WWE TLC

from Boston

THE LUCHA DRAGONS vs. THE NEW DAY vs. THE USO'S "LADDER MATCH": The last few ladder matches in the WWE have been pretty tame. Gone were those Jeff Hardy suicide Swanton Bombs from the tops of ladders, etc. Then all of a sudden, out-of-the-blue, came this match (and, eventually, the main event). This match was awesome and insane, a literal spot-fest of crazy, sick, death-defying moves. Thank the luchadors mostly, as they delivered the majority of epic moments. The Lucha Dragons did a double moonsault out of the ring onto a ladder that was on top of The New Day. Kalisto did a dragon rana onto a ladder...and then...what I think was the wildest move in WWE since Foley's HIAC toss, Kalisto delivered his Salina del Sol on Kingston from the top of the ladder down onto a ladder bridge. The Salina Del Sol is sort of a sunset flip into a power-bomb (from the top of the ladder through a ladder!) Really, though, descriptions can't even begin to reveal how exciting and ridiculously over-the-top this match was. It was, honestly, the best match the WWE's had this year. Breathtaking in it's sheer madness. ****

RYBACK vs. RUSEV: Weak. Crowd was mostly quiet. A typical, dull, 80's style strong-man match. 1/2*

ALBERTO DEL RIO vs. JACK SWAGGER "CHAIRS MATCH": Ugh. How much are they paying Del Rio again? And where was Swagger exactly for the last year? 1/2*

THE DUDLEY BOYZ & TOMMY DREAMER & RHYNO vs. THE WYATT FAMILY "TABLES MATCH": They had a re-match on RAW that was better (a better Philly crowd helped). Bubba poured lighter fluid on a table and was about to light it on fire when he was put through a table. Really...don't even tease it. The elimination stip helped because multiple tables were broken but I just kept thinking these ECW guys are too old for this shit. **

KEVIN OWENS vs. DEAN AMBROSE: Good match. Ambrose won the IC title. It was fast-paced. **1/2

CHARLOTTE vs. PAIGE: Charlotte cheated to win. Flair was ringside. This is at least a feud with more substance than usual in a Diva's match. Not very thrilling, though. Just okay. *1/2

SHEAMUS vs. ROMAN REIGNS "TLC MATCH": Excellent match. After the first ladder match, these two had a lot to live up to. Also add the fact that the internet and hardcore fans hate both Sheamus and Reigns and are sick of Reign's push and failures and angry that Sheamus, who was doing literally nothing a few month's ago, became champ. These two knew all of this and knew they had to overcome everything. Even the fans in the building chanted, "We want Cena" and "Cena sucks" early on. But from the beginning these two beat the hell of out of each other. They broke a ton of tables, destroyed each other with ladders and chairs. Reigns picked up Sheamus and slammed him down onto a ladder bridge at ringside that looked like it broke Sheamus' arm. It was hard to watch it was so brutal. Then the League of Nations hit the ring and eventually Sheamus Brogue Kicked Reigns and climbed up and grabbed the title to win. But then Reigns went nuts, destroyed the League with chairs. HHH and Stephanie came out to stop Reigns. Reigns hit HHH with chairs and put him through the Spanish announce table then speared him when HHH got up. The crowd loved Reigns more at the end...and perhaps this was the night Reigns finally became a star. On RAW, Reigns pinned Sheamus to become champ after Reigns super-man punched Vince McMahon. So they're pulling out the old Austin vs. The Boss gimmick. They've tried everything to get Reigns over. He was mercilessly booed in Philly at the Royal Rumble and on RAW in Philly he was mostly cheered...so perhaps it all finally worked. Took you long enough, guys. ***1/2

WWE SURVIVOR SERIES

Atlanta

GOLDUST, THE DUDLEY BOYZ, NEVILLE & TITUS O'NEILL vs. STARDUST, THE ASCENSION, THE MIZ & BO DALLAS (18:10): An un-announced pre-show traditional 5 on 5 SS elimination match. Cesaro hurt his shoulder so they randomly put Titus in the match. The Dudley Boyz shouted, "Get the tables!" but never got them. This was not good at all. *

ROMAN REIGNS vs. ALBERTO DEL RIO (14:01): Champion Seth Rollins blew out his knee in Dublin two and a half weeks ago...which led to a tournament to crown a new champ. This was the first semi-final. There were one or two near-falls near the end that were semi-dramatic. I say "semi" because we all knew Roman was winning. Both wrestlers are not good wrestlers nor entertaining so realistically this was as good as a match between them will ever be. **

DEAN AMBROSE vs. KEVIN OWENS (11:19): The second semi-final in the tournament. Owens, for whatever reason, put on great matches with Cesaro and Cena this year...but no one else. Ambrose is at least wild and all over the place...which provides some excitement. This match was about as good as this tournament; not bad, not good, could've been a lot better. **

RYBACK, THE USO'S & THE LUCHA DRAGONS vs. THE NEW DAY, SHEAMUS & KING BARRETT (17:33): Another un-announced, traditional, 5 on 5 elimination SS match. The New Day left half-way through which was a let-down. Ryback jumped off the top rope onto everyone. It was okay. **

CHARLOTTE vs. PAIGE (14:15): Super slow! The contract signing for this match was actually the main event on RAW last week. During that segment Paige brought up Charlotte's dead brother, Reid, to mucho internet controversy. Which means there was heat for this that, if done earlier, could have produced more of a build-up to a division that sorely needs it. I'm not sure if Paige or Charlotte are just dull in the ring or if the big house WWE environments don't work with women's wrestling but NXT produces stellar women's matches all year and the WWE does not. Mysteries of the universe, I suppose. 1/2*

TYLER BREEZE vs. DOLPH ZIGGLER (6:05): Short, not good. Ziggler should just quit. And everyone said these two were on fire at the house shows. Note to self: if a match is great at the house shows it won't be good on a ppv so don't believe the hype. *

THE UNDERTAKER & KANE vs. BRAY WYATT & LUKE HARPER (10:19): The two should-be-retired guys put a Wyatt through the Spanish announce table. That was the highlight. The crowd loved this...for some reason. I'm not sure who I'm more tired of, the Wyatt family or The Undertaker and Kane. *1/2

ROMAN REIGNS vs. DEAN AMBROSE (9:02)/ ROMAN REIGNS vs. SHEAMUS (0:34): When Reigns speared Ambrose and pinned him and won the title and it was only 10:35 PM I kind of figured Sheamus would come out. First HHH came out then Reigns speared him. Then Sheamus came out, kicked Reigns in the face and cashed in his MITB contract and only got a 2-count. He kicked Reigns in the head again and pinned him and won the title and shook HHH's hand. The new corporate Rock is Sheamus! There are a lot of problems with this...but I can't stand Reigns so anyone with the title other than him is okay. Sheamus has been booked about as strong as The Miz lately so him all of a sudden as the top guy is weird. I do enjoy the MITB cash-ins but the "corporate champ" angle is twenty-years old and stale. The Ambrose/Reigns match was too short and this show was weak. The ending was exciting, though. It's something. **

WWE HELL IN A CELL

Sunday, October 25, 2015
Los Angeles

SHEAMUS & RUSEV & KING BARRETT vs. CESARO & DOLPH ZIGGLER & NEVILLE: The pre-show match. It was RAW-type stuff with some good action at the end. The crowd loved Cesaro and popped big for his swing. Just fucking give him the title, already, Jesus Christ. **1/2

JOHN CENA vs. ALBERTO DEL RIO: These two fought two years ago at the "Hell in a Cell" ppv. I gave that match 1/2* and said that, "Cena and Del Rio bore me." Well Del Rio is back after wrestling in ROH and Lucha Underground and AAA in Mexico (he's still the AAA champ). Del Rio was the mystery opponent and they put him with manager Zeb Coulter, who used to be his nemesis. I guess it was a good surprise...albeit Del Rio is and always has been a bore so long-term it's a mistake. At least Cena had a great year and finally ended up in some great matches ten years too late. Nothing has changed with Del Rio. I'm curious now to see if his matches in AAA are just as boring and lifeless. This was perhaps Cena's worst match this year. And now we move on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past. *

ROMAN REIGNS vs. BRAY WYATT "HELL IN A CELL": I wish instead of wasting the Cell on this match they'd have put the women's match or the Dudley's match in the Cell. This match didn't need a cell, as all they did was break tables and use a Singapore cane. They're ready to finally give Reigns the title it seems (he's facing Rollins next month at Survivor Series) and I still can't figure out why. The crowd's respond to him a bit more favorably then they did a year ago...but he's still awkward as fuck on the mic and his big Superman punch move is silly. He just seems like he's forcing it, like he's trying too hard. He's a complete fake. I don't buy it. And Bray is just not a good wrestler and his weird family gimmick is tired. The table spots were semi-cool. **

THE NEW DAY vs. THE DUDLEY BOYS: Already sick of The Dudley Boys. The New Day is funny on the mic but mediocre in the ring. A lame match. 1/2*

CHARLOTTE vs. NIKKI: There was one good spot; Nikki slammed Charlotte onto edge of the ring from the floor. The rest was typical, maybe a tad better than the usual women's matches on the big stage. **

SETH ROLLINS vs. KANE: Rollins put Kane through the Spanish announce table and it didn't break. The rest was lousy. I'd say I hope we never see Kane wrestle again but it looks like he'll be teaming up with The Undertaker to wrestle The Wyatt family at Survivor Series. Be gone, demon! Go back to whence you came from! Maybe they'll do an Exorcism match and Kane will lose and disappear. Where's Vince Russo when you need him? *

KEVIN OWENS vs. RYBACK: They did five minutes in the dead slot. It was forgettable. 1/2*

THE UNDERTAKER vs. BROCK LESNAR "HELL IN A CELL": Blood! Haven't seen that a lot lately in the WWE. Besides that, they did the kick- out-of-each-others finishers deal. That was at least dramatic. Lesnar also peeled back the ring mat to reveal the hard wooden bottom. Lesnar ended up getting slammed on the wood but then low-blowed 'Taker and finished him off with the F-5. Post-match the Wyatt family came out, beat up 'Taker, then carried him to the back. This match was about as good as their Summer Slam match. **1/2

WWE NIGHT OF CHAMPIONS

 Houston, TX

NEVILLE & THE LUCHA DRAGONS vs. THE ASCENSION & STARDUST: This was on the pre-show. Rightly so. Neville is kind of fun. The Lucha Dragons are mildly amusing. The other team, collectively known as The Cosmic Wasteland, is not. The Cosmic Wasteland sounds like a bad 90's Rob Liefeld idea. Right? * (out of ****)

KEVIN OWENS vs. RYBACK: I actually liked this match. I guess because Owens has been one of the top guys these past few months in the WWE. They also had a fast pace which was good. Owens won the IC title here. **1/2

DOLPH ZIGGLER vs. RUSEV: Eh. Supposedly these two had been putting on good house show matches lately. You couldn't really tell. Pretty dull stuff. *

THE NEW DAY vs. THE DUDLEY BOYZ: The Dudley Boyz (is it with a s or z?) were cool when they came out as a surprise on the RAW after Summerslam. Now, though, a month later...any excitement they can generate has pretty much nullified. The New Day are a great, fun, fresh team. They kept the titles on a DQ. It was pretty bad, actually. *

NIKKI BELLA vs. CHARLOTTE: Hmmm. So Sasha Banks and Bayley had a phenomenal match last month at the big NXT show in Brooklyn. This was ten times worse. Charlotte was decent in NXT but just isn't all that entertaining on the big stage. Nikki Bella is a pretty girl and a bad wrestler. So you get this slow, plodding, mediocre match. Why the women's NXT matches are so great and the WWE's women's matches are so poor has to baffle millions. *

CHRIS JERICHO, DEAN AMBROSE & ROMAN REIGNS vs. THE WYATT FAMILY: The best part of this match was before the match when everyone was in the ring awaiting Ambrose and Reign's mystery partner. A fan dressed as a Shield member ran into the ring and stood behind Ambrose and Reigns until security ran in and pulled him out. Ambrose, off mic, said that was their mystery partner. Bray Wyatt, off mic, laughed and pointed and said is that your partner? Their partner ended up being Jericho, who lost the match for them. For whatever reason this match was flat and felt like a RAW match. *1/2

JOHN CENA vs. SETH ROLLINS: Match of the night! Cena, really, surprisingly, has been in some really good matches all year. Crazy. I used to loathe him. Rollins was great here, too. Back-and-forth with a clean finish. It worked. Cena won the U.S. title that he lost last month. ***

SETH ROLLINS vs. STING: Rollins retained the World title. Or whatever it's called these days. Let's face facts; Sting is too old to be wrestling. The match was slow, mostly boring. The crowd only got into it when Sting cinched on his Scorpion Death Lock. Sting did get thrown through the Spanish announce table. He also stopped mid-match while the ringside doctor looked him over which was weird. After Rollins won clean, Sheamus ran down to cash in his MITB contract but Kane came out to thwart him. Kane is...back? Groan. *

WWE SUMMERSLAM

from Brooklyn, NY

What a hell of a month. Exhausted yet? NJPW just finished up it's G1 Climax 25 tournament last Sunday night. They did 19 shows starting in late July and finished with three shows in a row at Sumo Hall last weekend. This weekend had a live NXT Takeover special on Saturday night headlined by a Finn Balor/Kevin Owens Ladder Match. And now a 4 hour Summerslam. So you might be a little wrestling-fatigued by now. Oh, well.


SHEMAUS vs. RANDY ORTON: These two? Again? Why? The show opened with host John Stewart and Mick Foley talking in the ring. That was more entertaining than this match. 1/2* (out of ****)

THE NEW DAY vs. THE PRIME TIME PLAYERS vs. THE LUCHA DRAGONS vs. LOS MATADORES: The New Day won the tag titles here. Maybe there was just too many wrestlers in this match. It was average stuff. I will admit that Titus O'Neill had a fun flurry. And I usually hate that guy. **

DOLPH ZIGGLER vs. RUSEV: These two were outside the ring and failed to make the ten-count. Wait...what? Apparently they needed the Japanese 20-count. Yeah, super lame. Remember when Ziggler was entertaining? Those were the days. *

STEPHEN AMELL & NEVILLE vs. STARDUST & KING BARRETT: Amell is the star of The CW's "Green Arrow" show. Which means he isn't a real wrestler...so when he leaped off the top rope to Stardust and Barrett on the floor the announcers acted like someone just parted the Red Sea. It was pretty boring except for Neville's few high-flying maneuvers. *1/2

RYBACK vs. THE BIG SHOW vs. THE MIZ: Remember when Daniel Bryan won the IC title at Wrestlemania and we all kind've thought it'd mean something now? Exhibit A: this match. 1/2*

DEAN AMBROSE & ROMAN REIGNS vs. LUKE HARPER & BRAY WYATT: Early on it was a melee and kind've fun. Ambrose ran across the top of the three announce tables (there was a French announce table for some reason) and clotheslined someone. Yes, it was that memorable. I thought Sting was supposed to be Reigns' partner here...what happened to that? **1/2

JOHN CENA vs. SETH ROLLINS: Good match. So good I kind of wished Rollins had won clean. But this is the WWE and heels don't win clean because they're, well, heels. Rollins looked as good as he ever looked. He was flipping off the top rope and did three leaps through the ropes to Cena on the floor in a row. The ending had John Stewart, the host, come out and turn heel and hit Cena with a chair. Rollins pedigreed Cena on the chair and won. Now Rollins is the U.S. champ and World champ. And on RAW, Stewart said he did it to prevent Cena from tying Ric Flair's 16 time title victories. Kind of a lame reason...but Stewart in the match got mainstream press (it was on the ESPN.com front page Sunday night), so that helps the WWE. ***

PAIGE, CHARLOTTE & BECKY LYNCH vs. NIKKI BELLA & BRIE BELLA & ALICIA FOX vs. NAOMI, SASHA BANKS & TAMINA: On the NXT Takeover show Saturday night, Sasha Banks and Bayley had a hell of a match. This was not half as good. *1/2

CESARO vs. KEVIN OWENS: Good, solid, basic match but they put them in the pre-main event dead spot so the crowd was silent. That didn't help. It also didn't help that the match was for nothing; no titles, no stips, no nothing. Cesaro is finally being semi-pushed in the company and Owens has become a must-see so that's cool. **1/2

THE UNDERTAKER vs. BROCK LESNAR: Good match. Better than their last one and a lot better than Bray Wyatt v. Undertaker from Wrestlemania. It was back and forth and pretty fast-paced considering The Undertaker is in his fifties and Lesnar is inching towards forty. The crowd was hot. Then the ending came. The Undertaker tapped out but the ref didn't see it but the ring guy did so he rang the bell. The ref continued the match and Lesnar tapped out. This just sets up a third meeting probably at 'Mania. The crowd had no idea what was going on and it was such a lame-duck, what-just-happened ending. Really a dull finish to an okay show. **1/2

WWE BATTLEGROUND

St. Louis

RANDY ORTON vs. SHEAMUS (16:54): Ugh...these two? And why are they even fighting each other? It wasn't bad or anything, just typical, same-old, nothing-to-see-here. I want fresh matches, compelling feuds, excitement, drama. Alas...we got this. * (out of ****)

THE PRIME TIME PLAYERS vs. THE NEW DAY (8:50) I dislike The Prime Time Players. They're just boring in the ring. The New Day is at least mildly amusing. Eh. *

BRAY WYATT vs. ROMAN REIGNS (22:42): Long, dull match. It's pretty rare to see either of these guys in a good match. Luke Harper interfered to cost Reigns the match. *

CHARLOTTE vs. BRIE BELLA vs. SASHA BANKS (11:30): The NXT women's division has infiltrated RAW and now a ppv! Which means we got this absurd, weird, three-way. What was weird was that there were three other wrestlers, Nikki Bella, Paige, and Becky Lynch, at ringside. Why not just have a 3 on 3 match? Either way it was better than the typical drivel the Diva's division puts out there. Even the crowd was a bit more into it. Too bad AJ Lee quit, as she finally has some good competitors around. **

JOHN CENA vs. KEVIN OWENS (22:11): Not as good as their first two but still better than anything on this show. Owens tapped out. It's probably WWE's fault to have these two fight each other on three consecutive ppv's in less than two month's. It's been one of the best feuds of this year but even I'm already a little tired of it. **1/2

BROCK LESNAR vs. SETH ROLLINS (9:00): Suplex City! Rollins did have a short spurt of offense but this was mostly Lesnar tossing Rollins around like a rag doll. When Lesnar finally went for the pin The Undertaker's gong hit and the lights went out. The lights came back up and The Undertaker was in the ring. Strangely, Seth Rollins and the referee were gone. So The Undertaker chokeslammed and pile-drived Lesnar and then left and that was the show. Huh? Where was the ref to call for a DQ? Or Rollins pinning Lesnar? There was no ending which was bizarre. And, really, The Undertaker hasn't been in a good match in years. Who the hell wants to see him fight Lesnar? And why'd The Undertaker take a year and a half to finally seek revenge? Not that a dead-man wrestler with mysterious powers makes plot sense either but c'mon! I'd rather have seen a back-and-forth match. A one-sided match with a non-finish was just awful. This was the worst WWE ppv in some time. *1/2

NJPW DOMINION

Sunday, July 5th, 2015 from Osaka, Japan

THE YOUNG BUCKS vs. reDRAGON vs. BARETTA & ROCKY ROMERO (14:30): Great match. More of the same, but more of the same involving The Young Bucks means fast-action and insane high-flying and, of course, comedy. Rocky Romero is amusing as well and Bobby Fish and Kyle O'Reilly of reDragon are decent enough wrestlers so this was a fun, exciting match. The Bucks kept the IWGP Jr. Tag titles.
*** (out of ****)

TETSUYA NAITO & TOMOAKI HONMA vs. BAD LUCK FALE & YUJIRO TAKAHASHI (8:50): So Naito is a heel now. Okay. He non-chalantly walked to the ring, refused to be tagged in at times, and left before having his hand raised after the victory. Honma is a crowd favorite and just a hell of a wrestler. His diving head-butt that never delivers is hilarious. The other team sucks, though, so there wasn't much here. *1/2

KATSUYORI SHIBATA vs. KAZUSHI SAKURABA (11:48): Excellent match. Someone should tell Shibata that wrestling is fake. It was mostly just stiff strikes and kicks and holds but it was fucking brutal. In one sequence, Shibata picked up Sakuraba and pulled both of his arms back in a submission hold so Sakuraba had to pull them both to the ropes so he could bite the ropes to end the hold. Wild stuff. ***1/2

KUSHIDA vs. KENNY OMEGA (20:44): The last few minutes were stellar. Kushida is fucking dramatic, right? He could win an Oscar for those facial expressions alone. Omega is a bit better than average but the early part was slow when Omega beat down Kushida for ten minutes so it wasn't all fantastic. Kushida won the NJPW Jr. title here. Good match. ***

TOGI MAKABE vs. TOMOHIRO ISHII (17:50): I love Ishii. It's probably because I can't figure out why he's not in a wheelchair by now. He always puts his body on the line. Early on he did a top-rope front-flip to the floor and missed Makabe and landed on his back. Later on he seemed to hurt his shoulder so the ref and ringside doctor looked like they were going to call it off. Ishii is usually in exciting, brutal matches but this one was just brutal. Makabe retained the Never Open Weight title here. *1/2

DOC GALLOWS & KARL ANDERSON vs. THE KINGDOM (10:09): Ugh. The only good thing about this feud is the fact that Doc Gallows and Maria have a weird, stalker thing going on. Unfortunately that comedy schtick was barely used and we were left with a dull match. The crowd fell asleep. Gallows and Anderson won the IGWP Tag titles here. *

HIROSHI TANAHASHI vs. TORI YANU (12:32): Yanu is kind of like the R. Truth of NJPW. When he comes out you want to change the channel. He was kind of humorous here as the villain. He constantly grabbed and knocked the ref over then used a steel chair. Tanahashi is one of the greats so he's good with just about anyone but this was mediocre stuff. **

HIROOKI GOTO vs. SHINSUKE NAKAMURA (22:40): Like all NJPW title matches, the final few minutes were awe-inspiring. Nakamura is, really, the best in the business at being weird and quirky but also captivating. Goto is your typical strong brute. Not awesome or anything but a good match. Goto retained the IWGP IC title. **1/2

AJ STYLES vs. KAZUCHIKA OKADA (26:16): Phenomenal match. One of the year's best. They wrestled a few times before but this was their masterpiece by far. The only complaint I have is that AJ didn't win. Wasn't this his first title defense? Early on The Bullet club interfered so the ref banned them from ringside, even going so far as to giving them the "suck it" hand motion. I'm sure red shoes learned that from Earl Hebner. The reason this particular match was so good was because of the back-and-forth and counters at the end. The final flurry was impeccable. I'm not even the biggest Okada fan but they both put on a hell of a show. AJ might be the best wrestler in the world these days so it's sad to see him lose the IWGP Heavyweight title. Just an awesome finish to a great show. ***1/2