It’s time to step into Ring of Honor territory again, and following on from their excellent 7th Anniversary Show, we’re now going to go back to April 3rd, and to Houston, Texas, as we take a look at Supercard of Honor IV, with Jerry Lynn challenging Nigel Mc****ss for the ROH World title. Dave Prazak and Lenny Leonard are handling commentary duties for this one.
The show begins with the usual quick opener, this time featuring Rhett Titus against Erick Stevens. It’s a solid little opener, with some fast paced action and two good performances from those involved, with Stevens getting the win with a unique looking finisher, lifting his man up as if he were about to deliver an inverted atomic drop, then taking him down with a clothesline. Nice stuff.
Six man tag team action followed, with Chris Hero, Eddie Edwards and Incognito taking on Jay Briscoe, Magno, and one half of the ROH World Tag Team Champions Kevin Steen. This one was nearly a disaster when the top rope broke early on, but credit must go to the wrestlers for making the best of a bad situation. Although high impact off the rope moves were out of the question, they put on a good solid match, with the two Mexicans in particular looking impressive. The heels came out on top here, getting the pin after Hero knocked out Magno with his controversial and potentially loaded green elbow pad.
Thankfully, the ring was fixed when Japanese star Katsuhiko Nakajima faced Roderick Strong. Sadly, this was another relatively short match. I say sadly because it was a hell of an encounter, a hard hitting back and forth display, with Strong pinning Nakajima after a butterfly power bomb. Impressive though this was, I couldn’t help but wonder what would have happened if they’d been given another five or ten minutes.
The Sweet & Sour Challenge never actually happened. This time it was the turn of Kamala to take on Bobby Dempsey, but the Ugandan giant refused to wrestle when he saw that Dempsey had the same body paint as him. This enraged Shane Hagadorn, who slapped Kim Chee, only for the big man to attack him and splash him in the corner, with Dempsey adding the coup de grace seconds later. A nice little segment this, although I was a little disappointed that Kamala didn’t actually wrestle.
Multi-man action followed this segment, a four corners survival match featuring NWA World Champion Blue Demon Jr, ROH World Tag Team Champion El Generico, Claudio Castagnoli and Brent Albright. This was another match filled with fast paced action, and I was really impressed with the Demon’s showing here. As well as some great action in the ring we also had a ton of brawling outside the ring, mainly between long-time rivals Castagnoli and Albright, and it was the Swiss who came out on top, claiming victory after low blowing Albright after the referee had been pushed out of the way.
The great action continued with Bryan Danielson facing Russian star Alex Koslov. These two were tailor-made for each other, the action was that good. Koslov put in a terrific show, and Danielson, well, was Danielson, as solid and dependable as always. Perhaps the best part of this one was Danielson’s frustration as Koslov used his signature moves. However, Danielson’s versions of the moves proved to be better, as he got the win with his version of the cattle mutilation.
D-Lo Brown’s heel turn continued next as he went up against another recently released former WWE star, Colt Cabana. This one was fought at a much slower pace than the previous matches, as Brown and Cabana proved to be good foils for one another. However, even though this wasn’t the best match I’ve seen from these two, it was still enjoyable nonetheless, with Brown getting the tainted win, clobbering Cabana with what looked to be a pair of brass knuckles as Cabana came off the top rope.
The fast paced action returned with Davey Richards challenging KENTA for the GHC Junior Heavyweight title. This was one of those matches that could literally take your breath away, a hard hitting encounter between two men who had tremendous chemistry in the ring, with the scary moment coming when Richards’ suicide dive from the ring saw him go flying into the second row. Thankfully he was soon up and running again. Plenty of false finishes in this one, before KENTA got the title retaining pin after taking Richards out with the go to sleep. Awesome match, and one I’d definitely watch again.
Sadly, I can’t say the same for the following match, a tag team affair pitting Jimmy Jacobs and Austin Aries against Tyler Black and Necro Butcher. These matches in which former Age of the Fall allies beat the hell out of each other are getting kind of predictable. As always, the Butcher was the worst man in the match with his weak looking offence, and we got the usual brief argument between Aries and Jacobs, before Aries pinned Black after his trademark brain buster. Parts of this were okay, I suppose.
The main event saw Jerry Lynn challenging Nigel Mc****ss for the ROH World title. Mc****ss was still hampered by his various injuries, and once again it seemed as if announcers Prazak and Leonard were trying to turn the champion face. Despite the injuries he was suffering from Mc****ss once again put in a great performance, the perfect foil for the always dependable Lynn. This was one of those matches you just couldn’t take your eyes off, mainly because it got better as it went on. A new champion was crowned at the end though, with Lynn taking Mc****ss down with his trusty cradle pile driver. Afterwards, as the crowd roared their approval, both men grabbed the microphone and paid tribute to each other. A nice touch of class there.
DVD extras come in the form of the usual ROH Newswire, and a bonus match between Grizzly Redwood and Ernie Osiris.
In conclusion - another solid outing for the Ring of Honor crew. The majority of the matches delivered what they set out to do, with the exception of, once again, the encounter featuring the Necro Butcher. How this guy ever gets work is beyond me, it really is. Thankfully the rest of the show made up for his continuing poor performances, and was topped off nicely by Jerry Lynn’s title win. So does this release get the Two Sheds recommendation? The answer is yes.
It’s multi man madness time again as Total Non-Stop Action present their latest pay-per-view, No Surrender, headlined by Kurt Angle defending the TNA World title against A.J. Styles, Matt Morgan and Sting, and shown on a three day delay on Bravo 2 here in Britain, with Mike Tenay and Taz handling commentary duties.
The first match of the show saw new champions crowned, with the new incarnation of The Beautiful People, Velvet Skye and Madison Rayne, facing the team of Taylor Wilde and Sarita, with the new Knockouts Tag-Team titles on the line. Brief mention is made of Angelina Love’s departure from the company before Earl Hebner comes down to the ring and throws Slick Johnson out of the match because of his past relationship with young Ms. Skye. As for the actual match, it’s not bad, but it’s a tad short. Wilde and Sarita pulled off some tremendous double team moves, the likes of which would make Ricky & Robert proud. However, Madison Rayne is good, but she just isn’t as good as the departed Ms. Love. As the ending, our baby faces came out on top, with Sarita taking out Madison with a springboard drop kick off the ropes, with Taylor getting the pin with a bridge suplex.
Now if the opener was short, the next one was even shorter, with Eric Young taking on Super-Mex himself, Hernandez. Young, still trying to get the big man to join the World Elite, said he wasn’t going to fight back, and came to the ring still dressed in his business suit. Young was true to his word, and it wasn’t long before Hernandez pinned EY after the border toss. Well, I’m not exactly sure what to make of this one.
The second title match of the evening followed, with Christopher Daniels challenging Samoa Joe for the X Division title. You can never really tire of seeing these two go up against each other. These two have tremendous chemistry, and it showed in this match, with Daniels high flying moves matching up against Joe’s hard hitting style. The story here was Joe working over Daniels’ injured left knee, but the former Fallen Angel managed to fight back, and after a great series of counters Joe finally managed to synch in the rear naked choke for the submission victory. A very good match this, probably the best on the show.
Then it was on to falls count anywhere action, with the mystery man Suicide tackling D’Angelo Dinero. This match actually started when Suicide attacked the Pope during a backstage interview, and while there were some interesting spots during the fight backstage, it didn’t really get interesting until they reached the arena. However, as the match went on, it did seem to drag a little, and when the end came, with Dinero pinning Suicide after the masked man missed a jump off the entrance way and went through a table when Dinero moved out of the way, I was slightly relieved.
The second vacant title was contested next, with ODB and Cody Deaner fighting it out over the Knockouts title. Why? Just why? Having built up a great reputation for their women’s division, they have to go and screw it up with this poor excuse for a match. So, the action may have been okay at times, but the entire concept just sucked, and whoever came up with this idea should be fired, or at least given a good slap. Oh, and in case you’re wondering, ODB got the pin after Deaner missed a top rope splash, so at least we had a woman winning a women’s championship.
Normal service was resumed with the battle of the big boys, with Abyss challenging Kevin Nash for the Legends title, with Nash hoping to claim Dr. Stevie’s bounty. Mick Foley came down to do a spot of guest commentary, with a barbed wire baseball bat in hand, and shared some classic moments with his fellow WWE alumni Taz. As for the match, it was strangely compelling. It was slow paced and hard hitting, but extremely well executed, and the story was played out really well, with Stevie turning up and taking a seat on the stage, with Daffney appearing from out of the crowd with a taser in her hand. Abyss stopped this heinous attempt by taking her out with a black hole slam, but the offending weapon soon made it’s way into Nash’s hands, and while the referee was trying to stop Foley from handing Abyss his baseball bat, Nash used the taser on a very sensitive part of Abyss’ body, enabling him to get the pin. It was then that Stevie refused to give Nash the bounty. Big Sexy ended up power bombing Stevie, and leaving with the cash. Although this wasn’t a patch on the Joe/Daniels match, it was still quite good, and Nash’s best pay-per-view match this year.
The Lethal Lockdown match was next, with Beer Money, Inc. and Team 3D taking on The British Invasion, Scott Steiner and Booker T. Sadly, I am unable to review this match for you. If you recall, Nick Aldis, the man behind the Brutus Magnus gimmick, has threatened me with legal action if I say anything negative about him on the internet, and while I’m not going to contact him and ask him to withdraw his threat, I’m not going to stop anyone else from doing so. So if anyone wants to ask him, then why not visit his website at www.gladiator-oblivion.com.
So, back to normal service, with Bobby Lashley finally making his TNA debut against Rhino. Firstly, I’d like to say that it was great seeing Rhino back on pay-per-view. It seems like ages since he’s been on a big show. As for the match, it was another of those hard hitting affairs, with two good performances, although it was obvious that Lashley wasn’t going to go all out because of his MMA career. As the ending, after Lashley accidentally speared the referee, Rhino attempted his second gore, which Lashley countered with a knockout punch for the winning pin. A nice little match here.
Main event time, with Kurt Angle defending the TNA World title against three challengers, A.J. Styles, Matt Morgan, and Sting. Or at least he thought he was going to be three. Before the match began Hernandez came down the ramp with his feast or fired briefcase to cash in his TNA World title shot, turning this into a five way match. The big man then attacked Angle, beating the hell out of him while the other three just stood and watched, and when the bell finally rang Hernandez continued his attack on Angle up the ramp and onto the stage. He was about to throw Angle off the stage with the border toss with Eric Young suddenly appeared and attacked him, taking him down with a pile driver on the stage, and taking him out of the match, turning it back into a four way. It wasn’t long before Angle and Morgan formed a temporary alliance against Sting and Styles. Again, the action was okay, but this was another of those matches that just seemed to drag on and on with no ending in sight. When it did get near the end there were plenty of near falls, and with Angle lying prone in the middle of the ring, Sting and Styles looked at each other. Sting then left the ring to attack Morgan on the outside, leaving Styles to take Angle out with a 450 splash to get the title winning pin.
In conclusion - while there was some good action on this show, this won’t go down as one of my favourite TNA pay-per-views. Some matches seemed way too short, while others just seemed way too long, and I’m not sure if I agree with having a Lethal Lockdown match on any other pay-per-view apart from Lockdown. It just doesn’t seem right.
As for the main event, I really can’t understand why Hernandez was put into the main event in the first place. It would have made more sense, and created more drama, if he’d cashed in his feast or fired World title shot for a pay-per-view main event. It would have given us a new face in the main event scene, and a new match-up. Then they could have had the World Elite cost him his big chance. That would have made a lot more sense. But then again, I’m just a lowly internet writer, so what the hell do I know?
So overall, as many a high school teacher would say - could do better.
Having just reviewed Ring of Honor’s seventh anniversary show, it seems apt somehow that my next review sees me taking a look at the DVD release of Total Non-Stop Action’s seventh anniversary show, Slammiversary, and as I’ve already reviewed television broadcast of the show in June, I’m going to again take an overall look at the show.
I have to admit my second viewing of this show has changed my opinion a little. While the King of the Mountain X Division title opener is a very enjoyable affair, with the Motor City Machine Guns and Lethal Consequences ganging up on the masked star Suicide, things take a slight downturn with the “Second Chance” encounter pitting Christopher Daniels against Shane Douglas. It is a disappointing match, even before Douglas sustained an injury that clearly hampered him.
The Knockouts title match pitting champion Angelina Love against former WWE Diva Tara is an enjoyable affair, and another example of just how watchable the Knockouts division can me at times. The lovely ladies get another outing in the weapons-based brawl as well, as Taylor Wilde teams with Abyss against Daffney and Raven in the Monsters Ball. I have to admit I’m not entirely sure about having female wrestlers in such a match, but they did well.
Sting versus Matt Morgan is a somewhat lacklustre affair which isn’t really given that much time to develop, and Sting’s baby face role in a heel faction could be confusing if you watch this show without knowing much about the back story. But while Sting/Morgan is a tad too short, then the tag title match pitting champions Team 3D against Beer Money may be a tad too long. It’s entertaining, but I’m left to wonder if the extra time was allocated to this one to allow the British Invasion to do their thing.
The main event sees Mick Foley defending his World title against Kurt Angle, Jeff Jarrett, A.J. Styles and Samoa Joe in the second King of the Mountain match. Although Foley takes some big bumps here, overall his performance is on a par with the rest of his TNA tenure, disappointing. However, the other four men in this one make up for Foley’s shortcomings, and the swerve at the end is well played out, although if you’ve seen this show before and you watch the pre-match promos you can see that those concerned were dropping massive hints.
There’s the usual DVD extras, with backstage interviews and stuff. The box said that there was also the pre-show match pitting the British Invasion against Rhino and Eric Young, although I couldn’t actually find this in the extras menu.
In all, Slammiversary 2009 is, as with many TNA shows, a mixed bag. You’ll be enthralled by the good parts, but you may end up banging your head over the bad parts.
It’s time to step into Ring of Honor territory again, especially as the powers that be have sent me a new batch of DVDs to review. So we’re going to begin this latest series by going back to March 21st, and the famed Hammerstein Ballroom, with ROH’s 7th Anniversary show, headlined by Nigel Mc****ss defending the ROH World title against Japanese star KENTA, with Dave Prazak and Lenny Leonard handling commentary duties.
The show begins with the usual short, fast-paced opener, this time pitting the always watchable Kenny King and Rhett Titus against Roderick Strong and Erick Stevens. It’s a good, solid opener, with plenty of action from both teams, and King and Titus again proving just how good they are as a team. Sadly, my boys didn’t get the job done. After plenty of near falls, Stevens got the pin on Titus after a power bomb. A nice way to open the show.
Then it was on to the first grudge match of the evening, pitting long time rivals Brent Albright and Claudio Castagnoli against each other. This one saw plenty of hard hitting action, the sort of stuff that’s made their series so gripping, and it’s another sign of why these two are so suited to each other, and in a way it just seemed right that it ended as a draw, with the time limit expiring as they were exchanging blows. The bell didn’t stop them though. Several officials did. Albright then suggested an extra five minutes which, surprisingly, Double C agreed to. The extra segment didn’t last long though, as Castagnoli got himself disqualified for low blowing Albright as he went for his half nelson suplex. The Swiss star then finished the job by stomping a steel chair to the back of Albright’s head. Terrific drama here, one definitely worth watching.
The man who is fast developing a cult following was up next, as Bobby Dempsey answered Sweet ‘N’ Sour’s open challenge. The man chosen by Larry Sweeney’s crew was former NWA World Champion Adam Pearce. After a spot of intimidation, Pearce fell very quickly to Dempsey’s death valley driver. The crowd went absolutely wild, and this was the perfect way of putting Dempsey over after his baby face turn.
The action kept on coming with another face versus face match pitting Jerry Lynn against Mike Quackenbush. This was another of those can’t lose type of matches for the fans, filled with great action and some rather innovative offence from Quackenbush. The story here saw Lynn working over Quackenbush’s head, figuring he could do some damage because of his history with concussions. Quackenbush mounted the inevitable comeback, before falling to Lynn’s cradle pile driver. It was a good match, but at a little over ten minutes it just seemed to be too short. I couldn’t help but imagine what they would have achieved had they been given another ten minutes.
Six man tag team action followed, with Tyler Black, Delirious and Necro Butcher facing Jimmy Jacobs, Brodie Lee and Austin Aries in ROH’s equivalent to the Survivor Series, an Ultimate Endurance match, fought under no disqualification rules. There were even more stipulations - each fall had to be different, for example, if the first fall was gained by pin, then the second fall had to be obtained in a different manner. With all of these different stipulations I was beginning to wonder if I was watching a TNA DVD. As for the match, it had it’s good and bad points, the bad points being, once again, Necro Butcher and Brodie Lee. Butcher’s offence continued to look very weak, while Brodie just doesn’t do it for me, and I was very glad when these two eliminated each other for the second fall, getting counted out as they brawled to the back. As for the other falls, first, Aries pinned Delirious after a brain buster. Fall three saw Black submitting Aries with a guillotine choke, leaving him alone with Jacobs, who tried to finish his former protégé off with his end time finisher, although he was unable to get the win because of how the previous fall played out. Black would later counter this with his God’s last gift slam to get the winning pin. So, apart from Butcher and Lee, this was a great match, if a little over complication, stipulation-wise.
The tag team action continued with Bison Smith and Bryan Danielson continuing their feud, with each man selecting a mystery partner. Smith came down to the ring with Prince Nana, who re-introduced his crown jewel Jimmy Rave, minus his rock star gimmick, back into the ROH fold. Danielson came to the ring alone, and as Rave and Smith attacked, Grizzly Redwood came in to make the save, only to be quickly dispensed with by big Bison. Redwood wasn’t Danielson’s mystery partner though. That honour went to another man making his big return, Colt Cabana. To say that the crowd went wild would be a huge understatement. This was an excellent match, filled with top notch action, four outstanding performances, and a red hot crowd which just made this one extra special, with ROH doing another fine job in portraying Smith as a monster heel. Cabana got the win in this one, reversing Rave’s heel hook attempt with a roll-up. He then joined Danielson in celebrating the win, conducting the crowd as they sang along to a certain Swedish rock band.
Next up was a rather interesting encounter between D-Lo Brown and Jay Briscoe. Before the match again Brown shoot on WWE, thanking them for his recent release. Then, we everyone thought there was going to be another face versus face battle, Brown turned heel mid-way through the match by connecting with a low blow after he had distracted the referee. Brown’s newfound heeldom continued throughout the match, and also saw him threatening Jay’s injured brother Mark, who had accompanied him to the ring. The end saw Jay missing with a top rope leg drop, and Brown getting the pin with a handful of tights, which didn’t exactly sit too well with Mark. This was a good match, and certainly a lot better than Brown’s match with Nigel Mc****ss.
The semi-main event saw the American Wolves, Eddie Edwards and Davey Richards, challenge Kevin Steen and El Generico for the ROH World Tag Team Championship in another no disqualification match. This was another of those matches I was looking forward to seeing, given the well built up history between these two teams. They didn’t disappoint, with top notch action from the opening bell, with the Wolves working over Steen’s old knee injury, and looking like they were going to win the titles on several occasions. This was one of those matches you just couldn’t take your eyes off, and it ended with Richards tapping out to Steen’s sharp shooter. The Wolves didn’t wait long to get their revenge though, taking out Generico with a top rope bulldog through a table, and taping Steen to the ropes and doing further damage to his bad knee. This was a hell of a match, worthy of the build up it had been given.
The main event saw Japanese star KENTA challenging Britain’s own Nigel Mc****ss for the ROH World title. This was another one of those rather interesting matches. Mc****ss had injured his left bicep in a tag team match against his challenger the night before, meaning that, with his right bicep injured as well, our Nigel was going into this one with more or less no arms. Commentators Leonard and Prazak went to great pains to put Nigel’s injuries over, almost turning him baby face in the process, and while he was definitely hampered by his injuries it didn’t stop him from putting in a good performance, keeping up well with the visiting star, and although it looked like he could lose the title at any moment, he secured the win as KENTA tapped to the London dungeon arm bar submission. While this is in no way the best performance I’ve seen from my fellow countryman, it was still good, considering the circumstances.
In conclusion - out of all the ROH shows I’ve seen this year, this is by far the best. With the exception of a certain bare footed wrestler and his big opponent, this was a hell of a show. Ring of Honor definitely saved their best for their anniversary show, and if you’re a long time ROH follower then you should add this one to collection. Mind you, even if you’re not an ROH follower, you wouldn’t go wrong getting a copy of this release.
With thanks to the powers that be at Ring of Honor for supplying a copy of this release.
A few weeks ago I had the chance to review the British debut of Japanese promotion Pro Wrestling NOAH, with their European Navigation ‘08 DVD. It was a cracking DVD, but the tour didn’t end there. The following night the NOAH crew, along with some British talent, travelled to Faringdon in Oxfordshire for European Navigation ‘08 Night Two. This show had a slightly different theme, NOAH versus The World. Commentary on this DVD was handled by “The Twisted Genius” Dean Ayass and “Irish” Stu Allen.
The show kicked off with tag team action, and Taiji Ishimori and Atsushi Aoki taking on the BritRage team of Mark Sloan and Wade Fitzgerald. It’s an impressive opening match, very much in the NOAH style, with young Fitzgerald putting in another good performance. I’m quickly becoming a fan of this lad. Wade acted as the proverbial punching bag in this match, before getting the hot tag to Sloan, who got the winning pin by reversing Aoki’s arm bar takedown attempt with a schoolboy roll-up for the pin. Nice stuff.
The second bout saw Yoshinobu Kanemaru against Zack Sabre Junior. This one featured some great exchanges early on, with some good solid wrestling action. It was one of those matches you just didn’t want to end, but sadly it did, in a twenty minute time limit draw, which kind of felt like the right result, given what had gone on beforehand.
Then it was on to Naomichi Marufuji, taking on Joel Redman. Marufuji was still missing his wrestling gear, with French baggage handlers have lost his luggage during a stopover. It’s another good, solid match, with Redman carrying on from where he’d left off the night before. Marufuji was, as always, very good, and we even got a slight heel turn from him when the youngsters in the crowd turned against him. Another match with plenty of false finishers, with Marufuji getting the win after taking Redman out with sliced bread number two.
After the interval, it was on to six man action, with Jun Akiyama, Tsuyoshi Kikuchi and Junji Izumida going up against Muhammad Yone and the Hubba Bubba Lucha team of El Ligero and Bubblegum. Some of you may be a little confused here, with Yone representing “The World” against the NOAH regulars. This match began with a nice touch of comedy, with the smaller British stars trying to take former sumo wrestler Izumida off his feet. The experienced Japanese team looked great, putting together some great sequences as they took the young British stars apart. However, it was Yone who got the pin for his team, against the run of play as it were, pinning Kikuchi after his version of the muscle buster. This was a good match, but I couldn’t help but feel that Hubba Bubba Lucha were a little overmatched against their much larger Japanese opponents.
More singles action followed, with Dave Moralez facing Takeshi Morishima. Morishima was another of those wrestlers to suffer at the hands of the French baggage handlers. Moralez has put on a lot of weight since I first saw him at a Future Championship Wrestling show back in 2004. This was the quickest match of the show, and also the poorest. As a certain other commentator who shares my initials would say, it was bowling shoe ugly, with Morishima getting the pin after a backdrop suplex. I was really disappointed with this one, especially given Morishima’s pedigree.
The main event saw the late, great Mitsuharu Misawa and Kotaro Suzuki taking on American monster Bison Smith and hometown hero Mark Haskins. A very fast paced match at first, with both teams showing great chemistry in the ring. It was kind of weird seeing Smith in a baby face role, given that I’ve seen him as a monster heel during my recent Ring of Honor reviews. Haskins also put on a good display, as did the Japanese visitors. Sadly, Haskins didn’t get the win, with Suzuki getting the pin after taking him out with the blue destiny move. He did get a good reception from the fans afterwards though, which capped off a very good match.
In conclusion - this was a very good show, one which I enjoyed, for the most part. However, it didn’t really feel like a proper Pro Wrestling NOAH show, it felt more like a regular British show. That’s probably to due with the fact that the NOAH stars were, for the most part, matched up against British stars, and the fact that the crowd were completely different from the first show as well. Dean Ayass himself made the point that the first show was watched by hardcore NOAH fans, who knew what the product was about, and who knew who the wrestlers were, while this show featured more families in the audience, who didn’t necessarily know who the visiting Japanese stars were, and it’s for these reasons that dedicated NOAH followers may be disappointed with this release.
With thanks to Mark Sloan for supplying a copy of this release. Pro Wrestling NOAH European Navigation ‘08 Night Two is available to buy online at www.a-merchandise.co.uk.
