Tag Archive: New Era

  1. WSU-An Ultraviolent Affair

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    This is episode 2 in the new era of WSU, which can be found here. I remember that nature did not smile on this show as it faced a horrible blizzard. We headed right into the action. It would have been nice to get a little bit of characterization to prepare ourselves for the night.

    Jessie Brooks w/Sammy Geodollno vs. Nevaeh

    The last WSU show found Jessie Brooks teaming up with Sammy Geodollno. I think they are a good pair on paper. I am intrigued how they will mesh as a team. And I’m not sure how this has never happened before, but this is my first chance to see Nevaeh wrestle. Sammy provides a lot of energy which counteracted with Brooks’ slow, methodical entrance. It reminds me a lot of Mark Henry in that an inevitable beating is about to arrive. (And there is no comparison between body types there so please do not kill me.) Brooks just looks mad and pissed-off, which I think is a great place for a leading heel to be. As the match started, the crowd was a little dead, and Nevaeh listened to the crowd and tried to get them moving. I’m not sure that these two have worked together very often. There were some awkward moments in the match. Nevaeh wrestled a heel style so I really wasn’t sure who I was supposed to go for. The ending came out of nowhere for me, so that’s pretty positive. I’m not really sure about the booking of the first match. The crowd was quite dead during this match, so that might have affected me enjoying this match as much as I could have.

    Kimber Lee vs. Christina Von Eerie

    Kimber Lee is the quintessential “girl next door” and Von Eerie is the antithesis of everything Kimber Lee is. This would be a very interesting feud should it ever happen. Kimber was wearing her Moolah tights. We started off with some exciting mat wrestling. We got to see a good showcase for Von Eerie. I think she really shined here. Von Eerie is one of the best athletes in women’s wrestling (with respects to Athena). I would have liked to see more offense from Kimber.

    Niya vs. Veda Scott

    I really like Niya, and Scott is one of my favorites to watch in the ring. One would have to call Scott one of the best all-around workers in wrestling. She is such a good heel. Niya had a lot of sassiness in her entrance. I liked it. We started out with an “at-the-bell” attack by Scott. We had Jana as ref, which was great to see. Niya really got the chance to fly around. Veda got the chance to bump and do her thing as only as she can. She plays the despicable heel role so well. This was easily the best of the first 3 matches. This match had a story and a reason to care.

    Cherry Bomb vs. Kalamity

    So we have my very favorite vs. one of the most unique wrestlers in the indy scene. Kalamity didn’t do a lot to get the crowd on her side. Cherry Bomb is a very over heel in CZW so she fit right in. If you like Grumpy Cherry, there were plenty of great facials. There was some good entertainment to start off the match including the greatest insult of all time-“You look like an Oompa Loompa.” Cherry Bomb kept the crowd hating her. Watching her during the opening minutes is a clinic on how to get the crowd to hate you. If you like a stiff SHIMMER-style match, this is your match. Cherry Bomb also kept the crowd engaged, never giving up on heckling them or yelling at them. This crowd was as dead as can be. However if there was any life up to this point, it awakened during the Cherry match. I found this to be a really good match, my favorite up to this point. (Pretend I’m not the biggest Cherry Bomb fan but) I would definitely recommend this DVD for this match.

    Addy Starr vs. Chris Dickinson

    I love Addy Starr, but why is there a guy here? I’ve never seen Dickinson so I will be happy to see him, but why is he wrestling in Women Superstars Uncensored? Dickinson took the mic and cut a really good heel promo. I love Addy’s energy. She brings so much to a crowd. This wasn’t my favorite intergender match, but Addy flopped around like a rag doll. She took a powerbomb that I wowed out loud for. The near-fall portion was really good.

    Spoiler alert: I hated the finish. Why is this on Women Superstars Uncensored? It just seemed out of place. Dickinson won and got the pin. How does that help out THIS company? I just don’t see where it’s going yet.

    Athena vs. Jessicka Havok

    Would I be out of place to say my expectations for this are sky high? You have two of the top female wrestlers on the planet going at it here. This match got the time it needed. Up to this point, I didn’t feel the matches had gotten the time they needed to tell their stories, other than Cherry-Kalamity. There isn’t a lot to say. It was nearly twenty minutes of two of the top talents in wrestling doing their thing. This match alone would have been worth the price of purchasing it.

    LuFisto vs. Mercedes Martinez

    This first meeting between these two was my choice for 2012 Match of the Year. So you can imagine my expectations for this are pretty high too. Plus, this was Falls Count Anywhere. If I’m correct, this was in a hockey arena. This match took place in an ice skating rink. This was a match where you bumped on ice. I played broomball once in high school. I fell smack dab on the back of my head and haven’t been on the ice since. These women fought on the ice on purpose. There were some snap suplexes that made me hurt watching them. What an epic follow-up. I dare say this match topped the first. This match alone is worth the price of the DVD.

    All in all… I know that circumstances were way against WSU when trying to put forth this show, and no one would have blamed them for cancelling. But they put forth a really good show. Not every match was epic, but I’m not sure they were given the time they needed. I would like to have seen more character development. Just give me a minute for Havok to tell me why she chose Athena, postmatch of Mercedes explaining her actions, why the Dickinson-Starr feud.

    I liked Cindy Rogers on the mic. WSU needs a consistent color commentator so I’d like to hear more of her there. You had three really strong matches (And the Starr-Dickinson match was good; I just hated the story.), one of which bordered epic and another was the poster child of epic. I would definitely recommend this DVD.

  2. A Ruff Look at WSU Full Steam Ahead

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    The below show can be found here.

    We began the night with Sammy Geodollno offering her services to Mercedes Martinez. Nice, cute, short, character-driven.

    Kalamity vs. Leva Bates

    I am looking forward to this match. Kalamity has a good look and ring presence, even though she’s somewhat lacking in height. And to me, Leva reminds a lot in-ring wise of Shawn Michaels. By appealing to the geek in all of us, she has carved herself a really nice demand. Leva was rocking the Jigsaw outfit of Saw fame. It’s not exactly my favorite outfit of her’s, but I love her variety. We had a handshake to start the match. I’m going to compare old WSU to new WSU a lot. You can already tell an improvement in the crowd. They are alive. I really like Kalamity’s hard-hitting style. Her elbows look like they kill you. And Leva bumps like “H-She-K.” (I’m coining that term right now.) Leva’s chops have the perfect combination of cute and devastating. It had really strong wrestling and great back and forth. It was the perfect match for the opener. We had a nice show of sportsmanship. I know it’s ironic that the company is called Womens Superstars Uncensored, but I would let my daughter watch this match.

    Brittney Savage vs. Tina San Antonio

    I am intrigued by this match, as these were two stars created by the old WSU. What will happen in this new era? Where will they go? Tina is now a heel and if I may say, a rather good one. And even though I think Savage is a better heel, she is over with the crowd and they accept her as a face. San Antonio’s ring style in this match was slow and methodical. There was a nice exchange with the roll-ups. It was good old-school wrestling. You had the heel giving out punishment with the face taking it. I really liked the story of the finish. It opens them up for a good feud. After this match, Tina is a force to be reckoned with.

    Addy Starr vs. Jessie Brooks

    I like Addy’s cute, quirky look. I’m not too familiar with Brooks if I have seen her at all. She looks focused, no-nonsense. So far, 3 matches, 1 heel. Brooks is a very capable wrestler but comes off a little bland. Maybe being in a Sammy G skit would have worked better for her. Starr has a nice, unique ring style. One cannot deny Brooks’ in-ring ability as we got a cattle mutilation. I really liked the exchange when Addy had Brooks in the guillotine choke. Funny I should mention Sammy G because she came down to ringside. I really liked Jessie in this match. The crowd just needs a reason to care about her. The crowd loved Addy and even an incognito Sugar Dunkerton congratulated her after the match.

    Mercedes Martinez vs. LuFisto

    Yes, I just wrote that. Mercedes Martinez in the ring against LuFisto.  Two pioneers in this generation’s era of great women’s wrestling going at it. It didn’t start in the ring. This match started off so intensly. Why? What is the heat between them? The play-by-play guy filled us in as the match began, but why couldn’t he tell me why they hated each other as they were entering? Also, this was the first time they had ever met on American soil. Why was this not more prominent in the card or build-up? LuFisto’s kicks look like they will make your head roll. Every move she does looks like she’s going to kill you. And Mercedes is Mercedes. She’s an icon of her era. Were it not for that pesky Sara del Rey, she’d be hands-down, the best of her era. This was LuFisto’s showcase, plain and simple. If you are not a fan of LuFisto or women’s wrestling in general, you need to watch this match. I try not to use this word too much, but I’d dare call this match epic. My only complaint is that the play-by-play guy started talking about how these two might go the distance. And then he updated us they were at the 21-minute mark. I knew it was going the 30-minute draw and the rest of the match became a chore. The drama was still good enough to fool me into thinking it might end. The ladies got a standing ovation and a “That was awesome chant.” Myself, I would have been chanting “Match of the Year.”

    Niya vs. Saturyne

    This is an interesting match-up. There is the veteran getting one more chance story with Niya. Plus, you have the up-and-coming hot rookie with Saturyne. I would have liked to seen more of an emphasis from commentary placed on this actual match. Saturyne is quite exciting to watch in the ring. It was hard to concentrate on the in-ring action, but this was a nice short match. The crowd needed something to come down from after that LuFisto-Martinez match.

    After the match, Jennifer Cruz ran in and started taking out Niya. Jana came out to Niya’s rescue. Then Jennifer took the mic and cut a nice promo, dropping a Spanish p-bomb.

    Kimber Lee & Annie Social vs. Allysin Kay & Sassy Stephanie

    This is where it gets hard for me to be partial as I’m a total mark for the Midwest Militia. Kay is my very favorite in-ring worker, and I have this weird schoolboy crush on Stephanie. Stephie was wearing her t-shirt from Gimick$ whom I strongly recommend for your wrestling t-shirt needs. I don’t see Lee’s and Social’s chemistry on paper. Lee is a great “girl next door” and Social is a great counter-culture heel. This was good classic tag team wrestling. Militia killed Social with the face in peril. If there are young upstarts wanting to know how to do “face in peril” from a heel’s perspective, watch this match. Kay & Stephie put on a clinic. I was ok with the non-finish. Allysin’s kick to the stumbling Kimber Lee was so wrong. It was so simple and subtle, yet so enraging.

    Nikki Adams vs. Marti Belle

    I should probably know her better, but I don’t think I’ve seen a Nikki Adams match before. And Marti Belle, in my opinion, has got to be the perfect combination of beauty and wrestling ability. I really didn’t get the build-up here. Who is Nikki Adams? Why does she have that title shot? Nikki had good crowd engagement. Marti as champ has a certain swagger about her. She now looks like a top name. The commentary started off really strong here. There are going to be some people watching WSU for the first time. They put over the Spirit championship and what it means to the former champ Jana who was doing the commentary. Adams worked a very strong heel style and Marti bumped like crazy for her. Watching Adams reminds me of watching an 80’s old school heel, like how every inch of that thing is a weapon for her. I thought this was a good match to add credibility to Adams. Plus we had the build-up with Ezavel Sueña.

    Lexxus vs. Alicia vs. Jessicka Havok

    This is Lexxus’ big chance as a main eventer. Alicia is the icon of WSU so I can see how she figured prominently in this match. And then there’s Jessicka freakin’ Havok. She is the best female wrestler not currently signed to the big two, and arguably the best wrestler, male or female, not currently signed to the big two. The commentary helped put this match in perspective nicely. There were some pretty cool spots. It just didn’t quite click for me like I thought it should. I wonder if it’s that I knew there was no way Havok was losing here. But they made Lexxus look like she belonged in the top spot. And Alicia served to take the pin so they can do Lexxus-Havok in the future. Lexxus-Havok is not done, and I think there was enough here to establish Lexxus as a credible contender.

    We ended with Sammy G offering her services to Jessie Brooks, which I think is great.

    All in all… I followed the company before the new ownership and am somewhat of a WSU mark so this was quite interesting for me.

    1. There was SUCH an emphasis on the wrestling in this show. There wasn’t as much “garbage” and insultingly bad gimmicks. Wrestling mattered here.

    2. Production values were so much better than the old WSU. I could hear the announcers. It just looked night and day with the difference.

    3. I’d like to hear some consistency in the commentary. I’d like to hear a permanent person in color commentary, like a lady who’s given everything for the industry, like an Amy Lee or Cindy Rogers. Alicia’s a company icon; maybe she’d fit well in the role.

    If you have never seen women’s wrestling, this is a really good DVD to start off with. LuFisto-Martinez is worth seeing for any wrestling fan. Kay/Stephie was a tag wrestling clinic. And something stands out to me about Saturyne. I feel like we are on the cusp of something very special with her. Most everything seemed to click.

    To get this show, click here.

  3. Raw is Post-Wrestlemania 4-2-2012

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    The night after Wrestlemania. The debut of Mankind, Brock Lesnar. The season premiere that will begin the story that will climax at Wrestlemania 29. It begins tonight.

    Johnny Ace begins begins with a new era. He sets up a match for Santino vs. Ziggler vs. Swagger. Punk smarts off to him and heckles Ace. Ace puts him in a match against Mark Henry. The new theme in his era is Power People.

    Rock came out. The crowd was electric chanting “Boots to Asses” & “You still have it.” Rock came out and did his thing. It was everything it needed to be.

    The first match was Ziggler vs. Swagger vs. Santino. This match was just kind of there for me. But Santino beat both. As Swagger and Ziggler beat on Santino after the match, Santino ran up the ramp and was saved by Brodus Clay. Ziggler charged Brodus Clay and took a crazy bump on the ramp. Ziggler is the most underrated wrestler in the business.

    We had the debut of Lord Tensai. The crowd chanted A-Train at the top of their lungs. I was hoping they would chant “Hip Hop Hippo.” Alex Riley began his Future Endeavored Tour. I liked the debut of the Tensai character. And of course, Larry Stanley died when he saw “The Claw.” It reminded me of a early 90’s monster. Let’s see where they go with him.

    So Punk-Henry was not the same match he had with Daniel Bryan. It was as good a match as Mark Henry is capable of having. This was such a good match. Both guys really brought it. It ended in a countout. I love the booking as this sets up Mark Henry as credible again. Jericho comes out of the crowd and says that after that beating, he and Punk need a drink. What happened to them has to be seen to be believed.

    Sheamus came out to celebrate and then Alberto del Rio’s music hit. Ricardo Rodriguez started up and the crowd went nuts. For Daniel Bryan. Sheamus and Alberto del Rio delivered their lines and went through their motions all the while ignoring that the crowd was cheering someone else. Rock, Austin, Foley, Flair, Piper, those men would have never let a crowd get away with that.

    We came back to get Cody vs. Kofi. Big Show came out to show Cody losing. I thought the story they told was very entertaining. Kofi got a nice win.

    Abraham Washington gave Mark Henry his card. I’m not sure it was him or Teddy Long in a timewarp.

    Eve cut a promo that was not horrible.

    The main event was Miz vs. Ryder.

    John Cena came out cut a promo on The Rock. The crowd was chanting for Lesnar at the top of their lungs. And then they got him. F5 on John Cena.

    I have been watching Raw for the past year pretty much consecutively. This has been the best Raw in ages. 90% of that was the crowd. But the work was great. Lesnar coming back was perhaps one of the most electric things I’ve ever seen.

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  4. Russo steps down!

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    This is all over the inter-web. Being covered by all the wrestling sites as the sign that after BFG, a new era is possible. Russo steps down from being Head of Creative and gives the job to Bruce Pritchard who took over for talent relations earlier from Terry Taylor. This means we might actually have coherent story without the mass amount of interference and if it sticks to the wall swerves. Possibly we could have an actual wrestling program that actually makes sense.

    2012 must be the end of the world because this news is too good.

  5. Smackdown: 08/05/11. Very Good Episode… sorta.

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    Well first off, before we get down to the wrestling… unless you’ve missed it… there are five wrestlers who you will not see on Smackdown tonight (or any other WWE broadcasting) as they’ve been future endeavored. These would be Melina Perez, Gail Kim, Vladimir Kozlov, Chris Masters, and Harry “DH” Smith. Of the lot, I wouldn’t be shocked to see at least on of these people show up in TNA at some point.

    Let’s get onto Smackdown then, shall we? Looks like we’ve got seven matches on the slate, which is fine by me.

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  6. iMPACT Wrestling new era, will it include the X division? + rant

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    So we finally know the final four going into Destination X, Austin Aries vs Zima Ion vs Lowki vs Jack Evans. Liking the pedigree of this match and what could be had. Also we have the following matches to look forward to..

    Douglas Williams open challenge

    Ultimate X number one contenders match Shelley vs Moore vs Robbie E vs Red

    Jerry Lynn vs RVD

    Samoa Joe vs Kazarian

    Styles vs Daniels and

    Abyss (c) vs Kendrick

    From looking at this the pay per view looks good not great but good. The 35 dollar price tag considering that there isn’t any build up and it seems that this event was thrown together from the last month with really no build up (outside of the nostalgia matches and the contract four way) and that includes the Abyss championship reign against Kendrick considering he’s dominated Brian time and time again. But we have what we have.  For all purposes this seems more like a specialty PPV booking on nostalgia and just moving the belt onto (maybe) another person and to feud with whoever wins the Ultimate X match (here’s hoping for Shelley, who is long over due).

    I want to believe that the recent interview with Brian Kendrick is a work and him not shooting on the situation over in Dixieland. Where the buy rates of this PPV will determine whether or not the division is retired and the belt is merged ROH style with the World title, we really need this to work as fans of the product. We really don’t want to see a company who takes everything that made it different and unique, from the ring to the more beefed up divisions (Knockouts,X and Tag teams) and watch it become a mirror of Vince’s wrestling philosophy.

    What philosophy? you may ask?

    McMahon teaches that cruiser-weights are too dangerous and costly to have. So simply merge them in with the heavyweights in the hopes that like Rey Mysterio, Eddie Guerrero, Chris Jericho and Benoit they persevere and eventually win the title.

    Women do not make good wrestlers. Their job during the Attitude Era where to entice, and shock with their sexuality not there wrestling moves. And in a friendlier environment they are there to give fans a chance for a bathroom break.

    And finally the TAG TEAM Division is dead. Essentially the only purpose of a tag team is to find the marketable wrestler of the two and jettison the other when the time is right. Making the belts set pieces to be worn at random.

    That also brings to mind the Ultimate X match for the number one contender ship, we have a deserving man Shelley taking on Shannon Moore, Amazing Red and the so out of place Robbie E. Why is Robbie E and not Max or Jeremy Buck part of the match? to me if TNA wants to use Robbie put him against Eric Young. Those two fighting over the television belt only makes sense, they have talent but are mired in comedy jobber ville.  Let me take you folks back to a time when WCW had their Television title champion the Disco Inferno defending his belt against Alex Wright, the German dancer, both men were humor material at best when first brought in but bonded with fans and put on some good matches even when the booking required dance offs and forced tag matches, we still saw them go one on one with each other over the belt and the fans were behind it. Put Robbie against Young, so we could finally have the belt defended without watching Young bounce from one humorless situation after another (besides the Wayne Arnold confrontation). Give us the Bucks, or even OKada, Kiyoshi someone who can actually wrestle that style to build to a feud worth watching.

    If the X division falls we know the knockouts and tag team is not far behind. It usually works like dominoes one falling after the other. So here is to Sunday (day before my birth) and the return of the X division in all its splendor and its hopeful place in iMPACT for years to come. Where it deserves to be.

     

  7. TNA iMPACT results 3/8/10

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    I’ve finally gotten a copy of TNA iMPACT from last night.  Sadly, I could’ve gotten a copy of RAW 3 times over before getting this, so maybe next week I’ll cover TNA live and WWE afterward.  Before I begin though, I figured I’d share with you what I just experienced over on another wrestling website.  I actually just had two people try to tell me that WCW went out of business because Ted Turner decided to get out of the wrestling business, that WCW’s ratings were strong and still beating WWE’s when they went out of business, and that television executives didn’t have anything to do with Nitro and Thunder getting canned and the company going out of business.  Kids.  *Shakes head.*

    Anyways, let’s Cross The Line, shall we?

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