I would like to begin this by wishing Mother Ruff a very happy [age deleted]th birthday. The Rangers are giving us heart attacks. The Cowboys embarrass themselves against the Lions. And as happy as that makes me, the Eagles can’t win either. I missed last night’s Hell in a Cell. Due to a HUGE weekend, it was just too much to go out on a Sunday night. From what I hear, there was a lot of chaos and a lot of questions to have to answer.
It seems like tonight’s Raw has some major buzz. Randy Orton comes out first and kills my buzz. Drew McIntyre is already in the ring and gets no entrance theme. Thanks for spoiling the end of the first match, WWE. This was a little more than a squash. McIntyre got his share of offense in. The crowd seemed to be really into Randy Orton. But does he make you tune into the show? I can think of 1.98 reasons why he doesn’t. Orton pinned him in what was a decent opener. Kudos to McIntyre for making him look good. Then he attacks McIntyre after the match. Why is he a face?
Mark Henry came out and they fought each other. Security kept on trying to hold them back and they kept on attacking each other. A great visual.
We had a Mark Henry video package. Then John Morrison continued his “About to Be Future Endeavored” tour against Mark Henry. Morrison got some offense before Mark Henry kicked out of Morrison’s finisher. Mark Henry grabbed the mic. He is done with Randy Orton. He wants Big Show.
Super Dave Osborne is giving the heels a pep talk. All 6 are going to the ring. (At this point, my wife fell asleep, for those of you curious.)
Alberto del Rio speaks. As much as I loathe that it’s Otunga getting the ball, I like that they are finding a common theme among everything that is happening. Each rep got to cut their promo about how they are being wronged. And then Vickie grabbed the mic. You would have thought she was Michelle Bachman at an Atheist’s convention. And then HHH came out and told them they weren’t men or something. I like the thought and concept; the execution is not doing it for me.
We got Eve & Kelly fighting Beth & Nattie. Kelly & Eve gave Beth & Nattie a beatdown. I don’t think this was a match. I saw some fire from Kelly. I liked it.
Super Dave Osborne apologized to HHH. He called for a vote of “no confidence.”
Rock is on my tv. My wife woke up. Jinder Mahal started speaking a foreign language. That must mean we’re supposed to boo him. Marella grabbed the mic and started mocking Mahal’s language. Classy. Santino squashed Mahal. Mahal must be opening for Morrison on his “About to Be Future Endeavored” tour.
Broadus Clay footage. He’s like a walking zip code.
The footage of the beatdown was unreal. All the wrestlers were out there, heels and faces alike. There are so many questions to be answered here. Miz and Truth apologized (ish).
Then there was the 12-man match. We had “Never Pissed in a Cup” Mason Ryan. Sheamus got in some good offense. Cody Rhodes had some good moments and looked good. This was pretty good for a cluster. Kofi did the face in peril very well. The crowd loved it. Even my wife who happened to wake up again noticed Evan Bourne come in and go to town. This crowd was so wild all night. They did the spot where everybody did their finishers. Then Sheamus got the pin. I thought the match would be a lot worse than it was. It was given the time it needed.
All the wrestlers came out and stood ringside. So everybody stands ringside while HHH gets the center of attention. This is so ridiculous. He needs to take himself off tv. And out of all the superstars, the one who gets the mic… Wade Barrett? Then Mike Chioda gets a mic? Me like. Then Beth gets a mic. “We’re girls.” Really? Then Lawler gets in the ring with HHH. Everything is out of control, but it’s not HHH’s fault. There’s a puppeteer behind the scenes. Who is it? Everybody votes no confidence, including Lawler, who did it kind of reluctantly. Then, one by one, factions walked out, the last being JR. What a surreal Raw.
This has to be the most surreal Raw I have seen since ECW and WCW joined forces and the best Raw since CM Punk cut “The Promo.” So many questions abound.
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This was my first time to watch an AIW show. I started out being very intrigued by all the promos at the beginning. I know some of the wrestlers, but I am not familiar with their characters. This gave me a brief overview. What it reminded me of was the UFC product. Fighter #1 doing an interesting soundbite followed by fighter #2 doing the same. It’s a formula that works. I don’t need the WWE 5-minute video package I just watched last Monday on Raw. Just give me brief promos so I can know I need to care about these wrestlers.
First match: 6 Pack Scramble: Sugar Dunkerston VS. Sabbath VS. AERO! VS. Kobald VS. Maximo Suave VS. Low Rider
I know who Sugar Dunkerton is from his Twitter presence, so I was excited to see him wrestle. Sabbath had no crowd reaction, but had a different look. Suave looked like a died-black-hair Amazing Red. AERO! looks like a skinny white guy wearing a mask. Low Rider looks like a low-rent Perros del Mal wannabe (I did not find his name listed as a Perro del Mal). And Kobald looks like a bad Mortal Kombat character. I was impressed by how Sabbath used his power and the other wrestlers sold it. Sugar Dunkerton did a clothesline that would have impressed Stan Hansen. And Low Rider did a powerslam type move into the turnbuckles I’ve never seen before. Random painted people attacked somebody and Kobald got the win.
Winner: Kobald
Second match: BJ Whitmer VS. Eddie Kingston
This was my first Eddie Kingston match. I’ve followed Whitmer for about 10 years, going back to his IWA-Mid South days. I’m a little cautious about “the first time they’ve ever met” fights because they can be clusters because the guys have no chemistry together. It looked like there was a feeling out period and they let the drama slowly build. They told a story of Whitmer working over Kingston’s leg and Kingston trying to overcome. It got a “This is Awesome” chant. This was a GREAT match that really had the crowd going.
Winner: Whitmer
Whitmer and Kingston had a nice exchange and the crowd received it well.
Third Match: Chad “The Chad” Williams w/Chest Flexor VS. Tursus
There is a guy named Chest Flexor who must have a faction somewhere. The Chad looks like Randy Orton without the tattoos. The crowd chanted “Randy Rip-off” but I really didn’t think he was a rip-off; he just looked like Randy Orton. This is my first time to see Tursus after hearing so much about him, so I was very impressed with him. I’m surprised the WWE has not brought him in yet.
Winner: Chad by DQ
Fourth match: Team Duke VS. Team Dalton
I have no idea who these people are. Dalton Castle has a Puerto Rican faction as his partners. This RBI guy is named Bonds. I couldn’t figure out who I was supposed to cheer for. This reminded me a lot of a Ring of Honor 8-guy match from their early days. Dasher Hatfield was one of the major workers to stand out to me. Ben Fruith was another worker who stood out to me. He looks like he needs to eat, but man, can this guy sell. I was impressed that Izeah Bonds did a standing moonsault. It told a nice story.
Winner: Team Duke
Fifth match: Marion Fontaine VS. Shiima Xion VS. Chuck Taylor
I’ve tried watching some Xion matches on Youtube and stuff before. (I don’t currently watch the TNA/Impact! product.) Fontaine looks like he needs to eat. Xion has all the makings of a star, except for the awful tights. Chuck Taylor interfered in this match and made it into a 3-Way Dance. It just went way too short. I found myself more impressed by Fontaine with his in-ring action.
Winner: Fontaine
Sixth match: Josh Prohibition VS. Gregory Iron
I still have a deep-seated hatred of Josh Prohibition that goes back to him leaving CZW to start wrestling for XPW during the days of the PA Indy Wars. And holy s***, Greg Iron. He is everything Zach Gowen tried to be. He overcomes a huge disability, but he is still believable when he wins in the ring. The two had an unbelievable Street Fight. I knew about Iron from him the night CM Punk about how awesome he was. Regardless of how I felt about Prohibition, he and Gregory Iron were incredible in the ring together.
Winner: Prohibition
The crowd did a Holy s*** chant and rightfully so. Every Greg Iron match deserves a Holy s*** chant. Forgetting that Iron has cerebral palsy, it was probably one of the best matches I’ve seen all year.
Seventh match: Eric Ryan VS. Bobby Beverly
From this point on, the only wrestler I’ve ever seen before is Sabu, so I promise I will stop saying this is my first time to see this guy. Eric Ryan really impressed me. I think Beverly did a good job of making Ryan look good. Something tells me he’ll get over in the future. Eric Ryan wrestled with a lot of passion and definitely got my attention. You can’t book or train for that.
Winner: Ryan
The Olsen Twins VS. The Irish Airborne VS. AEROFORM
(Ok, so I’ve seen Colin Delaney before, but I really wasn’t into the WWECW product that much at the time.) The six worked really well together. I have no idea what I watched here because it was so fast-paced. Irish Airborne & AEROFORM are tag teams that could walk into Impact or AAA/CMLL and be successful. There was just so much going on it was hard to comprehend this match.
Winner: Irish Airborne
This was everything we wanted it to be. Six amazing athletes just doing their thing.
Ninth match: Sabu VS. Facade in a Falls Count Anywhere Match
I was curious why there were was a Street Fight and Falls Count Anywhere Match on the same card. On thing I have to give AIW credit for is distinct-looking wrestlers. It’s not like watching NXT where you see nothing different than the other 10 guys. Facade looks different. He has a distinct look and it differentiates him from “Joe Indy Wrestler.” And of course I worship Sabu and pray to him every night before I go to bed. I am intrigued by how Sabu reinvented himself. As he wasn’t able to keep up in the ring as much, he started using a toolbox like his late uncle (The Shiek) used to do. It added some longevity to his career.
Winner: Sabu
This booking made absolutely no sense by having Sabu go over, but Facade bled. Prohibition/Iron was more of a wild brawl, but the image of Facade wearing the crimson mask was pretty good.
Tenth match: Rickey Shane Page VS. Vincent Nothing
The video package was well-done. I still had no idea about anything, but it looked to be very emotional. Nothing has a really good look. Page is way too young-looking, but I get what they’re trying to do. The commentating was pretty awful. The play-by-play guy was fine, but the color commentator bordered on stupid. Heel does not equal stupid. I loved Nothing’s in-ring style. I love me some MMA, so a fighter who incorporates some of his moves into wrestling makes me pop. Plus, an MMA fighter could be a huge heel. This had a “big match” feel. There were light tubes. That is all you need to know to grasp how intense this fight was. It got a “Match of the Year” chant during the match.
Winner: Page
Wow. I think I missed a lot of the emotion which was probably like tuning in during a Season Finale. WWE, Impact, this is how you put a guy over. Right now, I believe Page could main event this company. I’m still going with Iron/Prohibition for Match of the Night, but Page gets my MVP. There was total commitment and it was kind of like a “coming of age” match.
Main Event: Johnny Gargano VS. Tim Donst
Donst is ridiculously over with this crowd. Donst is great when it comes to mat wrestling. I haven’t seen much in the way of a distinct look or personality to Donst, but he is super-over with this crowd and reminds me of Dean Malenko in-ring. Gargano had a RED chest. Gargano has a good look and I could see him in Impact before too long. The commentary deteriorated to Mark Madden levels. I can’t describe all the highlights of this match. All I know is that Tim Donst is one of my favorite new indy guys.
Winner: Gargano
What a match. As they were signing off, Chest Flexor’s music hit and Shiima Xion started fighting Gargano and the match started.
Real Main Event: Gargano vs. Xion
This went on until Chest Flexor interfered, the referee turned heel and Xion won the belt.
Winner: Xion
So yes, I am in love with my new favorite non-Texas wrestling promotion. I cannot decide match of the night. Iron/Prohibition, Page/Nothing, Donst/Gargano would all be Match of the Year candidates with any promotion. This is a company I will put my money behind. It’s hard to find a certain name that stood out to me the most. Now that I have been introduced, it’s time to start following the stories that are to be told here.
WOW October already! Where has this year gone? Next thing it’ll be Halloween followed by the greatest day of them all followed by Christmas then it’ll be 2012. But it’s still 2011 and right now is here and well land we still have a lot goings on in the world. (more…)
What’s up? Looks like I am reviewing Smackdown for the foreseeable future, which is a nice change of scenery for me. Granted, I still tune into Impact Wrestling, at times one feels like they are writing the same thing week in and week out. So I we shuffle the deck at the BWF, the subsequent result is anywhere these “reviews” appear will be for the Friday Night WWE B Show.
That being said, we’ll see how I do with this official shift… No real sleep yesterday due to a fun case of food poisoning will mean I get to this episode quite tired…
Here I am to take over the Impact Wrestling review. Boy do I have my work cut out for me. No Barkley or Daffney to assist.
Sorry Daff, but the drunk tank you will stay
We open on Impact and the continuing story of Bobby Roode’s rise to the top. Kurt Angle and Roode exchange words. Is it me or do I see a swerve coming with this whole Roode as champion pursuit?
I know. I know I will regret this later.
We now have the 5-man ladder match for the number one contenders match against Austin Aries for the X division gold. After a somewhat cluttered affair, where Aladdin (Kendrick) in all his Disney glory and steals a victory out from under Kid Kash.
Go Make the street rat proud, Kendrick
Kaz and Tracy get called out to the ring by The Jarretts, where JJ badmouths Kaz about leaving the company multiple times and how Jarrett kept taking him back despite his flip flopping. He then targets his venom on Ms Brooks for being disrespectful to his wife. Calling her a “10 cent whore” which causes Kaz to punch Jeff. Soon security or the retired wrestlers brigade come out to separate them. It all comes to a head when Gunner comes out and F5’s Kaz. (Where’s Fourtune?)
She slept with the owner of the company,
Ink Inc comes out and gets jumped by Mexican America before a singles match between Hernandez and Jesse Neal could take place. After a swift beating and two big splashes by SuperMex, The Sitas spray paint NWO style on there backs the groups initials.
Promo Flair argues with Hogan about his announcement and tells him not to do it. (Why again, would Flair care?) Next Promo is the pre match hype for Tara vs Madison for the Queen’s Qualifier’s Match. The winner taking on Velvet, Mickie and Knockout Champion Winter for the title. Crimson returns.
Knockouts Queen’s Qualifier Match, Madison Rayne comes out in camo wrestling gear and Tara follows with one half of the now pointless tag belts. “Accessories anyone?” What starts out to be a very promising match….sorry I couldn’t keep a straight face. Soon turns to farce when Earl Hebner gets involve and starts choosing sides. Madison uses her charms to get Earl to make calls on her behalf which leads to an eventual reveal and her luck turns for the worse only for her to win with
She "slept" with a higher up for her old position, So tell me who is the better hoe?
her feet on the ropes sealing Tara’s fate as her bitch.
Even though she won't win they still show that she is an asset, and not a hinderance
Christopher Daniels brags about his victory over Styles.
Crimson comes out and calls out Joe. After some back in forth in which Joe calls Crimson his “bitch” a fight ensues which leads to Crimson to be put in the figure four leglock while still suffering from a fractured ankle. But don’t worry Morgan shows to save the day. After a quick clearing of the ring we have the two big men stare each other down until Morgan gives Crimson a friendly man pat on the chest.
Next we have two underrated superstars Dinero versus Anderson. Let us make it quick. Devon’s kids interfere which causes Devon to come out. While that whole mess is going on we have Anderson in the ring at which point Ray hits him with the Singapore cane which Pope slyly picks up the victory.
Sappy Roode promo in which I get early vibes of a wrestler’s version of Rocky. Roode makes the usual promises of training and going into BFG and winning the world title.
Will he have what it takes to beat Apollo Angle for the World Title?
Main Event: AJ Styles versus Bobby Roode. A really good match leading to Roode winning with a cross-face.
Hogan comes out to announce his retirement. Or more correctly tease it for next week. Good way to try to boost ratings with a fake RETIREMENT promo. Sting listens back stage calling Hogan a academy award winning actor, Sting closes the show promising to be in Knoxville, Tennessee for the announcement.
You know your announcement is on thin ice when even the Joker calls you on it.
So that is all for Impact for this week. See you next week when we witness a Knoxville audience.
Hello Bored Wrestling Fans! It is I, the one columnist on this site, who doesn’t actually write about wrestling, and had instead to talk about video games. Why? Well, chances are, if you are in fact a Bored Wrestling Fan, you play video games to occupy your time until all your favourite wrestling programmes come on TV. Programmmes like Sunday Night Heat, or that one-time show that USA put on at the end of 1999 called Eve Of Destruction. Anyways, before the video games talk commences, I’d better cue the opening of the show, but before I do that, I need to state the following: The following game reviews contain spoilers. If you don not wish to know what happens in the games reviewed, then don’t read the review. Although, you probably won’t read it anyway, but I’m just saying for the two of you still reading this right now.
For those of you who have no idea who Mr. Peppermint is, click here. His show, Peppermint Palace, was on every Saturday morning on ABC at 6 (or 5, I don’t remember). His show meant Saturday morning cartoons were going to start. And that was back when you didn’t have Nick Jr. or Cartoon Network. This was the highlight of your week. So a moment of silence and respect to Mr. Peppermint.
We have some questions from last week’s Raw. What will come of “on-fire” Alberto del Rio? What of Miz and Truth being fired? What injury will Tony Romo suffer? What indy promotion do I want to get next and do a review on? (I’m thinking Chikara.)
We start off with Triple H. I look at upcoming Chikara and AAW shows. My AIW show is on its way. Triple H was interrupted by Vickie Guerrero. And yet, people still booed her. Ziggler sounded really good. Ziggler and Triple H played off each other really well. Then Cody Rhodes interrupted. And then Christian interrupted. Christian gets lots of matches. Ziggler fights Zack Ryder. Cody Rhodes gets a Battle Royal.
This was a pretty good fast Battle Royal. Cody Rhodes retained.
After the break, Super Dave Osborne is talking to “Not-so-Super” David Otunga. Apparently, he is still a lawyer even if he’s not practicing. Oh, the stupid… It burns.
We got a tag match. Nattie/Beth vs. Eve/Kelly. We got a Kelly Kelly video package. We need more of these. The crowd actually seemed to care about this match. Beth pinned the champion. Hopefully we get Beth winning more. Her and Nattie are a really good duo.
Mark Henry took apart Great Khali. It was an awesome image and added credibility to his tear of destruction.
John Cena cut a promo. Kansas City thought he was the Chiefs because there were some cheers, but a lot more boos. Then Del Rio came out ringside. Del Rio was doing commentary with his wrestling tights on. Then Punk came out with his announcer’s jacket. This match ended in a DQ. This was the best way to do this. Christian didn’t lose.
We got Zack Ryder vs. Dolph Ziggler. We got to plug Hugh Jackman’s film. Ziggler looked really good in this match. Due to some outside interference by Jack Swagger, we got a tainted Ziggler victory. Air Boom came to Ryder’s rescue.
Teddy Long made a match: AirBoom/Ryder vs. Swagger/Ziggler in a handicap match. This was a fun match. The crowd was really into it. Vickie went out and found a soon-to-be-suspended Mason Ryan, affectionately known as “Matista.” He’s a heel still. As soon as Mason Ryan was tagged it, he was a heel no more. He took out Team Vickie. Why did he do that? Interesting question.
Not-so-Super David Otunga is talking to the boys in the locker room. He’s creating a lawsuit. I like this. It’s creating an interesting storyline.
Our main event was ADR vs. CM Punk. This was a really decent match. Punk won. Then the cage lowered. Punk and Cena destroyed Ricardo Rodriguez and then ADR destroyed the other two with a chair.
This was a pretty good Raw, but then again, I DVR’d it so I didn’t have to sit through the stuff I didn’t want to see. But a lot of questions are raised. And I’m really digging the build-up for Hell in a Cell.
Well it’s me again back with another edition of this very article for you reading enjoyment or something. I hope you enjoyed some of what I did last week since I may be doing more of it in the future. But it’s not about the past, it’s about the present, so lets get this show on the road: (more…)
Since my DVR selectively chose not to record Impact last night, I opted to give Smackdown a chance. Did it record? I hope so, but you wouldn’t be reading this sentence if it did not.
Probably the biggest story, or strongest, is that Mark Henry won the title from Orton last Sunday. It took him fifteen years to do it, and he has no inclination to accept praise from the fans. They never rooted for him before, so why should he care now? Let’s see how this episode unfolds, shall we?
