On pay per view.  They had to debut eventually, though they better be something after this long of a wait.

WWC Anniversary Show 1988: Hot Night In Bayamon
Date: September 10, 1988
Location: Bayamon Stadium, Bayamon, Puerto Rico
Attendance: 23,000
Commentator: Hugo Savinovich, Brad Batten, Bert Batten

This is the first full Puerto Rico show I’ve ever done and it’s from the World Wrestling Council. Hot Night in Bayamon is their anniversary show for the year but I’m pretty sure this isn’t a complete version. Odds are it’s a trimmed down home video which is about as good as you can expect for something like this. I’ll be lost most of the time for this so bear with me. Let’s get to it.

Savinovich and a tag team called Double Trouble welcome us to the show and run down the card. Their commentary was recorded after the event.

Jimmy Valiant/Rufus R. Jones vs. Wild Samoans

Thank goodness there are English announcers. The Samoans in question here are Afa and Sika. From what I can tell this is the third match on the card but the first two might have been dark matches. We finally get a bell after a lot of standing around. Jimmy goes after Afa while Rufus knocks Sika (father of one Roman Reigns) out to the floor.

Things settle down again until it’s Afa vs. Valiant. Jimmy teases dancing with Afa before dropping down to hit him low. Sika takes a right hand off the apron as we’re still waiting for this to get going. The Samoans’ heads are rammed together before Rufus comes in and elbows away. More dancing ensues and Sika is getting annoyed. Sika grabs a headlock but Jones dances his way to freedom.

Back to Afa who doesn’t mind the chops in the corner but a low blow finally puts him down. They botch a spot where Afa was supposed to hit Sika when Rufus moved but Afa stopped his punch. The hot tag brings in Jimmy who clean house before Rufus hits a dancing low blow of his own. Jones gets double teamed in the corner but he basically shrugs it off and crawls over for the tag off to Jimmy. The referee keeps Rufus out as the Samoans throw Jimmy over the top for the DQ.

Rating: D. Oh man this wasn’t very good. Valient was ALL look and having fun with the crowd and was absolutely horrible in the ring. The Samoans were just doing the basics here but the live crowd seemed to like it a little bit. Jones and his dancing schtick got really annoying and I’ll never get why low blows are fine but something like going over the top is a DQ. Yeah that’s a standard rule, but priorities people. This was more about star power than anything else as all four were known names in America.

Assuming the Wikipedia page for this show is accurate, the show is going out of order now as there was another match (airing later) that took place between the tag match and the following match.

Puerto Rico Heavyweight Title: Mr. Pogo vs. Ricky Santana

Santana is defending and this is apparently a very big feud. The champion jumps Pogo to start and is all fired up. A middle rope forearm sends Pogo out to the floor for a breather. Back in and Pogo takes him into the corner to hammer the champion down to take over. They head back outside where Pogo holds up the title like a true villain would. Santana trips him up and wraps Pogo’s leg around the post.

A slam puts Pogo down on the floor and things slow down again. Back in and a sunset flip gets two for the champ but a manager distraction lets Pogo get in a cheap shot to take over. Pogo slams Ricky’s head into the mat and pounds away before we hit the nerve hold. Santana finally fights back and is all fired up again, hammering away at Pogo’s head.

He makes the mistake of going after the manager again though and Pogo takes over, only to miss a middle rope splash. Ricky misses the top rope version though and Pogo tries a cobra clutch. Santana fights out of it but runs into a big right hand. Pogo sends him out to the floor and knocks him off the apron with a football tackle. Ricky comes right back with a sunset flip for the pin to retain.

Rating: C-. WAY better match here though it could have been about two minutes shorter. Santana was young and in good shape, making him seem almost like a pretty boy with some fire in him. Pogo was a decent monster heel who probably did a lot more with run ins and segments than in the ring.

Pogo and the manager beat Santana up and put him in the Cobra Clutch, making him foam at the mouth.

Tag Team Titles: Batten Twins vs. Sheepherders

The Twins (Brad and Bart) are defending and I believe they’re the commentators called Double Trouble. The Sheepherders are better known as the Bushwhackers. This match was much later on the card, going on second to last. The stalling immediately begins with the champions heading outside and posing a bit. Back in with the champions doing the do see do bit into a double dropkick to send the champions outside.

Bart shoves Luke into the corner to start as it’s really strange to hear commentators talk about a match they’re participating in. Luke comes back with a hard clothesline to take over. Butch comes in without a tag but Bart dropkicks both guys down and rams the Sheepherders’ heads together to send them back outside. Off to Brad vs. Luke for an awkward segment culminating in Brad dropkicking him down for two.

Luke comes back with a knee to the ribs but misses a middle rope headbutt. Brad dropkicks Luke tot he floor again and for some reason there’s no hot tag. Luke quickly comes back in and the twins switch behind the referee’s back. It’s not really clear if the twins are heels or faces based on their actions. More switching behind the referee’s back has Luke in trouble until Butch trips let’s say Brad up to take over.

A belt shot to the back gets two and Bart tries to help, only allowing Luke to throw Brad over the top and out to the floor. Butch rams him into various hard objects outside but he’s able to sunset flip Luke for two back inside. It’s off to Butch legally for a change and a forearm to the chest gets two. Luke hooks a chinlock as Savinovich talks about how complicated it is to have the commentators being in the match.

Luke misses a middle rope headbutt and the hot tag brings in Bart. He hooks a quick sleeper on Luke and everything breaks down. Luke is whipped into Brad but it’s Butch being knocked to the floor. Brad hits a top rope cross body on Luke but the referee goes down, allowing Butch to hit Brad in the head with a flagpole, giving the Sheepherders the pin and the titles.

Rating: C. This was a pretty solid tag match with a basic brawler vs. high flier(ish) formula. The screwjob ending would have had the fans near a riot so the reaction was exactly what they were shooting for. The twins reminded me of someone like the Killer Bees so they would have fit in really well for something like this.

Another referee comes out and tells the first referee what happened so the Battens get the belts back.

Wahoo McDaniel vs. Danny Spivey

Two more guys here for name value. They stall to start as the announcers talk about some rivalry from when these guys played football. Danny tries to work on the arm but gets chopped back into the corner. Spivey kicks him in the ribs to take over and bites Wahoo’s forehead open. He drives some elbows into the cut and we’re already in the chinlock. The hold stays on for a good while before Danny kicks him in the head for two. Wahoo comes back with a low blow but charges into a boot to the jaw in the corner. The referee pulls Danny’s feet off the ropes, allowing McDaniel to grab a really bad rollup for the pin.

Rating: D. Spivey wasn’t bad but Wahoo was just big and old at this point. The match wasn’t anything to see and like I said was just there because both guys are known names. McDaniel would somehow stick around another EIGHT YEARS doing this kind of stuff, which is good for him but rather annoying for the fans that had to sit through his matches. He was very entertaining back in the day but not so much by about 1985.

Chicky Starr vs. Invader #3

The card continues to be all over the place as this and the previous match have swapped places. There’s actually a story here as Starr had invited a guy named the Super Medic to be on his interview segment but Medic was really Invader #3 in a fake mask. Starr’s man Manny Fernandez had put Invader out recently and it’s time for revenge. We see Starr get his head shaved so stitches can be put in to kill some time. Starr vs. Invader #1 was a feud that ran over TWENTY YEARS. Let that sink in for a minute before you complain about Cena vs. Orton again.

Invader #3 attacks Starr before the bell and the fight is on fast. He punches Starr out to the floor with ease and Chicky is in really early trouble. Chicky is already busted open so Invader sends him into the post for good measure. Back in and Invader bites at the cut to bust him open even further. Starr finally hits him low to get a breather and atomic drop has about the same effect.

They slug it out with Invader taking over off a headbutt. Starr begs off but gets kicked in the ribs to put him right back down. More biting of the forehead ensues and a big right hand to the head sends Chicky outside. Starr comes back with a kick to the side of the head but Invader just punches him down again. Invader chokes against the ropes but Chicky hits him low to take over again.

The announcers continue to praise Starr as they’ve gone full heel on commentary after starting the night as standard good guys. That’s interesting but I’ve never seen anything else on the twins. Invader gets two off a spinning cross body but Starr rolls it over into a two of his own. Starr blocks a monkey flip and drops an elbow for the VERY sudden pin. There didn’t seem to be any cheating in there eiither.

Rating: C. This was a blood feud but I’m not sure why you don’t have Chicky cheat to win there. I like the idea of the story and it works well enough, though this was about two months after Invader #1 was accused of killing Bruiser Brody so I’m assuming #3 was there to fill in. Starr seemed like an interesting character.

Ronnie Garvin vs. Iron Sheik

This is the match they skipped earlier in the night and it seems like more name recognition. Sheik jumps him to start as the announcers talk about how they’re both former World Champions though for different organizations. Sheik chokes away with his head gear but Garvin comes back by raking the back and pulling down the trunks on a rollup attempt.

Sheik comes back with a poke to the eye and a chinlock but Garvin fights up with a top wristlock. Garvin comes back with a BIG chop before they ram heads. Sheik crawls over for two and puts on the camel clutch but Garvin quickly escapes. He crotches Sheik against the post over and over before putting on the sleeper. Sheik escapes as well but gets dropkicked out to the floor. Garvin follows for some brawling and only Ronnie beats the count back in.

Rating: D+. Pretty standard match here and the brawling wasn’t bad. That being said, I have no desire to watch either of these guys in late 1988 and I don’t think many American fans would either. Garvin winning was the better call after the Starr match and thankfully it went by fairly quickly.

Huracan Castillo/Miguel Perez Jr. vs. Bobby Jaggers/Dan Kroffat

This is hair vs. hair and based on the commentary, Jaggers is one of the top heels in the promotion. You might know Kroffat better under the name Phillip LaFon. Jaggers and Kroffat hold the now defunct Carribbean Tag Team Titles. Castillo and Perez, later part of Los Boricuas in the WWF, are a regular team sometimes called the Puerto Rican Express. It’s a brawl to start with Perez and Castillo sending the heels out to the floor.

They head over to the scaffolding with Jaggers getting nailed in the head with a chair. The fight continues around the stadium with Miguel slamming Jaggers down and stomping away but slipping and falling on his face. Things settle down and actually get back in the ring with Jaggers taking Perez into the corner but quickly tagging out to Kroffat. The good guys hiptoss Kroffat down and a double dropkick has Dan reeling.

Kroffat is cornered but comes back with a low blow to Perez. It doesn’t seem to have much effect though as the tag brings in Castillo for a vertical suplex to Dan for two. Back to Miguel who gets driven back into the corner and nailed by Jaggers’ whip. Perez reverses a charge into a German suplex for two on Kroffat but Jaggers throws Miguel to the floor.

Kroffat powerbombs Miguel for two and it’s off to Jaggers for some forearms. Bobby allows the hot tag to Castillo and everything breaks down. Miguel is sent to the floor but gets back in just in time to break up a cover off a Hart Attack. Castillo backdrops Kroffat to the floor and into the mud but Kroffat nails him with a spinwheel kick. Everything breaks down again and Castillo falls on top of a monkey flip for the pin on Kroffat.

Rating: C+. This was a bit slow at times and could have used a minute or two trimmed off but it was entertaining enough. This was the basic formula of bullies vs. young speed and it’s going to work almost every time. It felt like another match that would have been a lot better had I gotten to see the buildup.

The losers get their hair cut post match.

The announcers hype up the main event.

Hercules Ayala vs. Carlos Colon

This is a fire match, meaning there are a bunch of what look like socks strung outside the ring and lit on fire. They’re not on the ropes, meaning there are two sets of ropes around the ring. It’s an awesome visual. They slug it out to start as the announcers actually explain the story: Colon was named Wrestler of the Year but Ayala beat Colon up and shoved his wife at the acceptance speech.

Ayala knocks him down and hits Colon with what looks like a can. Carlos stupidly touches the fire but makes a comeback with right hands and a headbutt. Another low blow puts Hercules down and Ayala’s face is shoved into the fire. Oddly enough it doesn’t seem to cause much damage. The fires start going out and the match becomes a lot less interesting in a hurry. Colon misses a middle rope legdrop and Ayala slowly kicks him around the ring. Carlos avoids a knee drop and puts on the Figure Four for the submission.

Rating: D. Well that happened. The backstory was good but man alive did it start looking stupid when the flames went down. At that point it’s just a boring match that only lasted a few minutes. Colon is beloved in Puerto Rico though so the fans went nuts over this. It really didn’t work though.

Carlos puts the hold on again to get some revenge.

The announcers wrap it up.

Overall Rating: D+. There was some decent stuff here but it feels dated and came off like a bunch of names being brought in because they’re names. That doesn’t work without the stories to back it up and really doesn’t work when you would have had the Mega Powers about to explode at this point. It’s not a terrible show but without the stories, it was a bunch of not great wrestling with some decent stories. I’ve seen worse though.

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It’s the top title for the top promotion (New Japan) in Japan and given how things are going, a much bigger deal than the TNA World Title.  So far it looks like he made a good call.

Nothing more than a name and logo at this point but more announcements are coming.

It looks like something from 1991.

WWA Television
Date: September 1965
Location: Southside Armory, Indianapolis, Indiana

God bless Youtube. The WWA is an old territory that actually had two offices: one in Los Angeles and the other in Indianapolis. This show aired sometime in the 1960s but it’s almost impossible to track down the exact date. This might not even be the WWA but there’s only so much research you can do on a show that’s (possibly) nearly fifty years old. Let’s get to it.

Tom Jones vs. Gene Kiniski

Kiniski is world champion (not sure if that’s WWA or NWA) and this is a non-title match. Jones is a plucky little face who grabs a headlock to start but Kiniski takes him into the corner and pounds away on the back. The announcer answers a fan letter about what the ring is made of in great detail which is more interesting than the match itself.

Kiniski kicks him in the face but Jones comes back in with rights and lefts before stomping the champion down in the corner. Kiniski comes back with boots of his own and gets two off a slam. A lot of choking ensues and Kiniski chops him in the chest a few times. Jones finally comes back with a headbutt but gets chopped right back down. Three straight backbreakers (Kiniski’s finisher) are enough to end Jones with relative ease.

Rating: D+. Kiniski is a guy that I’ve never actually seen wrestle before but he was a solid heel in there. He acted like a jerk and choked a lot which had the fans wanting to see him lose but Jones just wasn’t the guy that was going to be able to do it. Jones was decent but there was only so much he could do out there.

House show ad with a main event of Larry Hennig/Harley Race vs. Dick the Bruiser/The Crusher. Those guys would be big deals in the AWA which makes me think this is WWA given how close the territories were to each other. Wildbur Snyder comes in to talk about the tag match and how much the teams hate each other. Snyder was co-owner of the WWA which confirms this as much as anything can. The house show is Saturday November 2, which would put this in 1968, meaning Kiniski is NWA World Champion. I love figuring that stuff out.

Assassins vs. Prince Pullins/Rocky Montero

This is 2/3 falls. The Assassins are masked guys with whips who the announcer says “claim the title of World Tag Team Champions.” That might mean they’re champions, which would confuse things even more because the Assassins last held the WWA Tag Titles in 1965. The announcer now says the Assassins ARE Tag Team Champions, so this is sometime between 1965 and 1968. Pullins vs. Assassin #1, who is the smaller of the two, gets things going. The Prince avoids a right hand as they stall early on.

Prince grabs a headlock and Montero comes in for no apparent reason, allowing #2 to come in and cheat. #1 is put down by a headlock takeover but a knee to the ribs put Prince down and allows the tag off to #2. The announcer talks about how big the wrestlers are as Montero keeps wandering around the ring, even winding up on the wrong corner at one point. Prince slugs away on #1 and tries some headbutts, which the announcer calls a popular move “among young negro wrestlers.” Different times indeed.

More headbutts sent #2 into Montero in the corner as everything breaks down. Montero actually cleans house a bit and sends the Assassins outside until it’s #2 inside again. #1 comes in as well but the good guys pick him up and ram him into #2. Not that it matters as #2 pops back up and hammers on Montero before bringing #1 in again for a slugout. Pullins comes back in again with headbutts and right hands but gets driven back into the corner. #2 slams him down and #1 adds a top rope stomp to Prince’s ribs for the first fall.

Montero and #1 start, which confuses the announcer as the people who ended the previous fall are supposed to start the next. Rocky is sent outside and holds his eye due to some shots from the gauntlet on #1 hand. The match stops almost entirely until it’s back to Pullins who is sent to the floor as well. Monster comes back in and rips at #1’s eyes as everything breaks down yet again.

Prince comes back in and cleans house as the announcer talks about the legal issues of referees getting physical. A dropkick gets one on #2 and it’s back to Montero with no tag. Prince is in almost immediately as Montero walks down the apron, meaning there’s no one for Prince to tag. It breaks down again and the top rope stomp plus a seated senton are enough to pin Montero.

Rating: D-. This was WAY too long and not good in the slightest. Montero was all over the place and looked like he had no idea what he was doing the entire time. The Assassins were just generic heels in masks which made the match pretty dull to sit through. Nothing to see here, other than Montero looking like he was lost in the match.

Danny Dolly vs. Dick the Bruiser

Bruiser owned the company and is a very terrifying looking human being. I looked this up online and was told it was September of 1965, making me think that the house show ad was wrong. Bruiser throws him around to start and fires off some knees in the corner. We hit the neck crank as the announcer talks about how no one has ever submitted to a chinlock. Back to the corner for choking by Dick but Dolly comes back with right hands and a headlock takeover. Bruiser easily comes back with kicks to the ribs before throwing Dolly out to the floor. Dick slams Dolly back inside and goes up for a flying knee drop and the pin.

Rating: D+. Total squash here but it was entertaining to see Bruiser clean house like that. He made a career out of destroying various jobbers and is one of the handful of old names that you’ll see hear every now and then. His look reminds me of Brock Lesnar, which was was even scarier in the 60s.

Moose Cholak vs. Tony Parente

Cholak is a big monster who won’t shake hands with the much smaller Tony. We’re also in a different arena here as there are, I kid you not, less than fifteen fans visible in the crowd. Parente goes for the legs before trying an armbar instead. Cholak goes after the leg before the guys collide in the ring which should have been much more one sided than it was. A dropkick staggers the Moose and they trade forearms with neither getting anywhere.

Something resembling an armdrag puts Parente down but he comes back with a knee to Cholak’s leg. There’s a leg lock as Moose is in a bit of trouble now. Back up and Cholak grabs a bearhug for about two seconds before sending Parente into the buckle. Tony slugs his way out of a wristlock but gets sent into the buckle again to stop his comeback. I don’t know if you can even call it a comeback as neither guy has had a long advantage yet.

Parente takes him down with an armbar and cranks back on the arm Fujiwara style before being thrown outside. Back in and Tony scares Cholak into the corner before firing off some hard right hands. Moose shrugs them off, headbutts Tony down and drops a big splash for the pin.

Rating: D. WAY too much offense from Parente here as Moose looked like he won because he survived rather than being dominant at all. The match made Cholak look like he got lucky rather than being the better man, which isn’t what you would want out of a monster like him. Bad match here but the crowd being so small was far more interesting.

Overall Rating: D-. Well at least it was short. This wasn’t a good show for the most part as the most entertaining matches were the Kiniski and Bruiser squashes. The WWA never was a huge territory and if this is any indication of what their product was like, it’s not hard to see why. Really dull show here with nothing that held my interest at all.

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Yes this is real.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2240046/?ref_=nv_sr_1

XWF Episode 3
Date: November 14, 2001
Location: Universal Studios, Orlando, Florida
Commentators: Tony Schiavone, Jerry Lawler

It’s the final episode after what feels like months. The fact that I’ve less than two hours of this promotion over about five days should tell you everything you need to know about them. There were some very moderate improvements last time but given how low they started that isn’t saying much. The only thing of note is a promised Hulk Hogan match tonight. Let’s get to it.

Knobbs does his usual welcome to the show, saying that Jimmy Hart is out scouting for new talent. So each of the discs are made at different times?

Intro with a quick recap of last week.

Gene brings out Rena Mero with her security guards, two of whom appear to be Tugboat and Barbarian. She won’t directly address Roddy Piper’s actions and writes them off as growing pains for the XWF. Mero says she’s happy with everything that’s happening around here and is off to ask Piper what the main event is here tonight. Gene goes with her for some reason.

Jim Duggan chants XWF.

The South Philly Posse (Public Enemy) talk to the woman they annoyed last week. Apparently it’s Jasmine St. Clair, their new manager.

Drezden vs. Marty Jannetty

Drezden looks like the Wall (from WCW) crossed with Neo from the Matrix crossed with an S&M enthusiast. He runs Marty over as this has squash written all over it. A slam puts Marty down again but he avoids an elbow, only to dive into a bearhug. Drezden easily lifts Marty up for a nice powerbomb and the pin.

Greg Valetine still wants a match but Piper doesn’t care. To be fair Piper can’t hear because of Valentine so can you blame him?

Horace Hogan vs. Josh Matthews

Josh is thrown around like the rookie that he is and Horace drops an elbow to the back. They head to the floor with Josh being rammed into various objects while getting in no offense at all. Back in and Josh’s sunset flip is countered into a chokebomb for two as Horace pulls him up. As you would expect, Josh grabs a small package for the fast count pin.

Jimmy Hart promises to take us to Hail and back.

Shane Twins vs. South Philly Posse

Mike pounds on Rocco in the corner to start before throwing him onto Grunge. Off to Todd for a double shoulder block on Rocco for two. A powerslam gets the same but Grunge gets in a cheap shot from the apron to take over. He works over Mike’s leg for some psychology before waddling over for a few kicks to the face. Rocco comes off the middle rope with a headbutt to the knee as the fans are drowning out the commentary again.

Another headbutt has the knee in trouble and it’s back to Grunge for a knee to the knee. A double back elbow drops Mike and it’s back to the knee. Choking ensues as this match is actually getting some time. Rocco nearly breaks his own shoulder on a missed Lionsault and it’s a double tag to bring in Todd and Grunge. Everything breaks down and the Nasty Boys come out but Mike rolls up Grunge for the pin before they can interfere.

Rating: D+. The match was the junk you would expect, but I’ll give the XWF points for pushing the Shane Twins like they have. They’ve been put over all three of the established teams in a row and came out looking like they could mean something soon. That’s a good sign, but it’s not like any of those three teams meant anything at this point.

The Wall, looking WAY different than he did in WCW, says people are going to run into him.

Gene brings out Jimmy Snuka and his son as you can see the coconut references from here. Why they come out to an instrumental version of Marilyn Manson’s The Beautiful People is beyond me. Jimmy puts over the fans when Roddy Piper comes out to call them both coconut heads and sing about a lovely bunch of coconuts.

Gene tries to get Piper to come fight Snuka but Piper makes fun of Gene’s hair instead. More coconut references ensue but Piper says Rena Mero won’t let him fight. She comes out and says go ahead because she’s a big Snuka fan. Piper claims an arm injury and makes Buff Bagwell/Vampiro vs. Ian Harrison/Curt Hennig.

Knobbs recaps the first half of the show, calling Josh Matthews the winner of the first match because it’s too hard to remember the Drezden squash from 20 minutes ago. He confirms that the bodyguards were Tugboat, Barbarian and 4×4 who you likely won’t remember from 1999 WCW.

Cruiserweight Title: Kid Kash vs. AJ Styles

Jobber entrance for the challenger AJ. Styles works on a hammerlock to start as the announcers talk about Piper taunting Snuka. Kash is taken down to the mat and we get some decent technical stuff. Back up and AJ blocks an O’Connor Roll by grabbing the ropes. Well at least he was supposed to as Kash was already rolling backwards before AJ was touching them but the idea was there.

They trade armdrags, hiptosses and legsweeps to get us to a standoff. Styles and Kash go nose to nose before Kash gets the crowd on his side. AJ misses a spinning kick to the face but gets two off a superkick. A dropkick mostly misses and the fans loudly boo Styles’ efforts. We hit a chinlock on the champion but Kash quickly fights up and gets two off a middle rope clothesline. Kash runs up the corner for a spinning cross body before the double underhook piledriver is enough to retain the title.

Rating: C-. Bad botches aside, there just wasn’t much here. This is as token of a cruiserweight division as you can get, though based on how green AJ looked out there it isn’t hard to see why. Styles needed more seasoning and a short term All-Star company like this is the place to get it.

The XWF Girls give Rena ideas. Literally it’s just her saying they gave her good ideas and throwing the cameraman out.

Jimmy Snuka Jr. vs. Vapor

Vapor wrestled for a brief stretch in the WWE as Sakoda and Snuka Jr. was Deuce of Deuce and Domino. Snuka domiantes to start and sends Vapor into the corner for some kicks to the chest. A forward belly to back suplex puts Vapor down to the floor but he comes back with kicks to the leg. They trade chops in the corner before Vapor gets in a gutbuster for two.

We get a bad looking botch as Jimmy was supposed to get a boot up in the corner but Vapor just had to collide with him instead. Vapor’s manager Sonny Onoo’s interference doesn’t work and Jimmy gets two off a neckbreaker. Jimmy Sr. and Sonny get in and the heels are whipped into each other. Stereo Superfly Splashes crush the Japanese contingent and Jr. pins Vapor.

Rating: D+. Vapor had a good look but nothing more than that. It’s pretty clear to see why Snuka Jr. never went anywhere, even though he got better as Deuce Shade in OVW. Jimmy Sr. coming in at the end was a nice moment but it made the ending about him rather than his son, which defeats the purpose of Sr. being down there.

Curt Hennig/Ian Harrison vs. Vampiro/Buff Bagwell

Hennig and Vampiro get things going but it’s quickly off to Harrison before any contact is made. Harrison easily wins a slugout and choke bombs Vampiro down for no cover. Back to Hennig for more right hands as the fans don’t seem to understand the he’s on the heel team. Bagwell and Vampiro double elbow Hennig down before Buff sends him out to the floor.

Heenan nearly runs into Harrison and looks terrified, even though he’s managing Harrison tonight. Back in and it’s off to Vampiro who comes in to a BIG cheer. Hennig takes him down with a knee lift before bringing Harrison back in for a hard clothesline. A gorilla press (most of one at least) sends Vampiro to the floor but Bagwell clotheslines Ian to the outside as well. Everything breaks down and Hennig gets a quick small package on Buff for the pin.

Rating: D. Again no time to go anywhere and the match means nothing. I think Bagwell is supposed to be a top face here but we still haven’t heard anything from him other than “I’m Buff Bagwell and I’m here.” The ending came out of nowhere and really hurt whatever they had going, which to be fair wasn’t much at all.

Vampiro and Buff are about to come to blows when the locker room comes out to break it up to end the show.

Knobbs talks about how the show was starting to take shape before mentioning Rocco Rock, the Wall, Hennig and Hawk all having died since this was taped. That’s quite a way to go out.

Since that would be a horrible way to end this horrible set, here’s a bonus match from the DVD, featuring the only Hulk Hogan match for the promotion. This is also on the Hulk Hogan Ultimate Anthology DVD.

Hulk Hogan vs. Curt Hennig

Hogan shoves him away to start and poses before running Hennig over with a shoulder. Back in and Hennig goes down to a test of strength but Curt comes back with some loud chops. Hogan won’t be sent into the buckle but rams Curt’s head ten times on three buckles plus the mat for good measure. Hogan does his punches in the corner as this is a total squash so far. Curt finally gets in a kick when Hogan lowers his head and the PerfectPlex gets two. I think you know the drill from here. Legdrop ends Curt.

Rating: D. This didn’t have time to go anywhere and would have been a dark match at a major TV taping. Hogan looked fine but there’s only so much you can do in a five minute match. Both guys would be in the WWF by February so it’s not like this was ever going to mean anything.

Post match Hogan poses for awhile before Gene comes in and asks about Hogan’s future plans. Hogan says needs to get in better shape to hang with these young guys around here. As for being in the ring, he has bills to pay and thinks being XWF Champion doesn’t sound bad.

Overall Rating: D. It’s still horrible but things were starting to come to form by the last episode. Like I’ve said every time, there’s no way this promotion was going to last long term. The bare minimum stories, below average action and a near complete lack of promos from wrestlers (I don’t really count people saying they’re here to be a promo) really bring this place down.

If we hadn’t seen most of these guys doing nothing on Nitro for the last few years, MAYBE this could have worked, but the way they were going about it was destined to fail the entire time. This could have worked as a summer tour or something like that, but nothing long term. It’s not the worst promotion I’ve ever seen by a long stretch, but there’s absolutely nothing here that would hold my interest. In a word, this whole thing was dull, and that’s not the kind of promotion that is going to last long term.

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XWF Episode 2
Date: November 13, 2001
Location: Universal Studios, Orlando, Florida
Commentators: Jerry Lawler, Tony Schiavone

The debut episode of this show was, shall we say, horrible. Unfortunately there’s no time between the tapings to fix those things as these episodes were all taped in a two day span. The only good thing that could come out of this would be those wrestlers aren’t likely to work again on this show…unless those guys were their best. In that case I might be in the need of a well crafted noose. Let’s get to it.

Hart and Knobbs hype up the second episode and recap the first. We need a recap for a show that was on the same DVD set as this one?

This week’s episode opens with another recap of last week’s episode.

Juventud Guerrera/Psychosis vs. Ray Gonzalez/Konnan

Gonzalez is a big deal in Puerto Rico and I’m sure you know everyone else. Konnan and Psychosis get us going with Konnan taking him down four times in a row including twice by armdrags before bringing in Gonzalez. Ray tries to drop down but Guerrera drops an elbow on the back, only to have Gonzalez pop back up and choke Juvy to the mat. Guerrera comes back with a LOUD spinwheel kick before Psychosis comes back in for a double dropkick.

Psychosis gets two off a legdrop and Juvy gets the same off a springboard version of the same move. Ray comes back with an enziguri to Juvy and it’s hot tag to Konnan who speeds things up. A DDT puts Psychosis down and a double hiptoss gets two on Juvy. Guerrera comes right back with the Juvy driver to Ray but Konnan breaks up the 450, allowing Gonzalez to hit a swinging neckbreaker on Guerrera for the pin.

Rating: D+. I think the match had the potential to be good but it went by so fast that I could barely tell. This match needed to be about twice as long for the story they were trying to tell which has been the problem for a lot of the matches that this promotion has had so far. It’s ok to give a match more than four minutes and letting it develop.

That’s enough wrestling so here’s Rena Mero (Sable) flanked by security with something to say. She talks about how great this company can be but Gene interrupts her to ask about Roddy Piper overstepping his boundaries in the Hennig vs. Vampiro match last week. Cue Roddy to defend himself (I think, as his music drowns out the start of his speech) and say he’s taken many things into his own hands but Sable hasn’t been one of them…..yet.

She says Piper promised to avoid getting physical but thinks there might be a fire burning under his kilt. Piper rants about something the audio doesn’t pick up until Vampiro comes in. He thanks Sable for her confidence in the locker room’s abilities and Sable says make the most of it. One more thing: Sable wants Piper to hire Josh Matthews from Tough Enough, which gets a pop for some reason. Piper is cool with the idea and makes Matthews vs. Vampiro.

Big Vito wants to fight the best in the XWF.

The South Philly Posse (Public Enemy) walks past a bus stop and hits on a woman who is clearly a hooker.

The announcers talk for a bit until Simon Diamond comes out to yell at Jerry Lawler for his comments about Simon last week. Those comments were so quick that I don’t even remember them but apparently they were about Dawn Marie not having any class. Simon insults Lawler’s chick named Kitten and we’ve got a match.

Jerry Lawler vs. Simon Diamond

Lawler takes him into the corner for right hand but Johnny Swinger runs in for a double team. Jerry gets double teamed but Simon hits Swinger by mistake. Lawler cleans house and piledrives Simon for the pin in about 90 seconds. Again, less than nothing.

Sonny Onoo has a guy named Vapor. These vignettes are maybe ten seconds each.

Hail vs. Knuckles

Knuckles is a jobber who hasn’t seemed to fight anywhere of note other than in the XWF. Corner splash, modified belly to belly superplex, shoulder breaker, legdrop, Hail wins.

AJ Styles promises to prove he’s the best cruiserweight in the XWF. If you think he’s a country hick now, you would be blown away here. He sounds like a guy imitating a country wrestler.

Knobs and Hart recap the other half of last week’s show.

Horace and Greg Valentine are ticked off that they’re not on the card tonight. They complain to Piper who makes Horace vs. Josh Matthews next week.

Johnny B. Badd vs. Norman Smiley

Badd is way slimmer than he was in his WWF days. Smiley shoulder blocks him down and follows up with a hiptoss before stopping for a dance. Badd comes back with a headlock takeover of his own but stops to pose, allowing Norman to score with some uppercuts in the corner. A slam and clothesline drop Johnny for two and we hit the chinlock.

Jerry talks about Norman having a match last week, even though this is the first match we’ve seen him have. Badd fights up but Norman clotheslines him right back down. A delayed butterfly suplex gets two for Norman and it’s off to an abdominal stretch on the mat. Back up and Badd easily picks Norman up for the TKO and the pin.

Rating: D+. I’m having a hard time coming up with stuff to say about these matches. Norman was doing his best amateur and technical stuff out there but Badd literally did nothing but basic moves before hitting the TKO for the win. Nothing to see here, which should be the motto of this company rather than In Your Face.

Drezden is still coming.

Nasty Boys vs. Shane Twins

Since it was SO interesting last week. Actually there are no Nastys but here are some replacements.

Shane Twins vs. Road Warriors

The Warriors jump the Twins to start and again the audio issues flare up as we can’t hear the commentary over the ring noise. Mike and Animal get things going with Animal breaking out of a wristlock and clotheslining Mike down. Off to Hawk for some loud chops which send Mike out to the floor. The fans are entirely behind the LOD here but Mike gets Hawk to chase him back inside and suplexes him down for two.

Hawk is sent shoulder first into the post and out to the floor on his head. Back in and Todd forearms Hawk down for two and pounds away in the corner. Hawk staggers out and collides with Todd to put both guys down, setting up a double tag to Animal and Mike. Animal easily beats up both Shane Twins by himself and there’s the Doomsday Device to Mike but the Nasty Boys hit the ring and pull out the referee for the DQ.

Rating: C-. That’s almost out of pity more than anything else. The match wasn’t anything to see but it’s the longest match of the tapings thus far, running less than four and a half minutes. However, it advances a story and gives us somewhere to go from here so there’s at least something there. It’s going towards Nasty Boys vs. Road Warriors but it’s better than nothing.

The Nasty Boys bail and the Road Warriors raise the Twins’ hands.

Jimmy Snuka and Jimmy Snuka Jr. are here.

Curt Hennig vs. Buff Bagwell

Buff is a face again after doing that mid match heel turn last week. Hennig is sent to the corner so Buff can do his strut while Hennig bails to the floor. Back in and Curt takes Buff into the corner for some loud chops, only to be dropkicked out to the floor. Buff tries to pull him back inside but Curt snaps his throat across the top rope to take over. We hit the nerve hold for a few seconds before it’s off to standard choking.

Buff gets caught in an abdominal stretch but it lasts about ten seconds, just like everything else. A bad looking Boston Crab from Hennig lasts about as long but Bagwell comes back with a jawbreaker and clotheslines. In a bad looking ending, Buff goes to the middle rope for the Blockbuster but Heenan shoves him off the ropes (referee doesn’t care) and into the PerfectPlex (Bagwell’s shoulder was up, referee doesn’t care) for the pin.

Rating: D. WE BROKE FIVE MINUTES!!! Indeed we did but the match sucked. The holds lasting a few seconds at a time got really annoying because there was no reason for Hennig to let them go. He just dropped them like he was playing No Mercy which is stupid in video games and horrible looking in the real world. Horrible looking match.

Post match Vampiro comes out to yell about Heenan but gets beaten down by Curt. Buff makes the save but Ian Harrison comes out to beat up both guys. This brings out Roddy Piper with a chair to make the real save but Sable and her security come out to yell at him to end the show.

Hart and Knobbs wrap it up.

Overall Rating: D-. This show isn’t making me mad, but rather making me wonder how much longer there is to go with it. The show is starting to get some ideas together but none of the ideas are any good. At the end of the day, this is a nostalgia show and not a very good one. These guys weren’t incredibly old at the time, but there was no way they thought this was going to last more than a few months tops. It was somewhat better this time but they had nowhere to go but up.

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XWF Episode #1
Date: November 13, 2001
Location: Universal Studios, Orlando, Florida
Commentators: Tony Schiavone, Jerry Lawler
Hosts: Jimmy Hart, Brian Knobbs

This is another one I doubt you’ve heard of. Basically about seven months after WCW and ECW folded, Jimmy Hart, Greg Valentine and Brian Knobbs signed up the talent to start a family friendly wrestling promotion to give the guys another place to work. They taped ten TV shows over a two day period but the shows never aired on TV due to Vince signing up a lot of the roster.

The World Wrestling All-Stars would take some of these guys before TNA became a real home for them. These matches are from a three disc DVD set called the Lost Episodes of the XWF. I believe these were supposed to be TV episodes but there’s a chance they’re just random matches thrown together with other clips edited in to add a story. It could be interesting though so let’s get to it.

Before anyone asks, the X stands for either the X-Factor of wrestling, Xcitement or Xtreme depending on who you ask. Also yes, this is the same arena that TNA uses as the Impact Zone.

Since this is a DVD release, Brian Knobbs and Jimmy Hart tell us the company’s backstory. They emphasize that the company was never meant to compete with the WWE but rather to offer an alternative. Their motto was No More Prima Donnas, so they immediately went after Hulk Hogan.

Hulk Hogan is excited to be here and rips his shirt off to prove it.

After a generic rock song intro, Gene Okerlund talks to us about how exciting this is.

Tony introduces us to Jerry Lawler as his surprise commentary partner. The Jerry Lawler Fan Club sign over Tony’s shoulder kind of spoiled things.

The production values are somewhere between mediocre and good with a well built stage but bad lighting.

An old looking Okerlund is in the ring to introduce CEO Rena Mero (Sable) who is nearly falling out of her low cut dress. She gives us the usual WE ARE THE FUTURE AND ALL ABOUT THE WRESTLERS speech that every wrestling promotion gives on its first show. Sable is glad to be here but the board has decided we need a commissioner: Roddy Piper.

We get Piper’s traditional over the top speech about how many of his friends have been ruined by this business and how glad he is that this place is about the wrestlers. We hear about some of the stars of this place: Jimmy Snuka and Greg Valentine. This is going to be a LONG night isn’t it? Piper is glad to have a beautiful lady working with him. She can deal with the money while he deals with the wrestlers. It’s an independence day for wrestling.

Gene Simmons of KISS is with the Demon of WCW 2000 fame. Ok then.

Big Vito vs. Buff Bagwell

The first bell rings nearly fifteen minutes into this show. Before the match we get comments from the Nasty Boys: “We’re back!” End of comments. Vito jumps Bagwell to start as Tony confirms this is the debut TV episode (which never aired). Bagwell escapes some choking to come back with armdrags and dropkicks. At least we have a somewhat clear face.

The fans think Bagwell sucks though so who knows what’s going on here. Vito comes back with a boot to the face and a side slam for two but Buff scores with right hands and a backdrop. Bagwell responds to the chants and basically does a mid-match heel turn which isn’t something you see that often. The Blockbuster is broken up with an old fashioned crotching to set up a Vito superplex for two. Not that it matters as the Blockbuster connects for the pin for Buff a few seconds later.

Rating: D. This immediately shows the problem with shows like this (aside from the match being Buff Bagwell vs. Big Vito of course): there’s no story, meaning the match is just two guys doing moves to each other for four minutes. The crowd reactions were interesting as the fans decided they liked Vito instead of Bagwell, but they weren’t enough to make me care about a boring match.

A bunch of cruiserweights go to Roddy Piper’s office and want a chance. Their chance is in a battle royal (with pins and submissions) tonight to become the first Cruiserweight Champion. Great to see those little guys getting their shot.

Marty Jannetty vs. Hail

Hale is a big muscular guy that hung around WCW for years but never did anything. Hail shoves him around to start, hits a weak backbreaker and drops a leg for the pin in less than two minutes.

Maximum Force (Simon and Swinger with Dawn Marie from ECW) will be in our face.

Drezden is coming.

Horace Hogan vs. Ian Harrison

Harrison is a huge muscle guy (notice a theme tonight?) from England. Horace pounds away in the corner but can’t whip him across the ring. Harrison comes back with a powerslam (by a strong guy from Leeds, England who comes out to Rule Britannia? They’re not even hiding the stolen ideas now) and some shots to the head. A bad looking overhead suplex sets up a triangle choke to make Horace tap out.

Johnny B. Badd is back. Egads they thought this was going to be a big deal?

Jimmy Hart and Brian Knobbs hype up the battle royal.

Cruiserweight Title: Battle Royal

Psychosis, Billy Fives, AJ Styles, Juventud Guerrera, Tongan Prince, Quick Kick, Kid Kash, Christopher Daniels

No one gets an entrance and you can be eliminated by pinfall, submission or over the top. Tongan Prince is Prince Iaukea and Quick Kick is Low Ki (they might as well have just called him that all the time. It makes more sense). Daniels has short blonde hair here. It’s a big brawl to start with everyone going after everyone and Tony having no idea who half of these guys are. Styles dumps Billy Fives as Josh Matthews (yes THAT Josh Matthews) is sitting in the crowd. Psychosis is dumped and AJ is LAUNCHED over the top onto Psychosis and Fives.

Low Ki hits some loud kicks to Kash’s head as Daniels kicks Iaukea down in the corner. They trade off with Kash and Low Ki going up top, only to miss stereo dives and collide (kind of) in midair. Daniels and Iaukea try to get in cheap shots but clothesline each other down. Low Ki misses a charge and eliminates himself before Kash (Krash according to Tony) hurricanranas Iaukea out. Kash’s tornado DDT mostly doesn’t connect but it staggers Daniels enough that Kash can hit a springboard kick to eliminate him for the title.

Rating: D. If you ever want an example of a spot fest, this is where you would look. Nothing more to say than that.

Kash invites Josh Matthews to hang out with him in the back. This was right after Matthews had lost the inaugural Tough Enough.

Alice Cooper likes the XWF.

There are XWF Girls. Ok then.

Nasty Boys vs. Shane Twins

You might remember the Shane Twins as the Gymini from 2006 Smackdown. If not, picture twin Rybacks named Todd and Mike. What appears to be a 350lb or so Sags elbows Todd into the Pit Stop from Knobbs. Todd comes back with some suplexes before tagging in Mike. A double flapjack gets two on Knobbs and everything breaks down. Sags is sent to the floor as Knobbs beats on Mike in the corner, only to charge into a clothesline to give the Shanes what is supposed to be an upset win.

The Road Warriors come out to chase the Nastys off and issue them a challenge.

Jim Duggan is on Willie Nelson’s tour bus….and that’s all for that scene.

Vampiro talks about getting shortchanged over the years.

Vampiro vs. Curt Hennig

Hennig has an agent by the name of Bobby Heenan, who does Curt’s entrance as only he could. Vampiro hits a quick kick to the chest to start and follows Hennig into the corner with a clothesline. Heenan talks to his client on the floor and it’s Curt coming back with knee lifts and chops in the ring. The neck snap keeps Vampiro in trouble but he comes back with a belly to back suplex and a top rope spinwheel kick for two. Heenan loads up a foreign object but Piper is out maybe half a second later to take it away and blast Hennig. The Nail in the Coffin ends Hennig in less than three minutes.

Sable, Piper and Vampiro pose to end the show.

Knobbs and Hart dedicate the show to the late Hennig and Hawk. Egads what a horrid tribute.

Overall Rating: D-. Oh this is bad. I understand what they were going for here but it bombed badly. This is something that might possibly have a chance of surviving in modern times with video on demand or a DVD release, but having all these guys who were way past their primes at this point with not great production values wasn’t going to work. The longest match was maybe five minutes long and there were no stories anywhere in sight until the very end. I’d give this promotion a month if this had been the pilot episode, but maybe the next two will get better.

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Wrestle Kingdom 7
Date: January 4, 2013
Location: Tokyo Dome, Tokyo, Japan
Attendance: 29,000

Yes I’m doing my puro for the year now to get it over with. This is the biggest show of the year for NJPW, which I’ve heard nothing but good things about for the last year or two. The main event here is IWGP World Champion Hiroshi Tanahashi defending against Kazuchika Okada, which I’ve been told is the mother of all awesome feuds. Given my experience with puro, I have a feeling I’ll find it overrated. Let’s get to it.

Before I get into this, keep in mind that I’ve seen maybe five NJPW shows in my life and I don’t follow it. I likely won’t know any stories save for what quick searches give me and I’ll probably get some names wrong. Please bear with me.

Captain New Japan/Tama Tonga/Wataru Inoue vs. Jado/Tomohiro Ishii/Yoshi-Hashi

Dark match and I’ve only heard of Inoue, Jado and Tonga, who is Meng’s son and one half of the CMLL (Mexico) tag team champions here. The second team is part of Chaos, a big heel stable which doesn’t seem to be evil all the time. They also have a huge roster and this is just part of the team. I believe we’re starting with Jado chopping Inoue into the corner and even doing his own WOO’s. Those really are universal. Inoue comes back with some shoulders to the ribs and puts Jado in the Tree of Woe for a running dropkick to the face.

The other heels come in to jump Inoue and it’s off to Hashi for some kicks to Wataru’s chest. Off to Ishii who no sells forearms to the head and kicks Inoue in the ribs. A suplex gets two on Wataru before Jado and Hashi double team Inoue in the corner. Inoue comes back with even more forearms and tags in Tonga who comes in with a cross body to Hashi and Jado.

Everything breaks down with Tonga hitting Jimmy Snuka’s reverse leapfrog into a chop to the chest. It makes sense as Tonga has the long hair and leopard print trunks just like Snuka. It looks like we’ve got a tribute character here. A dropkick puts Jado and Ishii down but Jado comes back with a terrible looking rolling neckbreaker (Cross Rhodes if Tonga was facting up).

The heels all hit running clotheslines in the corner followed by a neckbreaker from Hashi for two. Everything breaks down again and Captain New Japan cleans house, leaving Jado alone 3-1. Tonga hits a double arm DDT with a body scissors (Drew McInty’re Future Shock) for the pin.

Rating: D+. Ok to be fair it’s a dark match but this was just six guys doing moves to each other for about six minutes. Captain New Japan never came in legally and was really more of a distraction for his superhero costume on the apron. Nothing to see here for the most part but this felt like it was supposed to be more fun than serious.

We go to a wide shot of the arena to fill in some time.

Bushi/Kushida/Ryusuke Taguchi vs. Jushin Thunder Liger/Tiger Mask IV/Hiromu Takahashi

Also a dark match. I know Liger and Tiger Mask and the rest are all new, though Bushi is in a mask. Liger’s team appears to be faces here but I think everyone here is a crowd favorite. Takahashi starts with I think Kushida, who rides Takahashi in a wrestling sequence and cranks on the arm. Takahashi grabs Kushida’s arm before they head back to the mat for more technical stuff and a standoff.

Off to Bushi vs. Liger with Jushin being sent into the corner and headscissored out to the floor. Bushi teases a dive but rolls to the mat instead before ripping off his mask to reveal another one underneath. A fan gets a souvenir so it’s pretty safe to say everyone here is a face. Tiger Mask comes in to face Taguchi, whose trunks say Funky Weapon. Tiger gets armdragged down a few times but comes back with a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker and a tag off to Liger.

A release Liger Bomb sets up the Surfboard (signature move) before it’s back to Takahashi. Some forearms get two on Taguchi and the tag brings in Tiger for a spin kick to the chest and a Boston crab. I’m sorry for all the play by play here but I have no idea if there’s a story here, nor who most of these people are so there isn’t much else I can talk about. Liger comes back in but gets caught by a DDT, allowing Taguchi to bring Bushi back in.

Bushi gets triple teamed and a Tiger Bomb lays him out. Takahashi gets two off a fisherman’s suplex as everything breaks down. Kushida takes over on Takahashi with a springboard chop and a standing moonsault to give Bushi another near fall. Taguchi and Kushida hit stereo dives to take out Liger and Tiger Mask, allowing Bushi to hit a 450 on Takahashi for the pin.

Rating: C. I liked it better than the first match but it still wasn’t all that great. I’d assume either Liger or Tiger Mask is the biggest star here but the match was focused on everyone else out there. Maybe this was a passing of the torch moment or something, but you would think that would be on the main show instead of in a dark match.

Everyone shakes hands post match.

Back to the wide shot as the PPV should be beginning next. This one lasts a bit longer, though to be fair this wasn’t on the PPV broadcast so I can’t complain. A countdown clock says we’re under five minutes before showtime. We go to some guys in tuxedos and a short young woman in a dress who is very excited about something. I’m pretty sure this is just saying it’s almost time to get started and a final push.

The countdown ends and we go to an opening video which runs down the card and thankfully shows a graphic for every match with names attached. That’s REALLY helpful for first time viewers and a good way to get some basic information. They also hype the matches but I have no idea what’s being said. This video eats up nearly ten minutes, meaning we’ve gone nearly twenty minutes since the ending of the second dark match.

We go right to the first match.

Akebono/Manabu Nakanishi/MVP/Strong Man vs. Bob Sapp/Takashi Iizuka/Toru Yano/Yujiro Takahashi

The second team is again part of Chaos. Sapp gets his own entrance and has a pretty swank white feather robe. Before the match, Takahashi cuts what sounds like a maniacal heel promo. Manabu makes an announcer do the entrance as the good guys come down the aisle but Chaos charges up the ramp for a brawl. The fight heads to the ring with Strong Man slamming two Chaos members down to set up Ballin from MVP.

Sapp comes in and runs both guys into the corner, only to bring in former Sumo wrestler Akebono (he was at Wrestlemania 21 against Big Show) for the showdown. They collide a few times until Sapp is knocked into the corner for splashes from all four of his opponents. The good guys all start stomping their feet to fire up Manabu who racks Sapp in a nice power display. Yano makes the save with a chair to the back and Iizuka gets in one of his own.

After a quick trip to the floor it’s off to Takahashi for a chop off and a rake to Manabu’s eyes. Yano and Iizuka both wrap chairs around Manabu’s neck and pull for a bit before Iizuka stays in for some right hands. Manabu comes back with a clothesline but the other three members of Chaos break up the tag attempt. Everything breaks down and Chaos is sent into the same corner for splashes from all four good guys (popular move). Manabu racks Iizuka for the submission.

Rating: C. This seemed like a big deal and the ending was fine. Manabu racking people seemed to be a big deal so I’m assuming he’s a popular guy. This was treated as an important win so I’m guessing the winners are at odds with Chaos. I still don’t get the love people have for MVP. The guy is fine but I don’t see the star power people insist is there.

The announcer comes in to celebrate with the winners and clothesline Iizuka to the floor. I’ guessing they’re feuding and this was the announcer’s vengeance?

Never Openweight Title: Masato Tanaka vs. Shelton Benjamin

The Never (it’s an acronym and usually capitalized which annoys me as always) Title is part of an offshoot of NJPW for newcomers and outsiders with Tanaka defending. You might remember him from his wars with Mike Awesome back in ECW. I’m sure you know Shelton. Tanaka comes to the ring with a kendo stick which I guess is a signature prop. Feeling out process to start until Shelton speeds things up with a northern lights suplex for two. A release German suplex sends Tanaka bailing to the floor and things slow down.

Shelton will have none of this standing around and hits a BIG flip dive over the top to take out Tanaka and some other guy who was standing next to him. Back in and Tanaka comes back with a forearm in the corner to drop Benjamin and we hit the chinlock. Shelton fights up and they fight over a suplex with Tanaka getting the better of it. They chop it out and whip each other across the ring until Tanaka hits a SCREAMING CLOTHESLINE to take over. Shelton avoids a diving clothesline and comes back with the Dragon Whip to drop the champion.

A Stinger Splash keeps Tanaka in trouble and a bad looking Blockbuster gets two on the champion. Paydirt (Little Jimmy) is blocked by Tanaka but Shelton kicks his head off for two as the announcers talk about ECW. The same guy that Shelton dove on earlier trips Shelton up and blasts him in the head with a kendo stick (Checkov’s Gun works in Japan too) to give Tanaka a two count. Benjamin comes back with an ankle lock but has to take out the interfering guy with a belly to belly superplex. Tanaka uses the distraction to hit a sliding elbow to the head of a seated Shelton to retain the title. That’s a pretty weak finisher.

Rating: C. This wasn’t much to see as it didn’t have time to go anywhere, making it feel like a TV match rather than a PPV title defense. I’ve always been a Shelton fan and it’s nice to see that he’s still in great shape. Tanaka seems to be a heel here which makes sense when you have him facing a guy that can fly like Shelton.

We recap the tag title match. The Killer Elite Squad (Davey Boy Smith Jr., aka David Hart Smith and Lance Archer) are the heel champions. Swords and Guns (Hirooki Goto and Karl Anderson) beat them in the World Tag League finals and now want a title shot. Simple yet effective.

Tag Titles: Killer Elite Squad vs. Swords and Guns

Anderson is a guy I’ve heard a lot about but only seen a few of his matches. His nickname is Machine Gun and Goto is carrying a sword. One of the champions comes in through a different entrance on a motorcycle, showing off a BIG section of empty seats. The Squad is part of a big heel stable called Suzuki’s Army and has Taka Michinoku with them. It’s a brawl to start with the much bigger Squad cleaning house. Anderson is down on the floor and holding his ribs, leaving Goto to chop in vain at the huge Archer.

Lance hits Old School on Goto and knocks Anderson off the apron again, likely setting up a big hot tag later. A double shoulder puts Goto down and sets up a splash/legdrop combo (imagine Warrior and Hogan using that back in 1990. The world would have ended) for two. Goto finally gets in some offense with a suplex to Smith, allowing for the hot tag off to Anderson. Karl speeds things WAY up and avoids a kick in the corner before kicking Smith in the face twice in a row.

Smith avoids a running backsplash and hooks a tiger suplex for two. Back to Archer for a wicked chokeslam for two but Anderson breaks up a second Old School attempt. Lance blocks a superplex but Anderson busts out a SWEET middle rope TKO for two. The hot tag brings in Goto to clean house and a reverse 3D (belly to back into a neckbreaker) drops Smith. Goto gets two off a German suplex but Archer makes the save. The champions load up a double team move but Smith is kicked away.

Archer is still able to lay Anderson out with a full nelson slam for two as the Squad takes over again. Lance lifts Karl up for a reverse Razor’s Edge but flips him forward into a big slam for no cover. Goto comes back in and lifts Archer up for a suplex. Instead of dropping him back though he flips Lance forward for what was supposed to be something like a sitout Rock Bottom the landing gets botched with Archer just falling to the side.

Smith comes back in with a sitout powerbomb but Anderson sneaks up on him with a Diamond Cutter to put everyone down. Goto fights out of another sitout powerbomb attempt but gets caught in the attempted double team from earlier: a full nelson slam/sitout powerbomb combo but Anderson breaks up the pin again. The same move lays Karl out and a second one for Goto is enough for the pin to retain the belts.

Rating: C+. Definitely the best match of the night so far with Goto being the only guy that didn’t impress me all that much. Smith is a good example of a guy with talent who was limited by the WWE system. There’s only so much you can do when you’re in the ring with Tyson Kidd every night and get stuck as a generic power guy. Archer is a guy who I liked when he was Dallas in TNA and he looked good as a monster here as well. Nice and fun match.

The girl in the dress from earlier poses with Suzuki’s Army but doesn’t seem thrilled to do so.

Minoru Suzuki vs. Yuji Nagata

I remember watching Nagata in WCW and being bored out of my mind. I’ve heard that he’s WAY better in Japan and hopefully those stories are true. Suzuki is a big time heel but gets his entrance played here in a cool spectacle. The fans sing along with a long part, making it a weird choice for a heel entrance. Nagata has an unidentified second with him. They go at it before the bell and fight over a lockup with both guys firing off forearms to the jaw. A hard kick to Nagata’s back is no sold and they trade more no sold forearms. It’s going to be one of those matches isn’t it?

Nagata doesn’t go down from a boot to the face so he knocks Suzuki to the apron with a big boot of his own. Yuji goes after the arm, snapping it over the top rope and sending Minoru out to the floor. Nagata stops to yell at someone we can’t see and gets sent into and over the barricade. Some guy, presumably part of Suzuki’s Army, goes after Yuji with a chair, allowing Minoru to attack Yuji’s second. A chair shot to Nagata’s back lays him out again and Minoru chokes with the edge of the chair for good measure.

Back in and Suzuki headbutts Nagata down to a big reaction from the announcers and it’s off to a leg bar. Nagata finally makes the rope so here’s a front facelock to keep the slow pace rolling. Yuji shoves him off and kicks him in the face again before snapping off some kicks to the chest. A Rock Bottom is countered into another front facelock but Nagata suplexes his way to freedom. There’s a bad looking Crossface on Minoru but he counters into an ankle lock. Well channeling Angle vs. Benoit is better than what we’ve been seeing so far.

Suzuki kicks him in the face again so Nagata does the Undertaker sit up twice in a row. Back up and Minoru scores with a running dropkick before firing off a bunch of slaps. They’re actually enough to put Nagata down a few times and there’s a sleeper from Suzuki. He keeps the hold on for a few arm drops before letting it go and loading up his cradle piledriver finisher which is countered with a backdrop.

Nagata goes back to the arm by snapping it over his shoulder but has to break up an armbar by kicking the other Army guy from the apron. They slap it out again for a good thirty seconds until Yuji finally kicks him in the arm to take over again. More slapping, more arm kicking. Nagata cranks on the armbar again with his eyes rolling back into his head (apparently a trademark) and we cut to a crowd shot. The referee asks Minoru if he wants to tap out while looking at his face instead of his hand. Suzuki finally gets his feet in the ropes but walks into a Saito suplex for the pin.

Rating: C. Maybe it’s because I’m not a puro fan, maybe it’s because I’m used to WWE style, maybe it’s because I’m old, but I do not get the appeal of this style. Why is watching two guys stand in the middle of the ring slapping each other for 40 seconds supposed to interest me? This wasn’t horrible but Nagata still does nothing for me at all. I’m pretty sure this was supposed to be a big showdown and a rubber match for these two at the Tokyo Dome but it didn’t work for me.

Junior Heavyweight Title: Prince Devitt vs. Kota Ibushi vs. Low Ki

This is the Cruiserweight/X-Division Title. Devitt is an Irish wrestler and defending. These three are the only men to hold the title since June of 2010 with Devitt holding it far longer than either of the other two. He’s held it the second most combined days in the title’s history, but is still about three years behind Liger’s total. Low Ki, a member of Chaos, comes to the ring in a suit with two handguns, looking like Agent 47 from the Hitman video game series. Apparently he’s going to be wrestling in the suit.

Kota is taken out as soon as the bell rings and I have a feeling this is going to be one of those matches I can barely keep up with and can do little more than play by play. Low Ki and Devitt run the ropes as fast as I’ve ever seen with Ki running the champ over. Kota comes back with a running shot to Ki before backflipping over Devitt and ducking a kick from Ki, giving us a standoff. Kota hits a pair of kicks to Ki’s chest, sending him to the floor and giving us a showdown. Devitt and Ibushi shake hands and we’re ready to go.

Kota drops to the mat as they run the ropes but Devitt hits a dropkick to his ribs, knocking Ibushi to the floor. Ki comes back in to jump the champion but Kota follows him in and sends Ki back outside, setting up a springboard moonsault to take him down. Back in and Kota fires off kicks to the chest for two on Devitt before hooking a chinlock. A back elbow gets two on Devitt but the Prince goes to the apron for an enziguri, only to be pulled to the floor by Ki.

Back in and Low chokes away on Kota for two before they slug it out. Ki uses kicks (shocking) for two but Devitt is back in. Low Ki kicks him in the chest for two and slaps on an abdominal stretch. The champ’s sunset flip is blocked but Kota comes back with a springboard missile dropkick to send Low Ki to the outside again. Devitt follows up by sending Ibushi to the floor before taking both of them out with a nice flip dive. All three guys are back in now and Devitt hits running clotheslines and dropkicks on both challengers. A top rope Boom Drop gets two on Ibushi as the crowd is WAY into this.

Devitt hits a spinning enziguri on Low Ki but Ki jumps out of a reverse suplex attempt. Prince kicks Kota in the head but Ki hits a rolling Liger Kick to send Devitt to the floor. Kota and Low Ki trade what look to be suplex attempts until Kota dropkicks him out to the floor again. Ibushi hits a HUGE springboard corkscrew moonsault to take everyone down and pop the crowd something fierce.

The challengers slug it out on the ramp with Kota kicking Ki in the head. Back inside and Ibushi tries a top rope moonsault but has to land on his feet, only to immediately hit a standing moonsault for two on Devitt. The pin was somewhat botched as Devitt didn’t kick out fast enough and the referee had to slow down on the count. A half nelson suplex gets the same on Prince and Kota follows up with a sitout Last Ride for two more with Ki making the save.

Low Ki escapes a snap German suplex and stomps Ibushi’s chest for another near fall before finally taking off the suit jacket. The Ki Krusher (modified Muscle Buster) gets another two count with Devitt making the save. He was late again though and the referee had to pretend to dive out of the way as Prince came off the top. Devitt loads up what looked to be a top rope hurricanrana but gets crotched into the Tree of Woe.

Before Ki can stomp on his face, Kota springboards up to the top for a hurricanrana on Ki for a VERY close two. Ibushi misses a Phoenix Splash and rolls into a top rope double stomp to the back from Devitt, but Ki hits a hard running dropkick to send Prince into the corner for two. Ki loads up a top rope Ki Crusher on Devitt but gets kicked to the floor. Kota goes up for something as well but gets DDTed from the top by Devitt to retain the title in a sweet looking finish.

Rating: B. Take three guys, have them fly all over the place for fifteen minutes, listen to the crowd going nuts. It’s nothing but a collection of spots and near falls but it wasn’t supposed to be anything more than that. Low Ki was slightly more interesting than usual and Ibushi was fine as the high spot guy. Devitt’s timing seemed a bit off but the match was still very entertaining and the most fun all night.

Oh and one more awesome thing about Devitt: his theme song is You’re The Best Around from The Karate Kid. How can you not love the guy for that alone?

We get a 20 minute intermission with a lot of talking, crowd shots and interviews/video packages that I can’t understand. There isn’t much to talk about in this so entertaining yourselves in the least violent way possible.

Ten-Koji vs. Keiji Mutoh/Shinjiro Otani

Ten-Koji is the team of Hiryoshi Tenzan and Satoshi Kojima, one of the most successful tag teams in Japanese history. Otani is a big shot in a Japanese promotion called Zero-1 and is here for one night only, filling in for an injured Daichi Hashimoto. Mutoh is the non-gimmicked AJPW President Great Muta, making this a pretty stacked tag match. I’m assuming it was supposed to be one of those dream matches with Hashimoto, who is at ringside, getting a big rub from the legends. If his name sounds familiar, you’re probably thinking of his father: Shinya Hashimoto.

We get the big match intros and we’re ready to go. Kojima and Mutoh go to the mat to start for a wrestling sequence with Mutoh getting an early advantage. Both guys tag to a big reaction and it’s time for the chop off. Well at least they’re not slapping. Tenzan takes over with a clothesline before Kojima joins him in the ring to get in some forearms of his own. Satoshi goes back to the apron so Tenzan can have his chops no sold. Otani is intentionally walking into the chops and doesn’t mind the pain so Tenzan goes down into the neck.

Mutoh comes back in and immediately takes over with an STF to Tenzan. Kojima makes a save and it’s back to Otani for even more chopping. Thankfully for his team it’s quickly back to Muta for a dragon screw leg whip and a Figure Four. Kojima whips Otani into the barricade and slides back in to break up the hold, allowing Tenzan to score with a spinwheel kick. Satoshi comes in for the taps to the chest called rapid fire chops followed by a middle rope elbow for two.

A discus forearm puts Mutoh down again but he comes back with a dropkick and a tag brings in Otani. Shinjiro gives Kojima a facewash in the corner to a BIG reaction and sweeps Kojima’s legs out to put him down. Everything breaks down and it’s Otani with a Koquina Clutch on Kojima and Mutoh with a Figure Four on Tenzan. The referee breaks the holds up and Kojima grabs a Diamond Cutter on Otani.

Tenzan comes back in with chops and clotheslines to Otani, followed up by going to the top and driving Otani down with a knee to the back. Kojima comes in for a sitout spinebuster to set up a Swan Dive from Tenzan for no cover. Otani comes back again with chops and everything breaks down one more time. Mutoh kicks Tenzan in the chest a few times with Otani adding a missile dropkick. The Shining Wizard from Mutoh sets up a helicopter bomb (love that move) from Otani but Kojima comes back in with a lariat to Mutoh. Ten-Koji hits a quick 3D to Otani, setting up a moonsault from Tenzan for the pin.

Rating: C+. This was good enough for the most part with a good ending to bring it up a lot. At the end of the day though there’s no story no matter what language you speak, as Otani and Mutoh work for different companies and are just legends teaming up to fight a top team. That doesn’t do it for me most of the time though the match certainly wasn’t bad.

Hashimoto almost gets into it with Ten-Koji post match but the old guys hold him back.

Video recapping Togi Makabe vs. Katsuyori Shibata. I have no idea what’s going on here but it looks like a grudge match. From what I can find, this started as a tag team feud and

Togi Makabe vs. Katsuyori Shibata

Apparently Shibata, the heel here, used to be an MMA fighter and has only been back in wrestling for a few months. Makabe models himself after Bruiser Brody so this should be interesting. The fight is on as soon as Makabe gets in the ring as they trade forearms but Shibata takes him down MMA style. They’re quickly on the floor and firing off more forearms before sending each other into the barricade. Both guys agree to head back inside to keep up the forearm fest until Shibata takes over with kicks in the corner.

Makabe is dropped by some hard forearms and a seated dropkick, forcing the referee to check on him. A hard kick to Makabe’s back puts him down again and Shibata kicks him in the face. Katsuyori keeps up the striking but Makabe says bring it. They trade Saito Suplexes before Shibata kicks him in the face to take over again. A sleeper has Makabe in trouble but he still won’t quit. Shibata lets go but Makabe catches an incoming kick to the chest and clotheslines Shibata down.

They head outside again with Katsuyori being sent into the post. Makabe steals a table and blasts Shibata in the head with it before setting it up at the end of the ramp. A powerbomb puts Shibata through the table in a huge crash, leaving him looking like a corpse. Back in and Makabe takes too long setting up a clothesline and gets caught in another sleeper. He easily slams Shibata down though and drops a top rope knee (Brody finisher) for the pin.

Rating: C+. They kept this short and energetic and that’s the right idea for a match like this. I liked the story of a polished MMA fighter against a wild brawler with Makabe never quitting. He looked good as the crazy man and fits the role quite well. Shibata is decent enough but didn’t look like anything I’ll remember in a few days.

Video recapping Kazushi Sakuraba (Shibata’s partner and also freshly back in the company) vs. Shinsuke Nakamura for the Intercontinental Title. If you’re an MMA guy you might recognize Kazushi as the Gracie Killer for his success against the Gracie Family. He’s portrayed as an MMA guy here with a lot of still shots from his fights. Nakamura is the champion and looks like a much more charismatic guy.

Intercontinental Title: Kazushi Sakuraba vs. Shinsuke Nakamura

Nakamura is defending. Japanese legend Stan Hansen comes out for a quick cameo before we get started. Sakuraba comes out in a mask with a few guys behind him. Nakamura is a heel here due to being in Chaos but they shake hands before the match to make things a little vague. I can’t quite describe Nakamura’s gimmick but I’ve seen it called an “art-school weirdo with real world MMA credibility.” Works for me I guess.

They start tentatively and feel their way into a collar and elbow before the champion grabs the arm. Ropes are quickly grabbed though and we get a clean break. A leg dive doesn’t work for Nakumura and it’s another clean break. They head to the mat again for more MMA/amateur stuff as the challenger controls until Nakamura rolls to the floor. Back inside and they trade some kicks as we’re still barely out of first gear. A slap to Sakuraba’s face changes all that though as he goes nuts with strikes and a leg trip to take Nakamura down.

Sakuraba grabs a quick choke but gets sent into the corner and hit with some HARD knees. Nakamura misses a charge and gets caught in the choke again before Sakuraba fires off more strikes and a German suplex. A running kick to the champion’s head knocks him silly and the referee checks to see what planet he’s on. There’s a triangle choke from the challenger but Nakamura escapes and hits a knee to the back of the head.

A second attempt is countered and Nakamura gets caught in a cross armbreaker. That goes nowhere so Sakuraba just punches him in the face before going back to the arm. More face shots look to set up another armbare but Nakumara makes the rope. The champion comes back with a Death Valley Driver but gets caught in a kimura in the middle of the ring. For some reason he lets go though and Nakamura hits two straight knees to the face for the pin to retain.

Rating: B. This was a VERY entertaining match though I have no idea where the match of the year talk is coming from. The biggest problem for the match is it barely breaks 11 minutes and a lot of that is spent in the feeling out period. After about five minutes they turn it up several notches but I need more than six minutes of great action to call it a masterpiece. The other thing this does is show the problem with all the MMA stuff. Yeah it’s cool once in awhile, but when half the matches are doing it, you have what crippled ECW. Well one of the things at least.

They shake hands and hug post match. Nakamura says something which I believe is praising Sakuraba for the match.

After a slideshow of every IWGP World Champion, we go into a package on Tanahashi vs. Okada. These two have been feuding for the better part of a year at this point and are the only two to have held the title since 2010, save for the first four days of 2011. Tanahashi is basically the John Cena of New Japan, having won the title multiple times and held it virtually longer than anyone (he has the most reigns and is a single day behind Great Muta for total days as champion). Okada challenged him at the end of last year’s show and won the title about a month later. Tanahashi won it back four months later so we’ve got a rubber match.

IWGP World Title: Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Kazuchika Okada

Tanahashi is defending. This is a feud that I’ve heard so much praise for that I’m genuinely curious to see how good they can be. I’ve seen some Tanahashi stuff before but wasn’t blown away. I did however like the little of Okada that I’ve seen so far. Some band called Breakerz performs a pretty catchy rock song. Okada, with Gedo, lowers down on a platform above the stage which kind of fits his Rainmaker nickname (also the name of his big lariat finisher). Money raining down from the ceiling fits the name a little better. Tanahashi comes down from the same platform but he plays an air guitar to one up Okada.

After some big match intros we’re ready to go. They’ve nailed the big fight feel for this one and the fans are way into it. Feeling out process to start with Okada giving a clean break against the ropes before doing his Rainmaker pose. Tanahashi shoves him up against the ropes and mocks the pose in a cute bit. A shoulder block puts the champion down and gives him a look of frustration. Tanahashi counters a headlock into a top wristlock and a headlock of his own in a basic but well done sequence. They’re doing the slow build quite well.

Okada grabs a wristlock but Tanahashi takes him to the mat to pull on the leg. The counter wrestling continues with Okada escaping into a hammerlock. That’s countered into a headlock by the champion but Okada sends him into the corner. Tanahashi comes out with a middle rope cross body but gets crotched on the top and DDTed down to give us our first real advantage.

They head outside with Okada shoving Tanahashi’s head through the barricade and bending his neck against the steel. Back in and a running knee to the head gets two for Okada before he hooks a freaky looking submission. Okada pulls on Tanahashi’s arm and puts his own arm over Tanahashi’s neck like a clothesline without following through. That’s a new one on me but I’m not sure how painful it would have been.

Tanahashi gets a mudhole stomped into him in the corner and sent over the top but he skins the cat to surprise Okada. That’s fine with the challenger though as he takes Tanahashi down with a nice flapjack before checking his hair. Off to a cravate with a crucifix on Okada (whose shoulders are on the mat for part of it) but Tanahashi rolls enough to get into the ropes. Okada misses a backsplash though and gets caught with a running forearm to put both guys down.

It’s Tanahashi up first with forearms in the corner and a chop block to take Okada down. They slug it out some more until Tanahashi catches a kick and sends Okada to the floor with a dragon screw leg whip. The champion hits a HUGE high cross body to put both guys down on the floor again and fire the crowd up a bit more. Back in and Tanahashi can’t get the Texas Cloverleaf so he kicks Okada in the knee even more. Okada comes back with a dragon screw of his own but Tanahashi grabs the Okada’s knee. The challenger blocks it with a cravate and takes over again.

Okada, bad knee and all, goes up for an elbow but only hits Tanahashi’s knees as momentum changes for about the fifth time. Tanahashi gets crotched again but fights out of what looked like a fallaway slam off the top. Instead Okada dropkicks him down to the floor before taking Tanahashi up the ramp. He can’t hit a tombstone and walks into a running sleeper drop to put both guys down again.

Back in the ring and Tanahashi gets caught in a Samoan drop but completely no sells it, popping up to hit a Hail Sabin. Okada gets his knees up to block a frog splash but it aggravates the injury again. He comes back with something resembling Sheamus’ White Noise but he drops Tanahashi’s back onto his knee for two. An AA into a suplex gets the same result and it’s Rainmaker time. Tanahashi counters into a German suplex followed by a dragon suplex (frog splash, Texas Cloverleaf, German suplex, dragon suplex. He’s a one man Radicalz) for two.

Another running sleeper drop puts Okada down and the frog splash connects for a VERY near fall. Tanahashi hits another leg whip (with Okada never leaving the mat) before putting on the Cloverleaf one more time. Okada FINALLY makes the rope and Tanahashi is exhausted. Back up and Okada hits Tanahashi in the hands with a gorgeous dropkick but can’t cover. They use each other to pull themselves up and Tanahashi has to duck a quick Rainmaker attempt.

Okada comes back with a dropkick to the back and a tombstone but doesn’t cover. Instead the Rainmaker is countered into another one arm sleeper drop. Tanahashi counters another tombstone attempt and dropkicks the bad knee. A tombstone puts Okada down and a high cross body sets up another frog splash to retain Tanahashi’s title.

Rating: A-. It was indeed very good but I wasn’t blown away. The big thing that was missing here was a feeling that Tanahashi was in real danger. Okada hit that White Noise move but other than that it was a bunch of missed Rainmaker attempts. I never felt that the title was in jeopardy and that took a lot away from the match. To be fair though I’ve heard this called their worst match so you could say it lived up to expectations.

Tanahashi is given flowers and a trophy before giving I’d assume an acceptance speech. He even treats us to an air guitar performance.

The commentators talk for about eight minutes to end the show.

Overall Rating: A-. This was indeed an entertaining show, but it’s not as good as some people have made it out to be (best show of all time? Seriously?). It put me in mind of Wrestlemania 19: some very good stuff, but it’s a LONG show (over five hours counting dark matches and intermission, about four hours of regular PPV) that gets tiring after awhile. Yes there are three very good matches, but at the same time there are six that are average or just a step above. There weren’t any terrible matches on the show but a lot of them did nothing for me with the Nagata match in particular.

The other thing missing was the big moment. Nothing on here felt like a biggest show of the year event and nothing seems to have changed, including any titles. Tanahashi vs. Okada is a good match but there’s a lack of a spark when the champion pins the challenger clean. It’s definitely a great show but it’s not the be all and end all of wrestling that it was hyped up to be.

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