Lucha Underground – July 19, 2017: How Rudo of Him
Lucha Underground Date: July 19, 2017 Location: Lucha Underground Temple, Boyle Heights, California Commentators: Vampiro, Matt Striker
It’s another night of the Cueto Cup as we’re getting closer to the quarterfinals. The wrestling is starting to get better too as we have more matches worth watching between talents who have chances to win the whole thing. We should also be in for some more build towards Rey Mysterio vs. Johnny Mundo. Let’s get to it.
We open with the now regular recap of the Cueto Cup so far, including some of the wrestlers in action tonight.
Prince Puma is on the roof and looking nervous. Vampiro comes up and says the only way to get rid of the memories is to become the champion again. Puma has flashbacks to facing Johnny Mundo and calls Vampiro his master.
Cueto Cup Second Round: Cage vs. Pindar
The referee wants Cage to take off the gauntlet so Cage drops him for a DQ before the match ever started. Cage beats up Pindar for fun. This makes sense as they had to have a way to get rid of Cage without beating him so this was their best option.
Cueto Cup Second Round: Dante Fox vs. Son of Havoc
Hang on a second as Son of Madness jumps Havoc from behind and chokes him down. A shot to the head with a chain knocks Havoc even sillier but Dario Cueto comes out and says fight or be out of the tournament. Naturally Havoc is ready to go and the bell rings after a break. Fox knocks him outside for a running flip dive over the post.
A guillotine legdrop over the apron gets two but Dante misses a dive and gets sent hard into the barricade. Back in and a jumping knee to the head gives Havoc two. Striker calls Havoc the diesel fueled maniac of the open road and even Vampiro isn’t sure what to make of him.
The Foxcatcher is broken up and Havoc bounces off the ropes into a cutter for two. A Death Valley Driver is broken up and something like a C4 2000 gives Dante two of his own. They slug it out on the apron and a Death Valley Driver/AA (somewhere in between) to the floor knocks Fox silly. The shooting star, nearly to the middle of the ring, misses and the Foxcatcher sends Dante to the next round at 9:12.
Rating: C+. Fox has some skills but I can only get so much out of the ex-military guy. These guys beat on each other for a good while and it was nice to see Havoc get a pass on the loss. I’m not wild on seeing Havoc vs. Madness again but the backstory could carry it far enough, especially around here, where such a thing could actually work for a change.
Johnny Mundo has hired an agent (Benjamin Cooke) for the Worldwide Underground. PJ Black comes in and we get a pretty solid speech from Benjamin about how far the team could go with the right representation. We’re talking cereal boxes here.
Cueto Cup Second Round: PJ Black vs. Prince Puma
They fight over the arms to start with Puma actually using the ropes for the break. How rudo of him. Back up and one heck of a right hand staggers Black and some rollups give Puma two. A monkey flip doesn’t work though and we wind up with a standoff. That’s fine with Puma who sends Black to the floor and stops for some posing.
A running kick to the back of Black’s head keeps him in trouble and Puma stomps a bit of a mudhole in the corner. You can hear the pride in Vampiro’s voice too, making him all the better of a choice for an evil boss. Black grabs a seated dragon suplex but Puma slips out without too much trouble.
That’s fine with Black who cranks on the arm before going with a hard shot to the head to drop Puma again. It’s off to an abdominal stretch to turn things a bit more simple but Puma slips out again. Puma heads up top for a clothesline, followed by a rolling DDT and a standing shooting star for two. A cutter into a belly to back gets the same but Puma is a bit spent. Now it’s Black coming back with something like a Dominator (the Wellness Policy because making fun of WWE is funny) for two of his own.
They slug it out with Puma getting the better of it, capped off by a northern lights suplex for two. Black kicks him in the face and gets two off a top rope Lionsault. He gets crotched on top though, allowing Puma to hit a reverse super hurricanrana for a near fall of his own. A shotgun dropkick sets up the 630 to finally put Black away at 15:53.
Rating: B+. Yep. Now that’s a lot more like it with the kind of match that makes Lucha Underground work so well. These two were beating the heck out of each other and trading big spots until one of them couldn’t get up. Puma is looking like a world beater in this tournament and him looking stronger is a good thing for the promotion. Really solid match here.
Black comes into Dario’s office and is told that Cooke has already set him up with another match. Next week, Black gets Rey Mysterio. He leaves and Cooke calls Dario again, causing him to throw his phone in the trash.
Overall Rating: B. I had a lot of fun with this and it was flying by. This tournament needed a match like Black vs. Puma and it was one of the more entertaining matches they’ve put on in a good while. It’s also nice to have them add something else to the card besides just the tournament matches as you can only get so far doing one story per show. Good show this week though, which the show needs a lot more of at this point.
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Lucha Underground – July 5, 2017: Something About Me Forgetting to Post This Again
Lucha Underground Date: July 5, 2017 Location: Lucha Underground Temple, Boyle Heights, California Commentators: Vampiro, Matt Striker
It’s the final night of the first round of the Cueto Cup tournament, meaning next week we can start finding out who might make a run in this thing. First though, we need to have the EVIL TWIN story, which could mean almost anything around here. Alternate dimensions certainly aren’t out of the question and I really don’t know what to think about that. Let’s get to it.
We recap Dante Fox vs. Killshot, who were soldiers together in Afghanistan.
Fox is out for a jog and has a flashback. Killshot left Fox during a battle, resulting in Fox being captured and tortured. Now he’s here for revenge.
Cueto Cup First Round: Sexy Star vs. PJ Black
Black takes her down by the hand to start and lifts her up by the arm without too much effort. Back up and a delayed headscissors drops Black, only to have her guillotine countered into a suplex. Black heads up top and gets pulled down with a hurricanrana, followed by a big shove to send him off the top again. Cue Taya to throw in some brass knuckles, only to have Star take them away and lay Black out for the DQ at 4:16.
Rating: D. I’m really sick of Sexy Star, even though she hasn’t been around for weeks now. Her character of someone who has survived so much stuff really isn’t clicking and I have no desire to watch almost anything she does. It’s like they just threw a woman out there, gave her a story and expect her to be a big deal with nothing else thrown in. As is the case with anyone in wrestling, that’s just not the case.
Star decks the referee with the knuckles too.
Another Rey Mysterio vs. Johnny Mundo video, which actually have me wanting to see the match. It’s almost like talking about a match for weeks is a good way to hype something up instead of just airing it an hour after it’s announced. Rey says he’s doing this for the people who have supported him while Johnny says he’s winning because he’s the best. Mundo: “I’m the best right now so deal with it. Suck it Rey.”
Cueto Cup First Round: Son of Havoc vs. Son of Madness
Madness seems to be Havoc’s twin, though their names alone would suggest that they’re not brothers. Pay attention people. Havoc goes right at him in the aisle and sends him into the barricade. They head inside for the first time as Vampiro explains the biker culture. Madness dives into a kick to the face but takes his vest off to throw at Havoc. Apparently that means a lot but I’d be more worried about who can rip off Sons of Anarchy more next.
They trade missed clotheslines in the corner until Havoc is sent outside for a dive to the floor. Back in and Havoc slugs away and gets two off a spinning springboard crossbody. Madness gets the same off something like a Jackhammer They head to the top with Havoc snapping him throat first across the top rope, only to miss the shooting star. Instead a rollup ends Madness at 8:50.
Rating: B-. Good high flying match here and I’m sure it’s going to be something a bit, longer than this would suggest. As long as it’s nothing like the Aces and 8’s nonsense (oh was it nonsense) then this could be an interesting story. Havoc is a popular enough guy to make almost anything work so maybe he can get this over too.
Post match Madness kicks Havoc in the mask and takes his vest. Again, this seems to be a big deal, or at least so Vampiro says.
Cueto Cup First Round: Prince Puma vs. Ricky Mandel
Mandel is the Johnny Mundo fanboy and billed as interning with the Worldwide Underground. Before the match, Mantel uses Mundo’s catchphrases and gets kicked in the face to open things up. Puma suplexes him for two and hits another running kick to the face. A spinning piledriver ends Mandel at 1:14. Puma never even took his hoodie off.
Mysterio gives El Dragon Azteca Jr. a pep talk. Azteca wants to win the tournament and get a title shot. Puma comes in to say the same, much to Azteca’s annoyance.
We look at next week’s second round matches.
Cueto Cup First Round: El Dragon Azteca Jr. vs. Dante Fox
Mysterio is in Dragon’s corner. Dragon chops away in the corner to start and springboards in with a crossbody for no cover. Back up and Dragon slides to the floor for no apparent reason, setting up a suicide dive and another dive off the top. A guillotine legdrop to the apron gets two on Fox as Vampiro compares Fox to Marvin Hagler. Dragon takes him outside again and sends him head first into the barricade, followed by a whip to do the same with his back.
Back in and Dragon loads up something flashy but has to settle for a regular legdrop instead. A running C4 gives Fox two of his own, only to have Azteca hit a regular C4 of his own for two. They trade basement dropkicks and both guys are down again. Cue Taya to go after Mysterio, earning herself a dropkick. Mundo himself runs in and powerbombs Rey into the barricade, setting up a beatdown from the entire Worldwide Underground. Azteca dives outside for a save and dives back in to the Foxcatcher (inverted DDT) for the pin at 9:06.
Rating: C+. This was a bit too choreographed for my taste but it’s a good idea to have Mundo vs. Mysterio happening in the arena for a change. The videos are great but there’s only so much you’re going to get out of them. Azteca losing could go somewhere, even though he hasn’t been around much lately.
Overall Rating: B-. I liked this show again but it’s nothing to write home about. Above all else though, it’s nice to have the first round already over. We should be able to wrap the thing up in a few more weeks, though I’m not sure how long it can go without putting some other stuff together besides just the title match. Good enough show but the first round needed to end when it did.
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Lucha Underground – July 12, 2017: Battle of the Best
Lucha Underground Date: July 12, 2017 Location: Lucha Underground Temple, Boyle Heights, California Commentators: Vampiro, Matt Striker
It’s time for the second round of the Cueto Cup as we’re down to sixteen names. Hopefully that means the end of the squashes which dominated so much of the first round. You can probably guess the winner fairly easily but it’s nice to have some good matches along the way. Let’s get to it.
We open with a recap of the tournament and some first round matches.
Cueto Cup Second Round: Jeremiah Crane vs. Taya
Taya turns up the sex appeal to land an early slap but Crane does the same, minus the sex appeal that is. That sends Taya outside for a suicide elbow, followed by a run around the ring for a flip dive to drive Taya through a chair. Back up and Taya knocks him off the barricade for a dive of her own.
She hammers on Crane back inside, followed by a running boot in the corner as Striker is losing his mind here despite it not being that big of a deal. A series of strikes to the head drops Taya again but she plants him with a tornado DDT for two of her own. Cue Sexy Star for a distraction though and it’s Cranial Contusion to send Crane to the next round at 6:25.
Rating: C. They were beating the heck out of each other here and it was nice to see Taya getting in some offense and hanging in there with Crane for a bit but there’s only so far that she’s going to be able to take something like this. At least Crane can get in a big fight in the quarterfinals and move on from here.
Post match Star knocks Taya out with brass knuckles.
Fenix and Aero Star talk about Drago leaving to join the Reptile Tribe. Aero Star, a time traveler, bets on Fenix, who doesn’t find that exactly fair.
Cueto Cup Second Round: Mil Muertes vs. Paul London
London starts dancing to start as we hear about his time in Ring of Honor with Striker mentioning specific matches. After over a minute of walking around, London gets thrown into the corner, meaning it’s time to head outside for a chase. The fans are entirely behind Muertes here as he unloads on London and throws him around with ease. Ten shoulders to the ribs have London in even more trouble but he snaps Muertes’ throat across the top.
That’s fine with Mil, who sends London into the barricade for a crash. A string of superkicks that would make the Young Bucks tell you to turn it down staggers Muertes and a top rope double stomp to the back puts him down again. The swinging chokeslam drops London though but the Rabbit Tribe comes in for a distraction. London gets two off a middle rope shooting star but it’s a spear and the Flatliner to end Paul at 9:29.
Rating: C+. Much like the first match, it was entertaining but did anyone http://onhealthy.net/product-category/erectile-dysfunction/ really buy another ending? London was certainly game here though and that helps a lot, even if there was no way around anything Muertes had for him. Muertes has to be a favorite in this thing but whoever beats him will get a heck of a rub.
Post match London gets the Lick of Death, which he seemed to enjoy. The fans even call him lucky.
Brenda hits on Texano, who buys her a drink. She calls him boring so he breaks a beer bottle in his hand. A woman’s touch could fix that though and Texano smiles.
Cueto Cup Second Round: Fenix vs. Marty Martinez
Melissa Santos still seems to have a crush on Fenix. Marty creepily rubs his stomach but gets dropped as things speed up. Fenix ducks a charge to send him outside for a kick to the face and a running flip dive. Mariposa offers a distraction though and Marty kicks him down, sending Melissa into a bit of fear.
Back in and we hit the chinlock with Marty ripping at the mask a bit. Fenix gets up and hits a good looking (and loud) running kick to the face in the corner, followed by a double stomp for two. A spring flipping moonsault misses though and Marty kicks him in the face for his own near fall.
Marty flips him forward into something like a Codebreaker (cool move) for two more but Fenix gets in a superkick. Mariposa grabs some kind of box that Marty brought with him but, for perhaps the first time ever, Melissa gets physical and blocks the shot, freaking the crowd out even more. The distraction lets Fenix grab a hurricanrana for the pin at 10:19.
Rating: C+. This was more about the storytelling and anything that involved me getting to see more of Melissa Santos, the better. She and Fenix could be interesting and having Marty and Mariposa around to antagonize them should help a lot as well. The match was good too, especial with Fenix flying all over the place like he does.
Post match Marty hits him with the box and pulls out a fork to carve up Fenix’s head as Melissa is forced to watch. Marty even licks the blood to be extra creepy.
Overall Rating: B. Now that’s more what I was looking for. This show featured bigger matches that felt like showdowns and I’m curious to see where some of these matches are going to go. We should have the final eight set up in two weeks and then the tournament finals three to four weeks later. They’re getting through this tournament fairly fast and that’s a good thing. Solid show here and better than the first round stuff.
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NJPW G1 Special in USA Night Two: The Omega of the Alpha
NJPW G1 Special in USA Night Two Date: July 2, 2017 Location: Long Beach Convention and Entertainment Center, Long Beach, California Attendance: 2,305 Commentators: Jim Ross, Josh Barnett
We’re back with night two of the show, though this didn’t air on American TV until five days later. The big story tonight is the United States Heavyweight Title, which will be decided for the first time ever. Other than that we have Hiroshi Tanahashi defending the Intercontinental Title against Billy Gunn for reasons I can’t quite comprehend. Let’s get to it.
JR and Barnett welcome us to the show and recap the tournament so far. The Intercontinental Title match gets some attention of its own.
Jushin Thunder Liger/David Finlay/Kushida vs. Tempura Boyz/Yoshitatsu
Before we get going, we hit the posedown for some nice reactions from the crowd. Eh fine enough to open a show, especially when you have a major fan favorite like Liger in there. Liger puts Komatsu in a modified surfboard to start before sending him into the barricade. For some reason this gives us a Who’s On First routine from the announcers because they aren’t the best pairing in the world.
Everything breaks down with Liger getting triple teamed in the corner with a flapjack getting two. The Shotei Palm Strike drops Komatsu again though and it’s a hot tag to Kushida as things speed way up. The announcers talk about food as Kushida grabs a Hoverboard Lock on Tanaka, only to be reversed into an over the shoulder backbreaker. A package piledriver doesn’t work on Kushida and it’s time to slug it out. Something like a Pele kick drops Tanaka but he catches Kushida in a German suplex.
Yoshitatsu comes in with a missile dropkick and is immediately booed out of the building, which apparently is a big thing for him. I always liked the guy but New Japan fans can’t STAND the guy. Finlay comes back in and runs him over for two, only to get kneed in the face for the same. Everything breaks down and it’s a triple submission with a Stretch Muffler making Komatsu tap at 8:54 while Liger had Tanaka in a surfboard and Yoshitatsu was in a Hoverboard Lock.
Rating: C+. Fine choice for an opener here as the fans are always going to eat Liger up with a spoon. The guy is really entertaining (his music is worth the price of admission alone) and Kushida is one of my favorites in the whole promotion. I’d still like to know what’s up with Yoshitatsu but I’m sure it’s something he did before.
IWGP United States Title Tournament Semi-Finals: Kenny Omega vs. Jay Lethal
Lethal has bad ribs coming in. Feeling out process to start and Omega wastes no time kicking him in the bad ribs, followed by another one to the chest. The ribs (both the good and the bad) are sent into the barricade a few times as it’s very one sided to start. Back in and the One Winged Angle is broken up but it’s too early for the Lethal Injection. Instead it’s three straight superkicks (well if the Bucks aren’t going to do them…), followed by the Lethal Injection. Lethal pops back up for three straight suicide dives.
Hail to the King gets two and Jay starts in on the leg as he channels Ric Flair. The Figure Four is broken up so he tries another Lethal Injection, only to have Omega block it with a somewhat botched Codebreaker. Eh I’ll give it five and a half stars anyway. Omega is limping a bit but comes back up a few shots to the ribs. You can’t say his psychology is off. The tape finally comes off the ribs and a few knees to the back get two.
Lethal fights out of the corner and grabs a Blue Thunder Bomb but can’t follow up because of the ribs. The dragon suplex staggers Jay and the running knee to the jaw gives Omega two. A gutwrench sitout powerbomb (always looks cool) is good for the same but the One Winged Angle is countered. The counter is countered into the One Winged Angel though and Omega is in the finals at 12:58.
Rating: B. The psychology was working here, even if the finish was a bit off. Still though, these two beat the heck out of each other and the ribs vs. the knee made enough sense. That being said, there was no way that Omega wasn’t at least making the finals of this thing so it’s not like the ending was in any real doubt.
IWGP United States Title Tournament Semi-Finals: Zack Sabre Jr. vs. Tomohiro Ishii
There’s a weird visual here as Ishii is really thick but the lanky Sabre is a good four inches taller than him. Ishii forearms him in the face to start and Sabre hurts himself with a headbutt. Some hard chops in the corner have Sabre rocked but he keeps sticking his chest out asking for more.
With JR trying to figure out what Sabre is thinking, he gets in a kick to Ishii’s arm and we have a target. It doesn’t make the early strategy any more logical but at least he’s doing his thing now. We hit something like a modified Tequila Sunrise with Sabre letting go for no apparent reason. Ishii knocks him back again and hits a loud running clothesline in the corner.
They head up top and Sabre grabs a Kimura, earning himself one heck of a superplex to bring him back down. Sabre comes right back with something like a reverse cross armbreaker but Ishii suplexes him into a heap. As JR says Sabre is the “TWG” World Champion, Ishii misses the sliding lariat and gets caught in another armbar. Sabre grabs the leg as well before wrapping his legs around the neck (these holds are INSANE every time).
Ishii dives over for the ropes for the break so Sabre kicks at the arm again. That’s fine with Ishii who HITS HIM IN THE FACE. I love simple counters like that. Ishii counters yet another armbar so Sabre kicks him square in the chest. Not that it matters though as Ishii pops up with the brainbuster to advance at 11:45.
Rating: C+. Ishii is slowly growing on me but I’m in awe of a lot of those holds that Sabre throws out there. I don’t even understand how he does most of them, let alone how anyone gets out of them. It’s not a great match here but it was rather entertaining, which is all you need a lot of the time.
Los Ingobernables de Japon vs. Dragon Lee/Jay White/Juice Robinson/Volador Jr./Titan
JR basically guarantees a spot fest here. This is New Japan vs. CMLL and hopefully JR can remember which luchador is which. Volador Jr., in a mask unlike last night, starts with Naito, who keeps walking away from lockups. Instead Naito rolls straight into his pose so it’s off to Bushi and Takahashi to double team Volador, who has no problem sending them outside for an Asai moonsault.
Everything breaks down with Naito choking on the floor as Bushi chokes Titan inside. Sanada ties up Juice and Titan for kicks to the back of the tights. JR: “We don’t have any idea what’s going on either.” Titan’s comeback is cut off by Naito’s enziguri as the announcers go into a discussion of Trish Stratus’ chest. The hot tag brings in Robinson so clean house with a spinebuster planting Evil.
Takahashi eats a hard lariat and it’s off to Lee to speed things up again. They chop the heck out of each other with the fans getting into it until Lee flips out of a hurricanrana. It’s off to Evil vs. White (who I forgot was in this) with Jay getting the better of it off a clothesline. White gets cut off by a guillotine over the ropes and Evil gets in a side slam.
Everything breaks down again and it’s White getting quadruple teamed inside. Robinson makes the save and cleans house and Titan hits a top rope Asai moonsault to take out Takahashi. White gets two off a Rock Bottom to Bushi but a Flatliner is enough to give Jay the pin at 12:29.
Rating: C+. It was fun and energetic but things go down a bit when you have the announcers riffing on the match being such a mess. It also doesn’t help when there’s very little setting the faces apart and the announcers didn’t seem to know anything about them. Still a fun match, though I’m getting a bit numb to all these multi man tags.
Bullet Club vs. War Machine/Michael Elgin
It’s the Guerrillas of Destiny and Hangman Page here and they’re flanked by Chase Owens and FREAKING HAKU, the father of the Guerrillas. Well that works. Page and Elgin get things going with Adam having no problem forearming him in the face. It’s fine with Elgin too, who BLASTS Page in the face with a forearm of his own.
That goes nowhere so it’s off to the tag teams with War Machine shrugging off a double dropkick and throwing the brothers at each other. Everything breaks down and Elgin suplexes Page, followed by Rowe slamming Hanson on top of him. Hanson rubs his beard on Tama’s face, which might be approved of in some areas. Loa comes in for an Oklahoma Stampede of all things and you know JR is happy with that one.
The beating of Hanson continues with the Bullet Club taking turns picking him apart. Hanson finally avoids a charge and makes the hot tag off to Elgin for the power man offense. The Falcon Arrow gets two on Page and everything breaks down again. Tama gets in a jumping neckbreaker on Elgin but Hanson cannonballs off the top to take out the Guerrillas. A fireman’s carry/Blockbuster combo drops Hanson so Rowe comes in to hit people very hard. Page comes back in with a heck of a lariat though and the Rite of Passage ends Rowe at 11:17.
Rating: D+. This felt like they had a six man tag for the sake of having a six man tag. War Machine won the titles the night before and I really don’t think they needed to set up a new match so quickly. Since all six of them appeared on the show the night before, they really could have cut this out to let the show breathe a bit more.
The New Japan boss thanks the fans for making this special and promises to bring the company back to America…..in 2018. It’s been an impressive weekend but I expected something a bit sooner than that.
IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Titles: Young Bucks vs. Roppongi Vice
The Bucks are defending and yes, these teams are fighting AGAIN. Now at Best in the World, the Bucks had the best match I’ve ever seen them have because they spared the superkicks. Let’s see if they keep that up or revert to the form that gets them the most praise. Nick throws a superkick less than a minute in but goes with the Sharpshooter instead, sending Romero bailing to the ropes.
All four come in and no one can hit anything, including a quadruple dropkick for a standoff. The Bucks are sent into the corner but come back with a double superkick (oh here we go) to knock Vice outside. Matt hits a heck of a moonsault to the floor, only to have Nick (the announcers are getting them confused again) miss a big flip dive back inside. Nick grabs Beretta off the apron and runs him up the aisle for a heck of a powerbomb as a fan yells something about Hot Topic.
Back in and the Bucks stay on Romero as we’re doing the same “one member of Vice gets powerbombed in the aisle” formula for at least the third time. We hit the chinlock for a bit before the Indy Taker is broken up but there’s no one for Romero to tag. JR: “It’s almost like a handicap match.” Thanks Jim. A double clothesline drops the bucks and Beretta is back up to take the tag.
Matt takes a tornado DDT but the powerbomb into the enziguri in the corner cuts Beretta off. Another Sharpshooter (I’m assuming that’s a new thing for the Bucks because reasons) is broken up so Romero gets powerbombed onto Beretta for two. Romero gets in a double hurricanrana but eats a double superkick. A 450 and moonsault onto the back get two and Nick gets in a great shocked face. It’s back to the Sharpshooter (NOT a Scorpion Deathlock JR/Barnett. There’s a difference and you really should know that, even if you sound bored with this show.) but Romero makes a quick save.
Sliced Bread #2 (not a Blockbuster Barnett) is broken up so Beretta piledrives Nick on the apron. For those of you counting, Nick is on his feet twelve seconds later. A cradle piledriver gives Beretta two and Strong Zero gets the same and….my goodness we actually get tags. For what? Like seriously, for what?
Romero and Matt come in but the tagging part is quickly forgotten, allowing the Bucks to (mostly miss, though it’s fair in this case) get in a springboard flip Meltzer Driver to Romero on the floor. This is actually a tribute to Meltzer’s father, who passed away recently before this show. Romero is dead so Beretta comes back in and spits at Matt, earning himself a superkick to the face and two to the back. Another Meltzer Driver to Romero sets up double Sharpshooters for the tap at 22:43.
Rating: B-. Too long here but, again, the lack of superkicks made it a more entertaining match. Granted it was brought down a good bit by the length and the sloppiness that came with some of the ridiculous flips. I’m not a big fan of the Meltzer stuff but the fans dig it enough so it’s hard to get that mad about it. The Bucks are entertaining but hard to watch at the same time, if that makes sense.
Post match, Ricochet runs in and takes out both Bucks, saying he wanted to be here but a certain Underground fighting company (Lucha Underground if you’re a bit slow) wasn’t being very nice. He wants a shot at the titles with Ryusuke Taguchi as his partner. This segment didn’t air in America due to Ricochet’s contract with Lucha Underground.
Post dark segment Roppongi Vice lists off their five year checklist, which they’ve already accomplished. So now they’re done because it’s time for Beretta to move up to the heavyweight division.
Bullet Club vs. Chaos
Bullet Club: Bad Luck Fale/Cody/Marty Scurll/Yujiro Takahashi
Just in case you didn’t get enough multi-man tags yet. Scurll and Mark get things going as we hear about the Briscoes having 70,000 chickens. Red Neck Kung Fu is countered by the bird pose and we hit a standoff. One heck of a chop has Marty scurrying over to the ropes so it’s off to Cody vs. Jay.
Cody tags Scurll back in but it’s back to Scurll, then Cody, then Scurll and this is the reason both shows were three and a half hours. The fans want Fale so it’s off to the big man….who tags Cody right back in. Now the fans want and get Yujiro and he tags right back to Cody. DID YOU GET THE JOKE YET??? I’m not sure it sunk in. I’m aware Cody has a bad shoulder, but maybe they should just have him sit out and have a match if you just have to get this on the card.
Okada comes in so Cody bails as we’re about three minutes straight now with no action. Ospreay is sitting in the front row having a beer before coming in to chase Cody around……for a meeting in the corner. Now it’s back to Jay and the lockup gets a pop. Cody powerslams Jay down, making me think that the comedy (as HILARIOUS as it was) was an even bigger waste of time.
Ospreay comes in and kicks away at the chest. Will misses a dive though and it’s Yujiro coming in to stomp away. Yujiro dances a bit, then Scurll dances a bit, then Cody flips us off and gyrates the hips. Fale, in his Make Jobbers Great Again shirt, sits on Ospreay’s chest for two but Scurll charges into a boot in the corner. Scurll does his big chickenwing thing, earning himself an enziguri.
Jay comes in to fire off the clotheslines and hands it off to Okada for the real house cleaning. A DDT drops Fale but Okada can’t slam the monster. The second attempt works a bit better (naturally) but walks into a Samoan drop, followed by a splash for two. Cody comes back in and eats the flapjack (hopefully with some syrup) before it’s back to Ospreay, who catches him with a spinning Stunner.
Scurll snaps the fingers, which JR calls illegal for sure. Uh, why exactly? We get the parade of people hitting each other in the face but Scurll busts out the umbrella to block the Rainmaker (how appropriate). Ospreay kicks Scurll and Cody in the face though and moonsaults over the top to take Marty out again. Will tries another springboard but Cody is right there with the Disaster Kick. Cross Rhodes ends Ospreay at 14:00.
Rating: C. This got better later on but I was getting very sick of that stupid comedy schtick. This was a great example of a match that could have been cut as Cody already had his big match and pining Ospreay in an eight man tag isn’t exactly going to reignite whatever he had going on. We already saw these people last night and it really didn’t help the show in any real way. It’s ok to let the show breathe a bit instead of cramming everything in.
We recap the IWGP Intercontinental Title match with Billy Gunn promising to bring his A game. Gunn’s A game wasn’t great at the peak of his career and I don’t think I want to see what it’s going to be like in his 50s.
IWGP Intercontinental Title: Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Billy Gunn
Gunn is challenging and no, it still doesn’t make sense no matter what. Feeling out process to start until Gunn shoulders Tanahashi away. They fight over a top wristlock until Tanahashi takes him down with a headlock. We’re four minute into this and that shoulder block is the high spot so far.
The announcers talk about Lou Thesz as Gunn suplexes him down and throws the champ outside. Tanahashi’s bad arm is wrapped around the post as I have a bad feeling we’ve already reached the peak of Gunn’s abilities. A Jackhammer sets up a top wristlock and Gunn actually adds a low superkick.
Tanahashi gets punched out of the air but pulls Gunn’s trunks down to reveal…..more trunks. I guess Tanahashi gets bored and comes back with forearms, only to get caught with a cobra clutch slam. The Fameasser gets two but Tanahashi hits a quick Sling Blade and the High Fly Flow (with a SUCK IT) retains the title at 14:26.
Rating: D-. This is a situation where the bigger problem is what else it could have been. There are a TON of names on this roster that you could have put in there (pick one of Los Ingobernables for instance) and they go with Gunn. I get that he’s a bigger American name but I really don’t buy that they couldn’t have brought in almost ANYONE else and gotten a better match. For the promotion based on in-ring work, this really didn’t work, though it did to by very quickly.
IWGP United States Heavyweight Title: Kenny Omega vs. Tomohiro Ishii
For the inaugural title and Omega has the Bucks with him. They get straight to the physicality with an exchange of strikes before Omega slaps him in the face. Thankfully he’s smart enough to stay on him and get Ishii down before he can hand Omega one of his own body parts. Ishii tells him to kick harder and even sits there for them.
They head into the crowd as we go to the Attitude Era style brawling, which makes sense for someone like Ishii. Back in and Ishii slugs away before Omega invites him to get in a kick of his own. Ishii does just that and Omega suddenly realizes that was a REALLY BAD IDEA. The exchange of loud chops goes to Ishii and a powerslam gets two. Omega comes back with some ax handles to the chest and a middle rope moonsault for the same.
Kenny hits a big flip dive over the top and the Bucks set up a table. Josh: “The Bucks with their own gimmick table.” We’ll save that for later though as Kenny goes with a top rope dropkick to the back of Ishii’s head. Ishii doesn’t take kindly to all of these chops though and starts staring Omega down instead of selling the forearms. A hurricanrana gets Omega out of trouble because hitting him in the face over and over has no effect but a short flip onto your back knocks you silly.
Ishii takes him to the apron and blocks a German suplex through the table. Instead Omega tries a dragon suplex through the table so Ishii BITES THE ROPE to hang on, only to have his teeth give way so it’s the dragon suplex through the table. That’s only good for a nineteen count so Kenny blasts him in the head with a series of knees. A final knee is blocked so Omega tries a final, final knee, followed by another knee for two.
The One Winged Angel is countered into a DDT and Ishii hits a good looking top rope superplex for another near fall. They have another slugout until Omega hits the brainbuster for two. Ishii gets in a knee of his own, followed by the sliding lariat. Naturally Ishii is right back with a One Winged Angel of his own but Omega knees him down (AGAIN), followed by a reverse hurricanrana. Another running knee to the face sets up the One Winged Angel for the pin and the title at 31:22.
Rating: A-. It’s good and had the right finish but those running knees to the face were getting on my nerves. The best positive about this match was how fast it went by. There are several matches with this much time that feel close to twice this long but this one flew by like it was half the time. Ishii was a good foil for Omega here and the win feels important, even if it was fairly obvious.
Post match Cody comes out and snatches the belt away from Kenny, only to wrap it around his waist instead. The rest of the Bullet Club comes out to celebrate as Kenny grabs the mic. He’s hard a bunch of hardships this year but what separates the Bullet Club from the rest of the world is they never give up, just like the rest of the people here tonight. The fans made this show and New Japan is back next year. They rule the wrestling world and that’s never changing. This was a good way to end the show as Omega is one of the faces of the promotion and the face of the promotion in America.
The announcers quickly wrap things up.
Overall Rating: B. I definitely liked the first night better but it’s not like this one was bad. The problem here is the first night felt like a grand spectacle as the promotion made its big debut. This one though felt like they were cramming in a bunch of stuff that didn’t need to be on there. I couldn’t really think of anything that could have been cut off the first night but this one had multiple moments that could have been trimmed or flat out eliminated.
The Tanahashi match, which should have been a major deal, was a complete misfire and the War Machine stuff felt like it could have come weeks from now instead of immediately. It’s still a good show and a big success for the promotion but this show could have had a good half hour to forty five minutes cut out to really improve things.
Overall for the two nights, it’s definitely a great debut, but you know the fans are going to get ahead of themselves. They put on two very good shows in front of less than 5,000 fans combined in the second biggest market in the country. It’s a very solid performance for the independent level around here but they’re FAR away from being in WWE’s universe over here, which to be fair New Japan certainly seems to know. If this show is even something of a hit among the casual fans, we’ll see where they can go from there but for now, just consider it a success and start to build from here.
Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the Histories of Saturday Night’s Main Event and Clash of the Champions, now in PAPERBACK. Check out the information here:
So as you’ve probably heard, the latest hot show on Netflix is GLOW (Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling), a dramatized story about the backstage workings of the comedy wrestling show of the same name from back in the 80s. The original was actually a hot show in syndication, though it was one of the dumbest things you’ll find related to wrestling. I checked out the new series though and it’s actually quite good.
The show is a drama built around how the show is put together and how the girls were brought in. It’s certainly entertaining and goes by very fast (ten episodes, the longest of which doesn’t even break forty minutes, meaning you can knock out the season in just a day), which helps fix a major flaw in a lot of these online originals: episodes basically being short movies instead of TV shows.
There are a bunch of wrestling cameos, with John Morrison, Brodus Clay, Carlito, Christopher Daniels and Kazarian as the most notable. That’s the best wrestling stuff on the show though, as GLOW certainly wasn’t known for its in-ring product. They do a pretty entertaining job of showing how the training portion works though and that’s always cool to see from an outsider’s perspective.
Check the show out if you have the chance, but keep in mind that it is NOT PG. There’s a bit of nudity, a lot of swearing and some rather adult plotlines. It’s going to be around for at least another season and that’s a good sign as it’s one of the best depictions of wrestling I’ve seen in a very long time. It’s worth seeing and given how fast you can go through the season, it’s an easy watch.
On the other front, I recently received a rather nice Amazon gift card and spent a good chunk of it on a pile of wrestling books. The first one I finished off was Tim Hornbaker’s Capitol Revolution, the story of the New York territory which of course became the WWE of today. This is a good choice if you want a look at the older days (it goes back to the 1920s and carries forward), which is a period that isn’t often covered.
The book is rather detailed to start and covers a lot of the backstage nature of the territory. There are a lot of names that you might be familiar with (Toots Mondt, Strangler Lewis, Jess McMahon) and several you won’t (who I won’t list because, you know, they won’t mean much to you). You get a good look at how the structure worked back then, which goes to show you how things tend to stay the same over the years. It’s a very interesting look back at how the system used to work, which isn’t something you get to see very often.
Now the problem is how fast the pace picks up. The book is less than 300 pages and the first two thirds or so cover the origins up until the rise of Bruno Sammartino. Then the speeds picks WAY up and we’re suddenly at the Rock N Wrestling Connection era, which is where things wrap up. It feels like they hit a deadline and had to wrap things up instead of letting it build like they wanted it to. The majority of the book is very entertaining though and worth checking out, though I could have gone for a much longer edition. Still though, check it out if you like the historical aspect of wrestling.
New Japan G1 Special in USA Night One: Welcome To Our Turf
New Japan G1 Special in USA Night One Date: July 1, 2017 Location: Long Beach Convention and Entertainment Center, Long Beach, California Commentators: Jim Ross, Josh Barnett
This has the potential to be either a major moment in history or something that won’t be remembered in a few years. New Japan has been the favorite promotion of a lot of wrestling fans in recent years and now they’ve come to America on their own instead of co-promoting with someone like Ring of Honor. This is the first of a two night event, the latter of which will air six days from now. Let’s get to it.
The opening video looks back at the history of the company (not exactly in depth) and the build tot he show. This includes a variety of big matches over both nights and how important it is for the competitors in a tournament for the inaugural IWGP United States Title.
Here are the tournament brackets:
Michael Elgin
Kenny Omega
Jay Lethal
Hangman Page
Juice Robinson
Zack Sabre Jr.
Tomohiro Ishii
Tetsuya Naito
We look at the tale of the tape for the World Title match between Kazuchika Okada and Cody Rhodes.
We get some pre-show ceremonies with the announcers talking over both the Japanese announcements and the English translations. This goes on for several minutes with the announcers talking about the tournament and making some predictions. If nothing else it’s VERY weird to hear the term “belt” so many times.
Roppongi Vice/Will Ospreay/Briscoe Brothers vs. Young Bucks/Marty Scurll/Yujiro Takahashi/Bad Luck Fale
Chaos vs. Bullet Club, again. Ospreay and Scurll start things off because…..well who else was going to? Scurll flips away from him a few times and does the bird wings thing a few times. Ospreay sends him outside and apparently we’re under lucha rules (never mentioned by commentary) so it’s off to the Briscoes to dropkick Fale down. Takahashi gets caught in between the Brothers, who JR has confused.
Mark hits his running Blockbuster off the apron and it’s off to Roppongi Vice vs. the Bucks (And for once it’s not something that you would know if you were watching New Japan because this is actually New Japan!). Vice takes over without much effort but there are the superkicks. Marty adds one from the apron and busts out the umbrella, allowing the Bucks to dive onto the Briscoes.
Ospreay kicks Scurll to the floor and there’s the BIG springboard shooting star to take out the pile. Back in and Scurll breaks Mark’s finger but the wild dancing and shouting CHICKENWING somehow tips Mark off about what to expect. Now it’s Romero coming in to clean house….until a superkick cuts him off. In case that’s not enough for you, Jay gets in a little comeback and eats a superkick as well.
Ospreay grabs a C4 on Scurll and it’s back to Romero for the clotheslines in the corner. The clotheslines have no effect on Fale (duh) and he keeps walking forward despite Osprey hitting clothesline after clothesline for a cool visual. Fale shrugs it off and Razors Edges Romero onto the pile, though it knocks out some partners as well. The Briscoes drop Fale but it’s the Bucks coming right back in to take over. The Meltzer driver is broken up and Romero rolls Matt up for the pin at 9:25.
Rating: B. Not the highest quality match but it was entertaining and fast paced, making it the perfect choice for an opener. This also helps set up Vice vs. Bucks for the Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Titles tomorrow night, which is almost always a good idea. I’m still not sure why Chaos and the Club are feuding but they’ve long since reached the point where they just are feuding so it’s kind of hard to really complain anymore.
Los Ingobernables de Japon vs. Titan/Dragon Lee/Volador Jr./Jushin Thunder Liger
That would be Sanada/Bushi/Evil/Hiromu Takahashi, the first three of whom are the Never Openweight Six Man Tag Team Champions. The first three of their opponents are all from CMLL. If nothing else it’s cool to hear Liger’s music on TV. Finally, Titan is pronounced Tee-Tan as something that is likely lost in translation. Volador headscissors Bushi to the floor to start and it’s off to Liger for a very nice reception.
Sanada comes in as well as we hear about JR seeing Liger facing Brian Pillman back in 1992. That’s when Liger had been around NINE YEARS already, meaning he’s now a thirty three year veteran. I really don’t know what to say to that but it’s rather impressive. Los Ingobernables sneak in from behind and clean house, knocking all of the villains to the floor. Sanada ties Titan up (ala Jack Gallagher) and hits a running dropkick, which isn’t treated like a comedy spot as it would be over here.
Liger gets in a palm strike and makes the tag to Lee for a BIG chop off with Takahashi. The CMLL team hits double flip dives, leaving Lee to kick Takahashi in the face. Titan hand walks away and spins into a headscissors, only making himself dizzy in the process. That’s some awful luck, or mal suerte to him. Titan gets triple dropkicked for two and Takahashi grabs the referee, allowing Evil to chair Titan down. The Time Bomb is good for the pin on Titan at 6:47.
Rating: D+. Nowhere near as good as the previous match here but the time didn’t help things. This is another good example of a match that was helped by commentary as they were explaining why these factions were feuding, which mainly took place in Mexico. I don’t need anything detailed as just telling me they’ve fought before and it was here or there helps quite a bit. The action was fun and while I didn’t know some of the guys, it was entertaining enough.
IWGP United States Title Tournament First Round: Jay Lethal vs. Hangman Page
The belt is big and rather ugly. Lethal has bad ribs coming in thanks to Silas Young and Beer City Bruiser. Page jumps him at the bell but Lethal is right back up with a suicide dive (not “drive” Josh). They head inside with Lethal missing a moonsault and getting kicked in the bad ribs. Well at least Page isn’t doing anything stupid. As I say that, he hits a shooting star shoulder off the apron in what is the best example of an unnecessary flip I’ve seen in a good while.
Back in and Lethal kicks him in the ribs but it’s WAY too early for the Lethal Injection. Instead it’s something like an Octopus Hold until Lethal escapes for some kicks to the head. Jay hits his top rope elbow but hurts the ribs again, allowing Page to get up at two. The front flip clothesline gives Page two but he gets caught in the Lethal Combination. The Lethal Injection almost completely misses though and both guys are down. I’m not sure why Page is but that’s not the biggest deal. Lethal kicks him in the head again and NOW the Injection connects full on for the pin at 8:24.
Rating: C-. This felt really off and almost like a highlight reel or clipped version of a much longer match. Lethal and Page are two of the ROH guys I like more than usual and you would expect better chemistry between them. Maybe it’s the injured ribs but I’m not sure if that’s enough to excuse the blown spots and general lack of flow to the match. They just weren’t on the same page and it felt like they were wrestling two very different matches.
IWGP United States Title Tournament First Round: Zack Sabre Jr. vs. Juice Robinson
JR thinks Sabre is Ospreay. Eh I’ve gotten them confused before too. The fans are already singing for Sabre, making me think they’re all evil foreigners. Well maybe save for those chanting for Juice. After a brief feeling out process to start, Sabre wastes no time in going after the arm with a variety of holds that I can’t even begin to name.
Robinson escapes the third straight hold (all of which looked like they should have broken the arm), eventually getting Zack up in a fireman’s carry for a gutbuster. Zack rolls him up for two and it’s time to kick at the arm a few more times. Robinson tells him to bring it on so Zack kicks away.
Something like a triangle choke has Robinson in more trouble but he powerbombs his way to freedom (AMERICAN freedom that is). Back up and Robinson tries an Unprettier but gets reversed into an Octopus Hold with the arm being cranked at a CRAZY angle. The other arm is pulled back as well until it’s a full nelson with Zack’s leg between Robinson’s arms (I told you his holds were hard to call) for the tap at 10:06.
Rating: C+. Sabre is an interesting guy as he’s the best technician I’ve seen since Daniel Bryan (if not before) and that makes for some very fun matches. That being said, he’s also so dominant that it’s hard to imagine him losing, which makes things a bit worse. Now that being said, if there’s ever a time for him to lose, it’s in a tournament. Robinson continues to show WAY more upside than he did in NXT so maybe it just wasn’t a good fit down there. I’ve liked enough of what I’ve seen from him so far outside of Orlando so there seems to be potential there.
David Finlay/Jay White/Kushida/Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Sho Tanaka/Yohei Komatsu/Yoshi Hashi/Billy Gunn
Yes THAT Billy Gunn and yes he’s challenging THAT Hiroshi Tanahashi for the Intercontinental Title. Kushida gets quite the reception and it’s time for the eight way staredown to start. Yohei and Kushida start things off with Kushida easily taking him down and offering a SUCK IT to Gunn. Finlay comes in to dropkick Tanaka but the ring is quickly cleared, leaving Sho to dropkick Kushida in the back.
Sho grabs a bodyscissors before it’s off to Gunn for one of the louder reactions of the night. A quick crotch chop sets up a staredown with Tanahashi before it’s back to Sho to do the majority of the work. Kushida fights them off because the Tempura Boyz Tanaka and Komatsu don’t seem all that great. Tanahashi comes in off the hot tag and forearms Gunn down with his bad arm.
Gunn completely fails to catch him off a crossbody throws in a SUCK IT, and goes down off his half of a double clothesline. White comes in to grab a suplex on Tatsu but gets caught with a spinwheel kick. A suplex into the corner drops Tatsu and everything breaks down. Tanahashi hits the Sling Blade on Gunn and it’s White left in the ring for a Flatliner to put Tatsu away at 9:43.
Rating: D. This match has the one obvious question: why in the name of tree bark is Gunn getting the title shot? Star power? That’s not exactly something this show is lacking and I have a really hard time believing that New Japan would have issues getting someone better in the ring and with more star power than Gunn to challenge Tanahashi. Throw Gunn into the tournament and let one of the people from there (Page maybe) have the shot instead. It really doesn’t look good otherwise and the match could be a major mess, especially when you consider what Tanahashi is capable of.
A long celebration takes us to intermission, which features a look at the main event, a look at the Tag Team Title match and a recap of the night’s matches so far. This runs just under twenty minutes.
Tag Team Titles: War Machine vs. Guerillas of Destiny
War Machine is challenging in a rematch from Dominion where they lost the belts. JR says War Machine are SEVEN TIME ROH Tag Team Champions, which makes me think one of two things: JR is drunk or he looked at their Wikipedia page, saw that they had seven successful title defenses in their ONE reign with the titles, and didn’t bother checking what he was reading.
Before the match, Ray Rowe wants to make it a No DQ match and it’s immediately on. The four of them head outside without wasting a second with the champs getting more fired up every time they take a shot to the face. JR goes into a weird rambling speech about having nothing to say, followed by Barnett taking over with play by play. Did he drop his notes there or something? A trashcan shot stops Rowe’s suicide dive and the champs work him over in the ring.
Rowe takes a neckbreaker and splash for two but Hanson remembers that he’s in the match and makes the save. About fifteen straight running clotheslines in the corner crush the champs again, prompting JR to talk about…..Hanson’s beard? The Bronco Buster misses though and it’s time for the big slugout with War Machine throwing Tama around until Loa powerslams Hanson out of the air. A Swan Dive into a frog splash gets two on Rowe but Hanson is back in.
Fallout is loaded up but here’s fellow Bullet Club member Chase Owens to take out Hanson with a chair. JR sounds rather annoyed about the lack of disqualifications, which isn’t exactly like him. Rowe gets powerbombed through two chairs (Can Hanson just not take a big bump tonight?) but Hanson is here to save Rowe from going through a table. Fallout through the table ends Loa to give us new champions at 11:07.
Rating: B-. Sometimes you need four strong guys to beat the heck out of each other for a little over ten minutes. War Machine is a fun team and the Guerillas are the kind of team who can be right back due to pure charisma. A good power brawl is hard to come by and I had fun watching them beating on each other. Entertaining match and a nice change of pace to a lot of the other stuff on here.
IWGP United States Title Tournament First Round: Tetsuya Naito vs. Tomohiro Ishii
Naito jumps him from behind during the entrances, setting up the charge into the pose on the mat for a VERY strong reaction. After we hit the stall button to start, Ishii hammers Naito like he stole something, including the loud chops. Naito thinks it’s a good idea to chop a guy named the Stone Pitbull (who I didn’t realize was shorter than Naito), earning himself another beating.
Back up and Naito tries again for the same result. Must be a Ric Flair fan. A hiptoss and running dropkick to the back of the head work a bit better and it’s time to pose. Ishii suplexes him down and blasts Naito with a suplex. A powerslam nearly drops Naito on his head for two but he pops right back up with a missile dropkick for a breather.
Ishii’s suplex is countered into a DDT (always liked that counter) and a top rope hurricanrana gets two. Naito walks around for a good while….and then spits at Ishii. I get that he’s confident but sweet goodness that seems unwise. One heck of a headbutt drops Naito and a powerbomb cuts him in half.
A hard clothesline gives Ishii two more but his brainbuster is countered, eventually into a tornado DDT. Destino is broken up so Naito kicks him in the head again, only to get caught by the sliding lariat. A dragon suplex gives Naito two but it’s a clothesline into the brainbuster to advance Ishii at 15:53.
Rating: B. They had a good story here with Naito being able to hang with Ishii on his own but getting too cocky and showing the lack of respect that a monster like Ishii deserved. It’s a good way to make Ishii a big deal as pinning a former World Champion always will be. I liked this a lot more than the other Ishii matches I’ve seen so it was a nice surprise, though I tend to like Naito matches.
IWGP United States Title Tournament First Round: Michael Elgin vs. Kenny Omega
Omega has the Bucks with him as usual and is playing the full on face here despite still being a heel (officially). They try to get the referee to do Too Sweet but he offers a crotch chop instead. Elgin powers him (Omega, not the referee) into the corner to start before some forearms and kicks earn Kenny a wave of the finger. Kenny still can’t do anything with the monster so Elgin chops him for a change.
The delayed vertical suplex has Kenny reeling but an Elite chant brings him back so he can do the Rise of the Terminator deal (still don’t get it and don’t really care to know). Back in and one heck of a top rope shoulder sends Omega flying across the ring and out to the floor. Omega hits a moonsault from the apron….and Elgin casually catches him because he can.
Kenny slams him onto the apron for a nineteen count and we hit the chinlock to slow things down a bit. Elgin raises his knees to block a middle rope moonsault as JR calls the Bucks very annoying. That might be the understatement of the year. A powerslam pulls Kenny out of the air for a close two (ignore the spitting onto the mat during the cover). Elgin powers him up again but gets caught in a snap dragon suplex to send him outside.
That means a big flip dive followed by a jumping knee to Elgin’s face, only to have one heck of a clothesline take Omega’s head off. They fight to the apron for a hard German suplex to drop Elgin on his head for a scary looking crash. Back in and a super crucifix bomb gives Elgin two more, prompting JR to ask the obvious: if that doesn’t work, what will?
Well nothing more than likely, but you have to be used to some big (and arguably ridiculous) kickouts around here. Three straight jumping knees to the head knock Elgin silly and a package Tombstone gets two. There’s another running knee and the One Winged Angel sends Omega on at 22:36.
Rating: A-. I liked this a bit more than a lot of the Omega matches I’ve seen, mainly because it wasn’t far longer than it really needed to be (and it won’t be called 25% better than the best matches of all time). They had another good story here with Elgin using pure power while Omega was more well rounded and therefore capable of adapting to counter whatever Elgin threw at him. Omega is very good and it’s fun watching him, face/heel issues aside (which is more a company/stable thing than anything else).
Here are tomorrow’s final four:
Jay Lethal
Kenny Omega
Tomohiro Ishii
Zack Sabre Jr.
We recap Cody vs. Kazuchika Okada. It’s a short story with Cody challenging Okada for the title right after Okada’s draw against Omega at Dominion. Okada went with it because….well that’s what wrestlers do.
IWGP World Title: Kazuchika Okada vs. Cody
Cody is challenging and comes out with a bunch of people in ex-President masks. Brandi Rhodes is with him (still absolutely stunning) in an American flag outfit and lights a cigar for him. After a kiss from Brandi (with his right shoulder taped up), we’re ready to go with a slow start, which means this is likely going long. Okada takes him to the mat and then to the ropes where he gives Cody a friendly pat on the chest.
That warrants a break for another kiss, followed by heading back inside for a standoff. They head outside to speed things up with Okada hitting a running dive over the barricade, only to have Cody go after the knee to take over. Cody chokes with his boot but Okada neckbreakers his way out.
Back up and a fast running elbow to the jaw followed by a DDT lets Okada nip up. The signature dropkick knocks Cody off the top and out to the floor in a heap. A DDT on the floor makes things even worse but Okada can’t follow up, meaning it’s a long count. Back in and Cody runs the corner for a super armdrag (looked like a C4 2000 at first) but the Disaster Kick is countered into a flapjack (cool).
There’s the top rope elbow, only to have Cody grab the Trailer Hitch to go back to the knee. The hold is broken and a slap fires Okada up all over again, prompting a mudhole stomping in the corner. The jumping Tombstone and a pair of Rainmakers drop Cody. Cue Omega with a towel like Cody was teasing at Dominion but Brandi says no.
This brings out the Bucks to ask what Omega is doing and Okada nails another dropkick. Naturally Cody hits a Rainmaker of his own for two, followed by Okada grabbing his own Cross Rhodes. So now that we’re back to even with the stolen finishers, Cody gets two more off an inverted DDT. To really mess with his boss, Cody loads up the One Winged Angel, which is quickly reversed into a German suplex. The jumping Tombstone (yes another one) sets up the Rainmaker to retain the title at 27:12.
Rating: B+. I liked the Omega match a bit more but Cody is a bit more of a generic style than Elgin being awesome with the power. Okada is still very smooth in the ring, though I do think he uses his big moves a bit too often. That being said, it was an excellent match with both guys hitting their big spots. Omega vs. Cody could be interesting, assuming it’s not just a swerve for later. Very good main event, even though I didn’t quite buy Cody as the biggest threat to the title.
Post match Okada poses but Omega gets in too. He won’t take the night from Okada, even though he wanted to main event this show. They’ll meet again in the G1 and tonight is Okada’s. Gedo and Okada both say they’re awesome and Okada will make it rain strong style around the world.
At the post show press conference….I have no idea as I don’t speak Japanese.
A highlight reel ends the show.
Overall Rating: A-. This was a very good show and that’s the best thing that could have happened. It’s not a masterpiece or a classic but for what was basically a pay per view in front of a small crowd, it worked as well as it could have. They showcased most of their stars and the two major matches were both outstanding. Couple that with this airing at 8pm EST and on free TV, it’s hard to find anything major to complain about. Maybe a little bit could have been cut (as in like 10-15 minutes, or the Tanahashi eight man tag) but the time really wasn’t a problem.
The one thing that needs to be remembered though is this is one match. Based on this, New Japan isn’t going to overtake WWE or become the hottest thing in American wrestling. It’s a very good night but they need to do it again (as in beyond night two) for it to mean much. It’s a very good show though and they’re off to a great start in America. Now build on that and keep it at (or really near for that matter) this level and we’ll see where things go. Strong debut though.
Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the Histories of Saturday Night’s Main Event and Clash of the Champions, now in PAPERBACK. Check out the information here:
NJPW Dominion 6-11: John Cena Wishes He Could Spam Moves Like This
Dominion 6:11 Date: June 11, 2017 Location: Osaka-Jo Hall, Osaka, Japan Attendance: 11,756 Commentators: Kevin Kelly, Don Callis
So I’ve been trying to mix things up a bit with my style and this has been a requested show. Somehow having something up ten days late is a good sign for me, though given that I hadn’t planned on watching the show until about a week after it aired, this might not be too bad. The main event here is Kenny Omega vs. Kazuchika Okada II in a rematch from their non-six star match at Wrestle Kingdom XI. Let’s get to it.
As usual, keep in mind that I only watch a little bit of New Japan every year so I’m not going to know all of the details coming in. This is much more of an outsider’s perspective, though I do keep up with the company to a certain degree.
Pre-Show: David Finlay/Shota Umino/Tomoyuki Oka vs. Hirai Kawato/Katsuya Kitamura/Tetsuhiro Yagi
These are Young Lions, meaning…..well I think you can tell by the name. Finlay (who isn’t a Young Lion) is the only name I recognize so this could be quite the mess. Yagi and Shota strike it out to start and WHY ARE THEY ALL WEARING BLACK TRUNKS??? Come on it’s already hard enough to keep track of who is who in the first place (yes I’m aware it’s probably something like they have to earn their individuality or something) and now this.
It’s off to Finlay (thank goodness for the red trunks) vs. Kawato with the latter hitting a missile dropkick for two. Oka comes in for a slam and we hit something like a choke. Oka and Kitamura, the big power guys trade shoulder blocks, with both guys reeling back in pain for a nice touch.
Kitamura gets in a spear and gutwrench suplex but a chop puts him down for two. The tag brings in Finlay to get beaten up by….I think Kawato? Would a name on the trunks really be that much to ask? Finlay gets triple teamed and caught in a Boston crab but everything breaks down on the save. An uppercut gives Finlay two on Kawato and a Stunner is enough to put him away at 7:41.
Rating: C-. Totally watchable match here, assuming you don’t mind the lack of characters or needing picture ID’s to tell everyone apart. Then again it’s just a pre-show match so I don’t think they’re going for anything mind blowing here. Worry not though as you can feel the main event being over rated from here so I think the mind blowing part is going to be well covered.
Before we wrap up the pre-show, Callis promises seven stars in the main event. Unless Trent Seven is involved, let it go already.
As is tradition, the opening video goes on for the better part of a Ken Burns documentary and shows all the people in the major matches without a word of English to be found. That’s not meant as a criticism as this is primarily for the Japanese audience and the English commentary is usually quite good at explaining the basics.
Tiger Mask/Tiger Mask W/Togi Makabe/Yuji Nagata vs. Hiroshi Tenzan/Jushin Thunder Liger/Manabu Nakanishi/Satoshi Kojima
At least they’re in different looking gear. Nagata and Nakanishi, the two ancient ones, start things off and I actually checked to make sure I wasn’t watching this at half speed. Nakanishi chops away and refuses to be whipped into the ropes but gets dropkicked in the leg. A spinwheel kick to the head drops Nakanishi and it’s off to Tiger Mask (non-W I believe, meaning the older one) for some kicks.
The younger version comes in to help but Nakanishi is right back with a running chop to the original’s throat. Liger comes in to one heck of a reaction and a tilt-a-whirl slam before it’s off to Kojima. The rapid chops in the corner don’t seem to have much effect but a cutter drops Tiger Mask…..yeah I’m pretty sure it’s the one without the W. A double takedown allows the tag to Nagata (again with no W), who is quickly chopped down by Tenzan.
Yuji grabs a suplex and it’s off to Nakanishi vs. Makabe for the big exchange of power clotheslines. Everything breaks down and it’s a parade of hard shots to the face until Makabe blasts Nakanishi with another clothesline. Makabe’s top rope knee drop (The King Kong knee drop, which should be quite the heel move as I’d bet on this being a GODZILLA crowd. Unless they dislike him destroying their cities all the time, in which case Makabe might be the top star in the company. I’m so confused.) for the pin at 7:04.
Rating: C. I actually liked the first match a bit better but this was still more than good enough. The opening part really was bad though as Nagata vs. Nakanishi really did seem like it was the slowest thing I’ve ever seen. At least you could tell who everyone was here and that’s a major upgrade over the pre-show match.
Never Openweight Six Man Tag Team Titles: Gauntlet Match
Los Ingobernables de Japon (Bushi/Evil/Sanada) are defending but it’s Bullet Club (Bad Luck Fale/Yujiro Takahashi/Hangman Page) vs. Chaos (Yoshi-Hashi/Toru Yano/Tomohiro Ishii) to start. I’ve been watching New Japan for a few years now and these teams seem to have been feuding the entire time.
Yujiro has a parade of good looking women in various stages of limited clothing with him, making him one of the better parts of the show so far. As usual, Yano has merch to hand out/sell, which is a gimmick that gets a little old but still has enough charm. Page kicks Ishii in the face to start and we hit the forearms that have no effect but wrestlers still do them because of strong style or fighting spirit or whatever they call standing there and growling at the moment.
It’s off to Yujiro vs. Hashi with the former biting the hand. Hashi’s running Blockbuster takes over and the monster Fale runs over the rest of Chaos. Fale and Ishii brawl into the crowd (rare around here) with Bad Luck leaving Ishii down but not doing anything to keep him down because he’s not that bright. Page gets two off a bridging fall away slam (Doesn’t that make it just a fall slam?) and everything breaks down again.
A reverse 3D gets two on Hashi as Fale has gone back outside to beat on Ishii again. Yano gets the hot tag and immediately removes a turnbuckle pad as he starts making me think he’s the Japanese Santino Marella. That earns him a beatdown (Someone not liking a comedy guy? Really?) but his partners come in for the save, including Ishii clotheslining Fale to the floor. Yano is right back with a double low blow on Page and Takahashi for the pin on the latter at 6:01.
Suzuki-Gun (Zack Sabre Jr./Yoshinobu Kanemura/Taichi) are in third with Yano sending Zack into the exposed buckle for two. Kanemura grabs a bottle of whiskey but Yano tries another low blow. That just earns him a very British looking rollup from Sabre for the pin at 8:20 total. Taguchi Japan (Ricochet/Juice Robinson/Ryusuke Taguchi) are in fourth and it’s a triple hip attack to start. It’s funny for some reason you see.
Ricochet and Robinson charge into Sabre in the corner and it’s a baseball joke with Robinson’s cannonball acting as the pitch. I’m really hoping that’s something being lost in translation as it feels like a No Way Jose gag (not the worst thing in the world). Sabre’s partners remember they’re in the match and beat on Taguchi, including a soccer style kick as this is one of the weirdest serious matches I’ve ever seen.
Everything breaks down again with Ricochet and Robinson beating the heck out of Sabre, including an elevated shooting star press for two. The rapid alternating continues as Robinson gets triple teamed. You know if any of these teams ever got on the same page, they’d clean house. A Buzzsaw Kick gets two on Juice…..and Taichi takes off his pants. Kanemura is a proponent of the pants and mists Taichi by mistake (I’m sure).
Pulp Friction (Unprettier) ends Taichi at 15:37. We’re not done yet though as Sabre grabs an Octopus Hold on Robinson during most of Los Ingobernables’ entrance. The champs destroy everyone else as this is already looking one sided. Robinson gets elbowed down and a backsplash gives Evil two. A leg lariat drops Sanada and the hot tag brings in Ricochet to really clean house like only a Kentucky boy can.
Unfortunately he does that stupid spot where he throws two opponents together, forcing one to DDT the other. Ricochet gets clotheslined to the floor so it’s Taguchi with another hip attack. The Tower of Doom puts everyone down again, including Ricochet catching Evil in a sitout powerbomb. Ricochet actually tags Taguchi, who walks right into a Backstabber for two. Everything breaks down again (I’m getting tired of typing that) and it’s Taguchi putting Bushi in an ankle lock. Sanada makes the save with a dragon sleeper though and Bushi adds a middle rope Codebreaker to retain at 23:56.
Rating: C. This was messier than it needed to be and while the last bit was good, it felt like they were just throwing all these people together for the sake of throwing them together. From what I can tell, these titles change hands faster than Impact changes their story about why their audiences never grow. Having this many people in a row wasn’t the best idea but there was some good action to help carry things.
IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Titles: Young Bucks vs. Roppongi Vice
The Bucks are challenging and my goodness the amount of praise they get from commentary is unreal. They’re already the Ring of Honor Tag Team Champions and the Superkick Champions because…..I have no idea really. We’re ready to go after the long weapons check and it’s Berreta vs. Matt to start things off.
The first superkick connects less than thirty seconds in and the Bucks take over in a hurry. A double clothesline drops the challengers and Berreta follows them out with a big running flip dive. Nick grabs Rocky for an apron bomb, followed by driving the back into the post a few times. This is probably as close to psychology as you’re going to get in a Bucks match so enjoy it while you can.
Back in and Berreta gets double teamed as the Vice roles have been reversed since their match at Wrestle Kingdom. Matt grabs a Sharpshooter of all things as a whole new branch of 90s offense is tapped. A wheelbarrow cutter gives Nick two but Matt charges into a double stomp in the corner to give the champ a breather. Rocky is back on the apron, only to have Matt pull him down for a powerbomb onto the ramp. I’m glad they did something else as you can only have someone stay down for so long.
The Swanton to the elevated Berreta on the floor gets two but More Bang For Your Buck is broken up. A Shining Wizard into a piledriver stuns Nick for two but Berreta is spent. Romero finally comes back in for a quick Strong Zero but Nick dives in with a Swanton for the save. Berreta actually makes the tag off to Romero for some house cleaning, including a double hurricanrana and double clothesline. Everything breaks down again and it’s a superkick to Romero, followed by a German suplex onto the apron.
Back in and Romero gets caught in the Sharpshooter with Nick adding a slingshot X Factor for a great cutoff. Somehow Romero powers up and dives over for the break. More Bang For Your Buck is countered into a crucifix for two, followed by a small package out of the Sharpshooter for the same. Berreta gets taken out again though and it’s the Indytaker into the Sharpshooter to make Romero tap away the titles at 14:13.
Rating: B+. That’s pretty easily the best Bucks match that I can remember and SO much of it is due to the lack of superkicks. They were actually having a match here instead of just goofing off and doing all their shenanigans. That makes them even more frustrating: it’s clear that they can do something great here with working the back and cutting off the partner but instead they go with the easy stuff and ruining the superkick because it’s funny (or something). Very good stuff though and that’s amazingly refreshing.
IWGP Tag Team Titles: Guerillas of Destiny vs. War Machine
War Machine is defending but the Guerillas jump them to start and the beating is on in a hurry. Tama hammers on Rowe and gets in a hard clothesline to drop the much bigger man. As is customary, this means a lot of swearing from the Guerillas but it’s off to Hanson to show off the real power.
Both Guerillas are stacked up on top of each other for the pounding forearms to the chest. The fans actually seem to like War Machine better as Hanson gets splashed in the corner. Hanson turns Loa inside out with a clothesline of his own and it’s back to Rowe. Loa laughs like the Joker but gets caught in a Rock Bottom (Loa: “OH S***!”). Everything breaks down again with Hanson getting the better of it and doing his screaming running clotheslines in the corner.
Loa spears Rowe and hits….something like a swinging reverse DDT on Hanson. Tama and Rowe slug it out until Loa comes back in with a Blue Thunder Bomb. Hanson is back up and throws Tama at Rowe for a springboard clothesline. Somehow that’s only good for two and Loa breaks up Fallout to save the match.
Rowe breaks up a quick Guerilla Warfare attempt and powerbombs Tama, setting up Hanson’s top rope splash for a rather close two. Back up and Rowe pops Tama up for something but he pulls Hanson down into a cutter. The referee gets bumped and it’s chair time with Rowe getting blasted in the back, setting up Guerilla Warfare (a bad looking elevated DDT) for the pin and the titles at 10:52.
Rating: B-. This company really likes changing its titles at the big shows. That being said, I like both teams as they both feel different enough than most of the people in this promotion. The match wasn’t great but it was certainly entertaining, with the biggest problem being that it came after the Bucks match. At least it was a fun brawl, albeit one with a bad ending.
The new champs pose in the chair after the win.
Cody vs. Michael Elgin
Just a way to get them both on the card here. Cody offers a cartwheel to start but Elgin shoulders him down and shows Cody the proper cartwheeling technique (I hear he won the Nevada state title back in 95). Since it worked so well the first time, Cody hits a vertical suplex, only to have Elgin pick Cody up for an eighteen second version. Callis says it was over thirty, meaning that bad timing skills are also a Canadian/Japanese problem.
It’s time for the loud chops with Cody in big trouble only a few minutes in. Cody finally grabs an Alabama Slam for a breather but he tries chopping Elgin in the corner. It’s Flair vs. Sting all over again, even capped off by Cody cutting him down at the leg to stay in control. The springboard missile dropkick lets Cody taunt him a bit…..so Mike grabs him by the throat for a Rock Bottom. That’ll teach him, or at least it should.
Naturally Mike does Cody’s taunt right back to him before rolling a few German suplexes. A Blue Thunder Bomb gets two but Cody pulls him down into the Trailer Hitch (modified Indian Deathlock) for little effect. Cross Rhodes are broken up but one heck of a clothesline drops Cody. Elgin tries the apron superplex, only to have Cody slip down the back for Cross Rhodes and the pin at 11:52.
Rating: C+. This was your standard formula match with the power vs. athleticism. That’s the kind of formula that is always going to work and there’s nothing wrong with having a match like that fill in about fifteen minutes on the card, especially with people who have serious potential like these two. Nice little match here.
Cody wants Christopher Daniels and Okada
IWGP Junior Heavyweight Title: Kushida vs. Hiromu Takahashi
Kushida is challenging after losing the title to Takahashi and then losing the rematch in less than two minutes. He’s since won the Best of the Super Juniors Tournament to earn another shot. They start fast with Takahashi trying the Time Bomb but settling for an exchange of forearms to the face. The early slugout sends both guys to exhaustion, which really isn’t a good sign in what is likely to be a long match.
They chop it out again with neither getting much of an advantage again. Takahashi sends him flying into the corner with an overhead belly to belly for the first real advantage but he can’t follow up. Things settle down considerably but the fans are right there with Kushida. We hit the chinlock on Kushida, which seems rather odd in this promotion. I know they’re uses but it’s not something that feels right around here.
Back up and Takahashi misses a charge and gets caught in a cross armbreaker underneath the ropes. It’s quickly broken but that seems to have fired Kushida right back up. Kushida actually sets up some chairs and the fans are NOT happy with the idea, only to turn around when he uses one as a springboard for a dropkick against the barricade. Back in and it’s time to start in on the arm but Takahashi catches a handspring in a German suplex (anyone who has wrestled Marty Scurll would know to NEVER TRY A FREAKING SPRINGBOARD! UNLESS YOU’RE TAJIRI OF COURSE!).
They head up top with Kushida grabbing a Hoverboard Lock and pulling Takahashi right back down with it. Back to the Future (It’s a small package driver with another AMAZING name) is broken up so it’s back to the Hoverboard Lock but Takahashi escapes with a hard clothesline. Kushida heads to the apron but takes a cringe inducing (seriously) sunset bomb to the floor.
Takahashi takes him back in for a Death Valley Driver into the corner but puts Kushida on top for some reason. As you might expect, that means a super Back to the Future (thud) for no cover from the spent Kushida. We get the slugout from the knees with Kushida PUNCHING HIM IN THE NECK but both guys go down again. The fans boo Kushida stomping on him so it’s the Hoverboard Lock again and Takahashi taps at 19:14.
Rating: A. That’s one of the fastest nineteen minute matches I’ve ever seen. These two were beating the heck out of each other and it was a blast to watch from beginning to end. It felt like they couldn’t stand one another and that makes for an entertaining fight. They also played up the story of Kushida trying to claw his way back, which is an awesome story. I mean, it would have been much better if it wasn’t just a five month story but points for going with something entertaining.
Kushida thanks the fans but Bushi and Evil come out with the former misting the new champ.
Never Openweight Title: Hirooki Goto vs. Minoru Suzuki
Suzuki, an old man invading, is defending and this is a lumberjack death match, which means lumberjack. Both guys also have stables and we’re still in STABLE WARS!!! Feeling out process to start so let’s look at the Japanese commentary team instead. Arm cranking goes nowhere so Suzuki takes him up to the ropes and shoves him in the face a bit.
They start chopping it out with Suzuki rolling outside but being thrown back inside almost immediately. That works so well that they do the same thing with the roles reversed as this isn’t exactly deathtastic so far. Goto is sent outside again and now the lumberjacks get into it, allowing Suzuki to hit a running boot to the face. Suzuki drops a piece of the barricade on him and it’s more Suzuki-Gun interference.
Back in and Suzuki keeps up the hard strikes and some arm holds. Another brawl on the floor has Jushin Thunder Liger nearly jumping off commentary to fight Suzuki, drawing easily the loudest pop of the match. Goto scores with a lariat back inside and it’s time to forearm each other really hard again. They’re tough like that you see. Suzuki gets the better of it but throws Goto into the referee, drawing in the lumberjacks for the brawl.
Yoshi-Hashi hits a flip dive onto everyone else and it’s time to fight over chokes. The GTR (a spinning forearm to the chest into a backbreaker) gets two with a guy named Taichi coming in and pulling the referee out. One heck of a chair shots from Taichi knocks Goto out and a jumping Gotch Style piledriver retains Suzuki’s title at 16:01.
Rating: D+. As is almost always the case, I just don’t care about these matches. I don’t see the appeal of hitting each other really hard and turning it into a toughman contest, but that might just be a cultural thing. I need something more to connect to than “He can get hit really hard but THIS GUY can get hit even harder!” That and all the interference got old in a hurry as I have little idea who most of these people are and it’s basically just two groups hating each other for reasons not important enough to explain.
Yoshi-Hashi saves Goto from further damage so Suzuki offers a challenge.
We actually recap Tetsuya Naito vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi. Naito defended his Intercontinental Title against Tanahashi at Wrestle Kingdom to complete Tanahashi’s downfall but now Tanahashi is back for revenge. In other words, rebel vs. tradition.
Intercontinental Title: Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Tetsuya Naito
Naito is defending and has damaged the title by throwing it around, leaving the metal broken in a few places. Tanahashi goes right after him to start and they slug it out on the floor in a rare display of aggression from the good guy. Naito sends Tanahashi’s bad arm into the post to slow him down but a dropkick sends the champ into the barricade. They slug it out until it’s time to go after the arm, which doesn’t sit well with the fans.
The announcers actually explain Naito destroying the belt: he thinks there are too many titles and wants it to be retired. That’s……really different and I kind of love it actually. Naito sends him outside and poses, followed by a tornado DDT off the apron. Tanahashi is back in at nineteen (still takes time to get used to) and it’s off to an arm lock. Back up and Tanahashi actually SPITS on Naito, which is way out of character for him.
We hit the forearm exchange (actually they do but you get the idea) and a dragon screw legwhip takes Naito down by his banged up knee. Naito tries to bail but gets his leg banged against the apron as Tanahashi is showing extra aggression, which makes perfect sense in a big match. It’s too early for the Cloverleaf so Naito goes back to the arm with a pair of dropkicks.
The bad arm gets tied up again but Tanahashi reverses a suplex into a neckbreaker. High Fly Flow only hits mat though and it’s time for another big slapoff. Tanahashi has had it though and grabs both arms for a big German suplex for the slowest two I can remember in a good while.
Naito grabs his own German suplex and Destino for two, only to have Tanahashi pop up with the Sling Blade. The High Fly Flow is good for another near fall and you can hear some of the energy go out of the crowd on the kickout. The Cloverleaf goes on with Tanahashi almost turning it into a Liontamer to FINALLY make Naito tap at 25:58 and earn redemption.
Rating: A-. This was all about the storytelling and the leg/arm stuff worked very well. You could feel the idea Tanahashi fighting for everything he could with Naito relying on his normal stuff and not being able to hang in there at the end. It’s very similar to the Kushida story but this was just a hair better from a storytelling perspective, albeit not quite from the wrestling perspective.
We recap Kazuchika Okada vs. Kenny Omega for the IWGP World Title. They had the most overrated match of all time (which was great) at Wrestle Kingdom and now Okada has challenged Omega for the rematch.
IWGP World Title: Kenny Omega vs. Kazuchika Okada
Omega is challenging and has the Young Bucks in his corner. Feeling out process to start (of course, because this is going to be a long one) with Omega taking it to the mat and kicking Okada in the shoulder for a break. Omega can’t hit a neckbreaker and gets slammed down, only to block a hilo with raised knees. Neither can hit their finisher early but Okada tweaks his knee on a dropkick. As is so often the case in a main event match.
It’s fine enough to knock Omega outside for a flip dive but the knee goes out again. Back in and it’s time for the dropkicks to the knee, including a missile version which has Callis calling Omega a world class athlete. That’s certainly not overkill based on a freaking dropkick or anything. A Figure Four stays on the knee and they head outside with the knee going into various objects.
At least Omega is smart enough to stay on the knee for a bit before kicking at the back to annoy Okada again. A flapjack drops Omega but Okada can’t follow up thanks to the knee. They head outside again with Okada shoving him over the barricade and hitting a running dive. As you might expect, the knee goes out again and Okada can’t immediately follow up. Back in and Omega gets caught in an over the back neckbreaker but still avoids the top rope elbow.
Omega sends him outside again and it’s a top rope Asai moonsault, followed by a springboard missile dropkick for two. A loud sitout powerbomb gets the same but Okada gets his knees up on a middle rope moonsault. Okada goes up top but blocks the dragon superplex and hits a Death Valley Driver onto the apron. A VERY hard dropkick sense Omega into the barricade and Kenny is dazed. Callis: “It’s like being kicked by a horse.” Has Callis ever been hit by a horse? I doubt it, but that’s better than JR’s “Big Show’s headbutt is like being hit by a typewriter.”
It’s table time but Omega can’t get him up for the powerbomb (I’m sure Omega nearly dropping him was COMPLETELY intentional and not in any way, shape or form a mistake in this match that has been rated 125% on the star scale). Okada drops him again and hits the top rope elbow for no cover. Instead he goes back up, only to have Omega catch him for a superplex. He crosses Okada’s legs before lifting him, which is supposed to add something to it but it’s the exact same landing.
The V Trigger (knee to the head) is blocked and Okada rolls some German suplexes into a weak Rainmaker (you know, like it almost always looks) for two. Omega is back up with a sitout powerbomb for his own near fall and both guys are spent. Back up and another Rainmaker is countered into the snap dragon suplex but Okada throws him on top for a dropkick to the floor.
The huge top rope elbow puts Omega somewhat through the table (cracked but didn’t break) and it’s back inside for another dropkick. Of course the announcers are RIGHT THERE again to tell us how completely and utterly in awe they are of Okada’s dropkick. I didn’t know if them doing that the first 198 times during the match sunk in or not. Omega keeps swinging from his knees but eats a pair of Rainmakers (perhaps the worst of them I can remember as THEY’RE JUST STANDING CLOTHESLINES!
Okada walks around instead of covering and here’s Bullet Club with Cody holding a towel. The Bucks keep him from throwing it in and Omega hits a reverse hurricanrana to get a breather. Omega throws the towel down and charges straight into another dropkick. The fourth Rainmaker is broken up with a loud knee to the face for two (This is REAL wrestling! Not that nonsense trading of finishers that WWE does!) in a great near fall.
The One Winged Angel FINALLY connects but Okada gets his foot on the ropes. It’s a very good false finish, though it would have been better (like SIX AND THREE QUARTER STARS) if Omega hadn’t turned toward the ropes before hitting it for no apparent reason other than to set up the kickout. Omega does his pose again, allowing Okada to grab the wrist for the fourth Rainmaker of the match. No cover of course as the match is now longer than the Wrestle Kingdom version.
They slug it out again with Okada actually going down (a rare sight in one of these things), only to pop back up with another dropkick (WE GET IT ALREADY! Both the dropkick and how FREAKING AMAZING THE THING IS KELLY!). More knees (I’ve lost count on how many of those Omega has hit) drop Okada for two and a running version to the back knocks Okada silly. Another One Winged Angel is countered into the Tombstone (Hokey smoke a fresh finisher!) but Okada can’t follow up.
Instead he starts screaming but Omega collapses to avoid another Rainmaker. Since that standing clothesline is just SO hard though, Okada stumbles forward and can’t get up. They fight over a Tombstone until Omega settles for another knee to the head….as we’re told there’s five minutes left. Another running knee looks to set up what looked to be a Tombstone but Okada slips out and hits another dropkick. A spinning Tombstone plants Omega for no cover as we fill in more time.
Okada picks him up and gets small packaged in an outstanding false finish. ANOTHER FREAKING DROPKICK puts Omega down with two minutes left. Kenny grabs the ropes to block the Rainmaker with a minute left and another dragon suplex gets no cover. Instead Okada dropkicks him into the fifth Rainmaker (Take THAT John Cena with your five AA’s a match. Japan’s big names can do it too!) but time runs out at 60:03 (far closer than most hour draws go so points for that).
Rating: A-. I liked the Wrestle Kingdom match better but that’s not to say this isn’t a great match. The problem here should be obvious: I was so sick of the same dropkicks/jumping knee/RAINMAKER (because putting it in all caps instantly makes it cooler)/Tombstone sequences by the end that they stopped meaning anything to me. Anyone is going to run out of stuff to do by the end of a sixty minute match so I can’t blame them for it, but don’t act like them doing the same stuff over and over like that again for forty minutes is some amazing, never before seen formula. That brings us to the other big problem.
Meltzer giving this six and a quarter stars is downright laughable. What I’m supposed to believe is that this match is TWENTY FIVE PERCENT BETTER than any other five star match in history. Twenty five percent better than every match in the Steamboat vs. Flair trilogy, than Austin vs. Hart, than Michaels vs. Undertaker in the Cell, or in any of the roughly 183 tag matches he gave the rating to from Japan in the 90s.
Just…..no. Quite literally no, it’s not that good. Nothing can be, which is why I rolled my eyes when I saw what he rated the match. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with liking a style more than another (I do it, as does every reviewer around, because wrestling is very subjective) but this was some of the worst hyperbole I’ve seen in a good while. I had a good time watching it but again, it didn’t need to be an hour long. You could cut out a good fifteen minutes (like the knee stuff, which wound up meaning NOTHING after about half an hour in) and it’s a better match, though still not six and a quarter stars, or really anything close.
Now that being said, yes the match is excellent and an incredible athletic display. They were selling like they were dead at the end to really put over how much they were laying into each other. Okada came off as the star here with Omega not doing the same level of stuff that he was doing back in January (not to say he wasn’t working hard but January was a once in a lifetime performance). Great match, but I liked both Wrestle Kingdom and Kushida’s match earlier tonight better.
Both guys are gassed and the announcers officially call it a draw and do the standard wrestling thing of comparing it to other matches of the same style over the years. The ending is praised as well, though I’m not sure on that as Okada had him beaten, which doesn’t quite set up a rematch very well. There will be a rematch of course but it could have been done better.
Gedo puts Okada over and the guys get a standing ovation.
There was a post show press conference which I won’t watch because I don’t speak Japanese. The only news though is Cody challenging Okada, who he’ll face at the North American debut in early July.
Overall Rating: A-. Let’s get the big problem out of the way: this show is REALLY, REALLY long at nearly six hours. If you’re going to watch it, fast forward through the entrances and watch it in shifts, which is standard advice for almost all of the big wrestling shows around the world these days. Six hours is just too much to sit through at once and there’s no much of a way around that.
That being said, it’s a great show and certainly worth checking out (though you could skip a match or two and be fine). The two big matches are both outstanding and the Junior Heavyweight Title match is even better, making those three matches must see. The tag matches might vary a bit depending on your taste and the gauntlet match could have been cut down significantly (have the teams on the floor or something). The Never Title match is VERY subjective and while it’s not my style, I know that kind of stuff has a strong following.
As usual, it’s a show I had a good time with but nothing I’m interested in following up on. I’m probably going to increase my New Japan watching a bit going forward, though I’m probably maxing it out at four to five shows a year tops (probably closer to three or four). I probably won’t be covering the tournament finals and there’s virtually no way I’m doing anything but major pay per views. I’ll certainly be doing Wrestle Kingdom (and before people ask me this time) and probably this show plus a few others. New Japan is a lot of fun with some excellent wrestling but them coming to America could be quite a shock for them.
Yes they’re popular with their core audience, but there’s a VERY big difference between the Japanese wrestling fans and the American wrestling fans. You can wrestle this style and bring in all these other names, but if that style is so successful over here, why does no one but WWE draw more than 5,000 fans a night? Maybe New Japan will be different, but I’m really not sure I see it happening. They could surpass Ring of Honor, but is that really a major accomplishment these days? Anyway, great show, but be ready to fast forward some stuff.
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Lucha Underground – June 21, 2017: This Season is Way Too Long
Lucha Underground Date: June 21, 2017 Location: Lucha Underground Temple, Boyle Heights, California Commentators: Vampiro, Matt Striker
It’s week #2 of the Cueto Cup Tournament, which likely means four more first round matches as we get closer to the round of sixteen. In other words, we’re still filling in time because this season is WAY too long and they don’t have anything else to use all these episodes on. Let’s get to it.
The opening video recaps the tournament and last week’s match. Oh and that whole Cage murdering Councilman Delgado thing.
Melissa Santos hits on Fenix but Marty the Moth is watching from behind a wall like the stalker he is. That being said, Melissa came up to see Fenix as he arrived so he shouldn’t know Melissa was there. That also being said, that might be the most logical things around here.
Cueto Cup First Round: Cage vs. Vinnie Massaro
Vinnie tries to slap away at the monster to start and that’s probably why he’s not booked around here too often. Cage unloads on him in the corner but a thumb to the eye actually gets Vinnie a breather. It’s just a breath though as Vinnie gets clotheslined to the floor, followed by a spinebuster back inside. The straps come down but Vinnie actually scores with an STO. For some reason he goes after Cage’s gauntlet though, earning himself a bunch of clotheslines in the corner. The Screwdriver ends Vinnie at 3:31.
Rating: D. This should have been more one sided as we’re coming off Cage murdering someone who seemed to be a major power on the show. Massaro is just a jobber and he played his part fine, but this should have been more of domination to really hammer home Cage’s newfound power/aggression.
Cage puts the gauntlet on and beats on Massaro a bit more. A chokeslam puts the bloody Massaro on the floor.
Another video on Rey Mysterio, this time focusing on his mask. They’re certainly treating the title match as something really important, which helps out a lot.
Johnny Mundo, in pants again, trains with kendo sticks.
Cueto Cup First Round: Marty Martinez vs. Saltador
Saltador is the one who looks like a black and white checker board and offers his arm so Marty can put on a hammerlock. Marty grabs the wrist but the odd Saltador walks through the ropes and to the apron for the break. A dropkick sends Marty into the ropes and Saltador ties Marty’s legs in the ropes to continue the odd offense. That’s cool with Marty though who throws Saltador into the wall at ringside to really take over. Fans: “LET’S GET WEIRD!” I’d prefer we get Chinese but I haven’t had supper yet.
Saltador comes out of the corner with an ankle scissors and a springboard hurricanrana, followed by a very loud superkick for two. Marty has had it with someone being odder than him so he grabs a German suplex, followed by an exploder into the corner. A double underhook into a gutbuster is enough to put Saltador away at 7:12.
Rating: D+. Saltador certainly was odd but Marty moving forward was all that made sense here. The good thing about a promotion like Lucha Underground is the fact that they have enough people and gimmicks running around that you can run a tournament with people you might remember, which keeps things from getting too boring. This was more entertaining than I was expecting and that’s a big positive.
The Rabbit Tribe worships Mascarita Sagrada but he shakes them off and leaves.
Marty hangs out in his Melissa shrine but his sister Mariposa shows up to scare him. She promises to hurt him if they wind up facing off in the next round.
Cueto Cup First Round: Pindar vs. Mascarita Sagrada
The much smaller Sagrada gets thrown around to start and I have a feeling that’s going to be a theme here. As you might expect, Sagrada comes back with a headscissors and armdrag, followed by a running flip dive through the ropes. Back in and Pindar scores with a pop up cutter before hammering away in the corner.
The SI SE PUEDE chants don’t do Sagrada much good but the really spinny headscissors does. Kobra Moon’s interference doesn’t do much good and Mascarita’s moonsault gets two. Pindar has had it with him though and it’s a superkick to knock Sagrada silly. Pindar tosses him into the air for an X Factor and the pin at 5:58.
Rating: C-. This was actually a bit better than I was expecting with Pindar being a good choice to beat the heck out of Sagrada. You can only get so far with someone Sagrada’s size being a featured performer in a tournament like this but at least he only lasted about six minutes.
Cueto Cup First Round: Mariposa vs. Fenix
Santos still has a thing for Fenix. Mariposa isn’t interested in a handshake but Striker is interested in talking as fast as he can and telling us what we can see for ourselves. A tilt-a-whirl DDT plants Fenix and knocks him to the floor for a hurricanrana. Back in and a springboard version of Mysterio’s sitout bulldog gets two. Fenix kicks her in the head for the same and palm strikes her silly, setting up the Fenix Driver for the pin at 5:48.
Rating: C-. Too short to mean much but it was nice to have some kind of storyline development aside from just this massive tournament. The match was decent enough flying around but they needed to do a little more than Mariposa being able to keep up with Fenix. At least Santos being in a story for a change is interesting.
Marty runs in and goes after Fenix, scaring Melissa again.
Overall Rating: D. So let’s recap: we’re taking away the most interesting thing Lucha Underground does and replacing it with short matches that don’t have time to really go anywhere. At least we’re halfway done with the first round but I have a bad feeling about how much time is going to be dedicated to this thing in the name of filling in all kinds of time on this never ending season.
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Lucha Underground – June 14, 2017: Murder and a Tournament
Lucha Underground Date: June 14, 2017 Location: Lucha Underground Temple, Boyle Heights, California Commentators: Vampiro, Matt Striker
It’s tournament time, which isn’t the most best description in the world around here. This time around it’s the start of the Cueto Cup, with the winner getting a Lucha Underground Title shot at Ultima Lucha Tres. Tonight we have first round matches, which could eat up a good chunk of time in a thirty two person tournament. Let’s get to it.
We open with a recap of Dario Cueto’s announcements last week, as well as Drago turning on his partners to join the villains. There’s also a clip of the Black Lotus Tribe destroying Pentagon Dark…..whenever that was.
Pentagon comes in to see Dario, who has a bracket board in his office, just in case you wanted him to get even more awesome. Dario doesn’t think much of him being back but Pentagon goes after the arm, earning himself a spot in the tournament. Before leaving, Pentagon promises to break some bones if he doesn’t win something at Ultima Lucha.
Cueto Cup First Round: Mala Suerte vs. The Mack
They flip around to start with Mack grabbing an armdrag. The fast pace continues until a standoff but Suerte stops to pose instead of following up. That man needs a role model. Suerte’s chops have no effect so Mack Samoan drops him for two. A hurricanrana takes Mack down for a basement dropkick and some arm waving.
That just seems to tick Mack off as he grabs an exploder suplex for two more. Suerte’s release German suplex sends Mack flying and Mala heads up top, despite Mack being 90% of the way across the ring. Instead of jumping though, Mala drops down and runs across the ring for a backsplash. Eh cute enough. Suerte misses a Swanton though and the Stunner advances Mack at 7:31.
Rating: C. This looked like a squash on paper but Suerte wound up getting in enough offense to make things entertaining. Mack is coming off back to back Lucha Underground Title matches though and it wasn’t likely to have him lose to a low level performer like Suerte this early on.
Cage, still wearing the gauntlet (which is still shooting electricity), is lifting when Dario comes in. The boss thinks Cage should meet Councilman Delgado but Cage doesn’t seem interested. Dario insists though, because he’s not scared of a giant wearing a powerful weapon.
Cueto Cup First Round: Argenis vs. Pentagon Dark
Argenis tries to handspring off the ropes and gets dropkicked in the mask for his efforts. Pentagon takes the knee out and it’s one sided to start. A hurricanrana drops Pentagon but he kicks Argenis in the head to take over again. An exchange of superkicks goes to Pentagon but Argenis is able to take him outside. That’s about it for his offense at the moment though as Pentagon kicks him in the face a third time. Argenis gets two off a neckbreaker, only to get suplexed into the corner. The pumphandle driver gives Pentagon two so it’s a package piledriver to put Argenis away at 5:44.
Rating: C+. Pentagon comes off like someone who knows how to maul people and it’s very entertaining to watch him do so. This was completely one sided with Pentagon toying with Argenis from bell to bell. If Pentagon doesn’t go a very long way in this tournament, there’s something wrong with this promotion.
Pentagon breaks Argenis’ arm for a second time, just because he can.
Cueto Cup First Round: Famous B. vs. Texano
B. yells at Melissa Santos for not introducing him from Texas. He needs a stud like Texano in his stable so he’s willing to let Texano get an uncontested pin. B. lays down but Texano picks him up at two, setting up a sitout powerbomb for the pin at 25 seconds.
Famous B.’s valet Brenda gives Texano a little spank, which he doesn’t seem to mind.
Video on Rey Mysterio getting ready to challenge Johnny Mundo for the Lucha Underground Title.
Cueto Cup First Round: Aerostar vs. Drago
Striker reminds us of their best of five series and when you add in following matches, they’re 3-3 against each other. It’s nice to have them add in stories like that for some interest in what should be nothing matches otherwise. You know, ignoring the whole betrayal last week. Drago is now in red and on Kobra Moon’s leash.
Aerostar offers a handshake to start but Drago won’t do it. With Aerostar’s back turned, Drago hesitates to hit him but a smile from Moon turns him more evil and Aerostar is in trouble to start. Aerostar grabs a drop toehold to send him into the middle buckle, only to eat a dropkick. This might be more entertaining if Striker would drop the hissing sounds whenever talking about Moon. A hurricanrana and kick to the head stagger Drago but he catches a springboard in a cutter for two.
They look at each other for a second and again, Drago doesn’t seem to want to do this. Aerostar hits a suicide dive to send Drago into the stairs but bangs himself up even worse at the same time. Some cheap shots from Moon keep Aerostar down and Drago fires off some more kicks. Aerostar is right back with a freaky modified Texas Cloverleaf while laying on his back with a bodyscissors around Drago’s ribs. It’s broken in just a few seconds but it certainly looked cool. Drago comes right back with the Dragon’s Tail for the pin at 7:26.
Rating: D+. This was much more about the storyline than the match and that’s not often a good thing. The Kobra Moon stuff really isn’t all that interesting and it would have been nice to have a refresher after so many months away from the story. At least the logical winner moved forward though and the story can continue in the Trios Titles matches.
Drago lays Aerostar out after the match, again at Moon’s wishes.
Cage goes to City Hall where Councilman Delgado promises Cage more power as their work begins. Cage then chokes Delgado against a wall….and PUNCHES HIS FACE IN, apparently murdering the Councilman because Cage is a machine and not a man.
Overall Rating: D+. This was about moving stories forward instead of the matches and that’s not the best thing in the world when we’re in the start of such a long story. Assuming four matches a week, we’re looking at four straight weeks of first round matches before we really move to the bigger stuff. Then again we had a murder on this show as Cage continues to become a potentially huge bad. Not the worst show here but it’s a first step of a long way.
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Lucha Underground – June 7, 2017: No Time For Pants
Lucha Underground Date: June 7, 2017
Location: Lucha Underground Temple, Boyle Heights, California
Commentators: Vampiro, Matt Striker
After last week’s one idea show, it’s time to mix things up a bit. This time around we have a few fresh ideas, plus more of the same one. We’ll be seeing Lucha Underground Champion Johnny Mundo vs. The Mack, one fall to a finish for the title. Other than that….who knows around this place. Let’s get to it.
The opening video looks at Prince Puma’s near death, Drago being kidnapped and last week’s title match.
Puma is going crazy in front of a mirror when Rey Mysterio comes up. Rey wants to check on his buddy but Puma doesn’t want his help. Vampiro appears in the mirror to threaten Rey, who breaks the mirror.
The announcers welcome us to the show. As usual, Vampiro makes no mention of the backstage stuff.
Lucha Underground Title: Johnny Mundo vs. The Mack
Mundo is defending and I always forget how awesome the Lucha Underground Title looks. Before the match, Dario Cueto comes in to announce everything, including making this falls count anywhere. Mack takes him straight down and gets two off a standing moonsault. Johnny will have none of that and hammers away but the Flying Chuck is countered into something like a Stunner for two.
They head outside with Mack hitting something like a Cannonball into the empty chairs (which had fans in them a few seconds ago), sending Johnny trying to crawl away. That’s fine with Mack who slams him onto a pile of chairs for two. A big chair shot misses but Johnny uses the powers of Parkour to escape.
Cue Ricky Mandel for a distraction, allowing Johnny to dive out of the crowd and take Mack down. Sexy Star comes out to get rid of Ricky so it’s time for a very slow slug out. Now it’s PJ Black coming out from underneath the ring to blast Mack with a kendo stick. A quick Stunner on the apron sends Black through a table but Mundo takes Mack down again. The End of the World hits knees though and Mack grabs a sitout powerbomb for two. Mack can’t suplex him to the floor onto the chairs so here’s Taya for a distraction, allowing Mundo to hit a sunset bomb onto the chairs for the pin to retain at 9:47.
Rating: B. They didn’t waste any time here and just started beating each other up. When you have a match that goes for nearly an hour, there’s no point in feeling each other out here and they didn’t waste their time as a result. Mack being overwhelmed by the numbers game helped and there’s no reason to have Mundo lose the title yet. Save that for something huge, especially with someone who has to deal with the Worldwide Underground first.
Here’s Dario for an announcement. We’re only at the halfway point of the season (I really wouldn’t bring that up boss) but we’ve already seen several new concepts. Now he has a new idea so here’s Melissa Santos with a trophy called the Cueto Cup. Starting next week, there will be a thirty two person tournament with the winner getting not only the cup but the Lucha Underground Title shot at Ultima Lucha Tres.
The question is who will the winner face. Well the Lucha Underground Title will also be on the line the night the cup is awarded with Rey Mysterio getting a shot. Right now though, let’s have a Trios Titles match! As usual, they got the point across in a hurry and Cueto nailed it. This company is so efficient with this stuff and it makes things a lot easier to watch.
Trios Titles: Aero Star/Drago/Fenix vs. Kobra Moon/Pindar/Vibora
Aero Star and company are defending. Pindar and Aero Star start things off as Striker is in really annoying analytical mode again. A springboard corkscrew dive takes Pindar down and a springboard hurricanrana sends him outside. Back in and Vibora kicks Aero Star in the face and we hit the chinlock. Striker explains why the placement of the arm keeps Aero Star conscious because that’s what he thinks commentary is about.
Aero Star fights out of the corner and grabs a super hurricanrana, allowing Fenix to come in and clean house. The tag looks to go to Drago….who mists Aero Star instead. He walks over and takes Moon’s place because she was never officially in the match. Somehow this allows Drago to go up top for a splash on Aero Star for the pin and the titles at 5:34.
Rating: C. So it’s the Hardcore Holly/Cody Rhodes story? I’m still not 100% sure what the story is between Drago and Kobra Moon but I’m assuming it’s something that it’s something where they’re going a bit too far to try to be creative. Vibora and Pindar aren’t the most interesting either and the story is really hurting as a result.
Mundo gets out of the shower and tells Mandel that they should celebrate all night long. Before that can get awkward, Taya comes in to tell Johnny about his match against Mysterio. Mundo sends Mandel off to deal with things and goes off to train, still in the towel. Johnny: “No time for pants.”
Mil Muertes vs. Prince Puma
Street fight. Puma, in a shirt to start, comes in through the crowd to dropkick Muertes down. Another dropkick sends Mil to the floor for a dive but takes too long setting up a table, allowing Muertes to spear him through the wood. Vampiro can’t speak as Muertes DDTs him on the floor.
That goes nowhere as Puma hits him with a sign and gets in a DDT of his own. Another sign to the head slows Puma down and Mil knocks him up the steps and up towards the entrance. Puma finds a shoe of all things but Muertes throws him onto his shoulders to carry him back down to ringside.
With Striker calling Muertes the Heavy Handed One, Puma hits a spinning kick off the wall and throws a trash can (complete with trash) inside. Puma’s walk down the barricade gets shoved off and they fight into Dario’s office where he’s fondling the trophy. Back outside with Muertes hitting Puma in the back with a wrench.
Normally that would kill him but instead, Mil just stares Vampiro down. A swinging Rock Bottom gives Mil two but Puma hits something like a Van Daminator. Puma isn’t done and hits a front flip Van Daminator (cool) for a close two. The 630 looks to finish but Katrina comes in with the stone to knock Puma down. Not that it matters as Vampiro hands Puma a brick to end Muertes at 11:40.
Rating: B. This was two guys with a history beating the heck out of each other. The idea of Puma giving in to the dark side and nearly turning heel is a fascinating idea as he really could make for a good bad guy. That could make for a strong character down the line, especially if he gets to face a top face champion, or even another heel but with Puma as an edgy face.
Overall Rating: B+. Now that’s the Lucha Underground I was hoping for. The tournament announcement was interesting and we had a title change and two really strong matches to go with it. This company’s strength is from the high intensity matches with the over the top characters. Do that instead of the long complicated backstory stuff and things will be fine.
Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the Histories of Saturday Night’s Main Event and Clash of the Champions, now in PAPERBACK. Check out the information here: