It’s multi-man match madness again, as Total Non-Stop Action return to the Impact Zone for….hang on a minute! Hasn’t there been a Final Resolution pay-per-view this year? Anyway, it’s the final TNA pay-per-view of the year, Final Resolution, with the war between the Main Event Mafia and TNA’s Frontline continuing with an eight-man tag, shown on a three day delay on Bravo 2 here in Britain. As usual, Mike Tenay and Don West are handling the commentary duties, and thankfully, West has got a pretty decent shirt on this time!

The show begins with the Feast or Fired match, featuring Cute Kip, Sonjay Dutt, Jimmy Rave, Lance Rock, Alex Shelley, B.G. James, Jay Lethal, Chris Sabin, Consequences Creed, Curry Man, Hernandez, Homicide and Shark Boy. The rules for this one were simple - four briefcases on poles above the ring, three contain  title shots, one contains a pink slip, or P45 as we’d call it here in merry old England. It’s you basic TNA multi-man match here, with everyone trying to beat the **** out of everyone else, and showing off some of their most dramatic moves as they attempt to get the cases. In the end the cases went to Hernandez, Curry Man, Homicide, and Lethal, who snatched the case from Shelley and Sabin while they celebrated their case snatching, even though, according the rules, they hadn’t reached the arena floor with their prize. Needless to say that this didn’t sit too well with the Motor City Machine Guns, and as Jeremy Borash tried to interview Lethal so he could open his case, Shelley and Sabin ****ed like hell, especially when it was revealed that Black Machismo had won a tag-team title shot. In the end Borash blew his top and chewed out Shelley before leaving the ring.

As far as the match goes, I’ll be honest. Have you heard of a thing called compassion fatigue? Well, I think I’m starting to suffer from TNA multi-man match fatigue.

Then it’s time for the Knockouts, with Sharmell and the Beautiful People facing ODB, Roxxi and Taylor Wilde, with the stipulation that is Sharmell and her girls one, then Booker T would have to give them his luxurious dressing room. Now, before I go any further, can someone tell me why Booker has suddenly developed a West Indian accent? And what happened to his English one? Multiple personality disorder perhaps? Anyway, back to the matter at hand. It’s the usual solid stuff from TNA’s women here, with five of the six involved putting on an impressive match, and Sharmell doing her little bit to move things along as well, although I must say that Taylor Wilde is really starting to grow on me. She’s really improved over the past few months. The good girls came out on top in this one. After ODB chased Sharmell backstage, Taylor countered Angelina Love’s top rope body block to get the winning pin. Good stuff here.

Title action follows, with Eric Young challenging Sheik Abdul Bashir for the X Division title. Apparently Mohammad Hassan’s old buddy has some sort of gripe with referee Shane Sewell. Hey, you can still tell that I don’t watch Impact, can’t you! Despite my dislike of both of Eric Young’s characters, when it comes down to wrestling he’s not that bad, and this match proved that. It was very enjoyable, well planned out with a good storyline involving Bashir’s ongoing troubles with the referee, even if it’s not the sort of X Division match that put TNA on the map all those years ago. In the end, after Bashir argued with Sewell, Young caught Bashir with a sunset flip over the top rope, and while the Sheik was holding on to the top rope to prevent the pin, Sewell kicked his arms off, allowing Young to get the title winning pin. But the fun didn’t end there, as Bashir attacked Young, then attacked Sewell, who fought bravely for a few seconds, before Bashir clobbered him and opened him up with the X Division title belt. The assault continued before Bashir walked off with the title belt, until Jim Cornette, flanked by security, took the belt back. Could we be seeing Sewell doing a Danny Davis soon? (Only wrestling fans from the 1980’s will get this reference.)

The second title match of the evening follows, with Christy Hemme challenging Awesome Kong for the Knockouts title. Kong has Raisha Saeed and Rhaka Khan along for company, while we get an Army sergeant introducing Christy. So I guess Christy isn’t trying to be a rock star now then, which is a good thing. As for the match, it’s your typical David v Goliath kind of battle here. Kong simply overpowers Christy, who comes back with a few good moves, and even manages to take the champion down with a DDT. This set Kong up for Christy’s top rope leg drop, but when she went for the pin, Raisha and Rhaka pulled her out of the ring and began to beat the snot out of here. The challenger managed to fight them both off, before getting back into the ring. Unfortunately, Raisha and Rhaka followed her into the ring, and their attack on Christy earned her a disqualification victory, but not the title. Things didn’t end there, as security had to pull Kong and Christy apart as the fight continued after the bell. While Christy is no Gail Kim, she still put on a great match with Kong, and we’ll, no doubt, see these two go at it again.

The third title match of the evening follows immediately, with Matt Morgan and Abyss challenging Beer Money, Inc. for the Tag-Team titles. This one began with wild brawling, and Robert Roode and James Storm trying to walk out on the match, before it had even begun. When the bell finally sounded, the champs were told that they’d forfeit the title if they didn’t beat the ten count, which they did. The match that followed was another good example of what tag-team wrestling should be, especially with the cat and mouse games between Abyss and Storm. It followed the basic storyline - the big guys do their power moves, while the smaller guys tried to take the big guy’s legs away from them. It’s the sort of match psychology that’s worked for years, and continues to work to this day. It was a good match to watch, and the ending was also well executed, with Storm trying to hit Abyss with a bottle, the monster getting the bottle from him, and Storm soon getting a pair of brass knuckles and using them to knock the big guy into the middle of next week while the referee’s back was turned, getting the title retaining pin seconds later. This won’t be the last time you’ll see these two teams against each other.

After Suicide debuts and ends the in-ring protest by the Motor City Machine Guns, it’s on to Rhino against Kurt Angle, with Mick Foley as the special enforcer. The stipulations - if Rhino wins, Angle has to quit TNA. If Angle wins, he gets another match with Jeff Jarrett. Angle also promised to have a surprise for Foley. It’s nice to see Rhino in a high profile match, something which he doesn’t seem to have had in a while, and he showed here just how good he is. But then again, Angle more than played his part here, but that’s Kurt Angle for you. The guy is so good that he could have a good match with a broom handle. So we had a good match, with the War Machine pulling off all his great power moves, and Angle doing everything he could to put the big man away, and the referee taking an accidental hit from Rhino, with Foley taking over as referee. This brought out Angle’s surprise, none other than Al Snow, who distracted Foley enough so Angle could hit Rhino with a chair, which he followed up with the Angle slam. As Foley got back into the ring, the first thing he saw was Angle covering Rhino, giving Foley no choice but to administer the three count. A very good match, with Angle earning his re-match with Jarrett, and then threatening to take on Foley. Good stuff.

Main event time, with the Main Event Mafia team of Sting, Booker T, Scott Steiner and Kevin Nash taking on the TNA Front Line, Samoa Joe, A.J. Styles and Team 3-D, with the following stipulations - if any member of the Mafia were pinned, Styles would win Sting’s World title. To me this had the feeling of that infamous match at WCW’s Bash at the Beach over a decade ago. But then again, that seems to be the whole point of the Main Event Mafia, doesn’t it? As far as main events go, this one was pretty damn good. Each man did their bit to make this match what it was, although if I had to criticise this match on one aspect it was that it lacked a certain intensity at times, although all of that changed when we got the obligatory eight man brawl towards the end of the match. Sting came out on top of this one. While Joe was about to take the champion down with the muscle buster, Nash connected with a low blow, which gave Sting the chance to take Joe down with the scorpion death drop. A three count later and he’d retained the title to end what was a very good match.

In conclusion - despite TNA’s continued reliance on multi-man matches, their final pay-per-view of the year proved to be a good one. While the situation regarding the Main Event Mafia intrigues me, all of the other matches ranged from enjoyable to very good. Hell, I even managed to enjoy an Eric Young match. But the one thing I’m looking forward to is seeing how they handle Al Snow. Will he wrestle? Or was it just a one time shot. Well I guess I’ll just have to wait until the new year to find that one out!

This edition of The Two Sheds Review sees another US indy promotion make it’s debut here - Women Superstars Uncensored. For our first gander at this promotion we’re going to take a look back at the DVD release of their recent Payback’s a **** show.

The show begins with Miss April facing Malia Hosaka. This wasn’t actually meant to be the first match of the show, but this was an impromptu challenge made by April to the veteran in an opening promo. What followed was a very good, old fashioned wrestling contest, with April more than keeping up with the more experienced Hosaka, and you knew it was an old school kind of match when Hosaka executed the airplane spin on April. The only poor part of this one was the ending, a slightly botched small package which saw Hosaka pin April. Apart from that, a good match.

Then it’s onto the WSU battle royal, with the winner getting a shot at WSU Champion Angel Orsini. Long time readers of my work will know that although I like battle royals, I don’t like reporting on them. The rules for this one were different from normal battle royals, with a wrestler being eliminated if they go under the top rope and their feet touch the floor. A mixed bag of action in this one, some good, some bad, with Bobcat getting the win and the title shot.

The title match follows immediately, with Bobcat, accompanied by her tag-team partner Gorgeous George, challenging Angel Orsini for the WSU title, with the sorely missed Molly Holly as the special referee. Before the match began Bobcat grabbed the microphone, suggesting that this should be an anything goes match, which Orsini readily agrees to. This one starts out as a normal wrestling match, and it takes a few minutes before the anything goes part of the match comes into play, and all this involved was a bit of brawling outside the ring with a table involved a couple of times, and after the action returned to the ring, Orsini got the ring with her finisher, which looked like a variation of the DDT. But that wasn’t the end of things, as Mercedes Martinez came down to the ring and beat the hell out Orsini, first with the title belt, and then with a DDT onto a chair, and a suplex onto the table at ringside. If I’m to be totally honest, the match had it’s good points, but it didn’t exactly set my pulse racing, and the action after the match was a lot better than the match itself.

The DVD is completed with two bonus matches. The first sees Roxxie Cotton taking on “Soul Sister” Jana. Now this one confused me a little. While watching it I kept trying to work out what it was trying to achieve. Cotton spent a great deal of time out of the ring during the early stages, and for some reason The Birdie Song, which I absolutely hate with a passion, was played, which incensed her even more. Eventually, we got some good wrestling action, with Jana putting in some very good work, although Cotton’s work did seem a little off at times. Cotton one this very short match with a roll-up, after her manager (whose name, sadly, I can’t remember), distracted Jana.

WSU Champion Angel Orsini was up next, facing Kara “Cherri” Slice, whom many of you will remember as Deuce and Domino’s valet in the WWE. This was by far the best match on this DVD, with Cherri putting in some good work against Orsini, who showed just why she was the champion with some great work of her own. The referee took a hit here, which saved Orsini’s title as she tapped to Cherri’s crossface, before clobbering her challenger with the belt. Needless to say the referee came to afterwards, and gave the three count to Orsini.  Cherri then grabbed the microphone, demanding an immediate rematch, which never happened.

In conclusion - time to be honest again. While there was some good action here, most notably from the April/Hosaka and Orsini/Cherri matches, the other matches here didn’t exactly do it for me. They each had some good action in them, but they also had moments that left me scratching my head a little. It was also pretty obvious that WSU is aimed at the more mature audience, given some of the language used by the commentators and the wrestlers during some of their promos, although if you’re looking for any nudity, you won’t find it here.

Production wise it’s your usual indy fare here, good but not outstanding production values. I was a little disappointed that this one only lasted slightly more than an hour.

So although I can’t give Payback’s a **** an outstanding mark, I can say that there is potential there, and I’m more than willing to give more of their DVD releases a look, which I’ll hopefully be doing in the next few weeks.

With thanks to WSU for supplying a copy of this release. For more information on Women Superstars Uncensored, visit www.wsuwrestling.com. WSU DVDs are available to buy online at www.doivideo.com.

It’s multi-man match madness again, and this time we’ve got a feud between the veterans and the up-and-comers, as A.J. Styles challenges Sting for the World title at TNA’s latest pay-per-view offering, Turning Point, shown here in Britain on a three day delay on Bravo 2. It’s the usual broadcast team calling the shots, Mike Tenay and Don West.

X Division action kicks off the show, in a multi-man match to determine the rankings, featuring Consequences Creed, Sonjay Dutt, Petey Williams, Jimmy Rave, Volador, Eric Young, Doug Williams, Hiroshi Tanahashi, Homicide and Jay Lethal. Thankfully, to win this one the wrestlers don’t have to climb through a hole in the top of the cage of through hoops or anything like that. It’s basically like a tag-team elimination match, fought under Lucha Libre rules, with the winner getting a shot at the X Division title. Now I’ve got that long-winded explanation out of the way, it’s on to the action, and it’s very good action, and although it’s a multi-man match, it’s a very good example of what the X Division is all about. Impressive performances throughout, with Doug Williams (naturally) and the Mexican Volador stealing the limelight early on, and after a slew of eliminations, including Homicide taking himself out by overshooting his dive through the ropes, it got down to Young and Lethal, with Young getting the win with a bridging suplex. A good match to start the show with, and, hopefully, we won’t have to put up with Super Eric anymore.

Then it’s on to women’s action, with Knockout Champion Awesome Kong and Raisha Saeed, accompanied by Rhaka Khan, taking on Roxxi and Taylor Wilde. Now, I know I’ve said this countless times before, but this match is a good example of how much better the Knockouts are than their Diva counterparts. There were a couple of moments that almost went into the sloppy zone, but overall it was a damn good match. Kong was, if you can pardon the pun, awesome as always, and the other three Knockouts also did their part to make this match enjoyable, with Taylor getting the win for her team with a bridging back suplex.

Grudge match time next, with X Division Champion Sheik Abdul Bashir facing Rhino in a non-title match. Once again Bashir’s opponent is introduced by a former American serviceman, so I guess they’re still going with the anti-American angle here. Now, while the action in this one was good, it was kind of spoiled by the unannounced appearance of Scott Hall and the Insane Clown Posse in the front row, as both the wrestlers in the ring and the fans turned their attention away from the match and onto them, so I hope whoever let them do this got a severe telling off. As for the rest of the match, it was as good as it was before the unwanted visitors arrived, with both guys looking good, Bashir spitting in the referee’s face, and Rhino scoring with a slightly dodgy looking gore. Now if they’d only got rid of the clowns and the piss-head, then this could have been a hell of a lot better.

The action continues with the first title match of the evening, with Beer Money Inc, James Storm and Robert Roode, accompanied by Jacqueline, defending the TNA Tag-Team titles against the Motor City Machine Guns, Chris Sabin and Alex Shelley. It’s about time Shelley and Sabin got the title shot. This was another example of something that TNA does better than their main rivals. While this may not have been the best tag-team match I’ve ever seen, it was certainly a good example of what a good tag-team match should be, between two established teams who seem to view the titles they’re competing for as extremely important, and not just as a stepping stone to singles success. Sabin and Shelley showed just why they were voted TNA’s top tag-team last year, and I think I’ve said it before that Roode and Storm are also coming into their own as the heel tag-team you’d love to see lose. These teams looked like they were made for each other, and I haven’t seen the Guns look this good as a team since their feud to save the X Division from Team 3-D. Sadly, they didn’t get the job done. As Sabin rolled Roode up, Storm came back into the ring and spat beer into his eyes, giving the champions the chance they needed as they took Sabin out with their suplex/power bomb combination to get the title retaining pin to win a good match. One final point though - did Scott Hall remain at ringside in the hope that he’d be able to get a few brews of James Storm?

The title action continues with Booker T, accompanied by Sharmell, defends his new Legends title against Christian Cage, with the stipulation that if Cage loses, he has to join the Main Event Mafia. Sadly, it seems that Booker’s faux English accent and his lavish cloaks have returned, so now he’s a king without a throne. A good back-and-forth encounter between the two veterans, nothing to flashy but enough to hold my attention, with Booker once again proving that he’s better as a heel, with Cage the perfect foil for his antics, as he attempted to escape the clutches of the new evil faction. This was one of those matches were you really couldn’t tell who was going to win, until the end, that is, until Booker got the pin, after reversing Cage’s roll-up attempt with a roll-up of his own to get the win, welcoming Cage to his group afterwards. Good stuff.

Then it’s on to the falls count anywhere match, with Kurt Angle facing Abyss. If you were expecting a technical classic here, you would have been disappointed. This was nothing more than a fight, and a damn good one at that, that took in the entire Impact Zone, including the monthly brawl through the fans. Well, that’s become a staple part of the show now, hasn’t it? Angle once again proved (haven’t I used this sort of line already) that he’s one of the top men in the game, and Abyss proved that he’s one of the top big men, as they were able to put together a brawl that had the fans in the palms of their hands from beginning to end. It was your classic big man v smaller man brawl, with Angle going all out to destroy the monster, and wondering what he can do to put him away after throwing everything at him. Eventually the Olympian did find a way of defeating the monster. After climbing up a scaffold platform to escape the onslaught, Abyss followed him up there, and was about to press slam him through the Spanish announcer’s table (boy, that hasn’t been done before) when Angle countered and pushed him off the platform and through the table. A great way to end a hell of a contest.

Revenge time next, with Samoa Joe taking on the man who cost him the TNA title, Kevin Nash. I really didn’t have high hopes for this one, but I have to admit it was better than I thought it would be. Joe was, as always, Joe, one of the best wrestlers on the planet at the moment, and Nash was his usual, slow, plodding, methodical self. There were a couple of times when he didn’t look too good, but given the onset of time and countless knee operations I suppose that’s understandable. So while it was enjoyable to watch, it wasn’t a classic that will be remembered. Joe played the “will not die” role to perfection, as several head shots onto an unprotected turnbuckle and two power bombs from Nash failed to take him down, and when Joe tried to lock in an armbar, the referee got accidentally clobbered, and when he came to, Nash got the pin with a roll-up and an assist from the ropes. A lot better than I thought it would be.

Main event time, with A.J. Styles challenging Sting for the TNA World title. This was a back-and-forth encounter in this proverbial battle of the generations, and I was a little surprised early on that Styles matched Sting in wrestling holds, rather than using his high-flying arsenal. It was during this that I realised just what sort of match we were going to get, entertaining, slow to start, but one that picked up the pace as it moved towards the end. As usual, both guys put in solid performances, but this is another one of those matches that will probably be forgotten in a couple of years. No title change here. After hitting the spiral tap from the top rope, Styles was distracted by Kurt Angle and Booker T just as he was about to go for the second spiral tap. This gave Sting the chance he needed, rolling up Styles to get the title retaining pin, with his fellow Main Event Mafia members coming down to the ring to celebrate with the champion. A good, solid match, but not really worthy of a main event.

In conclusion - now take a look back through the matches of this card - apart from the X Division rankings match and the Angle/Abyss falls count anywhere brawl, all the other matches were just normal, run of the mill matches, without overblown gimmicks, and that was what made Turning Point a very good and very enjoyable show. There wasn’t one bad match here, proving that you don’t have to have guys taking crazy bumps all the time throughout the entire show. I really hope that TNA learn from this, and maybe we’ll get more and more shows like this.

Oh, and one last message for the TNA powers that be - if Scott Hall turns up again, please don’t give the guy a ringside seat! Wrestlers should only be seated at ringside if they’re going to be involved in the show somehow. A very unprofessional act on his part could have ruined the show. Let this be a lesson to you.

This edition of The Two Sheds Review sees us making a return to Japan, to take a look at the DVD release of Pro Wrestling NOAH’s first show of 2007, First Navigation, headlined by Mitsuhara Misawa defending the GHC Heavyweight title against Takeshi Morishima, and available to buy online via A-Merchandise. Commentary, in English, for this one is handled by Ken Hiriyama and Wally Yamaguchi.

The show begins with tag-team action, with Kentaro Shiga, Yoshinobu Kanemaru and Dakota facing Muhammad Yone, Taiji Ishimori, and Atsushi Aoki. It’s the usual good solid start for a NOAH show, with great technical wrestling mixed in with some high spots, and a comedy moment or two regarding the hair of Shiga and Yone. There’s just something about Yone in particular that makes him so damn watchable, and I’m not just talking about his afro. In fact mention must also be made of American star Dakota. Harley Race’s student looked really good in this one. The end - after plenty of false finishes between Kanemaru and Aoki, Kanemaru got the pin after a spinning suplex. Great stuff, but then again I’ve already said that!

Match two sees Tamon Honda, Junji Izumida and Tsuyoshi Kikuchi take on Akitoshi Saito, Masao Inoue and Kishin Kawabata. Slightly slower paced than the first match, mainly because all of the wrestlers in this one are firmly in the heavyweight division. Good to start off with, with some great hard-hitting stuff, but later on it got a bit messy, and that was thanks to Honda. As the match went on he clearly looked tired, and it was most evident when he was whipped into the corners and in his selling. Whether this was intentional or not I don’t know. Thankfully, when he tagged out things got a lot better again, and Kikuchi and Izumida were able to pick up the slack a little. In the end it was Inoue who got the victory for his team, picking up the pin with a side roll cradle. Mixed bag here.

Singles action followed, with Akira Taue taking on Makoto Hashi. This one began before the bell sounded, and to say that it had a certain intensity about it would not be an understatement. From the way that they were going it made you think that they weren’t exactly fond of each other, and it’s all of this put together that made this match compelling viewing. Hashi tried to take Taue apart, and looked like he was going to get the win with his powerful head butts, but just when he was about to go for his modified fisherman’s suplex for a second time, Taue reversed and scored the pin with that simplest of moves, the small package. It may not have lasted that long, but it was still that good.

Then it’s on to Britain’s Doug Williams and Nigel Mc****ss, as they go up against Yoshinari Ogawa and Shuhei Taniguchi. As always, the two Brits put in a good, solid performance, but then again, that’s always what you get with Williams and Mc****ss. Ogawa and Taniguchi were great foils for them. The Brits’ team work was great, even though they suffered a breakdown in communications a couple of times, but this didn’t stop them getting the win, with Williams pinning Taniguchi with what we Brits call his chaos theory, but what NOAH calls the roll-through German suplex. It’s still a bloody good move whatever you call it!

More singles action follows, with Takuma Sano and Takashi Sugiura. Technical wrestling is the order of the day for this one, and even though it’s quite slow paced, that’s okay, because you don’t need to go at a thousand miles an hour to put on a good match. It kind of reminds me of an old style British rules match with a few MMA stylings mixed in. There was also a fair amount of drama here, especially as Sano tried to take Sagiura out with multiple double foot stomps from the top rope, one of them while Sagiura was on the arena floor, which resulted in him almost losing by count out. A ton of false finishes follows, with Sano getting the win after he knocked Sugiura out with a series of kicks. You know, I could watch this kind of match all day.

The singles matches continue with Jun Akiyama taking on Go Shiozaki. When I saw that this match was on this DVD I immediately thought that it would be something. These two tore at each other before the opening bell, before Akiyama began to heavily punish Shiozaki’s injured right arm. The attack was so intense that whenever Shiozaki tried to use the arm against Akiyama it had little to no effect - at first, because as the match went on he was able to use his arm more and more, although Akiyama would always counter a Shiozaki move by returning to the injured limb. In the end Akiyama was finally able to counter Shiozaki’s never say die resistance by taking him down with a second exploder suplex. This was an extremely compelling match, with a great storyline that just made you root for the injured underdog.

The first title match of the evening follows, with the Briscoes defending their GHC Junior Heavyweight Tag-Team Championship against Kotaro Suzuki and Ricky Marvin. Lasting nearly thirty minutes, this was a perfect example of tag-team wrestling at it’s finest. Once again Jay and Mark Briscoe show just why they’re considered one of the best tag-teams in the world today, and Suzuki and Marvin showed tremendous team-work and ability as well. This was the sort of match you just couldn’t take your eyes off, it was that good. The end, and I was kind of disappointed when it did, saw Suzuki win the match for his team with the blue destiny move, with an assist from his partner. Hell of a match.

Next, the final six man match, with Takeshi Rikioh, Naomichi Marufuji and KENTA taking on SUWA, Minoru Suzuki and Yoshihiro Takayama. The mixture of heavyweight and light-heavyweight wrestlers made for an interesting match. If such a match had taken place on a certain American company’s show, then the smaller guys would have been treated like jobbers. But here the smaller guys were treated as equals, and that’s why this match worked. We had some great hard-hitting action, high spots, and even a couple of comedy moments as well, but it didn’t have the ending I was expecting. In the final moments, SUWA, apparently in his last NOAH grabbed a big blue plastic box from somewhere and started clobbering everyone, including his own team-mates. This resulted in a five-on-one attack on him, with Suzuki and Takayama eventually leaving him to the mercy of their opponents, and ended with KENTA finishing him off and getting the pin after the go 2 sleep. A very good match, with a very interesting finish.

Main event time, with Mitsuhara Misawa defending the GHC Heavyweight title Takeshi Morishima. A great way to end the show, pitting the youth and superior power of Morishima against the wily veteran that is Misawa. Morishima used his size advantage to simply overpower Misawa, which included a power bomb and a DDT on the arena floor, and it seemed that no matter what Misawa tried, he just couldn’t do anything to keep the younger man down. Eventually, though, the champion’s experience came through, and after a series of heavy blows and an almost botched tiger driver, Misawa took Morishima down with a running elbow smash to get the title retaining pin. This may not have been the best match on the show, but it was still damn good.

The only extra to speak of here is a brief interview with Doug Williams and Nigel Mc****ss and a look behind the scenes.

In conclusion - by now you should be able to tell that I really enjoyed this release. Aside from Tamon Honda’s fading performance early on every match here made sense and served it’s purpose, which was what made this release such great viewing. As I said during my last NOAH review, the English commentary of Ken Hiriyama and Wally Yamaguchi is a great help on these releases, and once again, if you’ve never seen a Pro Wrestling NOAH show, or you’ve never seen one with English commentary, then I would suggest getting these DVDs. As the old saying goes, you won’t be disappointed.

With thanks to Mark Sloan for supplying a copy of this release. Pro Wrestling NOAH First Navigation 2007 can be purchased online by visiting www.a-merchandise.co.uk.

I will always have a soft spot for the British Inter-Federation Cup. First contested in 2005 by the founders, the World Association of Wrestling, and their arch rivals in the Frontier Wrestling Alliance, it was thought of as a way of bringing the much fragmented British wrestling scene together. Sadly, it didn’t really work out like that. But why am I so fond of this tournament? Because I was the one who came up with the name!

But anyway, getting back to the matter at hand. After the FWA defeated WAW in the first tournament in May 2005, the FWA defended the cup against All-Star Wrestling a few months later, and lost. So the DVD we’re going to take a look at in this edition is the re-match, FWA v All-Star from May 2006, and available to buy from A-Merchandise, one of the sponsors of my website.

The show begins with a non-tournament tag-team match, Mark Sloan & Ollie Burns facing Retro Pop, Dave Rayne and Chris Egan in a battle of the FWA training schools. There’s an unfair start to the match with Sloan and Burns throwing powder in their opponent’s eyes at the beginning of the match, which for some reason doesn’t earn them an instant disqualification. Sloan and Burns then spent a great deal of time doubling up on Egan, before Rayne got the hot tag and began to clean house. But while this is going on, All Star’s captain Robbie Brookside comes down to the ring, grabs the microphone, and proceeds to heavily criticise the match while the rest of Brookside’s team surround the ring. Egan and Rayne then challenged the All-Star team, and proceeded to get the **** beaten out of them, while Sloan and Burns decided to leave them to it. The carnage only stops when the FWA team come down to save their boys. Not a bad match to open with, even though it had a few sloppy moments, but I couldn’t help that the lack of an ending harmed the match a little.

Then it’s on to the tournament, beginning with the four singles matches, with the winner getting two points, and the wrestlers getting one point each for a draw. The first match features All-Star’s Five Star Flash and the FWA’s Spud. This was a great match to begin tournament proceedings with. Flash, who competed as Mark “Five Star” Belton for the FWA, is portrayed as a turn coat here for competing on the All-Star team, against the loyal Spud, having just returned from a stint with Ring of Honor. Spud’s high-flying game is top notch, and there are times where Flash is more than a match for the little guy’s tactics. So after a ton of great action, Flash got the pin, taking Spud out with a power bomb, and then getting the pin with his feet on the ropes. FWA 0, All-Star 2.

Match two sees All-Star’s “Xtreme” Dean Allmark against the FWA’s Jonny Storm. American readers may remember Allmark from his TNA appearance as part of Team UK against Team Mexico in the World X Cup a few years ago. Also, let’s not forget that Storm competed in TNA a while back as well. The second great match in a row sees two wrestlers who are pretty evenly matched putting on a wrestling clinic, mixing the high spots with some good old fashioned chain wrestling. Plenty of false finishes towards the end of the match, and with the fifteen minute time limit rapidly approaching, Storm got the pin following his wonder whirl finisher to even the scores. FWA 2, All-Star 2.

Match three sees All-Star’s Robbie Dynamite take on then-FWA Champion Hade Vansen. More background info for you here; Dynamite was also a part of Team UK in TNA, while Hade Vansen is currently on a developmental contract with WWE. Vansen is also accompanied by Nikita, aka current WWE Raw Diva Katie Lea. At the time Vansen and Nikita were heels, and feuding with Jonny Storm over the FWA title, but for this match he’s the hero, battling the invading wrestlers. While this isn’t as explosive as the first two matches, it’s just as good, with some good, solid, wrestling action mixed in with a few high sports, with Vansen showing just why WWE were so interested in him. Dynamite is more than able to match up to Vansen. So after a ton of great action, Vansen came out on top, taking Dynamite out with his South City Drilla, his version of the DDT. The score now - FWA 4, All-Star 2.

The final singles match is a battle of the team captains, with All-Star’s Robbie Brookside taking on the FWA’s Stevie Knight, the man with an ever-growing list of nicknames. So when you’ve got two wrestlers of this quality against each other, you know you’re going to get a quality match. Brookside is at his heelish best here, doing everything he can to annoy the FWA faithful in attendance, as well as his opponent, and I can’t help buy like this version of Brookside, having seen his goody two shoes act over the years. Knight is as solid as always in his performance, the sign of a true veteran. Brookside spent a great deal of time working over Knight’s knee and ankle. But Knight was able to make a comeback, and eventually the action spilled outside the ring, and as the brawling began, both wrestlers failed to beat the twenty count, meaning that both wrestlers earned a point each. But things didn’t end there, as Brookside clobbered Knight’s injured limb with a steel chair, hoping to put him out of the rest of the tournament. Good stuff here, with two solid performances, and a nice way of rounding off the singles matches. The score now - FWA 5, All-Star 3.

Then it’s on to the final eight-man elimination match, Team FWA v Team All-Star. Despite his injury, Stevie Knight makes it to the match. The rules for this one are simple - two points are given to every wrestler who remains at the end of the match, so if All-Star had two men left over, they’d score four points, taking their total to seven. I think you get the drift here.

The eliminations started early, with Brookside taking out Knight with a British figure-four leg lock.

Spud was the next man to go, having passed out to Dynamite’s guillotine choke, making it four v two in favour of All-Star.

Dynamite then got counted out, after accidentally getting clobbered by Allmark, and then super kicked by his own team-mate.

Allmark was then immediately eliminated himself, with Storm taking him out with a lionsault, making it now two on two.

Vansen then eliminated himself. Having tagged Storm after the Wonderkid had taken a beating at the hands of Brookside and Flash, Vansen began to clean house, attacking the All-Star men, then attacking Storm with the South City Drilla. As Nikita tried to stop him from leaving, Vansen clobbered her, and while all of this was going on he was counted out, leaving it Storm against Brookside and Flash.

Brookside was then disqualified, for taking Storm down with a tombstone piledriver, a move banned in the FWA.

This meant that it was down to Storm v Flash. Flash went to work on the groggy Storm, having taken a DDT variation and a piledriver. But as Flash went to the top rope, Storm inadvertently crotched him when he used the ropes to help himself up. He then took Flash down with a hurricanrana off the top rope, before finishing him off with his wonder whirl finisher, with Nikita, who had returned to ringside to support her team, stopping Brookside from trying to interfere. This is the best match on the show by far, filled with tons of great action and drama. The final score - FWA 7, All-Star 3.

In conclusion - this is a great example of the different styles that have crept into the British wrestling business. Pitting the FWA’s American indy style against All-Star’s more British-based action could have led to a hotch potch of matches, but thankfully it didn’t. Apart from the somewhat confusing opening tag-team match, which only really served to establish the heel credentials of the All-Star team, this was a good show, filled with drama, tension, and great action throughout the tournament matches. Given my fondness for this particular tournament this is one DVD I’d be more than happy to watch again. But given the fact that the British Inter-Federation Cup seems to have gone into a sort of limbo at the moment, I doubt if we’ll see many more releases like this in the future.

With thanks to A-Merchandise for supplying a copy of this release. “FWA v All-Star” can be purchased online by visiting www.a-merchandise.co.uk.