WWE SUMMERSLAM

Sunday, August 18th, 2013
From Los Angeles


DEAN AMBROSE vs. RVD: This was on the hour long preview show. Typical...although RVD is usually more exciting. The Shield has grown stale my friend. *1/2 (out of ****)

KANE vs. BRAY WYATT "RING OF FIRE MATCH": Unfortunately, the old stipulation from those crazy 90's where you had to set your opponent on fire to win this match was excised. I vaguely recall Kane having is boot on fire in one match and his arm in another. The flames looked cool. Terrible match, though. They couldn't really do anything like climb the ropes. Wyatt's gang put a blanket over the flames, climbed in, then beat up Kane. *

CODY RHODES vs. DAMIAN SANDOW: I admit. I didn't watch this. I can see Sandow being forced to use his MITB contract to face Daniel Bryan for the title at Night of Champions by the McMahons and losing.

CHRISTIAN vs. ALBERTO DEL RIO: Christian had one more match against Orton for the title on RAW this week and it was great. Sadly, he doesn't mesh with Del Rio. Not his fault. No one does. *1/2

BRIE BELLA vs. NATALYA: Didn't watch this match.

BROCK LESNAR vs. CM PUNK: Great match. Perhaps the best Lesnar match since his return. That's not saying much because his 3 against HHH weren't very good. The key that HHH didn't realize is that you've gotta go back and forth...nobody wants to see a one sided beat down for the majority. Paul Heyman interfered and a chair and cane were used. A lot of near falls. Possibly the match of the year thus far. If Punk had won it would have been a masterpiece. The problem is...what now? These two won't have a re-match until, what, Wrestlemania? ***1/2

DOLPH ZIGGLER & KAITLYN vs. AJ & BIG E LANGSTON: Didn't watch. Ziggler sure fell off the map. He coulda been somebody. How long was his title reign this year? A day?

JOHN CENA vs. DANIEL BRYAN/ RANDY ORTON vs. DANIEL BRYAN: Good match. Bryan won with a flying knee to the head (kind of anticlimatic). HHH, the ref, gave Bryan a pedigree. Orton cashed his MITB contract in and pinned Bryan, won the title. Welcome to the new Corporation. Been done before, sure, but it worked then. Hell, they even did the special ref turning heel back then (it was Shane O'Mac). Good match though and a good show, albeit a two match show. Sets up a lot. Cena is out 4 to 6 months. Won't miss 'em. ***

WWE MONEY IN THE BANK

Sunday, July 14th, 2013, from Philly

Kind of sad. I know. My favorite WWE show just so happened to be in my town tonight and not only did I not go, I didn't even watch it live on TV. I caught a replay, which was good, since I could fast forward through the matches nobody cared about like The Miz vs. Mr. Perfect's kid and the women's title match. I'll admit as well: when the crowd started chanting, "Boring!" during the Jericho/Ryback match I also skipped until the end of it to see the finish. So it wasn't, obviously, the best card. When tickets first went on sale I did look at them and did think about buying them. Lower level were $125 at the cheapest. Ridiculous. But someone paid for them as the building was filled. Tickets never got cheaper on stubhub and craigslist and the card wasn't that great so I missed it. I haven't seen a WWE show since the infamous Royal Rumble that Benoit won. That was a decent show highlighted by a "Last Man Standing" match between HHH and Shawn Michaels (there was a pedigree through the announce table). Think it was in '05. Eight years since I've been to a WWE show. The last wrestling show I went to was an ROH show two years ago. That was good, not great. I guess I'm due. Wrestlemania in N'Awlins trip next year?


DAMIEN SANDOW vs. CODY RHODES vs. WADE BARRETT vs. DEAN AMBROSE vs. FANDANGO vs. JACK SWAGGER vs. ANTONIO CESARO "LADDER MATCH": A match with all heels. Well they won't do it again. Good match, though. Ambrose did some neat stuff; head in a ladder, swinging it around. He also skinned the cat, pulled himself up on top of a ladder carried by Cesaro and Rhodes who tossed him over the ropes from the top of the ladder (yeah, guess you had to see it). Sandow turned on Rhodes and won it. Sandow as champ? Eh, why not? He's amusing. ***

CURTIS AXEL vs. THE MIZ: Fast-forwarded this.

AJ vs. KAITLYN: Fast-forwarded this.

RYBACK vs. CHRIS JERICHO: Caught the end. Ryback won his first ppv match since last year. Not particularly good, but definitely pointless. 1/2*

ALBERTO DEL RIO vs. DOLPH ZIGGLER: Great match. Yes, a great Del Rio match. Until the end. AJ caused a DQ. Ziggler is fast and furious, all over the map and falling around like a marionette. Del Rio sucks...but the back and forth flury of near-falls was epic. ***

MARK HENRY vs. JOHN CENA: Well Cena won. There were near falls again, good, but Henry is a bore, and Cena is too plain. **

C.M. PUNK vs. DANIEL BRYAN vs. CHRISTIAN vs. SHEAMUS vs. RANDY ORTON vs. ROB VAN DAM "LADDER MATCH": Jeez. RVD and Sheamus got fucking destroyed. Sheamus fell off the top rope in the corner and through a ladder bridge. RVD did a frog splash from the top of a big dog ladder. Orton won. Paul Heyman turned on Punk. Good match. Wild crowd during this. ***

WWE PAYBACK

Sunday, June 16th, 2013, from Chicago

WADE BARRETT vs. THE MIZ vs. CURTIS AXEL: I didn't realize it, but Axel is Mr. Perfect's kid. Mr. Perfect is dead. Totally forgot that. Axel is Paul Heyman's newest boy. This match was all action for awhile, so that was good. It didn't help that The Miz, Axel, and Barrett, aren't very good. **

KAITLYN vs. AJ: This was AJ's first title win. Really? Really. A typical women's match. I prefer AJ in skits. *1/2

DEAN AMBROSE vs. KANE: Ugh. Why is Kane still around? The 90's called and wants him back. 1/2*

ALBERTO DEL RIO vs. DOLPH ZIGGLER: Okay. So this match was, apparently, the reason the show was titled "Payback." Ziggler beat a hurt Del Rio for the title after cashing in his MITB contract the night after Wrestlemania. Ziggler hasn't wrestled in a month because of a concussion...so Del Rio kicked him in the head and stuff and won. Jeez. Who the fuck likes Del Rio? Well he's a heel again now but still can't wrestle. Ziggler is great. What a horrible title reign. *

CM PUNK vs. CHRIS JERICHO: The Chi-town crowd roared and cheered for Punk. Still...these two don't mesh that well. The end was good with a flurry of activity but Jericho is not as fast or exciting as he once was. **

SETH ROLLINS & ROMAN REIGNS vs. DANIEL BRYAN & RANDY ORTON: They got the short end of the stick. It didn't get any time, felt pointless (Bryan battling The Shield has been the main event on Smackdown forever). *1/2

JOHN CENA vs. RYBACK "THREE STAGES OF HELL": So there was a lumberjack match that Ryback won. A tables match that Cena won. Then Cena threw Ryback through the top of an ambulance to win the ambulance match and keep the title. Still not sure why the roof of the ambulance was made of, apparently, cardboard. It was semi-entertaining. **

TNA SLAMMIVERSARY

Sunday, June 2nd, 2013 from Boston

This is how great TNA is: I couldn't even remember the name of this show when starting to write this. Alas, this was a good show. The company only has 4 ppv's a year now...and the first two weren't good...so it's nice to see a good show from the Orlando boys.

KENNY KING vs. CHRIS SABIN vs. SUICIDE "ULTIMATE X MATCH": Sadly, I missed this match. From the highlights it looked mediocre. Sabin won and gets a title shot at Destination X which, confusedly, doesn't exist now (I guess they'll do it on Impact).

SAMOA JOE & MAGNUS & JEFF HARDY vs. GARETT BISCHOFF & WES BRISCO & MR. ANDERSON: I kind of wish there were more singles matches. A ton of great wrestlers like Aries and Hardy and Samoa Joe were stuck in these multiple dude matches. This match was good but nothing special. Hardy did a cool Senton Bomb on Brisco that looked like it hurt. **1/2

SAM SHAW vs. JOEY BRADLEY: Two fresh fishes, battling for a contract. I didn't bother to watch.

DEVON vs. ABYSS: Abyss is back! And more plodding than ever. 1/2*

CHAVO GUERRERO JR. & HERNANDEZ vs. AUSTIN ARIES & BOBBY ROODE vs. CHRISTOPHER DANIELS & KAZARIAN vs. JAMES STORM & GUNNER: Good action. Aries was on fire. Chavo is doing all these crazy moves he never did before...which is odd. Why the fuck didn't he do this in WCW or WWE? **1/2

TARYN TERRELL vs. GAIL KIM : The match of the night. Yep. But...all the WWE has to do is put their "divas" in a ladder match or something like this to get these type of results. It was brutal. Good. They really beat the shit out of each other. Taryn gave Kim a bulldog off the walkway entrance to the floor. The landing was off camera live but they did show the replay. **1/2
"LAST WOMAN STANDING MATCH"

AJ STYLES vs. KURT ANGLE: It heated up towards the end. Both guys did some wicked back and forth action. The finish was fast and less than climatic but it was good. **1/2

STING vs. BULLY RAY "NO HOLDS BARRED MATCH": Good stuff...surprisingly. Bully Ray cut the ring ropes and exposed the hard, wood mat floor and gave Sting a pile driver on it. Aces & Eights came out. Sting beat them up. Mr. Anderson gave Bully a hammer and he used it to KO Sting. A wild, amusing main event. Now Sting can never wrestle for the TNA title again...ever. Not a bad thing. **1/2

WWE EXTREME RULES

Sunday, May 19th, 2013, from St. Louis

CHRIS JERICHO vs. FANDANGO: I like Fandango. He's amusing. In the ring he's not boring. Jericho won. No stips. It was okay. **

DEAN AMBROSE vs. KOFI KINGSTON: Another no stips match. I do like Ambrose. He's got charisma. *1/2

SHEAMUS vs. MARK HENRY "STRAP MATCH": Interesting. A strap match? What is this...Russo's WCW? I guess it was better than a regular match between these two. **

ALBERTO DEL RIO vs. JACK SWAGGER "I QUIT MATCH": Well this was supposed to be a three way ladder match but Ziggler, the champ, got a concussion. So we got this. God is Del Rio an awful good guy. *

SETH ROLLINS & ROMAN REIGNS vs. KANE & DANIEL BRYAN: I love Bryan but even I'm sick of his tag team. The Shield won the tag titles and earlier Ambrose won the U.S. title. **

RANDY ORTON vs. THE BIG SHOW "EXTREME RULES MATCH": They used a cane and a chair. Eh. *1/2

JOHN CENA vs. RYBACK "LAST MAN STANDING MATCH": A no contest! What the hell? Ryback slammed Cena through the stage and the set lights sparked and it was kind of cool but neither guy got up. **1/2

BROCK LESNAR vs. HHH "STEEL CAGE MATCH": Please retire, HHH. This was perhaps their best match. That's not saying a lot. Heyman low-blowed HHH and then Lesnar F-5'd him for the win. No blood but they did use a sledgehammer. It was okay. **1/2

WWE WRESTLEMANIA XXIX

Sunday, April 7th, 2013 from Met Life Stadium in East Rutherford, NJ

SHEAMUS, RANDY ORTON & THE BIG SHOW vs. THE SHIELD: Sadly, this was a weak show. The post RAW was actually better. On RAW, Dolph Ziggler won the title and Ryback turned heel (plus the crowd more than made up for the dull Met Life Stadium crowd). I missed this first match...so perhaps it was epic and awesome. I heard it wasn't.

MARK HENRY vs. RYBACK: Wow. Dull. I was wondering why Ryback got a big push only to lose seemingly every match since October...but on RAW they pushed him big time. Ryback did lift Henry onto his shoulders in this match. That was pretty cool. 1/2*

DANIEL BRYAN & KANE vs. BIG E. LANGSTON & DOLPH ZIGGLER: Too short. And by releasing Bryan with Kane's music to enter the stadium it robbed of us an epic crowd roar. Bryan is, really, the most over guy in WWE. Big E. Langston made his in-ring debut. He's mediocre. **

CHRIS JERICHO vs. FANDANGO: This was also Fandango's in-ring debut. He's mediocre. First off, he's amusing. I'm waiting for a crowd to start chanting "fag" at him and it getting awkward. Second, what's the point of giving a new guy a stupid name like Fandango when you know saddled with that stigma of stupidity he'll never be a main eventer. Isn't the point to bring new guys up and groom them to be a star? With a lame name and gimmick like a ballroom dancer he's already ruined. I can see that the WWE wants variety...but, hell, give him a better name than the frigging movie ticket website. He did win in an okay match. **

ALBERTO DEL RIO vs. JACK SWAGGER: Not good. Both wrestlers are boring. Del Rio is a lousy good guy. Swagger's anti-immigrant schtick never really hit it off. Eh. *

CM PUNK vs. THE UNDERTAKER: This was a good match, the best of the night, although riddled with the cliches of every 'Taker/'Mania match. Punk did a top rope elbow onto 'Taker and the Spanish announce table but it didn't break and thus the big spot fell flat. Both of them kicked out of a ton of finishers but, c'mon, nobody thought Punk was winning. **1/2

HHH vs. BROCK LESNAR: Lesnar has only been in two matches since returning. Against Cena at last year's Extreme Rules and against HHH at last year's Summerslam. One was great and one sucked...so of course they have a re-match of the bad match. This was a little too plodding and slow. HHH got beat up then miraculously had a few big counters here and there. Lesnar did toss HHH through the Spanish announce table and this time it broke. The finish involved a pedigree on the ring steps inside the ring...which was the same type of finish that the Cena/Lesnar match had. It was average. **

THE ROCK vs. JOHN CENA: Not good. Even the crowd chanted "boring" at one part. Cena won and was cheered even though he was booed after and before and during. This show just didn't have any great matches or moments. The set was pretty, though. *1/2

TNA LOCKDOWN

Sunday, March 10th, 2012
San Antonio, TX

ZEMA ION vs. KENNY KING vs. CHRISTIAN YORK: I missed this somewhere. When did King beat Ion for the title? Where's Jesse Sorenson? These are all pertinent questions. I actually really liked this match. It felt like going to a local, small time wrestling show and seeing a bunch of suicidal teens doing a lot of insane maneuvers and messing up most of them. The moves that weren't messed up and/or sloppy, though, were glorious. This was the best X-Division match I've seen in awhile actually. **1/2 (out of ****)

JOSEPH PARK vs. JOEY RYAN: They really gotta bring back Abyss. I missed most of the next three matches so there will be no review of them.

VELVET SKY vs. GAIL KIM: Seriously...do you care what happened in this one?

ROBBIE E vs. ROBBIE T: Or this? I mean...Robbie E versus his bodyguard? On a ppv! And there's only four of these a year you know. And "Jersey Shore" isn't on TV anymore but Robbie E is still around. TNA really & truly is a comedy of errors. Not that you didn't know that. Why am I even bringing that up? Well the bodyguard won. Nobody cared.

AUSTIN ARIES & BOBBY ROODE vs. CHAVO GUERRERO JR. & HERNANDEZ vs. CHRISTOPHER DANIELS & KAZARIAN: Not as good as it could've should've been but still probably the most entertaining match on the show. Hernandez got a lot of props from the audience, including his head-first dive over the ropes from the ramp into the ring. Guerrero is doing all these crazy, high-flying moves that he never did in WCW or WWE. I guess he realizes the end is near. **1/2

KURT ANGLE vs. WES BRISCO: This was the first of three cage matches. Normally this show is all cage matches. I have no idea why they changed it (probably because it was stupid). But then why not put the tag team match in a cage? Daniels, after all, is only the second man in history to dive off a hell in a cell size cage. This match featured a nobody from Aces & 8's beating Kurt Angle. Yeah. 1/2*

STING & SAMOA JOE & JAMES STORM & ERIC YOUNG & MAGNUS vs. DEVON & DOC & GARETT BISCHOFF & KNOX & KENNETH ANDERSON: This match was called "Lethal Lockdown." Every single "Lethal Lockdown" match ever culminates with a roof of weapons lowering down. I guess the Alamo Dome was too spacious for this far-out concept of a roof being lowered so what they did was just have the last man enter, Sting, waltz out with two trashcans filled with weapons. So yes, this was a letdown. They did have one unique pyramid suplex maneuver that featured six men toppling over in a corner and Young did a top of the cage elbow drop...but, man, I was so pumped for that roof of weapons being lowered. *1/2

JEFF HARDY vs. BULLY RAY: Remember the N.W.O.? Well the reason it worked was mostly because it actually featured prominent stars of WCW like Hogan and Nash and Hall and eventually pretty much everyone at one point or another. TNA's big evil group is Aces & 8's, a motorcycle group that doesn't really have an agenda. At first it was a bunch of masked men...then Devon was unmasked as the leader. Nobody cared. Then more were unmasked and less cared; D'Lo Brown, Garrett Bischoff, unknowns called Doc, Wes Brisco, and others I forget. I guess even TNA realized that this group blows. It's a bunch of losers. So they had Bully Ray turn heel in this match and win the title. Now Aces & 8's is led by The Dudley Boyz. The match and turn were eh...but Ray on the mic post-match were great. He called Hulk Hogan's daughter and his TV wife a "bitch." And the fans threw bottles and trash into the ring. Good, amusing ending to, seriously, an awful show. **