spot with the #TOPGUYS claiming yet another such prize. All three teams played their role expertly;
AoP - The monsters champions that don't know anything other than bulldoze.
#DIY - The determined fan favourites that never say die.
The Revival - The smash mouthed opportunists, dangerous to trust but even worse to face.
Everything flowed wonderfully, each beat hit, and they each made sense. At any one point, nothing felt out of place, whether that be who was in the ring, the moves being done down to the idle actions of those on the apron. A joy to watch.
With that said, here's how the leaderboard now looks after this li'l bo-bo episode.
The whole TakeOver card was amazing. Supercard of Honour had more great matches to it, and I think overall, 'Mania was one of the better ones in the past decade or so, and although I haven't managed to properly watch much else that's been on, I have no doubt there was some fucking barn burners this weekend.
This past weekend has been glorious, Hall of Fame was a lot of fun, TakeOver was insane and WrestleMania, despite a bump here and there, was the spectacle that has yet to fail me. Life may have me a bit down lately, but this weekend has put smile after smile after wide eyed smile on my face. I fucking love wrestling, me, and I hope you do too.
Best Match on WM33: AJ Styles vs Shane McMahon
Honourable Mention(s): The Club (Luke Gallows & Karl Anderson) vs Enzo & Cass vs Sheamus & Cesaro vs The Hardy Boyz (Matt & Jeff Hardy) - RAW Tag Team Championship Match
Neville vs Austin Aries - WWE Cruiserweight Championship Match
This match was exponentially better than it had any right to be. I voiced my concerns and displeasure at the fact WWE didn't have AJ in a more prominent role on the card. I felt after such an incredible year, a WWE World Championship match would have been great, whoever the opponent. Shane, although I love the guy and his matches, kinda figured he wouldn't be up to snuff. Boy was I wrong.
The opening few minutes, though fairly simple in respect to the moves performed in comparison to what came later on, saw the story unfold beautifully. Styles started off wrestling circles around Shane, tying him up, misdirecting him, all over him basically. Then he hit that big overhand right to hammer home the disrespect. Shane coming back with the Muay Thai, taking Styles down, launching him overhead was killer, showing that he could fucking go. He fired up with all those punches we've known to expect from him, and he threw in a poppin' elbow right upside AJ's head. Nasty.
That MMA ground game also came into play, making for one memorable moment. AJ hit those ropes like he's done thousands of times, done that rotation he's done thousands of times, but then got a big shock;
Now, this is a Shane McMahon match, so inevitably, he's gonna take some tumbles. We got his jump from the corner to the announce table, the coast to coast, and I was going into this thinking there was a good chance we'd see those. But then, fuck me sideways down the Mississippi River, I did not sit down that night expecting to see the 47-year-old Shane McMahon climb that turnbuckle and do a fucking Shooting Star Press;
I mean, he did miss, but still. Jesus. And the knees! Good lord above that looked sore on those patellas. That then led to Styles finally managing to put the heir to the McMahon empire down for good.
Sweet and sour balls that was amazing. Like I said, much better than I had anticipated. The ring work and story telling was immense, let alone the spots. It delivered and then some, like you just clicked checkout and there's an immediate knock on the door, that's how much it delivered. Faaaantastic.
The Verdict
Best Match of the Weekend: The Authors of Pain (Akam & Rezar) vs The Revival (Dash Wilder & Scott Dawson) vs #DIY (Johnny Gargano & Tommaso Ciampa) - NXT Tag Team Championship Match - Takeover: Orlando
Ah yessir, NXT takes the top spot with the #TOPGUYS claiming yet another such prize. All three teams played their role expertly;
AoP - The monsters champions that don't know anything other than bulldoze.
#DIY - The determined fan favourites that never say die.
The Revival - The smash mouthed opportunists, dangerous to trust but even worse to face.
Everything flowed wonderfully, each beat hit, and they each made sense. At any one point, nothing felt out of place, whether that be who was in the ring, the moves being done down to the idle actions of those on the apron. A joy to watch.
With that said, here's how the leaderboard now looks after this li'l bo-bo episode.
The whole TakeOver card was amazing. Supercard of Honour had more great matches to it, and I think overall, 'Mania was one of the better ones in the past decade or so, and although I haven't managed to properly watch much else that's been on, I have no doubt there was some fucking barn burners this weekend.
This past weekend has been glorious, Hall of Fame was a lot of fun, TakeOver was insane and WrestleMania, despite a bump here and there, was the spectacle that has yet to fail me. Life may have me a bit down lately, but this weekend has put smile after smile after wide eyed smile on my face. I fucking love wrestling, me, and I hope you do too.
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