The Wrestling Thread

[The Hero of the Day]

Rangers fan in the Impact zone tonight!

I missed some TNA as of late, why are the tag titles vacant? what happened to the band?

I was speaking to the Gers fan for a bit as I was sitting infront of him. He caught a DVD that JB threw out into the crowd and I made some Alan McGregor related comment about how he wouldn't have caught it.

Gene Snitsky just spoke to me on Twitter. My life is complete. Its only fair now that I ask you fine gents to sign a petition to get one of the greatest wrestlers of the modern era into TNA.

http://www.petitiono...e.com/snitsky1/

Thats nothing. Tommy Dreamer used me to pull himself up a row in the Impact Zone and Rhyno looked at me.

I'm off to Victory Road tomorrow. VIP tickets but its not the VIP package.

Edited July 10, 2010 by The Hero of the Day

[forehead7]

Thats nothing. Tommy Dreamer used me to pull himself up a row in the Impact Zone and Rhyno looked at me.

I'm off to Victory Road tomorrow. VIP tickets but its not the VIP package.

Double asshole

[DomDom]

The referee raised Jerry Lynn's arm at the end of the 20 minutes. I think they had the extra 5 minutes because they wanted to keep Van Dam's long title reign going.

That referee raising the hand was incredibly stupid even by Heyman's standards. The match was a draw, and I don't care what the referee did post-match. He didn't have a reason to raise Lynn's hand. The match should have been a 20 minute time limit draw.

[RB-Scotland]

I fucking hate TNA.

Madison - "I'm putting my title on the line, what are you putting on the line?"

Me - "Don't make the outcome fucking obvious and ask her to put her career on the line, it's bad enough having one match ruined by that... f**k!"

Okay, so it's not guaranteed that Angelina now wins(same for Kurt Angle in his match with Pope) - as a best case scenario, we can have yet another fake retirement, but still.

This whole storyline is already stupid enough. Angelina going after the Beautiful People, fine(kinda hard to see her as a babyface when she's still acting like a stuck-up American high school prep, but hey)... but why the f**k do they have Madison Rayne hold the belt and in-turn feud with Angelina? When TBP were together, it was Angelina and Velvet Sky... Madison was the Justin Credible to their Kliq. The feud would feel 10x more personal if it was Velvet that Angelina was targeting.

God this company is infuriating. Save us, Paul E.

[cb_diamond]

Must have been the Mexican Death Match as I haven't seen that one yet.

Believe it or not, voted the #1 all time ECW match in a cumulative votes poll over at the DVDR boards!

[DomDom]

Dragon Gate USA : Uprising PPV

This PPV premiered last night in the USA. So far this year, DGUSA have put out two of the best matches to take place this year. I don't know the lineup for this one. I guess each match will surprise me when it comes. As a sidenote, Bryan Danielson vs. Shingo Takagi is taking place on the next series of DGUSA shows. Awesome.

Akira Tozawa vs. Masaaki Mochizuki ( ***1/4 )

Jon Moxley vs. Jimmy Jacobs, No Disqualification Match ( ***1/2 )

Jigsaw and Mike Quackenbush vs. PAC and Naruki Doi ( **** )

YAMATO and Shingo Takagi vs. CIMA and Dragon Kid ( ****1/2 )

BxB Hulk © vs. Masato Yoshino - DGUSA Open the Freedom Gate Championship

Akira Tozawa vs. Masaaki Mochizuki

I can't say that this match fills me with excitement and joy on paper. Mochizuki is really only a shadow of his former self but he's still a hard hitter. Really lively start as they build up the kicks of Masaaki and the speed of Tosawa and they have a couple of belting exchanges. Tosawa then works on the leg, again really focusing on the kicks as Tosawa tries to take that weapon away. Mochizuki decides to punish Tozawa doing the same thing, but does it in a much more horrible fashion. Of course, they forget all about this for the final stretch which grates on me, therefore points off. It's still a good hot opener which surprised me with how good it was. Tozawa must be really good. ***1/4

Jon Moxley vs. Jimmy Jacobs, No Disqualification Match

This might be good. Moxley is a CZW roster member so he knows his way through such a match while Jacobs has been in many of the best brawls that took place in ROH and also some absolute corkers in IWA:MS. They take a while to get going but when they get there, they crank up the violence quite a bit with some use of a spanner, but they mainly bring the fun with some nice spots, a couple of which build up the End Time, but Moxley does a good job of countering and Jacobs clearly has to wear him down big time to get the move. Too much goofy booking for my liking, but it's a second good match in this show. ***1/2

Jigsaw and Mike Quackenbush vs. PAC and Naruki Doi

I'm not a big fan of the CHIKARA boys, but I love that World-1 team. PAC makes his US PPV debut here. This match goes to show that if you take the goofy shit away from the CHIKARA guys, they can actually put together some decent shit. Both guys have some incredible moves, and when you turn them into tag team moves, they look impressive. In a nice touch, when they DID try something silly, PAC or Doi would stop them dead. This match also made for a nice showcase for PAC, as all he seemed to do was spectacular flying moves, keeping unspectacular stuff to an absolute minimum. Cracking wee match here. ****

RIP Impact vs. Johnny Wave

I smell an angle here. These two guys won the chance to appear on the show because they impressed during tryouts earlier in the day. Sure enough, Brodie Lee comes out and ruins it.

YAMATO and Shingo Takagi vs. CIMA and Dragon Kid

Buckle down kids. This is gonna be a bumpy ride. Kamikaze USA are such an awesome heel team. Everything from the moves to the way they deliver said moves to the way they cheat to the way they look. CIMA REALLY hates "This is awesome" chants for one reason or another. Kamikaze are so good, they manage to turn those chants to boos instantly with their antics. The fans hate them with a passion. As far as the quality of the match goes, DGUSA have done it again. Not as good as the classics that they did earlier in the year, but it's still an absolutely phenomenal free flowing piece of tag action. ****1/2

BxB Hulk © vs. Masato Yoshino - DGUSA Open the Freedom Gate Championship

BxB Hulk is infuriating at times. His selling is just all over the place. Yoshino works on the arm for AGES setting up for the Sol Naciente. BxB Hulk when he starts doing his offense completely forgets to sell the arm and doesn't even feel for the arm. Now, if Yoshino had locked in the move by that point, I could KINDA understand it, but he hadn't and the heat for the move is destroyed. MAJOR points lost there. It's a decent main event but as always, it's an undercard match that steals the show. ***1/2

It's another high quality DGUSA show.

[Marshmallo]

I'm off to Victory Road tomorrow. VIP tickets but its not the VIP package.

How does that work?

[DomDom]

I'm assuming it's a good seat/spot but not a meet and greet or whatever the add-ons are for a VIP package. That's the kind of deal I had when I did Dragon Gate.

[forehead7]

Just watched Big Apple Blizzard Blast 96, Rey Mysterio and Juvventud Guerrera's match was amazing. Add that the list of great non WWE matches.

Just out of interest what's everyone's favourite match, including WWF/E matches?

I'd have to go with TLC 2, with Rhyno, Lita and Spike Dudley running in. Just a great match from start to finish.

[DomDom]

Including WWE matches, it's a toughie. There's a few.

Triple H vs. The Rock, Iron Man Match - WWE Judgement Day 2000 : Just an unreal way to spend an hour. I've always said that there's a difference between overbooking and heavy booking done right, and this match was the latter, with loads of falls, loads of drama, loads of interference which added to the drama and then a climax to send it over the edge of awesome.

Bret Hart vs. Steve Austin, Submissions Match - WWE Wrestlemania 13 : Not only is it a classic, but it's also one of the most important matches that has ever happened. I couldn't imagine if things would have been the same had Austin won the match. One of the best examples of someone looking better in defeat than they would have in victory. As for the match, Hart's increasing desperation is something to behold, as is the pure guts and determination of Austin.

The Rock vs. Triple H, Ladder Match - WWE Summerslam 1998 : Innovative ? Nope. Awesome ? Yup. It helped that the two men had awesome stables and this was the blowoff match between them basically. They just heightened things from start to finish. One of the things I always point out is the way the audience starts off lukewarm and they just get louder and louder untill the end of the match when the place loses it's roof.

Mankind vs. The Undertaker, Hell in a Cell Match - WWE King of the Ring 1998 : Okay, so this isn't technically a classic but it's just incredible to watch, and isn't that the point ? It's more than just the two spots of course as they do a decent job when they get into the ring and the madness doesn't stop with the major spots.

Randy Savage vs. The Ultimate Warrior - WWE Wrestlemania VII : Last but not least, and most probably the best, is this one. If you ever want to see a masterclass in everything that wrestling should be about, from the fued to the match to the aftermath, this is it. The actual match itself is absolutely incredible, but what makes this is the post-match reunion of Savage and Elizabeth.

[DomDom]

Decided to start watching WWE and TNA without spoilers again. Lets see how long this lasts. I'll probably try and watch the ROH TV show as well but that's notoriously boring, so I might not.

WWE Smackdown

Going into this show, Jack Swagger attacked the legs of Rey and Show taking them out. Actually quite intriguing stuff there.

Dolph Ziggler vs. Chavo Guerrero vs. MVP - Money in the Bank Qualifier ( * )

Christian and Matt Hardy vs. Vance Archer and Kurt Hawkins ( N/A )

Drew McIntyre vs. Kofi Kingston - Money in the Bank Qualifier ( **1/2 )

Cody Rhodes vs. JTG ( * )

Jack Swagger vs. The Big Show ( *** )

Right we're gonna have an opening promo with Drew McIntyre. Joy. Fans seem to dislike him, which I'd class as progess. Teddy Long comes out before he can talk. I don't think I've ever been so happy to see Teddy Long. Drew McIntyre calls Long "Mr. Long" but it sounded like "Mr. Lung". McIntyre actually sounded better here because he sort of toned down the promo voice. Fair play. Drew's acting all noble and stuff, and he says he's nominating Teddy Long for the Hall of Fame class of 2010 which gets booed. Teddy Long wants McIntyre to get on his knees and beg for a spot in the Money in the Bank. It's actually retribution for Long begging. Well played writers ! McIntyre then does a great job of begging. Hey, what happened when I stopped watching ? Did he develop character ? Teddy Long says McIntyre isn't in the Ladder Match yet, because he has to beat Kofi Kingston. Well, they had a decent match before.

Dolph Ziggler vs. Chavo Guerrero vs. MVP - Money in the Bank Qualifier

How much did the audience not give a shit about this ? Vickie Guerrero is more unsettling than anything else on commentary. It's as if she has no idea how to commentate without completely acting like a tool. This match is really dull. Chavo Guerrero is hardly the most amazing person to have on offense. Infact the only time the match was any good was when MVP was in control. Not good. *

We now have a video promo of Alberto Del Rio. He doesn't seem like a Smackdown character. Infact he looks like something you'd find on some dodgy US soap. Shit promo anyways.

Backstage we have Rey Mysterio and Dr. Michael Samson. Rey Mysterio has a ligament tear and there's swelling. Jack Swagger turns up backstage and goes after the leg of Mysterio. Swagger drags Rey around the backstage in the Ankle Lock showing people who the champion of the world is. Awesome stuff here actually. Good idea to have Jack Swagger look awesome AFTER he's been world champion. Anyways, Swagger drags Rey out to the aisle and locks in the Ankle Lock. Swagger finally leaves and that was superb.

Christian and Matt Hardy vs. Vance Archer and Kurt Hawkins

This actually looks like it could be good. Two very good tag team guys against a team who haven't looked terrible up untill now. Jesus christ, Matt Hardy is actually getting FATTER. Turns out we don't get a real tag team match from this as Christian pulls Hardy over the top rope in awesome fashion. I liked the point of the match, but since it wasn't really a match I won't be rating it. N/A

Drew McIntyre vs. Kofi Kingston - Money in the Bank Qualifier

Drew McIntyre is getting some major heat for this on the way to the ring. I've definately missed something. I haven't missed something as far as what he does during his matches goes though. Again he doesn't really wrestle like someone who is overly cynical or psychopathic or anything like that. Just wrestles like yer cookie cutter rookie. The final stretch was decent, but this was just standard TV stuff here. **1/2

CM Punk and Luke Gallows head for the ring and have something to say. Gallows calls out Serena, who got drunk last week. Serena says that she made a mistake. She did it to protect Punk. Gallows says that they won't forgive her. Why is he getting to talk ? It's Punk's decision though. Punk allows Serena back in. Luke Gallows isn't happy. Tension.

Cody Rhodes vs. JTG

"Dashing" Cody Rhodes. I'm definately out of the loop. I'm told he said to Matt Hardy "I can literally hear you getting fatter" which wins points in my book. A lively little TV match here, with not much else to add. *

Backstage with Kelly Kelly and Layla. Actually a decent wee segment in which Lay-Cool attack Kelly Kelly.

The Big Show is in serious mode and he's gonna make Jack Swagger suffer.

Jack Swagger vs. The Big Show

There's been some major build up for this one so I expect it to be at least not horrible. Show got the "make him suffer" thing across brilliantly and instead of coming across as slow and plodding, came across as brutal. I love the new "Choo Choo" shoulder block here. More of a segment than a match so that's how I'm going to rate it, as it was a very good angle. ***

Kane catches Swagger going backstage and sits him in a room. Swagger says that he has an alibi and he'll show it next week.

Some MAJOR work done in building Jack Swagger through the course of this show just for that ending ? No thanks. A poor show overall.

Edited July 11, 2010 by DomDom

[forehead7]

I assume that the Mankind/Taker match is the one where Mankind falls off the top of the cage? That was quite a good match.

Smackdown is just horrible. The only wrestlers I would look forward to on their roster would be CM Punk and Christian. Punk is injured and Christian isn't getting enough of a push, for my liking at least. All the rest are competent enough but none really do it for me.

[RussellV1]

Smackdown isn't great but compared to Raw it's like Wrestlemania X-Seven every week

[DomDom]

I assume that the Mankind/Taker match is the one where Mankind falls off the top of the cage? That was quite a good match.

That's the one indeed.

Smackdown is just horrible. The only wrestlers I would look forward to on their roster would be CM Punk and Christian. Punk is injured and Christian isn't getting enough of a push, for my liking at least. All the rest are competent enough but none really do it for me.

I want to see where Drew McIntyre is going. I certainly remember him being much, much worse on the mic last time out and a lot less over. As for Christian, that Matt Hardy thing on Smackdown makes me think that maybe, just maybe, they'll turn him heel. Not sure that'd make much of a difference, but freshening him up might work. I'd say he's perfect as an uppermidcarder anyway. Too dull as a babyface character to be a main eventer and too dull in the ring as a heel to be a main eventer, but he works in that slot underneath.

Smackdown has always seemed a bit second rate to me. I honestly think almost anyone can win the title on that brand and it wouldn't surprise me. JTG could win it next week and it wouldn't make one iota of difference. There's still some wee things coming out of Smackdown that interest me though so I stick with it for now.

[forehead7]

Smackdown isn't great but compared to Raw it's like Wrestlemania X-Seven every week

[DomDom]

Good way to act like an ignorant cunt there.

Edited July 11, 2010 by DomDom

[forehead7]

Good way to act like an ignorant cunt there.

Me? I just don't see how Smackdown is better than Raw on any level. It's like someone trying to argue that John Cena is a better wrestler than Shawn Michaels.

[DomDom]

So because you don't see it, Shuggie is an idiot.

I get you now.

[forehead7]

It wasn't Shuggie, it was RusselV. And you can't seriously think that Smackdown is better than Raw. There's just nothing on Smackdown which is interesting. To have Big Show and Rey Mysterio as your two main heavyweight faces just doesn't make sense. I would even go as far as to say that TNA is more interesting than Smackdown

[DomDom]

And you can't seriously think that Smackdown is better than Raw.

You use a statement like that and wonder why I called you ignorant ?