IMG Credit: World Wrestling Network

Mercury Rising 2018
Date: April 6, 2018
Location: Pontchartrain Convention & Civic Center, Kenner, Louisiana
Attendance: 1,000
Commentators: Lenny Leonard, Ron Niemi

This is the WWN (World Wrestling Network) Supershow, which is a bunch of smaller promotions (Evolve, Shine, Full Impact Pro and more). The thing is, I’ve never actually seen anything from the majority of them. I’ve always wanted to check them out but the schedule never worked or I was just too busy to get there. This year though I’ve done a little bit of everything from almost every big promotion over Wrestlemania weekend so I might as well try it now. Let’s get to it.

I’m coming into this virtually blind as I only somewhat follow this promotion, meaning I’m likely not going to know a lot of people and stories.

Ad for Club WWN, their version of the Network.

Host Trevin Adams is in the ring to welcome us to the show and run down the card. There’s a pretty good sized crowd if nothing else.

DJZ/AR Fox/Trey Miguel vs. Austin Theory/Travis Banks/Zachary Wentz

Lucha rules so I hope I can tell who everyone is. If I’m right, Theory is the current FIP (Full Impact Pro, a promotion under the WWN banner) and WWN (as in the whole thing, kind of like the NWA World Champion, which he won earlier in the night) Champion while Banks is the Progress World Champion. Commentary just jumps in and starts talking about the history of six man tags on this show without even saying hello or saying who is who.

Theory tells DJZ to play his horn to start and forearms him in his distracted face. Fox and Wentz come in with Wentz snapping off a hurricanrana, meaning it’s Miguel replacing Fox as the fast start continue. With the announcer saying they haven’t seen either guy before, it’s off to Banks for a running knee but DJZ comes back in for an Indian deathlock, including the horn from the floor. DJZ sends Theory to the floor for a big springboard dive but Wentz dives onto everyone else.

Miguel hits another dive of his own so Fox follows him with a springboard imploding 450. Now maybe it’s just the audio, but you would expect a much stronger reaction (or at least a louder one) than any of those dives received. Fox brings Theory back in and it’s a human centipede of dragon sleepers. Miguel comes in and kicks everyone down and it’s a bit of a breather.

Banks is up first with kicks to Miguel and Fox, followed by a Cannonball to both. Miguel 619s Banks in the ribs but misses a top rope double stomp, only to hit a….springboard crotch to the face? It was either supposed to be a seated senton, a hurricanrana or reversed into a powerbomb but it didn’t really resemble any.

Theory is back with a powerbomb to Fox but DJZ gives him one of his own. Banks gets in a spinning fisherman’s driver as the pace has gone through the roof. Wentz drops Miguel on his head and a Roll of the Dice sets up a Swanton to give Fox two. DJZ hits a 450 on Wentz as Fox and Miguel nail suicide dives for the pin at 8:24.

Rating: B-. Some insanely fast paced offense but they’re not doing a great job of laying things out for a new fan. I was trying to keep track of who was who and why they were fighting each other but that’s the case with most shows at this level. Still though, very fun opener and the kind of match you want on a show like this. I’d assume this sets up some sort of a title shot down the line, or else why have a double champion’s team lose?

Indeed, Fox motions that he wants the title.

Jason Kincaid comes out for a match but Jarek 1:20 jumps him from behind and beats him down. That’s not it as Jarek handcuffs him to the barricade, meaning it’s time to mention the Louisiana State Athletic Commission. Jarek kicks him in the face and chokes a lot as Kincaid screams a lot. Apparently this is part of a heel turn as Jarek wants to be a bigger deal around here. Makes enough sense and the announcers explained it to us so well done, though telling us a bit more about Jarek and/or Kincaid would have helped.

Zack Sabre Jr. vs. Munenori Sawa

Sawa is a striker/shoot submission guy who is back after a fairly lengthy retirement. Sabre on the other hand is a submission master who does things that I can’t even describe most of the time. He also lost the Evolve Championship the night before so he’s on a bit of a downswing. Sawa slaps him in the face to start and we’re ready to go in the technical style match of the night.

The announcers explain Sawa’s Japanese pedigree (good) as Sabre takes him down into a double armbar which is quickly escaped. They grapple on the mat and Sawa has to bail to the ropes again. Both guys head outside for a slap off, which isn’t exactly Sabre’s strong point. Sawa knocks him into and out of a chair before they fight over abdominal stretches back inside. Very technical so far and it’s mostly even in the early going. Sawa starts in on the leg but Sabre slaps his way out of an early leglock.

A power drive elbow (ala Great Muta) has Sabre in more trouble and it’s time for the rapid fire strikes in the corner. They head to the apron with Sawa grabbing an ankle lock but getting reversed into a nasty armbar. That’s broken due to the ropes so Sawa is right back on the leg. Sabre isn’t about to be out technicaled so he pulls Sawa into an STF and then a headscissors with an armbar.

Another rope break saves Sawa so it’s off to an Octopus Hold with Sabre having to fall into the ropes for the break. Sabre counters a punch into a cross armbreaker (with a middle finger to the fans, as is his custom) but Sawa reverses into a choke of his own. That earns Sawa a Pele and a leglock/Brock Lock on the mat (Orienting With Napalm Death. Seriously, though not the same move with the same name from Strong Style Evolved) for the tap at 13:22.

Rating: B. Sabre fascinates me more every time I watch him as some of those holds defy the laws of physics. I can see why he’s such a star on shows like this as he’s just a treat to watch. Sawa isn’t someone I’m overly familiar with but he was fine here, albeit not someone who really stood out.

Post match Sawa gets the big ovation. It wasn’t that great of a match.

The End vs. James Drake/Anthony Henry vs. Tracy Williams/Dominic Garrini

Street fight and the End is Odinson/Parrow. I have no idea who any of these people are so I’m going to be in some trouble here. Williams and Garrini, part of the Catch Point stable (albeit with Garrini as hired muscle and not a full member), seem to be faces and have former ROH manager Stokely Hathaway with them. Stokely says he accepted this match to show how great Catch Point is a national treasure and takes a seat at ringside. Actually hang on as Drake and Henry come out, sending Stokely running to the back.

The End, with their unnamed manager, comes in and starts the brawl with Catch Point (seemingly the feud the match is built around) but Garrini hits a big flip dive off the top to take everyone down. The announcers recap the backstory (Drake/Henry challenged the End and Catch Point jumped in to get their hands on the End) as the End’s theme song goes on for a long time. Garrini gets beaten down inside and Williams sets up a table on the floor. Williams and Garrini get back up and double team Henry in the corner but the End come in and take over.

A ladder is brought in to cut Odinson off and another shot drops Parrow but the manager (Drenin) gets inside. That earns him a kick to the head and some running chops in the corner to get us back to the regular six. Williams and Henry slug away on the End but Williams makes the save with a chair. The huge Parrow takes the chair away from Williams but gets powerbombed onto (not through) the table at ringside. There’s another table in the ring and a double suplex puts Odinson through for another near fall.

Garrini’s armbar on Williams is quickly broken up and Henry and Anthony put his bare feet in the ladder for a series of chair shots. Williams saves Garrini from a double superplex but the End comes back in for stereo Towers of Doom. They’re not done though as it’s a Super Collider for two each on Henry and Drake. Another table is loaded up in the corner and a Pounce puts Garrini through it in short order.

The End takes Williams down with Henry making the save before taking Drenin out again. The good sized Drake hits a nice moonsault but Drake wants more violence instead of the pin. That means a bunch of chair shots and yet another table being brought in because we haven’t had one of those in a while. Henry hits a Coup de Grace onto Odinson through the table (well kind of as the legs broke but the middle held) for the pin at 13:24.

Rating: D+. Well that happened. This was far from good with only some energy throughout the whole thing. I still have very little idea of who these people are or why they’re fighting in the first place. Again, I know the regular fans know who they are but could we get a little more for the new fans? On top of that, the action wasn’t very good with no real story and very few near falls. It just felt like people hitting each other with weapons for the sake of hitting each other with weapons, which has been done far better before.

We take a quick break for the sake of clearing the ring. This includes the ring crew sweeping, earning a SWEEP FOREVER chant. So they’d rather watch sweeping than the wrestling they paid for? Indy fans are weird.

Shine Championship: LuFisto vs. Holidead

Shine is an offshoot of Shimmer and LuFisto is defending. Holidead is something like a zombie and has appeared in ROH and Impact. LuFisto heads into the corner to start but misses a charge and gets rolled up for two. A missed big boot allows LuFisto to tie her into the Tree of Woe for a Cannonball (looks better with the upside down part). It’s time to work on the knee with Holidead’s leg being wrapped around the post, followed by a rather long chinlock.

Holidead fights up and slugs away with a neckbreaker getting two. To mix things up a bit, she licks LuFisto’s face and gets two more off a side slam. A spinebuster plants LuFisto again but she takes her into the corner for a quick Facewash. Holidead is right back with a Samoan drop but LuFisto is back on the knee with a spinning toehold and an inverted Figure Four. That means a rope break and Holidead is right back with something like White Noise for two more. A guillotine legdrop misses (would have missed no matter what happened) and LuFisto grabs a Burning Hammer to retain at 8:13.

Rating: D. This was two women doing moves to each other for eight minutes until one person hit a big move for the win. It’s not a good match with neither of them really standing out and both of them just kind of being there instead of doing something special. I don’t know if this is a big draw for the show, but this did nothing for me whatsoever.

Post match LuFisto says she’s tired of Barbie dolls and is going to hold this title until she retires. She wants to fight someone special at Shine 50 so cue Kimber Lee (formerly Kimberly Frankele/Abbey Laith in NXT) and the match seems to be made.

Keith Lee vs. Daisuke Sekimoto

I’ve heard of Sekimoto (a big guy named the Muscle Monster) before but, again, have never actually seen him. Lee is a big deal around here (losing the WWN Championship earlier in the day) so this is probably one of the biggest matches on the show. They trade big shoulders to start with Sekimoto going back a few steps.

Lee, who makes Big E. look small, snaps off a passable hurricanrana because he can. An exchange of forearms has Sekimoto down and we hit a neck crank. Back up and a hard right hand rocks Sekimoto so it’s time for the big, heavy slugout. Sekimoto muscles him up for a slam and we hit an abdominal stretch as the video and audio are out of sync.

A big suplex sets up a missile dropkick to rock Lee for two but he’s back up with a crossbody for two. Lee grabs a sitout Sky High for the same and hits middle rope moonsault….hits? It grazed Sekimoto but apparently he moved in time. A bridging German suplex puts Lee away at 13:38.

Rating: B. Now that was fun in the hoss battle sense with both guys beating the heck out of each other. Sekimoto has a great look and is far more muscular than most guys you would see on a show like this, making him all the more entertaining to watch. I could have gone for more of this and that’s a good thing. Well done and I’m not surprised that Lee signed with WWE.

Post match hardcore “wrestler” Nick Gage comes in to clean house. He’ll be in the parking lot if anyone wants a fight. Gage leaves and Lee gets up as the fans….kind of cheer? Lee is ready to face Gage at an upcoming show.

Evolve Tag Team Titles: Chris Dickinson/Jaka vs. Ringkampf

Dickinson and Jaka (part of Catch Point with Hathaway at ringside) are defending and Ringkampf is Walter (not doing the all caps thing) and Timothy Thatcher (the longest reigning Evolve Champion ever. Walter is another guy I’ve never actually seen wrestle before and is a monster by comparison at 6’4 and probably 300lbs. Thatcher and Jaka start things off and it’s already time to go after Jaka’s arm.

That’s broken up so Thatcher goes after the leg and draws Dickinson in, allowing the tag to Walter. The challengers take turns on Jaka’s arm with Walter kicking Dickinson off the apron. Hathaway is arguing with the fans as Jaka gets chopped into the wrong corner. A missed charge allows the hot tag off to Dickinson so the pace can pick up a bit. Dickinson hits a running corner clothesline for two and the champs start taking turns on Thatcher in the corner.

A rather twisty leglock keeps Thatcher in trouble so Walter comes in for the save like a good partner should be doing. Thatcher gets away with a belly to belly and the tag brings the monster back in. That means big old chops and a big boot to Dickinson. Walter and Dickinson slug it out with Dickinson even gyrating the hips a bit. Thatcher and Jaka come back in with Jaka missing a very fast spinning kick to the head. A double knockdown leaves us with Walter kicking Dickinson in the face but taking a Falcon Arrow for two.

Dickinson gets in a tornado DDT to keep Walter down but he’s right back up with a butterfly suplex. Walter sleepers Dickinson until Jaka dives in with a top rope splash for the save in a good looking crash. The hot tag brings in Thatcher but it’s the Death Trap (Doomsday Device with a chokeslam instead of a clothesline, which didn’t look nearly as cool as it sounded) to retain the titles at 15:27.

Rating: B. This felt like a team getting the win because they were a better team, which you don’t see happen very often. It’s nice to see some good tag action like this and you can almost pencil in Walter for NXT in the next few years. Good match and something that was easy to follow on its own, even in another case where I didn’t know most of the people.

Post match Catch Point is here with Williams saying the team is doing great but there’s a problem. Hathaway has caused issues as the businessman so he’s out. That’s not how things work though, as it turns out Hathaway’s contract puts him in control of the entire team, so Williams is the one who has been fired. This brings out Garrini to lay Williams out and the team takes his Catch Point shirt.

Evolve Title: Matt Riddle vs. Will Ospreay

Riddle is defending (having won the title yesterday and again, I’ve never seen a match of his) and this is under Riddle Rules, meaning no rope breaks. Ospreay is VERY banged up coming in, with a bad neck and shoulder thanks to injuries suffered in Japan. So Riddle is known as the King of Bros and really, it’s kind of the perfect name for him. You would get the same vibe if you looked at him so well done.

Riddle takes his time going around shaking hands with fans and is wrestling barefoot, as is his custom. They do the Big Match Intros and Riddle misses a jumping knee to the face so it’s a Helluva Kick and release German suplex from Ospreay but Riddle pops to his feet. A dropkick puts Riddle on the floor for a suicide dive as Ospreay is throwing everything he has at him early on due to the injuries taking his stamina.

They head to the apron and you can see the crazy look in Ospreay’s eyes. Riddle German suplexes him on the apron though and Ospreay is already near death. Back in and an exploder has Ospreay down again and some rolling gutwrench suplexes get two. Riddle slowly kicks at him as the fans are begging him to hit Ospreay in the bad shoulder. That just ticks Ospreay off and he sends Riddle into the corner for the hesitation dropkick.

Riddle powerbombs the heck out of him though and flips Ospreay over for a hard knee to the face. A kick to the shoulder cuts Ospreay off and it’s a sleeper suplex (cool) for two. The Bro-Mission (an abdominal stretch on the mat with a leg trap) goes on and Ospreay’s already in trouble.

Somehow he gets up and climbs to the top for a sleeper superplex, which is enough to need the medics. Well more referees in this case and Riddle is told to stand in the corner. Ospreay tells the referees to let it go so it’s a running knee to the back of the head and a Tombstone (how illegal) for a very close two, meaning Riddle is ticked. He takes the tape off of Ospreay’s neck and drops a backsplash to the upper back.

A running knee to the face gets one and Riddle isn’t having something like this. He loads up a cradle piledriver but Ospreay reverses into a triangle choke of all things and a hard lariat puts Riddle down. Riddle’s next knee strike is countered into a sitout powerbomb (with Ospreay nearly dropping him) for two. The Oscutter (springboard cutter) is pulled into the Bro-Mission though and Ospreay taps at 13:53.

Rating: B+. I completely get it with Riddle as he has a great look and made the MMA stuff look as natural as you could have hoped. The idea of a killer like that beating on an already injured Ospreay made for a very emotional match and if Ospreay had just a few more close calls, this would have been a classic. As it is though, it’s a very good story and a heck of a match worthy of being a big show’s main event.

Post match Riddle says that was an awesome performance from Ospreay and praises the fans. A little posing and a catchphrase end the show.

Overall Rating: A-. I know I say this a lot but this is a great example of a show where the good is really good and the bad is either short or not terrible. The action itself was strong and there were people I’d want to see again. As mentioned though, the biggest problem was trying to figure out who these people were or what they were doing. Maybe a supershow was a bad place to come in for something like that, but they need to do a better job of welcoming in new viewers. What we got was good though and the string of rather good matches is more than enough to make this worth a look. Surprisingly awesome show.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of the NXT The Full Sail Years Volume III (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2018/05/25/new-book-nxt-the-full-sail-years-from-dallas-to-new-orleans/

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IMG Credit: Ring of Honor Wrestling

Strong Style Evolved
Date: March 25, 2018
Location: Walter Pyramid, Long Beach, California
Attendance: 4,372
Commentators: Jim Ross, Josh Barnett

This was a fairly heavily requested show and I remember liking last year’s show so it’s worth a look. New Japan very rarely comes stateside so it’s cool to see their expansion. As is usually the case, this show is built around the Bullet Club, which is having some major issues. The main event is the Golden Lovers (Bullet Club leader Kenny Omega and old partner Kota Ibushi) vs. the Young Bucks. I don’t watch Being the Elite so odds are I’m going to be a bit lost in the bigger parts because Heaven forbid I just watch wrestling. Let’s get to it.

Ross (who looks nearly asleep) and Barnett open things up and offer an explanation of strong style. I really don’t like listening to Barnett at almost any point so thankfully this is short.

We get a long, well done video on New Japan, looking at what has happened since their previous appearances in Long Beach. Each match gets a quick look, with the wrestlers being listed by name. The big matches do get some longer attention, which is perfectly acceptable. It’s nice to see everything get a look instead of only looking at the top stuff. I’m also warming to the idea of announcing the matches in advance. You don’t get that in America and it lets you know when you can expect a match you want to see.

Roppongi 3K vs. So Cal Uncensored

There are American and Japanese announcers here, which is a very smart move. What’s not a smart move is getting the name graphics under each wrestler wrong. Like, seriously, how hard can that be to pull off? And yes I know WWE did it at Wrestlemania, which is even less excusable. Romero wristlocks Sky to start as Josh sounds confused about Sky starting for some reason.

Sky claims a hair pull despite a high level of baldness. A neckbreaker gets Sky out of trouble and the fans are very, very pleased. Makes sense that So Cal Uncensored would be popular in So Cal. Kazarian and Yoh come in with Kazarian getting clotheslined down and it’s Sho coming in for some speedy double teaming. Now why didn’t they do this in ROH? The fans shift over to Sho as he works on Kazarian’s ribs in the corner. Daniels offers a trip from the floor but Kazarian slips off the rope on the springboard spinning legdrop attempt. Thankfully he seems fine and So Cal takes over for the first time.

Romero tags himself in but the referee didn’t see it so it’s Yoh being draped over the top rope to keep him in trouble. It’s Daniels knocking him to the floor for a big springboard flip dive, because of course he can do that at his age. Sky gets two off a slingshot cutter but Yoh rolls over and brings Romero in to speed things back up.

The forever lariats have Daniels and Kazarian rocked and a springboard dropkick to the back gets two on Kazarian. Everything breaks down again and Sky takes Daniels out by mistake. Sho is smart enough to pull Romero to the corner for the tag off to Yoh and there’s a slingshot dive to Kazarian. A Dominator/sliding cutter combination gets two on Sky but 3K (a 3D into a Downward Spiral instead of a cutter) puts him away at 10:24.

Rating: C+. Not a bad match at all here, even if it’s odd to see the ROH Six Man Tag Team Champions lose clean. But hey, that might imply Ring of Honor being on New Japan’s level and that just can’t happen. It’s rather impressive that Sho and Yoh are already this much better than they were in ROH. I used to dread their matches but now they seem to be putting on good performances. It’s almost like they learned and evolved.

As Roppongi 3K leaves, we hear Josh say that he agrees with JR: “They need to get out of the f****** ring.” And so we continue the production issues.

David Finlay/Juice Robinson vs. Hirooki Goto/Gedo

Taguchi Japan vs. Chaos. Goto and Robinson fight over a wristlock to start and a shoulder doesn’t get Goto anywhere. A shot to the face drops Goto for two (Josh: “I wonder what kind of juice that was.” I would have guessed Josh was the biggest expert on juice around. Certainly in MMA at least.) and it’s time to trade more clotheslines. Goto kicks him down and suplexes the invading Finlay onto Robinson.

Forearms to the back of the head have Robinson in even more trouble as Goto is bleeding from the mouth. Robinson easily loses a slugout and it’s off to Gedo for some dancing around. This slugout goes a lot better for Robinson and Finlay adds in another right hand from the apron, which is enough for the hot tag. Finlay comes in to clean house and everything breaks down. Robinson gives Goto a full nelson slam and a right hand to Gedo. A dive takes Goto out and Finlay’s jumping Stunner puts Gedo away at 7:26.

Rating: C-. Totally standard tag match here with four guys who have no connection that you would know of based on this match. I knew the stables because of Wikipedia and that tells me that either the commentary isn’t great or the stables don’t mean much (with both being true in this case). Not bad or anything, but definitely felt like a preliminary match.

Killer Elite Squad vs. Chuckie T./Toru Yano

Oh yay, it’s Yano time and that means “comedy”. Suzuki-Gun (Davey Boy Smith Jr,/Lance Archer) vs. Chaos here, with Josh at least telling us that the Squad is part of the stable. Archer throws his hat into the ring to make it clear that they’re the heels. Nothing wrong with some basic villain stuff and it worked here too. Yano’s entrance consists of plugs for his various merchandise so at least he’s living the gimmick.

The Squad wastes no time in hammering away like the monsters that they are. Chuckie gets in Soul Food (Eat Defeat) on Davey (who Josh calls Harry, his real name) but misses an enziguri. Yano gets kicked to the floor and it’s off to Archer for some heavy forearms in the corner. An Undertaker rope walk crushes Chuckie as you can hear JR’s disdain for Yano’s shtick. Smith grabs a chinlock and then a Liontamer, followed by some heavy right hands to the head.

With Yano walking up the aisle and talking to the fans, Archer runs Chuckie over as the beating continues. A DDT finally gets Chuckie out of trouble and it’s off to Yano, who lays in the ropes to hide. Yano’s atomic drop to Archer doesn’t work (Archer is too tall) so this time Archer kicks him out of the ropes. Yano pulls him outside though and it’s a collision to put both Squad members down.

After teasing a dive, Yano takes the turnbuckle pad off and Archer misses a charge into the exposed steel. Chuckie’s sunset flip gets two and a stuff piledriver is good for one. Yano and Smith go outside, leaving Archer to chokeslam the heck out of Chuckie for two. Chuckie even reverses into a crucifix for a heck of a near fall but the Killer Bomb (Batista Bomb/full nelson slam combination) ends Chuckie at 10:50.

Rating: D+. I’m really done with Yano as it’s the same stuff time after time in a TNA Eric Young/Santino Marella way and that’s not good. Archer looked great here and is rapidly becoming another name on WWE’s “How did we screw him up?” list. I wouldn’t be surprised to see the Squad get the titles back soon, as should be the case given how dominant they looked here.

The Squad is coming for the titles.

Cody/Marty Scurll vs. Guerrillas of Destiny

It’s amazing how much better the combination of Cody’s theme and Brandi can make things. We’re not quite ready to go yet as Cody grabs the mic to say Bullet Club is fine, which doesn’t exactly please the audience. What’s not fine is this match’s booking, which is why the match won’t take place. Why should there be a match when they’re all friends? Tama Tonga is an original Bullet Club member and the Guerrillas are a great team that made Bullet Club cool in the first place.

Now it’s Cody that makes it popular today, which the fans REALLY don’t seem to find accurate. The fans think they’re chanting TEAM CODY, which everyone here must be. Tonga says the match is happening no matter what and Tonga Loa says they’re not on Team Cody. That’s enough for Cody, who jumps Loa but gets pounded down by Tonga. Scurll gets all fired up with the Guerrillas, earning himself a double shoulder to the floor where he hides in Cody’s arms.

We settle down to Marty tagging Cody in to face Loa. That goes nowhere so it’s back to Scurll, who gets punched in the space in front of his face. Cody gets splashed in the corner so Brandi pulls him out to the floor for a pep talk. The distraction lets Scurll hit the apron superkicks to take over for the first time. Tama gets double teamed in the corner and a delayed gutbuster gives Cody two. Scurll superkicks the knee and loads up the chickenwing, only to have Cody tag himself back in.

As you might expect, this doesn’t go so well as Tama grabs a neckbreaker and brings Loa back in. A Disaster Kick cuts Loa down in short order but Tama superplexes Cody. Scurll does the same thing to Tama and everyone is down for a bit. Cody is up first and does Kenny Omega’s Terminator pose but Loa spears him down. Back up and the Tongans are sent into each other, allowing Cody to hit Cross Rhodes on Tama for the pin at 10:53.

Rating: C. This was, again, about the Bullet Club, which is the case far too often in wrestling. Cody was quite the jerk here though and that’s the best thing that he can do. Instead of relying on ref bumps and all the cowardly heel shenanigans, sometimes you just have to be a horrible friend who you have to have around for the sake of winning. Not a bad match, as the Guerrillas are always fun.

Los Ingobernables de Japon vs. Taguchi Japan/Dragon Lee

Taguchi is Ryusuke Taguchi/Hiroshi Tanahashi/Kushida. The fans go nuts for Los Ingobernables, with Naito getting the biggest reaction of them all. Naito and Tanahashi start things off but, as you might expect, Sanada and Evil come in to jump Tanahashi from behind before anything can happen. Naito hits Sanada in the face by mistake though and it’s a headlock takeover/headscissors to give Tanahashi a breather.

Lee comes in to face Takahashi to a heck of a reaction. The chop off is on and gets one of the best reactions of the night. Lee cartwheels out of a running hurricanrana and suplexes Takahashi out to the floor. Everything breaks down and Takahashi gets crushed in the corner over and over. La majistral gives Kushida two and it’s time to work on the arms. Takahashi fights up and brings in Bushi for a middle rope moonsault into some breakdancing to his feet. Take that Booker T?

We hit the sleeper before Bushi switches over to a choke with the shirt. Shouldn’t that be Evil’s job? Kushida finally gets in a handspring elbow and that’s enough for the hot tag to Tanahashi. The fans hit the GO ACE chants as Tanahashi cleans house and hands it off to Taguchi for the hip attacks. Takahashi has to come in and break up a triple submission attempt so Tanahashi goes with a Sling Blade on Sanada. Lee gets suplexed into the corner and Naito hits Destino for the pin on Taguchi at 12:15.

Rating: B-. I was getting into this one, as tends to be the case with most Ingobernables matches. They work very well together and Naito is as smooth in the ring as you’re going to find. Taguchi doesn’t do much for me but his partners were all worth checking out. I could go for more Kushida, who has kind of fallen off the radar in recent months. That’s a shame too as he’s my favorite New Japan guy, but the rest of the division is so stacked that it’s understandable.

Post match Los Ingobernables do the big group pose for a cool visual.

Here’s Rey Mysterio, who was scheduled to face Jushin Thunder Liger but had to pull out due to an injury. Mysterio explains the situation and says he wants to face Liger again someday (they had a match in WCW in 1996). He will be back to wrestle for New Japan when he’s healthy. It’s a shame but there’s nothing that can be done here. At least he made an appearance too, which often wouldn’t be the case. We do have a replacement on hand though and Mysterio is sitting at ringside.

Jushin Thunder Liger vs. Will Ospreay

Non-title. They shake hands with Ospreay bowing deeply and JR sums up the difference here: the day Ospreay was born, Liger had been wrestling for nine years. Liger wastes no time in grabbing a surfboard to get the fans even more into this. Back up and Ospreay hits a running corner dropkick before taking Liger down for an armbar. It’s off to a chinlock for a bit before Liger sends him outside for a flip dive from the apron, followed by a brainbuster on the floor.

Thankfully Ospreay doesn’t pop back up and Liger gets to go inside for some posing. JR: “There’s no reason for the match to continue if you’ve just been dropped on your head on the concrete.” Ospreay gets up and makes a very improbably dive underneath the ropes to beat the count (at nineteen so it’s not as bad as usual). The Liger Bomb gives Liger (duh) two but Ospreay sticks the landing on a super hurricanrana. He comes up favoring the knee but is fine enough for a Sasuke Special to drop them both again.

Back in and a standing shooting star gives Ospreay two with grumpy JR talking about the sloppy covers. A 619 misses Liger so he comes back with the rolling kick to the face. That’s fine with Ospreay, who grabs a standing C4 for two more. The spinning kick to the back of the head rocks Liger again but the Oscutter is countered into another brainbuster.

Liger gets two off a super brainbuster with Ospreay having to put his foot on the rope. That’s a good way to show how beaten down he is. Liger’s palm strike gives him two more but Ospreay is right back up with a Batista Bomb for two of his own. The Oscutter is good for the pin at 10:37.

Rating: B-. They were trying here but there’s only so much Liger can do at his age. That being said, he was still doing things well enough and certainly didn’t look terrible. Ospreay getting this kind of a spot is a good idea and while the fans may be disappointed by the lack of Mysterio, this is about all they could do given the circumstances.

Post match Ospreay praises Liger for wrestling like that at 53 years old (fair enough) and thanks Liger for everything he’s done over the years. Ospreay says he has to go through legends to make a name for himself with this title so he wants Mysterio. That seems to be cool with Rey but here’s Scurll to jump Ospreay with the umbrella. Mysterio tries to make a save but loses his mask, leaving Liger to make the real save.

Minoru Suzuki/Zack Sabre Jr. vs. Kazuchika Okada/Tomohiro Ishii

This could be a lot of fun and it’s Suzuki-Gun vs. Chaos again in a preview of Okada vs. Sabre for next Sunday. Suzuki and Ospreay’s British Tag Team Titles aren’t on the line though they’re carrying the belts here. Okada, with his awesome robe, goes face to face with Sabre before we’re ready to go. They even start things off for a nice bonus and the fans are behind Okada.

Sabre pretty easily slips out of a wristlock attempt and sneers down at the champ as only a pompous heel can. The fans start singing for Sabre, though another group adds that he sucks. Sabre cranks on both arms at once but Okada reverses into a crank of his own. You can see the calculations going through Sabre’s head for a cool visual. An early Rainmaker attempt misses and Sabre needs to think about things a bit. It’s off to Ishii vs. Suzuki and that means we start the slugout.

That goes on for a long time until a running shoulder takes Suzuki down as JR is starting with the football analogies. Oddly enough, that’s the first real energy he’s shown n a long time. Suzuki chokes him over the ropes as Sabre stretches Okada’s abdominals on the floor. The fights head into the crowd before Suzuki chops Ishii into the corner, allowing Sabre to grab an armbar. That’s fine with Suzuki, who comes in to add an ankle lock, followed by a double Fujiwara armbar. The fans are all over Sabre again so he flips Okada off, leaving Suzuki to kick Okada to the floor.

Suzuki comes in and slaps Ishii in the face before handing it back to Sabre for some mocking kicks to the head. Harder kicks to the chest just wake Ishii up and it’s a release German suplex to drop Sabre. There’s the hot tag to Okada so house can be cleaned in a hurry. Something like White Noise is countered into an armbar, because of course Sabre can pull off that kind of a counter.

Sabre grabs the Octopus Hold to stay on the arm, followed by a heck of a painful looking armbar. Ishii makes a diving save and the fans are split over Sabre again. The Rainmaker is countered with a kick to the arm and it’s off to Suzuki, who can’t hit either of his finishers. Ishii comes back in and slugs away at a screaming Suzuki in the corner. More yelling and more slugging out ensues with the fans going quiet for the hard forearms. Ishii even sticks his face out for more because he’s kind of out there.

A hard one staggers him but can’t put him down, with Suzuki doing the same. Suzuki knocks him into the ropes so Ishii muscles him over with a suplex. Back up and Suzuki hits a hard clothesline and everything breaks down. Sabre’s running kick is countered as Ishii headbutts the heck out of him. A powerbomb gets two but Sabre is back up with a guillotine choke.

Okada makes the save and hits the great dropkick, followed by Ishii’s clothesline for two. Another Octopus Hold has Ishii in trouble and Suzuki grabs a sleeper on Okada. Sabre twists around into an armbar and kneebar at the same time (just because). With that STILL not being enough, Sabre turns it into something like a bow and arrow at the same time (Orientating With Napalm Death. Seriously that’s what it’s called.) for the referee stoppage at 19:55.

Rating: B+. This is a good example of a match with people who do things that no one else are doing/can do. Suzuki and Ishii beat the heck out of people and Sabre’s holds are so insane that you have to give them those wacky names. Okada is probably the best in the world right now and his match with Sabre has some major, major potential. For now though, we’ll have to settle for a great tag match.

Post match Sabre puts Okada in another Octopus Hold. Suzuki and Sabre beat up the referee for fun.

On July 7, New Japan is back in the US with the G1 Special: Fighting Spirit Unleashed at the Cow Palace in San Francisco.

We recap Jay White vs. Hangman Page. Kenny Omega tried to bring White into the Bullet Club to right the ship but White turned him down, instead wanting to take the Club apart instead. He won the US Title and now it’s Page’s chance to take it back for the Club.

US Title: Jay White vs. Hangman Page

Page is challenging. They go with the hard chops to start until White charges into a raised boot. A dropkick gets White out of trouble as this seems to have a lot of time to work with. JR doesn’t think White is known as a dropkick guy. I’m not sure how you define such a thing so we’ll go with White working on the leg, including a Muta Lock. Since that holds is kind of hard to maintain, they head outside for more chopping.

White gets sent into the barricade and then the post as JR remembers that you can lose a title via countout. That probably should have been made a bit more clear. Page pulls him back in and JR explains why that was a bad idea. A fireman’s carry backbreaker gives Page two and it’s time to talk some trash. White grabs a suplex for a breather and rolls some suplexes to keep Page in trouble.

The back gives out on a Kiwi Crusher attempt so White settles for a Downward Spiral and a German suplex for two instead. A hanging DDT gets Page out of trouble but he can’t follow up as they’re certainly selling some beatings after about twelve minutes. The Buckshot Lariat is broken up with an ax handle and that means more chops to Page’s very red chest. They head to the apron and White can’t hit the Blade Runner (Sister Abigail) so he GERMAN SUPLEXES PAGE OFF THE APRON for a sick landing.

Back in and they both head to the top (since Page is somehow still alive) which can’t possibly end well. It’s Page with a super swinging neckbreaker (not a cutter Josh) for a delayed two and both guys are spent. They get up for the slow motion into a fast motion slugout until Page is suplexed to the floor in a heap. A Saito suplex on the floor rocks Page again and somehow he’s still getting up.

Back in again and Page elbows his way out of another suplex, followed by a piledriver for tow on the champ. White is rocked and heads outside, only to have Page bust out a running shooting star shoulder block. The Buckshot Lariat is only good for two and the Kiwi Crusher gives White the same. White loads up the Blade Runner so Page spits in his face to break it up. With nothing else left, Page loads up the Rite of Passage, only to be reversed into the Blade Runner to retain the title at 25:00.

Rating: B. The clock hurt this as a lot of these spots felt like they were there to fill in time and the point had already been made. Page continues to look like a future star while White already looks like one. I like both of these guys more and more every time I see them and it’s quite a compliment to put them in a spot like this. Good match, but cut out seven or eight minutes to really make it work.

Post match David Finlay spears White down, with Josh acting like this is completely expected. Finlay wants a title shot against his former partner on April 24.

We recap the Golden Lovers vs. the Young Bucks. Kenny Omega has risen up the ranks of the Bullet Club but now Cody has come in and shaken things up. As a result, Kenny has reformed his old team with Kota Ibushi and the Bucks are caught in the middle of the whole thing. Tonight isn’t so much about hatred, but rather who is the best tag team in the world.

Golden Lovers vs. Young Bucks

Matt and Ibushi start but Matt wants Omega instead. Omega comes in and trash talking ensues until Matt decks Ibushi off the apron. Now Nick comes in and Ibushi wants in as well. We’re over two minutes in here with no action between the legal men. Nick grabs a headlock at two and a half minutes but has to duck Ibushi’s kick and avoid the standing moonsault. Ibushi sticks the landing anyway though and the fans are way behind him. A kick to the chest puts Nick down and a kick to Matt’s perpetually bad back drops him as well. Omega checks on Matt but gets shoved away, much to Omega’s shock.

Matt’s running neckbreaker into a backbreaker from Nick drops Ibushi and there’s a double dropkick to Omega. Back up and Omega sends Nick into Matt’s back but Nick’s superkick breaks up Omega’s big dive. Nick scores with a big rope walk flip dive onto both Lovers and it’s time for a table. We’ll save that for later as Matt hits a slingshot swanton onto Ibushi but holds his back. Ibushi pops up and avoids a Nick charge, followed by a big dive to take out Matt.

Omega gets dropped again though and the buckle bomb into an enziguri rocks Ibushi again. A dropkick allows the hot tag to Omega but the Bucks drop both Lovers again, because you know the Bucks aren’t going to spend that much time selling. Omega is back in and kicks Matt’s bad back to take over again and the jumping Fameasser plants Nick. Moonsaults to the floor drop the Bucks (with the camera missing Ibushi’s, which apparently missed anyway) and it’s Matt in trouble again.

A running shooting star from Ibushi into a middle rope moonsault from Omega (whose legs hit Matt in the face) gets two and a shot to the back makes Matt cringe. Matt gets whipped hard into the corner and tells Nick to get him out of here. I know I don’t care for the Bucks but Matt can sell the heck out of a back injury. Back up and Matt spits in Ibushi’s face so it’s off to a chinlock. I guess revenge comes in the form of slowing things down.

Matt is sent outside for a belly to back suplex onto the apron but he slips over for the tag to Nick. Kicks abound in a hurry to get in some much needed offense as everything breaks down again. A Blockbuster into a running knee to the face gets two on Ibushi. Both Bucks head up with Nick getting knocked down and Omega coming in for a double superplex (with Ibushi having to move his feet in a fairly scary moment) to wreck the back even more. The Golden Shower (stereo 450 splashes) are broken up with Nick hitting a German suplex on the apron to rock Omega.

The table is bridged between the apron and the barricade and Matt has to pick whether to go for the pin on Ibushi or to take out Omega on the table. He takes too long picking Omega and gets kicked in the back, allowing Ibushi to take Nick out. Omega loads up a One Winged Angle through the table but Ibushi springboards to the top for a German superplex with Matt landing on his head in a scary crash. Somehow Matt isn’t dead (must be a Bullet Club thing) and gets in a superkick to slow Ibushi down.

That just earns Matt a V Trigger and a Golden Star Bomb for two. Another V Trigger gets the same with Nick diving in for the save to let the fans breathe one more time. Nick gets sent outside so Ibushi kicks the heck out of Matt even more. Somehow that’s reversed into a Scorpion Deathlock (not a Sharpshooter) so Omega is back in with hard right hands. Matt BEGS Omega to hit him in the face but it’s Nick in with a superkick to drop Omega again. A big flip dive to the floor drops Omega and this time it’s a Sharpshooter on Ibushi). Matt’s back gives out though and the hold is broken to put them both down.

More Bang For Your Buck looks to finish Ibushi but Matt dives onto Omega, who happened to be laying on the table, instead. Back in and Nick hits the 450 while Ibushi is hanging in the ropes for two more. Stereo low superkicks have Ibushi down again and there’s another one to Omega. That’s fine with Ibushi, who hits a backflip into double kicks to the head. It’s Omega and Matt up for the slugout (JR: “There’s some face punching alright.”) with Omega grabbing the Snapdragon. Matt pops up with a jumping piledriver though and Omega looks a bit dead.

The weightlifting belt comes off and Omega takes a whipping but manages a shot to the back to cut Matt off in a hurry. Omega throws the belt down and knees Matt in the face instead but a very fast spear cuts Omega off. Ibushi breaks up the Meltzer Driver and powerbombs the heck out of Nick, right through a table. A spike Tombstone gets two on Matt, followed by a gutwrench sitout powerbomb for the same.

Omega can’t believe it and begrudgingly hits the V Trigger and Matt makes him hit the One Winged Angel (you read that right) with Nick diving in for the save. The near fall FINALLY draws the old JR out as Matt is dead but Nick swears that it’s not over. Nick is willing to fight on his own but it’s a V Trigger into a half nelson Snapdragon from Ibushi. Omega takes the kneepad down and the Golden Trigger ends Nick at 39:22.

Rating: A. This felt long in the middle but the emotion at the end was very good with Matt admitting defeat but Nick never saying die no matter what. The Bucks having individual personalities helps a lot and Matt’s selling was very good. The Lovers looked awesome as well and this should do a lot for advancing this part of a much bigger story. Outstanding match here with the emotion being better than the very good action.

Post match everyone checks on Matt. An exhausted Ibushi leaves and here’s Cody to shove Matt down. He yells at Nick but here’s Omega to chase Cody off. The Bucks are back up and Nick accepts a handshake but Matt leaves instead. Omega says that it’s a shame when war makes friends go to war with each other, but the silver lining is the Golden Lovers are back. The Lovers are going to be back on July 7 and one day he’ll beat the heck out of Cody. Omega says he might have a broken orbital bone and wishes us all goodnight (muah) and goodbye (bang) to end the show.

Overall Rating: B. Overall, this felt like a very New Japan show: much more good than bad but it overstays its welcome by a hair, with the Finlay/Robinson vs. Goto/Gedo match being expendable to take some of the length down (note that it’s just slightly longer than it needs to be and nowhere near as major of an issue as WWE has in the same area). The main event is excellent and the Bullet Club Civil War, while being on more platforms than I would prefer, is an interesting story, even if you don’t know all of the parts. I’m not sure how it ends save for a match at Wrestle Kingdom or some other big show, but it’s fun while it lasts.

New Japan is a very good promotion and feels like another major league (which it is), which makes these shows feel important. It’s cool to see these shows stateside and if they ever come much closer to me, I’d definitely check one out. It’s a bit longer than it needed to be, but that’s a pretty minor complaint. Just get a better commentary team (I’ve never liked Barnett and JR sounds like he’s getting ready for a painful medical procedure all night long) and cut the length down a bit and it’s that much better.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of the NXT The Full Sail Years Volume III (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2018/05/25/new-book-nxt-the-full-sail-years-from-dallas-to-new-orleans/

And check out my Amazon author page with cheap wrestling books at:

http://www.amazon.com/Thomas-Hall/e/B00E6282W6

IMG Credit: Impact Wrestling

Impact Wrestling vs. Lucha Underground
Date: April 6, 2018
Location: Sugar Mill, New Orleans, Louisiana
Attendance: 1,400
Commentators: Josh Matthews, Matt Striker

Now this is something that caught my eye as soon as it popped onto the schedule. Lucha Underground doesn’t get a lot of play outside of its own universe so having it come somewhere else could be interesting. On top of that, given how many of its wrestlers wrestle for Impact as well, I wasn’t sure what to expect. Just please be more like Lucha Underground and less like Impact. Let’s get to it.

Of note, since this aired live on Twitch, you can watch it online free and legal right here:

https://www.twitch.tv/videos/247553403

The opening video is a pretty standard collection of highlights of both shows. Nothing wrong with that.

After we hear Josh’s warmup and talking about how many people are there (it’s not that many more than the Impact Zone and you would expect him to be used to the huge crowds from his time in WWE), he and Striker welcome us. Striker: “Are you annoyed yet?” Oh sweet goodness it’s going to be a long night.

Melissa Santos and McKenzie Mitchell come out to handle the intros with the LUCHA chants almost drowning them out. Santos drops an F bomb because this is live and Lucha Underground is a little different than your regular wrestling promotion.

Matanza vs. Moose vs. Matt Sydal vs. Caleb Konley vs. Jack Evans vs. Chavo Guerrero Jr.

Non-title (Sydal is X-Division Champion, which you would think would be PERFECT for a title match on this show.) and one fall to a finish. Chavo is out first and that means we hit the EDDIE chant. I’ll give them credit for the Matanza outfit: I never would have believed that he and Jeff Cobb were the same person. It’s that good of a costume change. Some people go after Matanza to start while the others are tossed out by Moose.

Of course it’s time for the early monster showdown and Moose TOWERS over Matanza. A shoulder puts Moose down but he nips up and dropkicks Matanza outside. Chavo and Konley get together to put Moose down but Evans comes back in for some lucha level snarling. Evans sends the two of them to the floor and does the crane kick pose at Sydal. A spinwheel kick takes Evans out of the air but Chavo is back in to run Sydal over.

Instead of, you know, calling the match, the announcers try to come up with Twitter hashtags for the show with Striker promising to block us. Konley kicks Chavo to the floor but Matanza is back in to run him over. Cue Moose for another power showdown with a second dropkick putting Matanza to the floor again.

Chavo takes Moose down as well and we hit the parade of dives. Jack tells the referee that he’s not the boss and caps the whole thing off with a springboard corkscrew dive. Back in and Moose spears Sydal down for two as it’s time to clean house. Konley takes him down with a hurricanrana and spinning backfist, only to get suplexed by Matanza. The Wrath of the Gods gives Matanza the pin on Konley at 6:40.

Rating: C-. This was too short for all the people involved and they didn’t do enough of Moose vs. Matanza, which should have been the draw of the match. The other four didn’t get much going due to the time and that made this better suited as a four way instead of six. With that many people in a match, you need a little more time.

Post match Chavo grabs the mic to announce that Lucha Underground is back on June 13.

Trailer for Season 4.

Video on Austin Aries vs. Alberto El Patron at Redemption. Oh how things would change.

We get a graphic for Trevor Lee vs. Famous B., which isn’t taking place either here. Leave it to TNA to screw something like this up.

Knockouts Title: Allie vs. Taya Valkyrie

Taya, who wrestles in both promotions, is challenging. Josh manages to praise Gail Kim during Allie’s entrance so check your Bingo cards. With that out of the way, Striker pesters Josh about not knowing how to be annoying. My goodness Josh Matthews is the more professional announcer in this team. Allie grabs a waistlock to start and let’s talk about Gail Kim some more!

Taya shoves her off and talks trash, ticking Allie off so bad that she bounces off of Taya when trying a shoulder. Striker talks about how different characters mean wrestlers bringing different things to the fight as Allie can’t do anything against Taya’s power. A charge into the corner sends Allie face first into the buckle, allowing Taya to add running knees to the back.

Taya’s chop annoys Allie as Striker explains why wrestlers chop instead of punch. See, why can’t he do stuff like that more often? It’s off to a dragon sleeper to keep Allie in trouble but Taya insists that she was NOT pulling the hair. Taya rubs the face and that’s enough to annoy Allie all over again.

Allie runs her over in the corner and a dropkick knocks Taya into the corner for two. A sloppy release German suplex drops Allie on her head and there are some running knees in the corner for two of her own. The Road to Valhalla is broken up and Allie gets two off a DDT. Frustration is setting in so Allie hits a Codebreaker for the pin to retain at 9:15.

Rating: C. Not bad here and there’s something to these two if they’re given some more time. Taya has real talent and she’s going to be Knockouts Champion one day. For now though, Allie is a heck of a face champion. I guess you can call this the first Impact win if you really stretch and that’s a big pillar of this company so that’s a tie.

GWN Network ad.

Scott Steiner/Teddy Hart vs. OVE

Sure why not. Steiner is in a Wolfpac shirt and….aside from some weekly PPV era shows, I don’t think Hart has ever worked for either company. That would be another thing/person that you’re just supposed to know because commentary isn’t saying a thing about him. Is “he’s a member of the Hart Family and does some amazing athletic moves” be too much to ask for?

With Steiner waiting in the ring, Hart springboard moonsaults onto OVE. So it’s going to that kind of a show. Hart powerbombs Jake onto his knees (Striker: “What I would not give to see that done to you.”) and there’s a DDT to Dave. An electric chair into….something is mostly botched and you can hear the cringing. Steiner comes in but walks right back out again, leaving the announcers unsure what happened. Teddy gets taken into the corner and we’re in a quick chinlock.

Steiner walks into the ring, takes two steps, and goes outside again without the referee telling him to leave. With Teddy still in trouble, Striker thinks OHIO VERSUS EVERYTHING might have an “us against the world” mentality. Again: this guy is billed as smart. Jake hammers him down in the corner and Dave gets in some kicks to the head. Something like a Bank Statement has, I kid you not, Striker suggesting that Dave is shooting on Teddy, even explaining what shooting means.

Teddy gets a Code Red out of the corner and the hot tag brings in Steiner. The spinning belly to belly gets two as Matt tries to put Steiner over as some master of movement and psychology. A Downward Spiral plants Jake and it’s another suplex into the Steiner Recliner for the tap from Dave at 7:24.

Rating: D. That’s actually better than I was expecting here but Steiner was pretty much nothing here. It’s also a rather bad idea to have OVE, who are supposed to be a big deal, lose to this first time team with an old man and a nutjob who has barely ever wrestled for the company. To be fair this wasn’t a major pay per view or anything and it’s not like they gave Steiner the Tag Team Titles.

King Cuerno/Drago/Aerostar vs. Andrew Everett/Dezmond Xavier/DJZ

Now this is more like it. Striker explains the Lucha Underground characters and Josh sounds stunned. Drago and Everett start things off with a handshake and it’s time to go in a hurry. Everett misses a springboard before hurricanranaing Drago to the floor. It’s off to DJZ vs. Aerostar, the latter of whom front flips around the ring. A top rope corkscrew crossbody puts DJZ down again but he’s right back up with a middle rope slow motion back elbow.

Dezmond and Cuerno come in and the fans seem rather pleased. Cuerno poses at him and they take turns missing until Dezmond can pose right back. A good looking dropkick gives Xavier two and it’s time to strike it out in the corner. We get a little miscommunication but Xavier elbows him in the face for a quick save. Xavier scores with a neckbreaker and it’s Aerostar and Drago coming in at the same time.

DJZ crossbodies both of them down and hits the big flip dive over the top. Dezmond does his own cartwheel dive but Cuerno breaks up Everett’s dive. It’s Drago’s turn now with a flip dive onto DJZ and Dezmond, followed by Aerostar’s step up dive of his own. Everett breaks up Cuerno’s suicide dive though and the fans aren’t happy.

Another dive from Everett drops the pile and it’s finally time to head back inside. Drago superkicks away but Everett takes him down and gets two off a top rope moonsault with Aerostar making the save. The fans rightfully like that sequence and Aerostar rolling into a cutter on DJZ for two makes them even happier. The 619 around the post gives Dezmond two on Aerostar but Cuerno grabs an Indian Deathlock to make Everett tap at 10:18.

Rating: B. Take six guys and let them fly around for about ten minutes to have a lot of fun. That’s all you can want from a match like this but it was necessary after the previous match. All six guys got a chance to shine and this was what I wanted to see on this show. Good match here and I was digging it by the end.

Gail Kim video. SHE DOESN’T WORK HERE ANYMORE! Though she does have a GWN collection.

Trevor Lee vs. Famous B.

B. is a loudmouthed manager but he’s here in a suit. It turns out that B. has hired someone to wrestle this match instead.

Trevor Lee vs. Marty Martinez

Marty is, uh, insane. The announcers get in an argument over which sports metaphor to compare this to. Marty sends him outside and hits a scary looking dive over the top, nearly landing on his head. Famous B. gets popped in the face and the distraction lets Lee kick Marty down. The announcers debate gumbo and we get a Lash Leroux reference. Back in and Lee sends Marty into the buckle a few times but Marty decides to show him how it’s really done but ramming his own head in.

Trevor opts for a powerbomb for two instead and we’re off to a chinlock. Striker tries a Russian accent for some stupid reason so Josh ignores him and tries to say that these two are very similar. Really? These two? I mean, I still don’t get the cultish part of Lee but that’s just me. Marty gets a quick DDT and tries a moonsault but a Caleb Konley distraction lets Lee roll away. A rollup with trunks puts Marty away at 5:05.

Rating: D+. They were going for an “our weird guy vs. your weird guy” here but I’ve still never seen much that makes me think Lee is weird. I’ve never gotten the cult thing as he’s more just a country guy who wrestles a decent match. Marty impresses me more and more every time I see him as he feels like a maniac most of the time. You don’t get that too often and he sells it very well.

Tag Team Titles: LAX vs. Killshot/The Mack

LAX, with the returning Diamante in their corner, is defending and it wouldn’t be a WrestleCon show without Shane Strickland (Killshot) appearing. Ortiz and Killshot get things going with Killshot getting the better of it very early on. An arm trap northern lights suplex gives Ortiz two and he sends Strickland into a chop in the corner.

Santana comes in and gets kicked down by Killshot and it’s off to the Mack, who seems to have the fans’ interest. A hurricanrana puts Mack down and Striker starts singing with a Mexican accent for whatever reason. Mack does Jack Gallagher’s headstand in the corner but jiggles a bit for a bad visual. Killshot is back in for a chinlock but Santana fights up and backflips into a cutter on Mack. A falling splash gives Ortiz two and it’s off to Santana for a running kick to knock Killshot off the apron.

Ortiz isn’t about to be outdone and dropkicks Mack in the ribs, only to have Killshot come in to clean house. Santana kicks Killshot down and it’s a fourway knockdown. It’s Mack up first with a running boot in the corner as Josh wonders how the rest of the Impact Wrestling teams would react to Lucha Underground wrestlers holding the titles. He can ask one team and I can ask the other and we’ll compare notes. Killshot takes Ortiz up top in a fireman’s carry but throws him down into a Pounce (PERIOD!) from Mack.

It’s Santana back up though and slugging away at both challengers, only to get kneed in the head by Killshot. A powerbomb/top rope double stomp combination only gets two and the fans are WAY into this. LAX starts the double teaming and a Lionsault gets two on Mack with Santana being annoyed at the kickout. The Street Sweeper to Killshot is enough to retain the titles at 13:15.

Rating: B-. For a team without a bunch of experience together, Killshot and Mack were good challengers here and looked like a threat at times. LAX is a very polished team though and that’s the right way to go. The match was fun though and really, what more can you hope for in a stand alone show like this? LAX still needs better challengers though and it’s starting to show.

We get probably the fifth GWN network.

Eli Drake vs. Brian Cage

Cage is in both promotions as well. Before the match, Drake talks about how everyone is saying his name and he knows everyone here is a virgin. Drake is sick of hearing the fans cheer for Lucha Underground and boo Impact Wrestling because that’s cool. Well when is the last time Impact Wrestling took a midseason break and took that long to finish anything?

Cage comes out so Drake offers an alliance and the attempted cheap shot is casually blocked as we start fast. Cage throws him around and snaps off an overhead belly to belly. A superkick makes Drake yell a lot but then he collapses on a delay. Drake plants him with a DDT to take over as Striker wants to know if he can start arguing with Matthews. A jumping neckbreaker sets up a chinlock to slow Cage down some more.

Back up and Cage snaps off the hard clotheslines, meaning it’s time for the comeback. There’s a release German suplex and Josh says we have an announcement on the main event coming up in a few minutes. DUN DUN (Alberto is) DONE! Drake runs the ropes for a superplex but walks into a discus lariat to give Cage two. The Gravy Train is countered and Cage hits something like the Axhole for the pin at 7:11.

Rating: C. Cage’s rise to the top of the promotion continues with a clean win over a former World Champion. You don’t see that too often and it’s a good sign to see them pushing someone new like this. Cage is a fresh name in the promotion and the look alone gets your attention. I could go for more of both of these guys and that’s not something I can say very often around here.

Jeremiah Crane vs. Eddie Edwards

Crane is of course Sami Callihan and this is an I Quit match. For once we have a story here as Callihan crushed Eddie’s face with a baseball bat, sending Eddie completely over the edge in an effort to get revenge for the attack. Eddie wastes no time in suicide diving onto Crane before the bell. The announcers are referring to Crane as Sami Callihan, which is a little better than insulting our intelligence by suggesting anything else.

Eddie gets dropped back first onto the apron but it’s way too early for a quit. A spit chop keeps Eddie in trouble so he chokes Crane with a cable. They take turns accidentally chopping the post so Eddie goes to the back to find a pair of chairs. As usual, Striker gets annoying as he tries to say Eddie should have expected the baseball bat to the face. Two more chairs are stacked on top of Crane but Eddie throws him back inside instead.

Striker says more people are watching Impact Wrestling now because everyone loves a car crash. I’m too busy chuckling at that but thankfully it’s just Crane posing after knocking Eddie off the apron. Crane goes for the eye so Eddie hits a fisherman’s buster to put Crane on the floor again. They head back inside with Eddie having eight chairs to pick from. One of them is wedged into the corner and another is pelted off Crane’s head. Well Eddie is certainly versatile with his violence.

Crane gets smart with a low blow and a double underhook shoulderbreaker but a charge sends him into the chair. The yes or no question is received by swearing and the fans are very pleased so far. A bunch of chairs are pelted off of Crane’s head and the Boston Knee Party rocks him again. Eddie piles up a stack of chairs but Crane can’t quite powerbomb him through the pile.

Instead he settles for a Death Valley Driver to put Eddie through an open chair but there’s not even a question from the referee. Crane wraps the chair around Eddie’s neck and pulls back but Eddie won’t give up to “Solomon Crowe.” Nice touch. Now it’s time to drag in a piece of barricade but Eddie saves himself from going into the steel. Instead he powerbombs Crane onto the barricade in the corner for a big knockout.

Eddie still won’t let the referee ask if Crane quits though, instead grabbing some chairs. He loads up the chair on Crane’s chest just like Crane did to him but cue OVE for a distraction. Crane HITS HIM IN THE FACE WITH THE BASEBALL BAT and Eddie is done. Instead of letting the match end though, Crane loads up the said chair spot that started the whole thing. Cue Don Callis to warn Crane and throw in the towel to save Eddie at 20:10.

Rating: B. It was too early in the feud for an I Quit match but Crane is starting to become a solid villain. Now if only they can avoid having him talk, like, ever again, things can get even better. Eddie snapping and going crazy is a good character development for him as there’s only so much he can do with his pretty basic character. The wrestling is already there so this should help him some.

Moose runs in to save Eddie.

Video on the Redemption main event of Aries vs. El Patron.

The announcers praise each other and announce that Fenix will face Pentagon Jr. at Redemption. Cool indeed.

So about that announcement on the main event earlier? Alberto El Patron has no showed the event so the tag match has been turned into a triple threat match. The announcers don’t acknowledge Alberto’s absence, probably due to not knowing all of the details at the moment.

Austin Aries vs. Fenix vs. Pentagon Jr.

Non-title and Fenix and Pentagon are brothers. The fans start an F DEL RIO chant, which amuses me greatly. The guy is a multiple time World Champion and has been in the promotion for a long time but screw that. He’s still the same WWE guy he always was in our eyes. As usual: Impact puts up a good front but not many people care what they do. Aries goes after Pentagon and gets superkicked down.

The announcers starts talking about what MIGHT have happened with Alberto while saying they have no idea and were just given a note. Aries is sent outside and the lucha begins, this time with Fenix kicking Pentagon in the head to take over. The crazy rope bounce into the armdrag sends Pentagon outside but Aries is back in with a missile dropkick to Fenix. Pentagon is back in and takes Aries down for two on each so it’s time to yell at a referee. He also throws in a CERO MIEDO to keep the crowd on his side in a smart move.

Aries tries to get a bit too fancy and gets kicked in the ribs to cut him down again. Fenix is back in with a rolling cutter to send Pentagon to the floor, only to get chopped by Aries. There’s a suicide dive to drop Pentagon so Fenix is right back in there with a corkscrew dive to take them both down. Pentagon stays on the floor so Fenix can German suplex Aries for two. Back in and a powerbomb gives Pentagon two on Fenix but Aries breaks up the package piledriver. Aries’ 450 gets two on Pentagon so it’s off to the Last Chancery with Fenix making a save this time.

Another Last Chancery has Fenix in trouble so Pentagon makes a third save in a few minutes. A Codebreaker rocks Aries and Fenix throws Pentagon at him n the corner for good measure. There’s no cover (much to Striker’s annoyance) and it’s time to chop it out. A double superkick sends Aries’ teeth somewhere into southern Alabama, leaving Pentagon to backdrop Fenix into a powerbomb for two, followed by a pumphandle driver for the pin at 10:25.

Rating: B-. That last double superkick alone looked (and sounded) great, capping off a pretty fun main event, especially when you consider that it was thrown together with very little time. The interesting thing to me here was that Aries seemed to be trying to keep up with Pentagon and Fenix. It’s so strange to see him being outpaced but lucha isn’t the easiest style to do in the world, especially without the experience. I also like that this actually lead somewhere, which is just another benefit of Alberto being gone. Good main event here and I was surprised by the winner, which is always nice.

Lucha Underground and Redemption (with Alberto included) commercials take us out.

Overall Rating: C+. I liked this one and that’s a nice thing to be able to say. While there’s nothing that really blew me away and nothing that stands out as great, the night was full of good to pretty good matches, which is better than I was hoping for. It’s nothing I’ll ever want to see again, but that’s not really what they were trying to do. This was supposed to be something fun to get the name out there a little more and they pulled that off. The I Quit match was good and the lucha stuff is always worth a look, plus you get to laugh at Impact for having more drama, as is always the case. All in all, not too shabby.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of the WWE Grab Bag (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2018/03/23/new-paperback-kbs-grab-bag/

And check out my Amazon author page with cheap wrestling books at:

http://www.amazon.com/Thomas-Hall/e/B00E6282W6

IMG Credit: Revolution Pro Wrestling

Rev Pro: New Orleans
Date: April 6, 2018
Location: Sugar Mill, New Orleans, Louisiana
Attendance: 1,200
Commentators: Andy Quildan, Joe Dombrowski

This is another show I got to attend during Wrestlemania weekend after doing the same the previous year. Rev Pro is a British organization which brings in a lot of foreigners for their shows and puts on a heck of a product from what I’ve seen. The show was a lot of fun in person and it should be interesting to see how it holds up. Let’s get to it.

The intro is cut off here and the ring announcer/commentator/owner Andy Quildan is introducing the first match. Before this started, he asked us to be louder than London because London had been saying there was no way New Orleans could beat them. The same thing was said last year in Orlando and I can see why. It’s an easy way to get a crowd going and it worked here too.

David Starr vs. Martin Stone

Starr is the guy with the 15 or so nicknames and he’s not happy with Quildan not listing more than one of them (Starr: “WHAT THE F*** WAS THAT?”). He claims a conspiracy against him in RPW but it doesn’t matter because he’s really good at pro wrestling. Tonight he’s facing Danny Bur….oh sorry he can’t say that name. Stone only changed his name because he’s a little corporate b****, and you know that gets a rise out of the crowd. After Starr lists off all of his nicknames (and yes he has a shirt with all of them for sale), we’re ready to go (Starr: “HI DANNY!”).

Feeling out process to start as Andy joins commentary and talks about the conspiracy allegations against him. Apparently he wasn’t happy with having his Cruiserweight Title shot coming in a five way match and something about a fast count so he’s getting another title shot in May. A Thesz press gives Starr two as they’re certainly in the technical phase to start.

Stone goes after the leg so Starr bails to the floor, earning a forearm to the face. Something like a belly to back toss onto the apron cuts Stone off though and Starr dives in at eight. Back in and an uppercut in the corner gives Starr two but Stone headbutts the arm (ala Tomohiro Ishii). They exchange headbutts to put both guys down but it’s Stone up and easily winning a slugout. Do you really want to trade shots with a guy named Stone?

A modified triangle choke has Starr in trouble but he gets up and sends Starr to the apron for a springboard clothesline. Back in and Stone looks a bit dead but is still able to enziguri his way out of trouble. Neither guy can follow up so they call some rather loud spots and slug it out from their knees. Does that really need a spot call?

They chop it out and Stone actually asks for a second after a particularly hard shot from Starr. One heck of a rebound lariat drops Stone for two but he’s right back with a Crossface. Starr’s roll doesn’t work so he lifts Stone up for a backbreaker in a surprising power display. Back up and Stone tries a monkey flip but slips off the ropes, allowing Starr to throw his feet on the ropes for the pin at 10:38.

Rating: C. I was thinking having commentary would help this show and that’s exactly the case. All I knew was that Starr was claiming a conspiracy and was acting like a standard heel. Now though we know some details and I have more of a reason to care about the story. That’s what good commentary can do and it helped a lot here. I’ve always liked Stone and Starr is growing on me so there was something to be seen with this match.

Post match Quildan is coming to the ring for the next match and gets hugged by Starr, who flips him off for good measure.

Adam Brooks vs. Brian Cage

It’s rare to see a small heel vs. a monster face. Brooks dropkicks him during the weapons check in one of the only ways he’s getting much of a physical advantage here. A hurricanrana puts Cage o the floor and there’s a running kick to the chest for good measure. Back in and Brooks takes the knee out before kicking the ropes into Cage’s….uh….inner thigh. Yeah we’ll go with that.

Cage finally launches him with an overhead German suplex (Andy: “As if WrestleCon was being held on the moon!”) and there’s the delayed vertical suplex. A standing moonsault gets two on Brooks but he avoids a 619 and pokes Cage in the eyes to slow things down again. One heck of a running flip dive to the floor drops Cage again with a little nod to Will Ospreay, who Brooks hasn’t been happy with lately.

Back in and Cage scores with a jumping knee but takes too long telling Brooks “YOU’RE DEAD”, allowing him to duck the discus lariat. Brooks grabs a reverse hurricanrana so Cage pops to his feet and blasts him with a clothesline for a double knockdown. They head to the apron again (because that’s become an obsession since the HARDEST PART OF THE RING deal started) and two knees drive Cage’s head into the apron, followed by a slingshot DDT for two back inside.

Cage is back up with a powerbomb into a buckle bomb into an apron superplex for two more. In a scary sight, Cage goes up top but Brooks, fearing a bad case of death, crotches him again and hurricanranas him down. Cage is right back up with an F5 attempt but Brooks’ feet hit the referee. That means a low blow and a rollup pin (with trunks) on Cage at 10:08.

Rating: C-. I wasn’t feeling this one much either as Brooks seems like someone who would benefit from a lot of promo time. Cage is a monster and a half and I’m not surprised that he’s getting a strong push in Impact. This wasn’t a great match or really anything close to one but Cage wrecking stuff is always fun.

Chuck Taylor/Rocky Romero/Will Ospreay vs. Flip Gordon/Kota Ibushi/Shane Strickland

Taylor/Romero/Ospreay are part of the New Japan Chaos stable. Hopefully Ospreay can hold up a bit more here and the tag format should help him survive. He’s crazy over to start….and then Ibushi’s music hits because the fans know they’re in for a dream match showdown at some point. Gordon and Strickland bow to Ibushi during his entrance but Ospreay doesn’t seem too impressed.

Strickland and Romero start things up as Taylor won’t stand in his designated corner. That’s not very gentlemanly behavior. Romero works the arm to start as the fans don’t seem thrilled by Rocky’s presence. It’s off to a headlock as we hear about Romero’s long list of tag team successes. Strickland fights up and grabs Rocky’s face for a rather cruel escape. A dropkick sends Romero crawling on his knees to the corner so he can grab Taylor’s legs. Gordon and Taylor come in with Chuck’s forearms to the back taking over as the announcers offer a nice comparison between the two of them.

Flip dropkicks him to the floor and thankfully Taylor is smart enough to move before a dive can launch. It’s off to Ospreay vs. Ibushi and NOW things pick up with the fans actually giving it a standing ovation. They circle each other for a good while as the fans aren’t sure who to cheer for but Chaos comes in and jumps Ibushi to steal the moment. Triple teaming ensues until Romero comes in, earning himself a hard chop. Strickland is back in with a right hand of his own and a running kick to the head rocks Rocky.

Another triple dropkick cuts Strickland off and it’s Chaos cleaning house again. It kind of helps when you’re an actual team instead of three guys thrown together. Ospreay even chokes Strickland with his shirt in the corner and a rollup gets two. Romero dances along the apron before jumping in and raking his boot over Shane’s face. That means Taylor’s slow motion slingshot senton and the fans are far too thrilled. The easily impressed fans appreciate a fan from Taylor but a second attempt is countered into a small package for two. The second successful slam draws a TEN MORE TIMES chant but settle for a missed moonsault instead.

That’s enough for the hot tag to Ibushi as things speed WAY up (which you might have expected). Ibushi drops Taylor and hits a BIG flip dive onto Ospreay and Romero. Back in and Ibushi strikes the heck out of Taylor, leaving Gordon to hit his own flip dive onto Ospreay and Romero. Back in and Shane’s 450 gets two on Taylor with Ospreay diving in for a save. Romero is back up for the forever clotheslines on Ibushi and Gordon is right back up with a super hurricanrana on Ospreay…..who lands on his feet. Andy: “He’s not defying gravity. He’s disrespecting it!”

Ospreay kicks Gordon in the head but the Oscutter is blocked. It’s time for the parade of strikes until Ospreay and Ibushi hit moonsault double kicks to the back of the head. That leaves them nose to nose and you can feel this one. They slug it out with Ospreay telling him to bring it. Ibushi hits the rapid fire strikes but misses the standing moonsault. Ospreay kicks him in the head again but Ibushi does the same.

A huge clothesline turns Ospreay inside out and they’re both down to another standing ovation. Ibushi goes up but takes the Cheeky Nandos Kick, leaving Gordon to hit the spinning springboard Stunner for two on Ospreay. That earns Gordon back to back kicks to the head, followed by the Revolution Kick. The Oscutter is enough to put Gordon away at 22:14.

Rating: B. This was all about setting up the Ospreay vs. Ibushi showdown and that’s what we got here. The buildup was fine and action was solid throughout. They were going for the big blowaway six man here and while they didn’t do that, the showdown felt special and that was the most important part. Good match, and one of the better ones of the weekend so far.

There was a fifteen minute intermission (edited out of course) where I got to meet Ospreay in a nice moment.

Jeff Cobb vs. Minoru Suzuki

Non-title and it’s hoss fight time. As he was last night, Suzuki knows how to fire up a crowd, which you wouldn’t guess from his normal New Japan matches. Suzuki won’t stand for a weapons check as you can feel the announcers wanting to see this one. Feeling out process to start with neither being able to grapple their way to an advantage. Back up and Suzuki chops him in the chest so Cobb chops him as well.

That makes Suzuki smile and he takes down Cobb’s straps for some REAL chops. Cobb finally gets smart by shouldering Suzuki to the apron, earning himself a legbar in the ropes as he goes after Suzuki. The leg is wrapped around the post but the referee won’t allow the chair usage. Suzuki will not be denied the chance of violence and shoves the referee down, allowing the chair to hit the knee.

Back in and it’s more leg work, including a bit on the referee for trying to make the break. That’s the kind of crazy man Suzuki can be. Suzuki tries another chop exchange and sticks his chest out….so Cobb dropkicks him in the face. A Samoan drop gives Cobb two, only to have Suzuki kick him in the face for two. It’s off to another leglock before Suzuki goes simple by kicking the heck out of the leg. Cobb muscles him up for a belly to belly for two but the knee slows him down again. A powerbomb attempt is countered into Suzuki’s sleeper and Cobb taps at 10:23 without even going to the mat.

Rating: C. This was a glorified squash and after last night’s Cobb vs. Ishii match, that’s rather disappointing. That being said, the fans got exactly what they wanted from Suzuki here as he was all evil and crazy while ripping the leg apart. Sometimes it’s better to go with something like this and that’s all the fans wanted to see. Not bad, but disappointing.

Post match, Cobb is helped to the back and Suzuki soaks in some cheers.

Aussie Open vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi/Juice Robinson

Aussie Open is Kyle Fletcher and Mark Davis, which is made more impressive when you consider that Fletcher is just 18/19 (online says the former, commentary the latter) years old. Fletcher grabs a headlock to start but Robinson shoulders him down without much effort. A dropkick to the knee cuts Fletcher off and it’s off to Davis for some chops.

The Aussies take over with Davis holding Robinson up for a dropkick to the side of the head. Robinson comes back with a leg lariat and NOW it’s time for Tanahashi. Double dropkicks abound but Tanahashi misses a middle rope swanton to let the Aussies take over again. The TANA chants get him out of a chinlock but he misses a dropkick. This jumping on his own thing isn’t going well for him so far.

Tanahashi finally drops Davis and the hot tag brings in Robinson for the snap jabs all over the place. Robinson’s high crossbody gets two but Davis superkicks him onto Fletcher’s shoulder. A middle rope cutter, with Fletcher throwing him into the air, gets no cover as Davis can’t follow up (looked great though).

The REAL hot tag brings in Tanahashi and things speed up again, this time with a forearm to Fletcher. Davis cuts him off again but something like an Alabama Slam into a spinebuster is somewhat botched and only gets two. Tanahashi is right back with a Sling Blade on Davis, followed by a Hart Attack with another Sling Blade for two on Fletcher as Davis makes a save. Robinson takes Davis out and it’s the High Fly Flow to put Fletcher away at 12:19.

Rating: B-. Aussie Open looked VERY good here and with more time could become a heck of an indy team. That being said, this was all about Tanahashi and that’s what is should have been on a stage like this. I liked this more than I was expecting to as everyone, especially Aussie Open, was working hard out there. Tanahashi is a legend though and in an intimate atmosphere like this, that’s going to shine more than anything else.

Tanahashi poses for a long time and even does the Elvis thing of wiping his sweat on a towel and throwing it back to a fan. That’s star power.

British Heavyweight Championship: Tomohiro Ishii vs. Zack Sabre Jr.

Sabre Jr., a technical master with the most insane submissions I’ve ever seen, is defending in a reign that has lasted over a year. I ever saw him defend the title last year in Orlando so he’s held the thing for a long time. Feeling out process to start with Sabre going for the legs and being cut off in short order. Sabre takes him to the mat but the armbar attempt is pretty easily blocked.

Ishii is right back up and in the corner for a staredown and a standoff. Sabre gets all rude by shoving Ishii in the face and even patting him on the head so one shot to the face drops him with ease in a good visual. That means it’s time for the hard chops in the corner with Sabre in trouble as the announcers talk about his bravado getting him in trouble. Something like an Octopus Hold gets Sabre out of trouble but he switches to a straitjacket hold with a bodyscissors (now he’s warming up).

Sabre lets go of the hold and steps on Ishii’s head as we hear about Sabre making AJ Styles tap clean well over a year ago. Ishii gets caught in something like the Rings of Saturn but with Sabre pulling back using his leg instead of arm (think about how much more cranking that allows). A rope is finally grabbed and the fans think Sabre sucks. To be fair he does have quite the punchable face. Sabre stomps on the arm ala Shayna Baszler before picking it up and making Ishii do You Can’t See Me for him in a funny bit.

Ishii fights up with a near brainbuster for a break and puts Sabre on top, only to get caught in another armbar. This one can’t last as long so Sabre goes back to slapping a guy called THE STONE PITBULL in the face. That earns him a delayed superplex as Quildan is losing his mind on commentary. A powerbomb is countered into an abdominal stretch/Octopus Hold hybrid. Ishii fights out and goes for the cross armbreaker but Ishii channels his inner Stephanie McMahon and blocks it a few times.

Sabre switches into a triangle choke and of course Ishii muscles him up for a powerbomb. Is there really any other counter for that? They slug it out again with the much smaller (at least lankier) Sabre knocking him back and kicking the bad arm. Ishii rolls out of a Fujiwara armbar but gets caught in another near Rings of Saturn. With the legs tied almost in an upside down full nelson (again, these things are hard to describe), Ishii DIVES for the ropes and gets another break.

You can see the shock on Sabre’s face and it’s a forearm into a Saito suplex to give Ishii another breather. A powerbomb gets two but the sliding lariat (come on man, don’t be stupid) is countered into a headscissors with the arm being pulled back again. That’s not enough twisting so Sabre pulls back on the leg for a bit before cranking on the arm even more. Ishii makes the ropes AGAIN but is just done. Sabre casually kicks away….and it’s time to get fired up again.

Now the kicks get a little harder and the sneer gets even worse. Ishii tells him to kick harder until some headbutts take Sabre down again. Now the sliding lariat connects for two but Sabre reverses the brainbuster into a Kimura with a bodyscissors. It’s not on full though and Ishii gets up, only to be cradled for two in a near fall I completely bought. Ishii’s enziguri puts both guys down again and the fans (myself included) are WAY into this. Sabre is rocked and Ishii clotheslines the heck out of him for two. The brainbuster out of nowhere gives Ishii the pin and the title at 20:05.

Rating: A. I LOVED this and was completely into every near fall. The last ten minutes had some of the best drama I’ve ever seen in person with those rope breaks being a rollercoaster. Sabre has held the title for the better part of ever at this point and it’s cool to see him finally lose, especially in a great match. There’s something so cool about seeing him wrenching and twisting the arm in such tormenting ways but it’s even better to see someone FINALLY knock the smug look off his face. Outstanding match and some of the most fun I’ve ever had watching a match live.

Ishii celebrates to end the show. Quildan thanked us for coming and being a great crowd to end the show.

Overall Rating: B+. I was expecting a few more matches on the show but what we got was more than enough. This was a two match show for the most part with an awesome main event and a heck of a six man. When that’s a third of the show and nothing is really bad throughout the night, there isn’t much to complain about. Just like last year, Rev Pro was a lot of fun for a cheap price, meaning it’s something I’d gladly check out again given the chance. Find the main event though and have fun watching a great ride.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of the WWE Grab Bag (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2018/03/23/new-paperback-kbs-grab-bag/

And check out my Amazon author page with cheap wrestling books at:

http://www.amazon.com/Thomas-Hall/e/B00E6282W6

IMG Credit: WrestleCon

WrestleCon Supershow
Date: April 5, 2018
Location: Sugar Mill, New Orleans, Louisiana
Attendance: 1,200
Commentators: Excalibur, Marty DeRosa

This is a special show that I took in during Wrestlemania weekend. The idea here is pretty obvious: take a bunch of people and put them into a big show with mostly unannounced matches between announced talent. The main event is the Golden Lovers vs. Chuckie T./a mystery partner due to Trent Barretta being forced out of the match due to injury. This should be a lot of fun so let’s get to it.

I was sitting in the arena in the bleachers, on the right hand side if you’re looking at the entrance (as the hard camera was). Of note, if I looked over my shoulder I could see the wrestlers coming down some stairs to their entrance. Several of them would sit on a balcony at the top of the stairs chatting throughout the night.

The opening is cut off of the version that I’m watching (assuming it was recorded). Excalibur came to the ring and dedicated the show to a man named Mark Hitchcock, who had worked for the company for years and designed this year’s logo. He recently passed away on his honeymoon and the show will be dedicated to him every year going forward. Nothing wrong with that and a nice moment.

The audio is VERY hard to understand, which was an issue in the building as well. Thankfully the commentary is much better.

Joey Janela vs. Penta El Zero M

Janela has a rather fetching woman named Penelope Ford with him. I’ve heard a lot about Janela before but I’ve never actually seen one of his matches. He’s described as a bad boy, seems to like the 80s, and has no physique. CERO MIDEO is incredibly popular here, just as it was last year. The referee calls for the bell….and nothing happens so Bryce Remsburg (a hilarious indy referee and a VERY nice guy) says start it anyway.

Pentagon does CERO MIEDO so Janela flips him off, earning a kick to the ribs. Something close to a low blow puts Janela down and Pentagon goes to yell at Ford. A dive is cut off by a shot to the mask and the Death Valley Driver onto the apron (THUD) knocks Pentagon silly. Pentagon gets sat in a chair in front of the barricade for a bicycle kick but a second is blocked with a superkick.

Back in and Janela bicycle kicks his way out of trouble again as the announcers try to explain the concept of the WrestleCon Supershow with nothing actually on the line other than pride and performances. The package piledriver is teased by both guys as the announcers bring up the piledriver being banned by the Louisiana State Athletic Commission.

There’s another kick to Janela but Ford grabs Pentagon’s foot to set up a not bad superplex. The crashes on those things, especially in such a small arena with a circle of lights not too far above the ring, are really impressive. Pentagon is right back up to superkick Janela out of the air before giving Ford the same thing. Janela gets his arm snapped and the Pentagon Driver is good for the pin at 7:57.

Rating: D+. Just a match to set the ball rolling here and I still don’t get the point of Janela. The announcers spent most of the match talking about how drunk he was the night before and that’s not exactly the most interesting character in the world. Pentagon is still rather awesome, though it’s not as cool as he is in Lucha Underground. Not a bad match, but I need something a little better than this. Then again, last year’s opener was nothing special either.

Here’s Joey Ryan for the Andy Kaufman Intergender Open Challenge. Ryan is in even in the white bath robe that Kaufman wore in Memphis back in the 80s. He yells at the fans to listen to him because he’s from Hollywood (this sounds strangely familiar). Joey pulls some soap out of his pocket and explains how to use it (just add water) with the announcers not even hiding the fact that this is copied from Kaufman. He also has a razor, which some of the women around here could use.

There are some areas where women are better than men: like cooking and cleaning. The robe comes off to reveal the white body suit and blue shorts (again, just like Kaufman) and issues the open challenge to any woman. Now, gender issues aside, the ONLY person who should be answering this challenge is Jerry Lawler. AND HERE’S JERRY LAWLER! Excalibur: “SOMEONE CALL DAVID LETTERMAN!”

Lawler says that he first piledrove Kaufman thirty five years ago today and Joey Ryan is no Andy Kaufman. However, Jerry is fine with allowing Joey experience what the real Andy went through. Ryan agrees, before pointing out that Lawler can’t use the piledriver in Louisiana. Lawler is confused and the bell rings with him pleading his case.

Jerry Lawler vs. Joey Ryan

Hang on a second though, as Ryan is rather confident. He’s so secure that he’s willing to allow Lawler to touch his….yeah. Lawler, still holding the crown, isn’t sure what to think as the fans implore him to do just that. Joey stands in front of him with his legs spread so Lawler kicks him low….for no effect. Fans: “SO BIG! SO STRONG!” With that not working, Lawler reaches out his hand…..AND SHOOTS A FIREBALL AT RYAN’S CROTCH! DeRosa: “SOMEWHERE JIM CORNETTE IS LOSING HIS MINE!” Of course that’s a DQ 2:08.

Lawler is annoyed but holds up the crowd anyway. Oh and worry not because Ryan insists that he’s fine. Fans: “SIX STAR MATCH!”

Team Lee vs. Team Dashwood

Trevor Lee, Caleb Konley, Jake Manning, Maxwell Jacob Friedman, Zane Riley

Tenille Dashwood, Madison Eagles, Nicole Savoy, Shazza McKenzie, Tessa Blanchard

Lucha rules. This is the signature match of the show with last year’s serving as possibly the match of the weekend. This year’s is obviously men vs. women and you might not know everyone here. Lee and Konley are from Impact, Manning is an adult scout who ALWAYS reads his manual, Friedman is just a guy and Riley is 305lbs. Dashwood is the former Emma, Eagles is an Australian woman who stands about 6’2, Savoy has been in Shimmer forever, McKenzie has been on the indies for a good while and Blanchard has popped up in NXT a few times.

Dashwood’s team is out first with the captain showing more energy and fire than she ever showed in WWE. In between entrances, the announcers mock the athletic commission for banning piledrivers but approving brainbusters. DeRosa: “You’ve had Rude’s Brood. You’ve had the Foreign Fanatics. Now you have Trevor Lee and His Dickhead Friends.” Lee brags about being part of Impact Wrestling and promises Friedman, Riley and Manning contracts if they win here.

Friedman thinks there’s no point in wasting time with the match so he and Dashwood should get straight to smooching. He has a seat in a chair but gets slapped, drawing in Riley to check on him. Now if you don’t get where this is going, you haven’t paid enough attention. After Riley is done kissing Friedman (Friedman: “WHAT THE F***???”), Dashwood kicks them both down and we’re ready to go.

Lee gets sent into 619 position and it’s Tessa with a hip attack to the back. Trevor will have none of that though and runs her over with a clothesline, only to run into Eagles (Lee: “OH S***!”). Manning, still reading the manual, locks up with Savoy, who takes the book away to Manning’s panic. Remsburg is nice enough to hold up the book while Savoy grabs a cross armbreaker.

With the hold still on the arm, Zane grabs a chinlock on Savoy, Blanchard grabs a heel hook, Konley puts Tessa in an abdominal stretch, Shazza waistlocks Caleb, Trevor pulls McKenzie’s hair, Emma puts Lee in a dragon sleeper and Eagles puts Zane in an Indian Deathlock. ALL AT THE SAME TIME mind you, with Bryce flipping through the manual to figure out what to do. Friedman breaks things up but runs into Eagles as well, earning one heck of a right hand.

We hit the big exchange of strikes to put everyone down until Dashwood rams Jake’s face into the buckle over and over. There’s the Emma Lock (Tenille Tarantula), followed by Savoy hitting a VERY hard suicide dive onto Manning. Tessa dives onto Konley and Lee and McKenzie crossbodies Zane to the floor. Jake is back up and trust falls onto everyone, only to come back in for the Taste of Tenille.

Riley crushes Dashwood but Eagles GERMAN SUPLEXES HIM in a crazy power display. Friedman is back up with a poke to the eye but it’s Konley with a backsplash to McKenzie. A belly to back suplex drops Savoy but she punches her way out of a Doomsday Device. We get the Tower of Doom (well duh) with everyone landing on Friedman for a good comedy spot.

Blanchard comes in with a top rope Codebreaker to Konley and it’s time for a parade of suplexes (with Manning doing a scout salute on the sell job). Riley sticks his thumb in McKenzie’s……yeah, as he suplexes her, which the fans deem sick (he does it when he suplexes men too). Konley AA’s Dashwood but gets half nelson suplexed for two with a big diving save. A quintuple submission goes on though and all five guys tap at 10:25.

Rating: B-. It wasn’t last year’s match but that’s not a fair comparison to make. What we got here was a lot of fun though and the women never felt like they were in over their heads here. This was a lot of fun and the wild insanity that it should have been, but it felt really short. You’re only going to be able to get so much out of a ten minute match, especially with this many people packed in. Maybe their time was cut short but it needed more to get to that other level. Still good though.

Jeff Cobb vs. Tomohiro Ishii

Now this could work. Cobb is better known as Matanza from Lucha Underground and is an Olympic wrestler who weighs 270lbs. Last year he and Bobby Lashley had a disappointing hoss match so hopefully this is an upgrade. We start with the logical exchange of shoulders and neither really goes anywhere. Cobb finally knocks him down and it’s time for the forearm exchange, which lasts A FULL MINUTE.

That’s finally enough for Cobb, who scores with a powerslam for no cover. Hopefully no concussions either. Ishii is right back with a powerslam of his own and the fans are right back into him. They fight over a suplex with Ishii stomping on the feet not being enough to get him up. Ishii FINALLY muscles him over for the suplex but can’t follow up. That’s fine with Cobb, who lifts him from the mat into a somewhat delayed vertical and now Ishii is in trouble.

Deadlift rolling German suplexes get two on Ishii and a big release German suplex into the corner gets two. A bridging pumphandle suplex gets the same and NOW we’re firmly in the hoss battle mode. For some reason Cobb thinks it’s a good idea to talk trash, including yelling about strong style. Fans: “YOU F***** UP!” Ishii headbutts the arm and blasts Cobb in the corner before loading up the superplex. Of course that means a slugout on top but Cobb does come down with a big bounce for a double knockdown.

Back up and they both no sell German suplexes, followed by Cobb winning a headbutt exchange but going down as well. An overhead belly to belly gives Cobb two but the Tour of the Islands (swinging powerslam) is broken up. Ishii drops him with a clothesline for two and everyone is stunned at the kickout. Ishii’s sliding lariat is countered into a choke for a throw into the corner. An enziguri rocks Cobb though and the brainbuster (really a suplex due to Cobb’s size) is enough to give Ishii the pin at 15:05.

Rating: B+. THIS is what Cobb vs. Lashley should have been as this really did feel like the hoss battle that these two are great at. They beat the heck out of each other here and it was all about who would survive instead of who won. I had a good time with this one and Cobb looked like a star throughout. Really fun power brawl and both guys looked like stars.

Flamita/Bandido vs. Rey Fenix/Rey Horus

Oh man I’ve been wanting to see this one again. Fenix is of course Fenix and Horus is El Dragon Azteca Jr. Flamita and Fenix start things off with some wrestling, which lasts all of twenty seconds before it’s time to start flipping. Fenix tries a Lethal Injection but Flamita walks on his hands to escape. Neither can hit a strike so stereo dropkicks give us a standoff. Horus and Bandido come in with Horus spinning off the top into an armdrag but it’s off to Flamita for a boot in the corner.

A missile dropkick sends Horus to the floor so Fenix comes in, grabs Flamita by the wrist and walks the ropes. That earns him a chop so Fenix bounces onto the top rope and back to the top (as in he was standing on the middle, dropped onto his back on the top, and jumped back up top for a wristdrag). You know, because OF COURSE HE CAN DO THAT! Bandido comes back in and spins around into an ankle scissors on Fenix, only to charge into a kick to the face. A powerbomb puts Fenix down and it’s time for the chops, which makes Remsburg cringe too.

Fenix gets taken down again and that means some Motor City Machine Guns with the Dream Sequence. A bicycle kick drops Fenix again, FINALLY drawing Horus in for some help. Horus ducks a dropkick so it knocks Bandido outside instead, followed by a standing hurricanrana for two. Bandido is on the floor so it’s a slingshot hurricanrana, followed by a dive from Flamita and a springboard senton dive from Fenix. Bandido corkscrew planchas onto everyone and they’re all down on the floor for a breather.

Back in and it’s a chop off between Fenix and Flamita with the length being worse than the sounds. Flamita DDTs Fenix for two and Horus takes him to the middle rope for a super victory roll and two of his own. Something like a spinning GTS and a powerbomb gives Bandido two on Horus and everyone is down again. Back up and Fenix rolls into a cutter for two before crotching Flamita on the top. Horus is right back up too with a super reverse hurricanrana, followed by a top rope backsplash from Fenix.

Somehow that’s not enough either so Fenix throws Horus at Flamita for a tornado DDT. Horus charges at Bandido in the corner but DIVES over the top onto Flamita in one of the best fake outs I’ve ever seen (I didn’t see what he was planning live or on tape). Back in and Fenix hits a spinning Muscle Buster to FINALLY finish Bandido at 12:23.

Rating: A-. Yep. This was absolutely incredible live and my goodness I can’t believe how well it holds up. These four were going insane out there with a full on lucha libre match and had the fans, myself included, going nuts. Just an incredible performance here with no psychology or flow to it, which is exactly how it should be in this case. You watch these kinds of matches to see crazy flips, dives and spots and that’s what we got here. Great stuff and check this out if you can find it.

The fans throw money in the ring (a lucha libre thing) as we go to intermission.

Actually cancel that intermission, as the show is running long and we don’t have time for that. Thank goodness as this was about 11pm local time and there are four matches left.

Chico El Luchador/Psicosis/Super Crazy vs. Jason Cade/Matt Classic/Teddy Hart

Chico is Rocky Romero and substituting for Juventud Guerrera in the Mexicools reunion that no one wanted. Cade was in last year’s ten man tag and looked like a star. Hart is a member of the Hart Family but a complete jerk and flippy guy. Classic is Colt Cabana under a mask and wrestling like he’s from the late 1940s. Excalibur on the Mexicools: “We didn’t have them come out here on the lawnmowers because we’re not racist dicks.” DeRosa: “And they would cut up the mats.” Excalibur: “And we’re not racist dicks.”

The announcers go over Chico vs. Classic, which predated El Canek vs. Andre the Giant. With Classic continuing his pre-match workouts (neck bridges and Hindu squats) and pulling his trunks halfway up his chest, we’re ready to go with Classic vs. Chico as the rivalry is renewed. Classic throws Chico around as the announcers say this feud has been on a break for about thirty years. Chico grabs an abdominal stretch for a second but Classic is right back with the CLAW, because he gets old school.

That’s escaped with a spin out and Chico grabs a towel to turn this into a bullfight. Classic is knocked outside and Chico strikes a pose before handing it off to Psicosis and Cade. They hit the mat as Classic is still exercising on the apron. That goes nowhere so it’s off to Crazy vs. Hart (Excalibur: “Super Crazy vs. super crazier”) for an exchange of armdrags. Hart rolls out of the corner into a sunset flip before it’s back to Chico for a chop on Classic.

Chico bounces off of him and a falling splash gets two. Hart comes in with Project Ciampa to Chico as we settle into a more standard formula. After Excalibur compares Cade’s right hand to an all beef frank, Cade gets two off a fisherman’s buster. The frog splash hits knees though and it’s back to Crazy for his old man luchador offense. Hart slugs away and Crazy…kind of walks around.

Everything breaks down and Classic gets dropped as everything breaks down. Chico suicide dives onto Cade but Hart moonsauts onto everyone (Excalibur: “YOU DON’T LEARN THAT IN THE DUNGEON!”). Classic gets on the top, then the middle, then the bottom, then just drops off the apron as the fans can’t get their HOLY S*** chants in sync. Back in and Crazy can only hit two moonsaults (they still look great) as Cade moves from the third attempt. Not that it matters as Crazy rolls Cade up for the pin at 9:56.

Rating: D+. Again, what was the point of the Mexicool reunion? Who in the world needed to see that? Classic was a lot of fun and the announcers made his stuff with Chico that much more fun but other than that, this was really skippable. Hart and Cade were just kind of there and there’s nothing much worth talking about. I guess it was just for an ECW reunion and….ok?

Teddy walks around the ring very slowly for the sake of getting on camera more.

Adam Brooks vs. Sammy Guevera vs. Shane Strickland vs. Will Ospreay

I got to chat with Sammy last year and while I haven’t heard much from him since, he was a nice guy while he talked to me and I can’t ask for more than that. Strickland is the International King of Swerve. I’m not sure what that means and….I think I’m good that way. Ospreay is VERY banged up after a botched spot in Japan so he’s looking rather pathetic with a big bunch of tape on his shoulder and neck.

We hit the trash talk to start until Brooks and Strickland knock the other two outside. That means a string of not hitting each other until Guevara and Ospreay come back in for a double dropkick. That means the big showdown (as big as you can get about two minutes into the match that is) and again they speed things up with neither hitting anything until Sammy snaps off a headscissors.

Strickland comes back in for a 619 to the ribs and rolls into a cutter. Brooks slides in for a sliding dropkick as the announcers try to figure out the New Orleans area code. Ospreay gets loaded up for the Cheeky Nandos kick but Brooks pokes him in the eye instead. That’s not cool with Ospreay so he flips over into a kick to the head but comes up holding the shoulder.

Guevera gets caught in the corner, earning himself a backflip kick to the head. That means the mini Tower of Doom with Sammy German superplexing Strickland, who superplexes Brooks into a powerbomb from Ospreay. Sloppy of course, but what were you expecting? Back up and Brooks and Ospreay exchange some hard kicks until a Stundog Millionaire drops Brooks.

Sammy hurricanranas Ospreay though, earning himself a kick to the floor from Strickland. Brooks dives on both of them so Ospreay busts out a space flying tiger drop for the four way knockdown. Guevera’s shooting star to the floor (looks awesome) takes them all out again, even if almost no one catches him. Back in and Brooks kicks Sammy low, setting up a Downward Spiral into the middle turnbuckle. Ospreay springboards back in but messes up his neck again.

A referee distraction sets up another low blow and Strickland has to come in for the save. Just to be evil, Strickland ties Ospreay in the ropes for the Alberto double stomp to the apron, followed by another stomp for two on Brooks. Sammy sends Strickland outside and curb stomps Brooks, only to have Ospreay roll in with the spinning kick to the back. The Oscutter finally finishes Guevera at 12:33.

Rating: B-. Ospreay is always worth seeing but this felt like a match I’ve seen several times before. Some of the dives were cool and the match is entertaining, but nothing that I’ve going to remember. The lateness of the night didn’t help either as the fans were starting to get tired. Having three straight cruiserweight matches didn’t help either as the show needed to be laid out a bit better in this section.

Post match Ospreay seems to apologize to the crowd for his performance but they throw money anyway.

Sami Callihan/Juice Robinson/Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. vs. David Starr/Brian Cage/???

Juice’s gear is rather odd looking, being described as a create a wrestler where you hit random five times. Starr is rather annoyed at the ring announcer not getting his full host of nicknames. He’s greeted by a GO ACE chant and Tanahashi even serenades him with the air guitar because he’s not just an ace but also a music lover.

Starr BREAKS THE AIR GUITAR before listing off his nicknames: the Cream in Your Coffee, Your Favorite Wrestler’s Favorite Wrestler, the Jewish Cannon, the Physical Embodiment of Charisma, the Most Entertaining Man in Professional Wrestling, the Bernie Sanders of Professional Wrestling, Mr. Americanrana, Davey Wrestling, the 104 Minute Man, the Main Event, I’m Really Good at Twitter, the King of Taunts, the Product, David Starr. I didn’t get him at first but he’s REALLY grown on me over time.

Hang on though as Sami has a mic. He sees a genetically modified freak and a walking chia pet, but no third partner. Sami offers a 3-2 beating…..but MINORU SUZUKI is here as the third man to the pop of the night so far. Suzuki, normally rather stoic, shows some solid charisma in playing to the crowd during his entrance. The match starts fast with Cage and Tanahashi fighting against the barricade, leaving Sami to miss a bat shot on Suzuki.

They head outside as well with Suzuki cranking on Sami’s leg, leaving Starr and Robinson to flip around a bit. Juice snaps off the left hands but gets clotheslined to the floor. Tanahashi is in to replace him but Cage tosses him with a release fall away slam. Since Cage is a freak, he hits a 619 but charges into a boot in the corner. Tanahashi’s slingshot dive drops Cage but Starr is right there with a dive of his own. Sami drops Starr with another dive so Juice goes up (Juice: “JUICE IS GONNA DIVE! GET YOUR CAMERAS OUT!”) for a double clothesline to the floor.

Cage, who makes Ryback look small, hits a BIG running flip dive of his own, leaving Suzuki on his own. The big dive is teased but instead he climbs through the ropes, drops to the floor, and smacks Sami in the face like a good crazy old man should. We actually settle down to a regular match with Starr kneeing Callihan in the face to slow things down. Sami offers a distraction and kicks Starr low, allowing the tag off to Tanahashi. A middle rope flipping senton misses but Juice comes in for a double belly to back suplex.

It’s back to Callihan, who is greeted with a GO AWAY chant. It’s amazing what happens when you’re associated with a company like TNA. Robinson and Callihan splash Starr in the corner as the announcers explain that these teams are pretty random and have almost nothing in common. Juice’s backsplash hits knees but he drives Starr back into the corner to block another tag.

Starr finally gets away for the hot tag to Cage and it’s neckbreakers a go-go. One heck of a release German suplex out of the corner drops Robinson on his head and pain starts to set in. Cage loads him up for a World’s Strongest Slam so Callihan comes off the top for a hurricanrana…..and Cage holds him up there at the same time. A powerbomb/World’s Strongest Slam gets two, which is described as Brian Cage doing Brian Cage things. It’s off to Tanahashi to try his luck and a running forearm puts Cage down.

The Sling Blade gets two with Starr making the save, only to be sent out to the floor. Cage neckbreakers Tanahashi and the double tag brings in Suzuki (not exactly a pop but an acknowledgment that pain is imminent) and Callihan (likely indifference). Sami spits on him and the fans know what is coming. A few kicks to Suzuki’s head just make him stick his tongue out and grab the sleeper. Sami bites his arm to escape so it’s a Fujiwara armbar to make Sami tap at 14:38. Suzuki and Tanahashi never interacted unless it was a brief exchange on the floor.

Rating: C+. It was good and the New Japan guys were a treat, but Starr taking the heat for that long wasn’t the most thrilling thing in the world. You could feel the fans getting tired by this point too as it was approaching midnight local time after what was likely a travel day for almost everyone involved. Entertaining match but I kept waiting on the Tanahashi vs. Suzuki showdown and it never came.

Post match Suzuki goes after everyone’s arm but they calm him down. Instead he wants Tanahashi so the fight is on with a headbutt knocking Tanahashi to the floor. Suzuki grabs a headlock and punches Tanahashi to the back as this was one sided. Not really shocking that a fighter can beat up a wrestler like that.

Golden Lovers vs. Chuck Taylor/???

Chuckle’s original partner was Trent Barretta but a bad arm injury has put him on the shelf. The Lovers come out first and my goodness what a reaction from such a small group of people. Taylor has a three man marching band playing him out for a little flavor. Chuck announces his partner as….THE SWAMP MONSTER, a Cousin Itt lookalike, who is sent to the floor in about two seconds.

Actually the real partner is Freshly Squeezed Orange Cassidy! That would be a slacker, who doesn’t show up and is likely asleep. Dan Berry comes out and gets sent outside as well so Chuck says the real partner is Trent because it was a swerve all along. Trent is here with a huge sling but he starts to take it off until Rocky Romero comes out to tell him no. Chuck: “ROCKY YOU SON OF A B**** DON’T YOU TAKE HIM AWAY FROM ME AGAIN! I hate you with every fiber of my being!”

Cue Flip Gordon, a flat Earther who is greeted with an EARTH IS ROUND chant. He’s not here to be Chuck’s partner but rather to ask about getting on All In. Omega is stunned so Chuck says he just talked to the REAL leader of the Bullet Club Cody, who says if Flip wins here, he’s All In. Chuck doesn’t have anyone else in the back so Flip will have to do, meaning ring the bell. Omega and Gordon start things off with a headlock not getting Omega very far.

Instead Flip does his dancing handstand and both Lovers are sent outside. A big flip dive over the top (with Gordon sticking the landing) takes them down again and it’s off to Chuck. Taylor’s really basic (on purpose) offense has Omega in limited trouble and the slow motion slingshot senton gets no cover. Omega slaps on an abdominal stretch and here’s Trent again. Taylor reverses into a stretch of his own as Trent lights up a cigarette. He puts some sunglasses on Taylor and hands him the cigarette before putting it into Flip’s mouth.

Omega uses the odd distraction to hiptoss his way to freedom. An enziguri makes Chuck spit the cigarette out as Trent goes to the back. What in the world was the point of that? I was hoping commentary would explain it but I’ll settle for a tag to Ibushi. Back to back moonsaults get two on Gordon but he hits his reverse fall away slam. The standing shooting star (not so impressive as Ibushi just did one) gets two but the snapdragon puts Gordon down again.

Ibushi’s backflip kick to the head drops Taylor and Gordon, followed by Omega powerbombing Gordon into a German suplex for a cool spot. Gordon is back up to save Taylor from the Golden Trigger and Chuck’s low blow gets two on Ibushi. A high kick drops Taylor and everyone is down. The Golden Shower (seriously) is broken up as Gordon springboards to the top for a superkick to Omega and the 450 gets two on Ibushi. Back to back superkicks rock Gordon and a big running clothesline turns him inside out. The Golden Trigger (double knees to the face) end Gordon at 13:38.

Rating: C+. Just like the previous match, it was good but nothing all that memorable. The idea here was getting to see the Golden Lovers, which is perfectly fine. It was a fine enough main event with little doubt about who was going to win but at least the fans got what they wanted to see. The mystery partner thing was kind of a flop but honestly, what were you hoping to get from this?

Post match Omega wants a hand for Chuck for getting close to pulling off a win, even with the mystery partner. He also praises Flip, who has some wacky theories and has even tried to kill Omega twice. But Flip really thought by coming out here that he would be cheered over the Golden Lovers? Omega: “You really are stupid!” Omega made sure that they would be here tonight and thanks the fans for making it so much fun. He wishes us a great weekend in this beautiful city but Chuck takes the mic.

Taylor asks Trent to come back out here because he wants the match to happen at some point once the injury is healed (Chuck: “In four to six months, or sooner because he’s an idiot.”). Omega gladly agrees and wishes Flip good luck with getting on All In. He thanks the fans for coming out and says goodnight to end the show.

Overall Rating: B. I definitely shortchanged this show live as I was just too tired to really enjoy it. There are some issues with the pacing to this show and some of the matches needed to be adjusted to really make it better but what we got was a lot of fun. The surprises on here were a lot of fun (Lawler genuinely shocked me) and seeing the big New Japan names was a great treat. I’d definitely go to this show again as this one was weaker than last year and still a blast. It’s certainly a show more for the live crowd but it’s still more than entertaining enough on its own. Definitely check out the lucha tag if nothing else.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of the WWE Grab Bag (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2018/03/23/new-paperback-kbs-grab-bag/

And check out my Amazon author page with cheap wrestling books at:

http://www.amazon.com/Thomas-Hall/e/B00E6282W6

Odds are you’ve heard of Axxess. It’s the big fan festival put on by WWE every year over Wrestlemania weekend where you can see memorabilia and meet wrestlers etc. However, there’s another version run independently from WWE called WrestleCon, which offers a bunch of wrestling shows but also a huge convention with hundreds of wrestlers and vendors selling autographs, merchandise and photo ops for pretty reasonable prices. You can also just walk up and talk to almost anyone you want (line permitting of course) and have a chat (some longer than others).

The convention runs for three days and I attended Friday and Sunday. These days couldn’t have been more different but both had their positives and negatives. I did pay to meet a variety of wrestlers and bought some stuff so here’s the rundown. Keep in mind that I didn’t write down everyone I met (as the place wasn’t exactly one where you could pull out something and take notes) so there’s a good chance I’ve forgotten some names. These are in no real order.

Well this one is in order, because how do you start with anything else?

Very quick due to the long line but he looked right into your eyes and you could feel the chills. I said it was an honor to meet him and he said he appreciated it. That voice will send vibes through you and it was worth the over two hour wait (you knew this was going to be a long line). I got him to sign my Wrestlemania XXXII ticket for a very nice keepsake.

Tenille Dashwood. She had people coming up to see her over and over for both days and it’s not surprising. Dashwood put on a heck of a performance at the SuperShow and simply put, the camera does not do her justice whatsoever. She’s absolutely gorgeous in person and seemed very sweet when I said hello to her. How WWE managed to screw her up is anyone’s guess.

Al Snow. This might not be the biggest name in the world but it turns out that at one point he lived in my small hometown in Kentucky. He seemed rather surprised that anyone had even heard of it, let alone lived there.

Larry Zbyszko. Just a short hello, but he did his spinning salute.

Virgil. Walked by me as I was in line and I said a quick hello. I know he’s known as a jerk but he’s been nice the two times I’ve met him.

Bret Hart. This was one of the ones I paid for in advance (well duh) and it starts to show the big problem with WrestleCon (which I’ll cover in detail at the end): it feels rushed. I might have sat next to Bret for all of five seconds, gotten a picture taken, shook his hand and said it was an honor to meet him. As is often the case with Bret he didn’t have much to say, but he did look me in the eye as I shook his hand and said thank you.

Before we move on, one more thing about Bret. His line was of course very long and it wrapped around into two rows. I was near the back of the line without about 100 people in front of me and I hear a voice.

Voice: “KB?”

Me: “Yeah?”

Voice: “I’m Steve. You’ve done my podcast a few times. Do you want to come up here with me?”

I was then about fifth in line and done in three minutes instead of an hour. Steve is a very, very good guy with an awesome podcast called the Positive Pro Wrestling podcast. He knows his stuff and is more than worth listening to, especially if you’re sick of hearing people complain about wrestling. Check him out here and follow the show on Twitter @ppwpodcast. I’ve been a guest on there multiple times and it’s some of the most fun I’ve had doing a show. It’s more than worth the time.

Kelly Kelly. I’ve met her before and I’d be glad to meet her over and over. Those eyes are something else and she very clearly knows how to look at a camera.

Taya Valkyrie. Another short one but she’s rather nice.

Jim Duggan. Met him several times before and he’s always fun to talk to, even for a few seconds. He always asks where a fan is from and you get a sense that he actually cares. That doesn’t happen very often and that’s a shame. He also seemed to like my shirt, which was one of the oddest things of the whole weekend.

Christy Hemme. Yep. Looks even better in person and again has that fire in her eyes.

Mick Foley. Again, met him before and again, it felt rushed due to the crowds. He’s my favorite wrestler ever though and when I mentioned that he smiled and said he appreciated it. Always a treat to get to see him.

As a bonus, here he is with Kenny Omega and Kota Ibushi, who were at the next table over.

One Man Gang. He was there in something similar to Akeem gear but no hat unfortunately. I asked him if he was a rib on Dusty Rhodes and he emphatically said no, even giving me reasons why he wasn’t. I would have bet money otherwise but he insisted it wasn’t true. Fair enough.

Hiroshi Tanahashi. With five people in line and only charging $20 a person, this was a complete steal. Spoke very clear English and one of the nicest guys there.

Brian Pillman Jr. Very nice guy who I talked to for a few minutes. He said the new book about his dad’s life is very accurate (save for a few minor details) and recommended it. I don’t know much about him but he came off very positively.

Matt Sydal. Got to hold the X-Division Title, which is far lighter than the World Title. This was quick as he had a customer but he was another nice guy.

Bushwhacker Luke. Met him last year but this time was much friendlier. Last year I had mentioned that he licked me as a kid and he looked at me like I was nuts. I mentioned it again this year and he asked when and where it was. Far more pleasant this time around.

Eli Drake. I asked if he could call me a dummy and he said he wasn’t sure. That sounded like I’d have to buy something but he said he heard me asking him and when he looked up, all he could see was a DUMMY! YEAH! He smiled and I told him he had become my favorite part of Impact Wrestling (true) and he seemed very happy. Exceptionally nice guy.

Robert Gibson. Met him on Sunday and talked to him about the cage match with the Andersons. He seemed thrilled to talk about the old days and that’s completely understandable. Ricky Morton was next to him and seemed FAR more popular, which isn’t surprising.

Velvet Sky. Quick hello, looks amazing in person.

Diamond Dallas Page. He’s almost my white whale of meeting people as I’ve tried multiple times and just not been able to get there. Another nice guy and he was giving out cards for a free month of his yoga app. Nothing wrong with free.

Melissa Santos. Tiny and very pretty. Also saw her getting out of her cab as I was coming into the building.

Brutus Beefcake. Got a handshake, but $40 for his book? Is he nuts?

Scott Steiner. The Steiners were one of my favorite teams ever and while Rick was advertised, I didn’t seem there (could have just been away as he had a booth next to Scott). Kind of untalkative but seemed appreciative when I mentioned being a big fan of the team.

Animal. Shook his hand, barely acknowledged that I was there.

Jackie Moore. I was in line for Foley and talking to the handler, which somehow turned into a discussion of I Love Lucy. Moore was next to us and mentioned loving the show.

Tony Atlas. I met him last year and for the second year in a row thought he was ignoring me but he looked up and apologized for not noticing I was there. Nice guy with a big smile.

Harley Race. I don’t think this needs an explanation.

Penta El Zero M. Just a handshake.

Rey Fenix. Another handshake.

Kevin Nash. Just like last year, doesn’t seem interested if you’re not buying.

Sean Waltman. Another quick handshake but he looked straight at people.

Bob Backlund. We must be connected someway as this is my fourth Wrestlemania and sixth time running into Backlund. I actually got to talk to him this time and he was very quiet (as in low volume, to the point where I could barely hear him). I talked about how awesome his transformation in 1994 was and he said he always puts in the most effort possible into everything. Very, very nice guy who seemed like he would talk to you all day.

Rob Van Dam. Quick handshake as there were people coming up to see him but very friendly guy.

Tomohiro Ishii. One person in line and again, just twenty bucks. I would have bet on a long, long line for him. That’s the Rev Pro Wrestling British Heavyweight Title, which I saw him win Friday night in a great match.

Minoru Suzuki. Much nicer than you would think and NO ONE in line any time I went by his table. Same price as the other New Japan guys. He picked the title up and put it straight on my shoulder, which nearly knocked me over. That’s the Rev Pro British Tag Team Title on the table.

Sean Mooney. I needed to hear that voice in person. Not much to say but he was friendly and mentioned his podcast.

D’Lo Brown. Always been a fan and he seemed appreciative of the praise.

Allie. TINY in person to the point where I barely recognized her.

Rosemary. I know she’s the creepy Knockout on Impact, but when she’s acting normal and has her hair pulled back, it really, really, really works.

So Cal Val. Seemed very flattered that people wanted to talk to her and another nice person.

Winter. Easily one of the best looking people there and knew how to stand in a way that made her look even better. Seemed shocked (in a good way) that anyone remembered her in OVW.

Gail Kim. Another case of the camera not doing her justice. Seemed to be having a great time meeting fans and being with old friends.

Larry Hennig. Actually started talking to me about my Superman shirt.

Bob Orton. His arm is fine, though at least this year he seemed to understand why people were asking him about it.

Teddy Long. I didn’t mean to get a picture with him but I asked if he could say holla holla. This time he actually said I’d have to pay him something and $30 for a picture wasn’t happening. His handler dropped it to $20 and I almost couldn’t say no. I mentioned that he could use the money to pay for some tolls on the road, which made him laugh rather hard. He even mentioned it to Ron Simmons in the next booth and got a laugh from him as well. Fun to talk to once you get beyond the pay wall.

Lanny Poffo. Mentioned being from Lexington and he immediately told me about a seminar he’s doing in a town near here. Not pushy about it but I’d have rather talked to him now, not in a few weeks.

Chavo Guerrero. Kind of quiet until you mention Eddie, which really brought him out of his shell. You can tell he’s very proud of his family, as he should be.

James Storm. He came to his booth as I was in line to meet Tanahashi. I mentioned having met him at a TNA show and he apologized that I had to be there. Bully Ray said the same thing the year before. How bad was it to work there?

Colt Cabana. I had seen him wrestle under a mask as Matt Classic the night before so I asked if he knew anything about him. Cabana said he had heard Classic was there, with a big grin on his face. I mentioned Classic being entertaining and Cabana smiled and said he’d pass that along if he ran into Classic.

Now for a non-wrestler, and some of the coolest and most popular items all weekend. You might need to zoom in on this.

Check out his work here.

I bought three of them (Shawn/Razor, Undertaker and Cena). They were two for $20 and VERY popular, as they should be.

And now, for the negatives. The organization, venue and everything else couldn’t have been a bigger mess if they had tried. When I got to the fifth floor of the hotel the event, there was just a sea of people and no one knew where any line started. I was told to go into a small room to get my wristband but when it got to me, they were out of one day bands. How they didn’t have a big box of them there is beyond me, but the lady running things went to get more. Then she didn’t come back, so we were told to go get in a long line. Eventually we got in, half an hour after the thing was supposed to start. It was downhill from there.

The following is all on Friday.

The venue was WAY too small to begin with and on top of that, the layout was a nightmare. Basically you had four rows of boots with a big aisle in between. There were booths on the all around the rows as well. In the upper right hand corner was Ric Flair’s booth and that’s about it for big names on that side. In the middle was Shawn Michaels, on the upper left was Bret Hart, on the lower left was Kenny Omega/Kota Ibushi, Mick Foley, the Young Bucks and Harley Race.

With Shawn’s line wrapping around the building (seriously), at one point I was in line for Omega, Foley, Shawn, Bret and Ibushi at the same time without being able to move. Everyone, from the fans to the workers TO THE WRESTLERS were complaining about what a mess this was. Just put someone on the other side of the room or something, but find a better way to do this.

Omega and Ibushi’s line literally stretched from one side of the building to the other and since they were half an hour late showing up, it never moved. I had even bought a ticket for Omega and was so fed up with the mess of the lines that I just ate the cost. I’m one of the biggest wrestling fans I’ve ever seen and when I’m sitting in the hall way because I’ve had enough of the mess to the point where I’m about to leave two hours into a six hour convention, there’s something very, very wrong.

Sunday was much better, but mainly because the place was a ghost town. You had a few names still trying to get a few more sales and really it was more sad than anything else in some cases. There were wide spaces with no one at a booth and a lot of the wrestlers looked miserable. I get why they have to do it, but it wasn’t a pretty sight at times.

Overall, the idea is great and can be done VERY well (Orlando the year before was excellent) but the venue was too small and the layout for the wrestlers was ridiculous. Get this stuff right so the fans can have a better time, because Friday was a complete disaster. I did have fun and bought some cool stuff, but there were so many rough edges that the negatives outweighed the positives, at least the first day.

And super isn’t too far off.

Last year in Orlando, one of the most entertaining shows I took in was the WrestleCon SuperShow. This is pretty much a big show featuring a collection of old school wrestlers, international stars and young up and comers thrown together for a fun show. There aren’t many storylines and the whole thing is built around just having a fun night of wrestling. Last year’s show was incredible and this one had a lot to live up to. Let’s get to it.

Before we got started PWG’s Excalibur came out and said that going forward, the SuperShow would be named after Mark Hitchcock, who worked for Highspots (the company that helped produce the show) and passed away while on his honeymoon just before this year’s event. This was a cool moment and a nice gesture.

The show started about half an hour late, but that’s to be expected at something like this. As usual, there were several wrestlers outside at their merchandise tables, all of whom were very polite and more than willing to chat with you, even if you weren’t buying anything.

1. Penta El Zero M b. Joey Janela – Pumphandle Driver, 7:52, C.

I’ve never actually seen a Janela match…and I don’t think I get it. He’s a name I’ve heard a lot about over the last year or two but I really don’t get the hype. The match was nothing of note, save for a sick THUD when Janela hit a Death Valley Driver onto the apron….two minutes into the match. A bunch of superkicks set up Penta breaking Joey’s arm (or close to it at least) and hitting the pumphandle driver for the pin. Nothing of note here, but last year’s opener wasn’t great either.

2. Joey Ryan’s Andy Kaufman Intergender Challenge – DQ, 1:23.

Now this was interesting as Ryan is now doing the Kaufman intergender challenge where he’ll fight any woman because a man can beat them. This included Ryan wearing Kaufman’s robe and the exact same ring gear, down to the white body suit and blue shorts. He even did the same soap promo that Kaufman made famous in Memphis about thirty five years ago. The problem is this just made me want to see Jerry Lawler come out and beat Ryan up…..AND JERRY LAWLER ANSWERED THE CHALLENGE!

This was one of those surprise moments that makes this show cool: it felt like the right move and is a cool idea because it’s what makes the most sense in this situation. The problem was Lawler couldn’t use the piledriver in Louisiana, which he didn’t seem to know coming in. Instead he kicked Ryan low, and if you know Joey Ryan, you can imagine the shock on Lawler’s face. A fireball to the crotch got a DQ, but don’t worry because Ryan ensured us that everything down there was fine. Of note: this was thirty five years to the day that Lawler first piledrove Kaufman. Cool moment, barely a match of course.

3. Team Dashwood b. Team Lee – Quintuple submission, 10:23, C.

Tenille Dashwood, Madison Eagles, Nicole Savoy, Shazza McKenzie, Tessa Blanchard

Trevor Lee, Caleb Konley, Zane Riley, Jake Manning, Maxwell Jacob Friedman

This one had A LOT to live up to after last year’s incredible ten man tag. The ten person match was incredible and the most fun I’ve ever had watching a single wrestling match. This year went more with the current theme of the women’s revolution and there’s nothing wrong with that.

Dashwood (formerly Emma) was crazy over and showed more fire than she ever did in WWE with a very energetic entrance. The It’s All About Me character works very well for her and shows how awesome she could have been in WWE if they hadn’t botched it. I’m not overly familiar with most of the women, but I’ve seen Eagles before. She’s easy to remember as she stands about 6’1 and towered over almost everyone on either team.

Before the match, Lee said that if his team won, his three partners other than Konley would be signed to Impact Wrestling. You can imagine how well this went over. What also went over fairly poorly was Konley saying we might as well just start with Dashwood kissing him so he sat in a chair where comedy, in the form of the 300lb Riley accidentally kissing him instead, ensued.

The rest of the match was what you would expect: the women being competitive and using technique while the men lumbered around like idiots (including Manning, the Man Scout, reading his scouting manual while wrestling, as is his custom). There was a great series of dives to the floor and a sequence of at least eight people having a submission on someone at the same time. As in all eight were in one big chain, almost like a submission centipede. Stupid and contrived, but exactly what you would expect from a show like this, which was fine.

The finish saw a quintuple submission with the men all tapping at the same time, which was a very abrupt ending. I was expecting this to go a lot longer, but it proved its point well enough. It’s not a great match but it did its job. Like I said though, last year’s match wasn’t being touched and everyone knew it.

4. Tomohiro Ishii b. Jeff Cobb – Suplex, 15:12, B+.

Ishii is a tough guy from New Japan and Cobb is better known as Matanza from Lucha Underground (very friendly guy who chatted with me about Nintendo 64 vs. Super Nintendo before the show). This was a hoss fight of the highest degree and they didn’t try to make it anything else.

They slugged it out (with an exchange of forearms that lasted over a minute) and threw each other around until one of them couldn’t get up. Cobb made the mistake of hitting him once too often though and Ishii beat the tar out of him, finishing with a suplex that was supposed to be his signature brainbuster. This is what Cobb vs. Lashley from last year should have been and Cobb looked like a star. I wouldn’t be surprised if he wasn’t in WWE by this time next year.

5. Rey Fenix/Rey Horus b. Bandido/Flamita – Falcon Arrow to Bandido, 12:22, B+.

Horus is better known as Dragon Azteca Jr. from Lucha Underground. I’m not even going to try to describe this match as I couldn’t do it justice. This was the most insane, high flying match that I’ve ever seen with everyone doing one crazy dive and flip after another. It was the kind of lucha match you would want to see and is well worth going out of your way to find. The fans threw money into the ring after the match and I can’t say I disagree. Just in credible stuff and easily the match of the night from an entertainment perspective.

6. Mexicools b. Jason Cade/Matt Classic/Teddy Hart – Rollup to Cade, 10:00, C+.

This was Chico El Luchador/Psychosis/Super Crazy with Juventud Guerrera only showing up for the introductions. I’m not sure why A, someone thought we needed a Mexicools reunion and B, why this was put on after the great lucha match before it. It wasn’t a bad match by any stretch but it didn’t really need to be on the show, other than a way to get Cade (big star in last year’s ten man tag) and Classic (Colt Cabana in a mask doing an old school wrestler character) on the show.

7. Will Osprey b. Sammy Gueverra, Adam Brooks and Shane Strickland – Oscutter to Gueverra, 12:34, B.

Ospreay was very, very banged up coming into this, to the point where it wasn’t clear if he would be able to wrestle over the weekend. He did compete (at least twice) but his neck and shoulder were so banged up that you could tell it wasn’t his full speed. This was the third match in a row built around high flying and it was starting to wear on the crowd. Ospreay was a treat to see, but it would have been better if he hadn’t been hurt (not his fault of course).

It was entertaining while it lasted with Brooks playing a great heel and Gueverra always being fun to watch. The Oscutter looked great too and finished one of the better matches of the night. The injuries to Ospreay were just too much though and it was clear that he probably shouldn’t have been in the ring for a little while longer.

8. David Starr/Brian Cage/Minoru Suzuki b. Sami Callihan/Juice Robinson/Hiroshi Tanahashi – Armbar to Callihan, 14:48, C+

Tanahashi and Suzuki were surprise partners and of course got some of the strongest reactions of the night with Suzuki’s in particular being awesome. Cage tore the house down here with some great looking dives, including one to the floor to take everyone down. In short, someone his size shouldn’t be able to do that. Suzuki made Callihan tap to an armbar and beat up Tanahashi post match. That helped a bit as they never actually touched during the match. This wasn’t a great match

9. Golden Lovers b. Chuck Taylor/Flip Gordon – Golden Trigger to Gordon, 13:38, C+

Gordon was a mystery partner after Taylor’s regular partner, Trent Barretta, broke his arm and tore his bicep. The mystery partner was a pretty big factor in the match and Chuck had some swerve options, including the Swamp Monster (a guy in a Cousin Itt (look him up) suit), Dan Barry (didn’t show up), Orange Cassidy (Taylor: “He’s probably asleep.”) and Barretta himself. Rocky Romero came out after Barretta, sending Taylor into a rant about how Romero already stole him once and how much Taylor hated him.

Flip finally came out and said he didn’t want to be his partner as he wanted to hear about being on All In. Taylor said he had been on the phone with the REAL leader of the Bullet Club, Cody. If Flip wins, he’s All In. The match was about what you would expect, with Barretta coming back down and handing Taylor a cigarette and sunglasses in a bit I didn’t understand. The result wasn’t surprising, but that wasn’t the point of course. Entertaining way to end a show that went on too long.

Post match Taylor asked for a match with the Golden Lovers when Barretta was healthy (calling him an idiot for coming back too soon) and Omega thanked us for coming.

Overall, the show might not have been as good as last year’s but it was still very entertaining. They got in a bunch of surprises (Lawler legitimately got me) and some very good matches, but comparing it to last year’s show isn’t exactly fair. It was a very good venue (my seats were looking down at the ring and if I looked over my shoulder I could see the talent on a small balcony before and after their matches) and the crowd was hot all night. Good show, and definitely something I’d take in again whenever I go back to Wrestlemania.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of the WWE Grab Bag (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2018/03/23/new-paperback-kbs-grab-bag/

And check out my Amazon author page with cheap wrestling books at:

http://www.amazon.com/Thomas-Hall/e/B00E6282W6

My boss at Wrestlingrumors.net and I put this together and it’s not half bad if I do type so myself.

https://wrestlingrumors.net/will-real-fabulous-moolah-please-stand-2/

Check it out, like the Facebook page:

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This interview is with a member of the Middle Kingdom Wrestling roster. If you’re not familiar with MKW (which you very well may not be), check out some of their stuff here:

https://www.youtube.com/c/MiddleKingdomWrestling

Wrestling really is one of the most international sports you’re ever going to find. Where else do you have so many people from so many countries coming together in almost any country with so many different styles? One of the coolest things about wrestling is seeing all these styles come together and put on a good match. It’s even cooler when you get an interesting mixture of styles, which is where we are here.

You’ve probably seen wrestling from all over the world at one point or another. It might be the standard American style, the Mexican lucha libre style, the European technical style or something else entirely. One other place entirely is China, where professional wrestling is trying to establish itself. There is talent to be found in China and the surrounding areas, but bringing in outside help can make a difference.

One such talent is Big Sam, a British wrestler who is now performing in China. His size (6’4 and 260lbs) make him stand out with the mostly smaller members of the Middle Kingdom Wrestling roster not coming close to his physical stature. A British wrestler coming to China makes for an interesting story and I was able to get to hear some of that story. Here’s an interview with Big Sam, presented in a question and answer format.

1. How did you get started in wrestling? Were you trained in England?

When I was 14/15, I trained and took part in freestyle amateur wrestling in North Wales. I wrestled mostly within the British Isles (United Kingdom of Great Britain as well as the Republic of Ireland) – http://www.angelfire.com/wrestling3/balvinder/index.html

At the age of 16, I went for my first pro wrestling class held in Sheffield with Hammerlock wrestling (I believed it has closed its operations in Sheffield now). That is where I first learnt to bump and lock up. That was my first real taste of training to be a pro wrestler and I wanted more, however the distance was too far for me and it very impractical. I decided to carry on with freestyle amateur wrestling.

It was not until I was 19 that I started to train pro wrestling more regularly in Rhyl (North Wales), about an hour’s drive from my home. I had a few lessons with World of Sport’s legend, Orig Williams. Unfortunately these were near his latter years, and the lessons soon became inconsistent to eventually they were called off – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orig_Williams

I found that I learnt the most wrestling at Basix Pro Wrestling, which was closer to my home and offered me more opportunities. The trainers and owner, “Iron Man” Mike Roberts ran the promotion. http://prowrestling.wikia.com/wiki/Mike_Roberts

It was with Basix Pro Wrestling that I got debuted in my first match in front of a paying crowd in 2007. I was in a battle royal and was eliminated half-way through.

2. What brought you to China and how did your career begin there?

I came to China as an exchange student. There was nothing in the area I was at the time. I carried on teaching some freestyle wrestling while studying there. It was actually a few years later through a comedian that I got to introduced to former WWE Cruiserweight Classic wrestler, Ho Ho Lun that I got to know there was a small but growing wrestling scene in China. Through that I got introduced to Ho Ho Lun’s first trainer, The Slam. He took me and helped me shake of the ‘ring rust’ and had me bumping again. I wrestled for a couple of start-up promotions throughout China, before landing with Middle Kingdom Wrestling (MKW).

3. You’re a good deal bigger and taller than most of the Middle Kingdom Wrestling roster. Do you feel this is a strength for you and how has it affected your in-ring style?

I am a legit 6’4” and 260lbs. I have a huge advantage working in China at this size.
In the UK, I was big but not the biggest. I would work more technical with a few power moves, I kind of brought that to China.

However, as wrestling is still not mature in China, most wrestlers I work with want to take me off my feet in seconds. Ring psychology is thrown in the garbage a lot of the time here. I was very lenient when I first came to China and was bumping a lot for much smaller guys, and I did not really embrace the big man/monster style. I blame myself that I was out of the game for a few years and was being too kind, maybe naïve. Things changed when another British wrestler (Voodoo) came who had a ton of experience and said to me “What the f**k are you doing? No one should make you bump”. He would then watch every match and lay into me with strict criticism as well as suggestions. He told my opponents that they shouldn’t knock me down right from the bell. I began working a larger man style, which was slower but perfecting the moves that I did. I now work a match with 4 to 5 big moves. I don’t try and punch anymore because I believe if I was to punch a guy who was 150lbs he should be knocked out cleanly. I then notice other promotions wanting to book me. I tried to perfect the military press, which is probably my most over move in wrestling. I notice I have a growing fan base, and majority are Chinese who send me messages complimenting my size, strength as well as my ‘old school’ style.

4. Middle Kingdom Wrestling offers a wide variety of international talent from a long list of different countries, including French, British, Chinese and Taiwanese wrestlers. How important is it to offer such a variety of talent to the audience?

China is now growing in the pro wrestling scene and is attracted a lot of interest. Chinese like wrestlers who look like WWE guys. They like John Cena, The Shield, AJ Styles and even Sheamus. There for, guys from Europe and the USA are well received, especially if they got a bit of mass to their build and an obvious gimmick.

As MKW was starting, we did not have the biggest roster so we tried to work with other promotions to help us get started. One included a local Chinese promotion, China Wrestling Entertainment (CWE) led by The Slam. Ho Ho Lun helped out as well as a Taiwanese wrestler looking for his break and a French wrestling promotion that was on their way to Thailand. Now we have wrestlers from Italy and New Zealand. We all have slightly different styles, which we try to implement. I would say my style if more American than British now.

I personally think it is important to display different styles to keep the product interesting but not go too far from the original product and the idea of professional wrestling. We have been involved in shows that have boxing, MMA, kick-boxing and other combat sports, and pro wrestling have been welcomed to it. This has been good because usually these shows have huge budgets and attract audiences that are easily 1000+. This also shows that the fans want to watch a bit of everything rather than one whole show dedicated to just one sport.

5. Wrestling doesn’t have the strongest history in China. How can Middle Kingdom Wrestling expand and become a top player in the country?

Wrestling is growing, and WWE have taken onboard several Chinese born wrestlers in their training performance center. I have been in China for several years and have witness pro wrestling growing here. I have seen promotions come and go within China as usually they fail as they try to invest too much and lose all their money after several months. MKW has been smarter than most, and is slowly building up and now have their own training center in north China. MKW has tried to make several partnerships with other promotions but have wormed out the ones who don’t want to return the favour when we book and pay their wrestlers. Wrestling industry in China is becoming cut-throat now, so MKW is trying to be fair and work within our means. MKW has many wrestlers from around the world that want to work with them, however, the new strategy is to concentrate on our current product and invest their rather than spend bringing in many wrestlers from overseas like MKW did in the past.

6. Where can fans see you and all other Middle Kingdom Wrestling content?

www.MiddleKingdomWrestling.com

www.Facebook.com/MKWchina

WeChat: MKWrestling

https://www.youtube.com/c/MiddleKingdomWrestling

Wrestle Kingdom XII
Date: January 4, 2018
Location: Tokyo Dome, Tokyo, Japan
Attendance: 34,995
Commentators: Kevin Kelly, Don Callis

It’s that that day of the year (not even time for this show) as we’re at New Japan’s biggest show of the year. The main event is IWGP World Champion Kazuchika Okada defending against former champion Tetsuya Naito in what should be a pretty obvious ending, but the match that has gotten almost all of the attention is a dream match between Kenny Omega vs. Chris Jericho. Not only have they set the match up but they’ve actually done some rather hot angles to help build the thing. Let’s get to it.

Please note that I don’t watch much New Japan. I have a decent idea of what’s going on and do follow the stories and developments, but there’s a good chance that I’m going to miss a thing or two.

Pre-Show: New Japan Rumble

This is a Royal Rumble with one minute intervals and pin/submission/over the top eliminations. Katsuya Kitamura (the reigning Young Lions Cup winner who is in crazy shape) is in at #1 and Bushi is in at #2. Kitamura shakes the ropes to start and is quickly choked in the corner with a shirt. Delirious is in at #3 and comes in after a quick lap around the ring. Some chops have no effect on Kitamura so grunting ensues and Delirious is dropped in the corner. Leo Tonga, a 6’10 monster and the Guerrillas of Destiny’s brother, is in at #4 and grabs a lifting Downward Spiral for two on Kitamura.

Delirious and Bushi trade some kicks until Manabu Nakanishi, a former IWGP World Champion, is in at #5. Nothing of note happens for not (standard battle royal in other words) and Chase Owens (an honorary Tongan) is in at #6 as the intervals are already way out of whack. Owens gives Delirious a quick package piledriver for the first elimination to clear the ring out a bit. Nakanishi has Bushi in a torture rack before tossing him out as Yuji Nagata is in at #7.

Nagata and Nakanishi, current partners, do the old man slugout with the latter getting the better of it. A double pin gets rid of Tonga, Nagata rolls Nakanishi up for a quick pin and Owens/Kitamura get together to pin Nagata in the span of thirty seconds. A package piledriver eliminates Kitamura and it’s Taka Michinoku in at #8 to go one on one with Owens. Since Taka takes forever to get to the ring, Yoshinobu Kanemaru (Taka’s stablemate in Suzuki-Gun) is in at #9 in short order. Owens is double teamed until Desperado, also of Suzuki-Gun, is in at #10.

Chase actually hangs on until a shot of booze to the face is good for an elimination to leave Suzuki-Gun alone in the ring. That should mean a big name coming in and it’s Jushin Thunder Liger in at #11 (with the always awesome theme). Jushin gets in some palm strikes but tries the surfboard for some reason, allowing the triple teaming to start all over. Suzuki-Gun goes for the mask but it’s Tiger Mask in at #12.

Desperado goes for Mask’s mask, only to have Tiger switch places and almost get Desperado’s mask off instead. A tiger driver gets two on Desperado and it’s Gino Gambino, a rather large Australian, is in at #13. Desperado and Tiger lose their masks, which seems to be a double elimination. Liger, Kanemaru and Taka are pinned in short order, leaving Gambino to face Toa Henare, another Young Lion, who is in at #14. A Samoan drop gets two on Gambino as Yoshi-Hashi is in at #15. Hashi chops at Henare for one (Were you expecting anything more off a chop?) and David Finlay is in at #16.

Finlay wastes no time in Stunning Gambino for an elimination. Henare is put out again, leaving Finlay to roll Hashi up for another pin (despite his shoulder being WAY off the mat). Yujiro Takahashi is in at #17 with a rather good looking woman in a leather bunny mask. A clothesline gets rid of Finlay in short order and Takahashi is all alone. Cheeseburger is n at #18 because of course he is. The tiny man gets in a bulldog and a stomp as Satoshi Kojima (quite a legend in his own right) is in at #19.

Yujiro grabs a fisherman’s buster on Kojima but goes after Cheeseburger instead of following up. Hiroyoshi Tenzan, Kojima’s longtime partner, is in at #20. The rapid Mongolian chops have Takahashi in trouble and it’s Masahito Kakihara (a cancer survivor of UWFI fame) in at #21 for the last entrant. A 3D plants Yujiro and a lariat gets rid of him, leaving us with Kakihara, Cheeseburger, Kojima and Tenzan. Kojima shows Cheeseburger how to throw some machine gun chops but he’s smart enough to roll away from a splash.

Back up and Cheeseburger and Kakihara try chops to the chest with Cheeseburger’s having no effect (BECAUSE HE’S REALLY SMALL! LIKE MUCH SMALLER THAN EVERYONE ELSE BUT HE NEVER GIVES UP! DO YOU GET THE IDEA YET???) and a double low bridge eliminate Tenzan and Kojima. A quick STO ends Cheeseburger at 32:06 to give Kakihara the win.

Rating: D+. The ending was a nice touch with Kakihara being a feel good story after his illness. The rest of the match was the usual mess, though this isn’t the kind of match where you’re looking for a big story. People got their stuff in and were able to appear at the show, which is all you can ask for. I wasn’t wild on the multiple instances of people being eliminated in short order but again, that’s not the point in a match like this. It accomplished its goal, despite not being the most thrilling thing in the world.

Post match Kakihara puts on a shirt in honor of Yoshihiro Takayama, who was paralyzed in a match back in May. Cool moment there, especially for a cancer survivor like Kakihara.

The opening video runs the card down. There’s something cool about having the match order announced in advance. I like wondering what order some WWE shows go in but this does help a lot if you’re looking for a single match.

As usual, the Dome looks great with attendance up pretty strongly from last year. That’s always a good sign.

A female announcer seems to welcome us to the show.

IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Titles: Young Bucks vs. Roppongi 3K

3K (Ring of Honor’s Tempura Boyz, Sho and Yoh) is defending and has Rocky Romero in their corner. Nick shoves Yoh around to start and it’s already time for a Sharpshooter attempt (WWE did it so the Bucks can too!). Yoh actually grabs one of his own, drawing in the partners so Matt can put Sho in another Sharpshooter. That means a slap off for a unique spot, followed by 3K popping up for stereo dropkicks.

Romero actually calls a play (which is a further step than you see most managers take), leading to double flip dives to the floor. Yoh comes up with a bad back though and it’s time for a glorified handicap match in the vein of the Bucks vs. Roppongi Vice from last year. Nick dropkicks Sho down and Romero gets powerbombed onto the ramp. Yoh gets thrown inside and then powerbombed onto the apron as the announcers go over the Bucks’ history at the show.

Matt hurts his own back on a dive so it’s Nick stomping on Yoh at a fairly slow pace. A pretty weak backbreaker has Yoh in trouble so Nick takes Yoh to the ramp for a piledriver. Yoh backdrops his way to freedom and Nick dives onto his brother by mistake. The hot tag brings in Sho to clean house with kicks and suplexes. He even German suplexes both Bucks at once in a surprising display of power.

Nick’s superkicks don’t get him very far so it’s a leg lariat which knocks Sho into the ropes, only to have him lariat Nick down. Yoh and Matt have matching back injuries but Matt is still able to powerbomb him into the corner. A hanging DDT with Nick flipping onto Yoh’s back at the same time is good for two and it’s off to the Sharpshooter. Yoh grabs the rope and More Bang For Your Buck is countered into a rollup for two.

We hit stereo half crabs from the champs with Nick having to hold his brother’s arm up. Eventually Nick kicks his hold away to break up the one on Nick and everyone is down. The healthy guys take turns kicking at the bad backs before Nick superkicks Sho down, followed by a corkscrew dive to the floor. Back in and the Meltzer Driver into the Sharpshooter gives the Bucks the belts for the seventh time at 18:49.

Rating: B. I like this version of the Bucks, but unfortunately you don’t see them that often. This team was a lot more crisp and with only a handful of superkicks throughout a nearly twenty minute match, it was far from the usual drek. What I could go for is something slightly fresher than the same stuff they did with Roppongi Vice in at least two matches I’ve seen. It’s not lazy storytelling but rather long form storytelling and in this case they did change things up enough to make it work. A fresh idea is probably needed now, along with someone other than the Bucks and their opponents of the month in the title picture.

Never Openweight Six Man Tag Team Titles: Gauntlet Match

Bad Luck Fale/Guerrillas of Destiny are defending. Two teams start, the winning team keeps going, last team standing leaves with the belts. Suzuki-Gun (Zack Sabre Jr./Taichi/Takashi Iizuka with Desperado, Taka Michinoku and Yoshinobu Kanemaru) and War Machine/Michael Elgin start things off after Iizuka is lead to the ring on a leash. Suzuki-Gun jumps the simply named trio to start but run into the power of Elgin.

Somehow Elgin is still able to slingshot in with a splash for no cover. A not very delayed suplex on Iizuka is enough to bring in Hanson to rake the eyes a bit. Taichi gets in a few shots as well until a cartwheel gets Hanson over to the corner for the hot tag to Rowe. Everything breaks down in a hurry but Rowe misses a moonsault. Sabre grabs a quick triangle choke and Rowe is choked out at 6:05.

Next up are Beretta, Toru Yano and Tomohiro Ishii and the brawl is on in the aisle. They get in with the beating only lasting a few seconds until Yano gets in a low blow and rolls Taichi for the pin at 9:12 (including the time between falls). Next up is Taguchi Japan, consisting of Togi Makabe, Ryusuke Taguchi and Juice Robinson.

The brawl is on in a hurry with Robinson firing off right hands but having to catch the turnbuckle pad that Yano unhooked. Makabe runs over Yano with a lariat for two and now it’s everyone clotheslining Yano in the corner. A springboard hip attack gets two and Makabe runs more people over. Taguchi channels Shinsuke Nakamura with the gyrating before a running knee, only to charge into a rollup to give Yano his second straight pin at 14:06.

That leaves us with Bad Luck Fale and the Guerrillas of Destiny to complete the field and again the fight is on in a hurry. Tonga Loa gives Trent an AA on the apron but Fale misses a splash in the corner, meaning a hot tag can bring in Ishii to do what a monster is supposed to do. He can’t lift the huge Fale though and that earns him a big splash in the corner. A chokeslam is broken up and Ishii headbutts him backwards, followed by an impressive suplex.

The Guerrillas come back in and hit Guerrilla Warfare on Beretta. Instead of covering though, they try a belly to back superplex but get elbowed away. Beretta isn’t out of the woods yet though as he moonsaults right into a cutter for a very near fall. Fale and Ishii clothesline each other down but Beretta hits a quick Dudebuster to pin Loa for the titles at 21:46.

Rating: C-. I’m never a fan of gauntlet matches for the most part as there’s too much going on in too little time, which mainly means nothing has the chance to build or really go anywhere. They did manage to make Beretta look like a resilient fighter by making a comeback at the end, which helps push him up the heavyweight ranks, but that’s really the only thing that made an impact here. It’s not bad or anything but too much going on and too many people.

Ticket info for the Long Beach event is released tomorrow. That’s cool to see but they still need to do a lot more if they want to really expand into America (which isn’t exactly necessary).

Cody vs. Kota Ibushi

Not much of a story here, though there’s a good chance that it’s designed to help build Ibushi for an eventual mega match against former partner Kenny Omega. Cody has Brandi (sweet goodness) with him and still has the bleach blond hair. After Cody puts his ring in a box, we’re ready to go.

Cody’s headlock is countered with a nip up so Cody flips him off. That’s not the nicest gesture in the world and Ibushi is so disgusted that he gets caught in an American Nightmare lock. Ibushi makes the rope and Callis is wondering why he didn’t have that better scouted. Fair question actually as Callis shows how to be an intelligent commentator.

Cody gets sent outside and Brandi is down so Ibushi checks on her, only to be suckered into a right hand. Back in and the Disaster Kick starts working on Ibushi’s always bad neck and we hit a double underhook neck crank. Brandi takes Kevin’s chair and distracts the referee so Cody can get in some shots to the neck.

Despite that likely KILLING IBUSHI, he’s back up and hitting a moonsault press to the floor to take Cody down again. Back in and Kota’s rapid strikes into a standing moonsault gets two. Brandi grabs the foot to break up a suplex though (Callis: “She’s been watching her Bobby Heenan footage!”) and Cody hits Cross Rhodes off the apron to drop Ibushi HARD onto his head in a great looking crash. Somehow Ibushi beats the count so Cody hits his own springboard hurricanrana for a very close two.

Cross Rhodes is countered though and Ibushi lawn darts him into the buckle. Ibushi can’t follow up so they slap it out with Kota getting the better of it, setting up the sitout Last Ride for two more. A hard lariat (staying on the neck) gives Cody two and a straitjacket German suplex gives Ibushi the same. He doesn’t let go though, instead kneeing the heck out of Cody. The Phoenix splash is good for the academic pin on Cody at 16:08.

Rating: B. Another well done match here as Ibushi fought through the neck injury (with Cody focusing on the neck almost the entire time) and coming out on top at the end. That’s a great way to set up the eventual match against Omega and hopefully Ibushi gets a great run out of this. He’s incredibly smooth in the ring and that makes the matches very easy to watch. Good stuff here as you could get a sense of what they were going for, which is hard in any wrestling match.

IWGP Tag Team Titles: Evil/Sanada vs. Killer Elite Squad

Evil and Sanada are challenging after winning the World Tag League last year. Lance Archer (partner of Davey Boy Smith Jr.) is a cowboy so a lot of beer is sprayed over the crowd. The champs jump them to start and a Killer Bomb (full nelson slam into a sitout powerbomb) gets a very early two on Evil (as in less than fifteen seconds in). Evil is basically dead so Archer pounds away, allowing Davey to get two while posing.

That’s enough for the Squad as they head outside and beat up the young boys for fun. Archer chokeslams Evil onto everyone else before taking Sanada back in for a headscissors of all things. A side slam/middle rope splash gets two and Archer just blasts Sanada with a clothesline. Sanada dropkicks Davey in the knee but it’s still not enough for the hot tag off to Davey as Lance makes the save. The announcers declare this over so get the new nameplates ready for the belts.

Archer’s Rock Bottom gets two but he charges into a hurricanrana. The hot tag FINALLY brings Evil in for some clotheslines with the third finally taking Archer down. Smith misses his middle rope moonsault (because of course he can do one of those and land on his feet) but Sanada gets chokeslammed for two. Another Killer Bomb gets the same but Evil breaks up a third attempt. Archer gets sent outside and the Magic Killer gets two on Davey. A quick moonsault press puts Davey away to give us new champions at 13:17.

Rating: B-. Good come from behind win here as Evil (what a name for a face) and Sanada are good as the plucky rag dolls who get destroyed but still manage to come back in the end. The Squad looked awesome here and I was into their heel act, which really wasn’t something I was expecting coming in. Good match here and while it’s a step beneath some of the stuff on the show tonight, another solid performance and a title change that makes sense.

Never Openweight Title: Hirooki Goto vs. Minoru Suzuki

Suzuki is defending, no seconds allowed and hair/title vs. hair, which never sounds fair whatsoever. I’ve never gotten much out of Suzuki so hopefully this is an upgrade. Goto walks into a shot to the face to start but comes back with one of his own to get us back to even. An early standing choke doesn’t get Suzuki very far so he grabs another while standing on the second rope. That’s enough to bring the doctor in, only to have Suzuki clear the ring again.

Goto is sent outside which seems to wake him up, meaning Suzuki can hit him in the back with a chair because he feels like it. For some reason Goto decides to roll back in and a hard forearm to the head cuts him off again. A running knee in the corner rocks Goto but a running kick to the chest is caught….so Suzuki hits him in the head again. Goto does manage a spinwheel kick in the corner and a bulldog, followed by a Saito suplex for two.

Suzuki grabs his choke again but keeps trying the Gotch Style piledriver. Instead Goto reverses into a fireman’s carry backbreaker so here’s Suzuki-Gun to interfere (standard operating procedure). Goto fights them off but walks into a hard dropkick to keep Suzuki in control. A long series of rapid fire strikes to the face sets up the choke again but Suzuki again opts for the piledriver.

Goto reverses that as well but gets caught in a guillotine choke with Suzuki standing on the ropes. That’s reversed into a super fireman’s carry backbreaker for two (fair enough as the ropes didn’t really add anything) so Goto headbutts the heck out of him. The GTR (an Eye of the Hurricane onto the knee) is enough to end Suzuki at 18:04.

Rating: C+. I’m still not a fan of this beating each other up and hitting each other over and over until one of you can’t stand up anymore style. It’s never been my thing and it probably never will be. Goto is more interesting than Suzuki so I can get behind the title change, but at the same time I could have gone for a slightly different story than repeating what we saw in the previous match: champion completely overpowers the challenger until a few well timed shots give him an opening. It felt like the same layout in back to back matches and that’s a bit annoying.

Suzuki is carried away by his guys but walks back to the ring for the haircut, which he does himself in humiliation.

Ads for upcoming shows.

IWGP Junior Heavyweight Title: Will Ospreay vs. Kushida vs. Hiromu Takahashi vs. Marty Scurll

One fall to a finish and Scurll is defending. These four have been the only champions since November 2016 so there are a lot of stories tied together in the whole thing. Scurll and Ospreay are mortal enemies, Takahashi had Kushida’s number (though Kushida finally beat him to win the title back) and Ospreay took the title from Kushida a few months back. Marty comes out with WINGS for a heck of an entrance. The champ heads outside to start so it’s Ospreay flipping over Kushida to start.

Kushida flips over into a dropkick for two with Marty running in for the save. Back up and Ospreay moonsaults in to kick Scurll and Kushida down at the same time. Everyone heads outside with Ospreay climbing the set and moonsaulting down onto the other three. Back in and Kushida catches Ospreay’s springboard in a cross armbreaker but Ospreay comes back in to grab the chickenwing.

Kushida slaps the Hoverboard Lock on Takahashi at the same time and it’s a game of chicken (Wing?). It’s Scurll letting go of Ospreay to make the save with a superkick to Kushida. Back up and everyone hits everyone really hard for the four way knockdown. They strike it out from their knees until Ospreay kicks Scurll down, only to have the Oscutter countered into the chickenwing.

That’s broken up as well and Takahashi suplexes Kushida into the corner. Kushida gets caught upside down in the corner for a superkick (called the Chicky Nandos kick, a case where I doubt I want the backstory), followed by Ospreay going up. His shooting star is countered into a cutter though and Scurll gets two off a Last Shot. The Oscutter gets the same on Ospreay and Scurll heads outside to tape Takahashi to the barricade. He throws in a finger break, only to have Kushida and Ospreay break fingers on both of his hands.

Kushida triangles Ospreay but gets lifted up and powerbombed into the corner for his efforts. Now it’s Scurll grabbing some powder to blind Kushida, who is still able to hit the small package driver for two with Ospreay diving off the top for the save. Takahashi has somehow gotten free and catches Ospreay in a German suplex, followed by running sunset bombs to Ospreay and Scurll. The Time Bomb gets two on Scurll but it’s Ospreay coming in for the save.

Ospreay and Scurll take turns kicking the heck out of Takahashi and Kushida, only to have Takahashi missile dropkick Ospreay for two. Now it’s Kushida back up with a running sunset bomb on Takahashi. Ospreay hits an imploding 450 for two on Takahashi but a Time Bomb gets the same with Scurll making the save. Some umbrella shots have the challengers in trouble but the Oscutter takes Scurll down for the pin and the title at 21:22.

Rating: A-. Like I said, there were a lot of stories in this match and Ospreay FINALLY beating Scurll was probably the biggest of them all. On top of that this was a heck of a fight with all four stealing the spotlight for at least a little while. Ospreay looked awesome here and was only a few steps ahead of the other three. There’s not much to say here, other than they were rocking the house and that’s what a match like this was supposed to do.

We recap (first time tonight) Hiroshi Tanahashi defending the Intercontinental Title against Jay White. Jay had been a Young Lion who left on his foreign excursion (mainly to Ring of Honor, where I was a big fan) and returned in November at Power Struggle. White talked about watching Tanahashi for years and now he wants to prove himself against the best. He attacked Tanahashi and received a title shot, which is about as simple as you can get. Tanahashi is older now (41) and banged up but he’s still one of the best the company has.

Intercontinental Title: Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Jay White

Tanahashi is defending. White has a cool entrance with a knife falling on the ground to play up his Switchblade moniker. They fight over arm control to start and it’s an early standoff with Tanahashi throwing in some air guitar. Not only will he wrestle you, but he’ll throw in some musical entertainment. Usually that costs more. A forearm White down but he gets in a shot to the knee to really take over for the first time.

The knee is wrapped around the barricade to make things even worse. Back in and Tanahashi has to fight from his back so White can pretty easily slap on something like an Indian deathlock. Kelly starts talking about Tanahashi’s history at this show as the basic leg work continues. Tanahashi finally escapes and hits a dragon screw legwhip for a breather, followed by a middle rope Swanton for two.

The Sling Blade misses but Tanahashi is right back on the leg to keep White at bay. A high crossbody to the floor drops White again but he’s right back up with a German suplex inside. White hits a brainbuster (not really) onto the apron before driving some knees into the corner (White: “Is this the Ace? Is this the Ace?”). Tanahashi’s comeback is countered with a suplex into the corner for two as frustration is starting to set in.

A twist of White’s knee takes him down this time but he catches Tanahashi on top. That just earns him a super swinging neckbreaker (Twist and Shout), followed by back to back Sling Blades for two. The High Fly Flow misses and the knee is banged up again. White’s Kiwi Crusher gets two but the Switchblade (looked like Sister Abigail) is countered into a dragon suplex for two more. High Fly Flow is good enough to end White at 19:44.

Rating: B-. You kind of knew they weren’t going to have Tanahashi lose three straight Wrestle Kingdom matches so the ending isn’t the biggest surprise. That being said, the idea of pulling the trigger on White seemed very, very intriguing though I get why they couldn’t go through with the title change.

However, this was little more than average with White’s offense not being anything impressive (he has a very solid look and presence though and the offense certainly wasn’t bad) and Tanahashi never feeling like he was in any serious danger. The Crusher only getting two and barely being treated as a near fall didn’t bode well and while the match was good, it was nothing compared to what Tanahashi has done in the past.

We recap the real main event of Chris Jericho vs. Kenny Omega. Basically Omega needed a top opponent and Jericho appeared in 2017, challenging him to a match. They’ve attacked each other in recent weeks and there’s actually a lot of hype for the match. Jericho used to wrestle in New Japan before he went to WCW so this is a homecoming in a way. But yeah, the entire story here is “Jericho vs. Omega.” Does it need to be anything else? Omega’s US Title is on the line and it’s about as important as Ric Flair’s Intercontinental Title when he fought HHH in a cage at Taboo Tuesday 2005.

IWGP US Title: Chris Jericho vs. Kenny Omega

No DQ, Jericho is challenging and he brought the light up jacket to Japan. His hair has also grown out a bit and is now close to what it was looking like back in 2004/5, which isn’t the best idea in the world. Instead of the Terminator, Omega has what looks to be a Loki helmet and a big freaking gun, along with the Young Bucks at his side. Not that they matter as they’re ejected almost immediately in a good idea.

Jericho jumps him during the entrances and shoves the young boys out of the way. They immediately slug it out with Omega getting the better of it and hammering away on the mat. Jericho grabs the referee for a cheap shot and chops away as Callis is WAY more excited than he….eh never mind. An early Walls attempt sends Omega to the ropes and for some reason the referee breaks it up. Know the rules chum.

Omega baseball slides him over the barricade but the big springboard dive only hits table for a great looking crash. Jericho grabs the Walls on the floor and shoves the referee before putting a young boy (referee’s son for a nice touch) in the Walls as well. A monitor shot cuts Jericho off but he knocks Omega again. Jericho: “ALPHA!” Nice touch to play up that Alpha vs. Omega idea.

Speaking of Omega, he puts a table on top of Jericho and climbs a structure for a double stomp as the announcers try to figure out if they’re on the air. Both guys beat the count back in and Jericho’s springboard dropkick to the knee cuts off Omega’s springboard. Jericho heads back outside and sets up a table. The powerbomb is initially blocked so Jericho powerbombs him on the floor instead. Hang on as Jericho stops to grab a camera for some shots (as in photos), including some of his flipping off the fans.

Back in and a chair is wedged in the corner but Jericho goes with the Lionsault for a delayed two instead. One heck of a clothesline puts Jericho back on the floor and there’s the big flip dive to take Jericho down again. Omega scores with the V Trigger but the snap dragon is reversed into the ropes. This time Omega goes to the corner but grabs the cold spray stored there to blind Jericho for the escape. The blind Jericho is still able to send Omega head first into the corner, meaning it’s time to stop for some posing. That gets some great heat from the crowd and Jericho sending Omega into the chair again makes things even better.

Omega is busted and you know Jericho is going to follow up on that. A snap dragon gets Omega out of trouble but it’s way too early (despite being twenty two minutes in) for the One Winged Angel. Another chair shot puts Omega down and some not great shots to the back keep him in trouble. Omega has to pull himself up and Jericho is nearly reveling in his pain. Jericho takes too long going up though and a V Trigger knocks Jericho off the top and through the table.

Back in and Omega knees the heck out of him, followed by a double underhook piledriver for a close two. The One Winged Angel is countered into another Walls and then the Liontamer for some extra mustard. Omega crawls over to the ropes and Jericho lets go with no orders from the ref. Two more V Triggers into the One Winged Angel is good for two with Jericho grabbing the rope.

Back up and Jericho is dropped face first onto the top turnbuckle but comes back with a Codebreaker for a delayed near fall. For some reason Jericho decides to lay a chair on Omega, who pops up with a shot to the back. The One Winged Angel onto the chair is enough to finish Jericho off at 34:36.

Rating: C-. And that didn’t work. Between the really stupid rope breaks (Jericho yelled about them earlier and then just let it happen twenty five minutes later), the lack of any, you know, wrestling, the V Triggers going all over the place and Omega not knowing how to do more than about five moves while being treated as some kind of wrestling deity, this was nowhere near as good as it should have been. I’m sure the “real” wrestling fans will drool over the whole thing without seeing what’s right in front of them because they don’t want to look at the actual details. Maybe Jericho can have one more WWE run, but this didn’t help things.

To really sum up the problem with the whole thing, you had Kevin Kelly telling the critics of Kenny Omega where they could go. It’s the standard slurping of the overrated guy who really isn’t as great as he’s built up to be, but that’s almost the case for Japan. Let me guess: 94.75 stars, which will be debated for years because some people saw it as 94.25 stars while King Dave chuckles the whole time? I give it four toasters out of ten lobster specials. Does that count?

Omega is helped out and looked happier than he ever has been over his win.

We recap the IWGP World Title match. Tetsuya Naito won the 2017 G1 Climax Tournament to earn this shot and I think I’ve typed enough now to sell the idea that I gave my actual thoughts on the previous match and wasn’t just putting that to see how many heads I could get to explode. Jericho vs. Omega was an A- with two guys beating the heck out of each other for about five minutes longer than they should have but it was still a blast. They hid Jericho’s physical limitations very well (dude is 47) and had a great match with some nuclear heat (almost Lana levels) from the crowd. Anyway, to continue the charade for those who don’t pay attention: Okada has held the title for a year and the guard needs changing.

IWGP World Title: Kazuchika Okada vs. Tetsuya Naito

Okada is defending but Naito comes out rocking that white suit as only he can. The champ’s entrance shows him flipping a gold coin and walking away, though I’m more curious about why the Japanese title has English writing on its plates. Okada is also wrestling in long pants (not tights) which is a look I’ve never seen from him before. The fans are WAY into this from the bell and the dueling chants begin.

No contact in the first minute and Naito backs up from a lockup attempt. Okada finally gets to him just under two minutes in but Naito dropkicks the knee. Some armdrags have Naito in trouble but he lands in his signature pose for a nice touch. We hit the stall button as you have to guess they have a ton of time here.

Kelly talks about betting sites having the over/under for this match at five stars. As my eyes roll back into my head, I catch a glimpse of Naito elbowing him in the head to take over but getting dropkicked off the top and out to the floor. Ok so my eyes roll rather slowly. Naito comes right back with a neckbreaker over the barricade (Okada has had a bad neck for the better part of a year) but the champ is back in before the twenty count. A missile dropkick gets two and Naito hammers on the head to work over the neck some more.

We hit the cravate to keep the champ in trouble but Okada throws him down and nips up. Okada nails a hanging DDT off the barricade but charges into a reverse DDT onto the knee. A flapjack cuts Naito off again as they’re kind of doing the Bret vs. Shawn formula from Wrestlemania XII with Bret having a planned offense to pick Shawn apart but Shawn making up whatever he’s doing on the fly because he’s just that naturally talented.

It’s WAY too early for the Rainmaker so Okada settles for a cobra clutch instead. Naito can’t flip him away but he can get his foot on the ropes (and now, it actually makes sense). Back up and Naito hits a hanging neckbreaker, followed by a super reverse hurricanrana for the first near fall. A corkscrew moonsault only hits mat though and both guys are down. The battle of the forearms goes to Naito and a Liger kick staggers the champ.

There’s a flying forearm (hey Naito is supposed to be Shawn) but Okada breaks up a superplex. He misses a missile dropkick though and Naito has another opening….which is rapidly closed by a Rainmaker for two. Kelly: “Naito kicked out of the Rainmaker!” Well duh. I mean, it’s the Wrestle Kingdom main event and there’s the whole it’s just a clothesline issue. The tombstone is countered into Destino but Naito is too spent to cover. The slow slugout from their knees goes to a draw so they slug it out on their feet instead.

A hard slap puts Okada down and something like a swinging neckbreaker gets two. Destino is countered into another Rainmaker but Okada picks him up instead of covering. That means another Destino for another two and we keep going. The dropkick into the tombstone looks to set up another Rainmaker but Naito reverses into Destino. He won’t cover though and tries another Destino, only to be reversed into the tombstone. Another Rainmaker actually retains the title at 36:37.

Rating: B+. Uh….ok then. I would have thought this was the biggest layup of the show but Okada winning does have some potential. The key thing here is that while Omega and Naito have failed, whoever finally DOES beat Okada is going to be the biggest kingslayer of all time. It’s an interesting way to go, though it’s also quite risky.

The match itself was quite good, though I really wasn’t feeling some of the drama near the end. I think given how much it seemed Naito was a lock to take the title here, a lot of the near falls didn’t really get me interested. There were some good counters and Naito’s neck stuff all made sense, but it wasn’t up to the highest level in the world. That doesn’t mean it’s not great (it’s just barely into the great level but it’s there) but it needed a little more to get there. Very good match, just lacking some of the emotion that it needed.

Gedo yells at Naito as he stumbles up the ramp. Okada says something to Naito, which seems to be about respect. The champ addresses the fans and since I have no idea what’s being said and since no one translates it, we’ll wrap things up here with me assuming Gedo gave a recipe for Mexican spaghetti while telling Okada they need to buy Christmas ribbons while they’re on sale. Okada likely sang the Kenan and Kel theme song.

Overall Rating: A-. As usual, it’s a heck of a show but this one felt like it was lacking something here and there. The main events were both very strong and there were some other outstanding matches up and down the card. The energy was great throughout and above all else (maybe), the show really didn’t feel that long. This might be the first time I’ve ever knocked the whole thing out in a day and I never felt like it was going on forever, which is almost always the case.

There are some minor problems with the show, including a lack of much feeling like it mattered. The three top titles all stayed with their original holders and there’s really no one fresh left to challenge Okada (you can imagine Omega and Naito getting more shots but we’ve covered both of them rather recently). Ospreay is probably the biggest title change and he held the title as recently as November. Bushi and Evil winning was a cool moment, though I’d hope you can have something a bit more impactful than new Tag Team Champions. Have one of those three big titles change hands and the show feels more important.

Overall, the show was a lot of fun but I don’t think it’s going to be up there on the list of all time greatest Wrestle Kingdoms. There’s a lot of stuff that felt like it was built up to be big but was there to move us forward to something else. That’s not to say it’s a bad idea, though I’d kind of like something to actually feel important at the biggest show of the year. It’s worth seeing, as long as you realize that it’s been done better before.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the Monday Nitro and Thunder Reviews Volume VI: July – December 1999 in e-book or paperback. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2017/11/22/new-book-kbs-monday-nitro-and-thunder-reviews-volume-vi/

And check out my Amazon author page with cheap wrestling books at:

http://www.amazon.com/Thomas-Hall/e/B00E6282W6