Day 25 2021

 

AEW Rampage: The Buy In

Minors Suzuki vs. Bryan Danielson

KAZE NI NARE

I could give you a brief backstory on Suzuki, but I feel like the fact that fans refer to him as “Murder Grandpa” with equal amounts of fear and affection tells you everything you need to know. And of course Danielson has been the best of the best for over twenty years. Fans were salivating when this was announced. 

Suzuki and Danielson have a lot in common. They’re both stiff, brutal motherfucker that will take as much pain as they give and still smile and ask for more. But aside from that both are also technically sound. The wrestling sequences these two put together are buttery smooth especially in the last exchange that leads to the finish. The strikes fly in equal measure and they’re just as stiff as advertised. Add a hit crowd and hyped announcers and you’ve got a motherfucking winner.  

So why did I choose this instead of a goofy Christmas themed match? Aside from the fact that’s it a great match, I have a bit of a personal softness towards this match. The past few years have been an a ol oh for me as a wrestling fan. I’ve found myself gradually losing interest in WWEs week to week product and AEW didn’t exactly hook me either. Then there’s this match. 

This was the first match in a while I was HYPED as hell to talk about after. Something about this match just hit on a different level for me. It,reminded me why I’ve stayed a fan these twenty plus years. I was on such a high after this match aired. The high didn’t last but for a couple of days Suzuki/Danielson saved my interest in this goofy, frustrating as hell sport. 

Day 24 2021

 

Royal Rumble 2003

I’ve never reviewed a Rumble before so I have no idea how this will turn out. 

Entering at number 1 is Shawn Michaels looking to replicate his performance from eight years earlier. Number 2 is Chris Jericho…BUT ITS A SWERVE. Christian comes out and does Jericho’s entrance to allow Y2J to low blow HBK. Amazing spot. 

Since it’s HBK in the second half of his career it’s not long before he gets color thanks to a steel chair. Chris Nowinski is in at number 3, making his debut. He leaves Jericho to his vendetta which sends HBK packing early. Another debut at number 4 is Rey Mysterio. Following him is Edge at number 5. The two team up briefly before turning on each other but respectfully. 

This team up continues as Christian and Chavo Guerrero enter the match and that’s when shit goes south for Nowinski. Rey and Edge attempt a Double Dropkick from opposite turnbuckles. Rey hits Nowinski but Edge is slightly off and lands right on Nowinskis face. It’s horrible to watch but thankfully he’s not in for much longer. 

8 brings out Tajiri who kicks the hell of Christian and Y2J. It’s during this point that Jerry Lawler makes a quip about Tajiri being his favorite announcer. I didn’t catch it until he explicitly asked J.R. later if he was sure it was Tajiri and not Funaki. Nothing but class from the King. 

Speaking of awful people, Bill DeMott is out next followed by Tommy Dreamer who brings plunder to the ring to the ring. Cause he was an ECW wrestler post-Invasion and that was the only gimmick they could have. And hell we’ve already had one concussion what’s a few more. 

We get a parade of eliminations, DeMott, Dreamer, Tajiri, B2, Chavo, and E and C leaving Jericho alone for 90 seconds wink wink nudge nudge. Speaking of, we see the result of Dreamer smacking Jericho in the face with a kendo stick as he’s bloody with a golf ball protruding from his forehead. RVD is out next and I’m pretty sure Jericho has bitched about RVD being stiff so I’m sure this just lifted his spirits. 

Matt Hardy, Eddie Guerrero, and Jeff Hardy follow. Matt’s MF’er saves him from elimination and even takes a Swanton for the guy…a loyal friend and yet he probably had the worst career out of those three. Rosey is next then Test who proceeds to tear through the competition like hepatitis in a heroin den. 

Things stagnate for while until Jeff takes a horrible bump and is eliminated. Rosey and Eddie eventually follow and the ring fills up. HBK hits the ring to settle his score with Y2J which leads to Test tossing Jericho out. Once again things quiet done. We get some eliminations (Booker T, and Goldust namely) before Batista enters at 28 and Brock Lesnar follows at 29. 

Batista tosses out Rikishi, and Test between his entrance and Brocks. Brock takes out the Worlds Greatest Tag Team and Matt Hardy with ease. The match is still pretty full and with some big names. RVD, Kane, Brock, Maven, Jamal, A-Train. Add ‘Taker coming in at number 30 and we got an all star match…

We got a parade of eliminations as Cena, Jamal, Maven, A-Train, and RVD are tossed out leaving the final four. Kane, Undertaker, Brock, and in his debut Rumble, Batista. What a fucking endorsement for Dave. All Hell breaks loose and eventually ‘Taker disposes of Drax followed quickly by ‘Taker tossing out Kane. Batista comes back with a chair and Undertaker takes his eyes off the prize allowing Brock to throw ‘Taker out and win. 

I imagine what makes for a good Royal Rumble is different for every fan. This one flies by which is a big plus in my book. There’s very little downtime where some kind of action isn’t happening. Maybe you could make an argument for a lack of BIG NAME star power with Rock and Austin MIA, and HHH and Angle occupied elsewhere on the card. I don’t know if Brock was the obvious pick back in ‘03 but they made a strong case for Jericho going all the way in the early stretches of this match. Good stuff. The action was great, the booking was great, just a great Rumble all around. 

Day 23 2021

 

TNA Final Resolution 2008

No Disqualification Knockouts Title Match

Awesome Kong vs. Gail Kim(c)

I’m on a kick, let’s go. Kong knocks Gail off the apron before the champ even gets in the ring and the chaos unfolds from there. Despite Kim trying to fight back Kong is Kong and that shit barley phases her. The match is all Kong from there. Kim tries repeatedly to get back in control to no avail. She finals wins out by out maneuvering Kong…that doesn’t last either. Poor Slick Johnson even ends up in Kongs warpath by you know…doing his job. Things turn around as Kong focuses on the hapless ref which allows Kim to batter Kong with a chair and eventually roll her up when Kong goes after the replacement ref. 

Kong was such a different wrestler from the standard fare of the mid-2000s. No one on TV looked like her, wrestled like her, acted like her, she was just on a different level and TNA booked her like an absolute monster. No villain is complete without a hero however, and in this match Gail falls into the role like she trained for it her whole life. She’s the perfect foil for Kong, constantly trying to get some kind of advantage over a what is essentially a war machine in human form. 

This isn’t a “good for its era” match, this is just a legitimately great match. Like I said Kong was a beast throughout this match and Kim played in to that perfectly. I tried so hard not to compare this to the Divas division WWE had going at the time because it’s so obvious, but man hearing how into this match the crowd was is just bugnuts when you think of the era of Kelly Kelly and Rosa Mendes. 

Days 21 and 22 2021

 

TNA Impact 12/25/08

Santa’s Workshop 8 Women Tag Team Street Fight

Sojourner Bolt, Raisha Saaed, Awesome Kong, and Rhaka Khan vs. Roxxi, ODB, Christy Hemme, and Taylor Wilde 

My God this is a mixed bag of talent. That doesn’t matter though as one the match is fairly short and two they don’t try to do much actual wrestling. Strangely enough despite the No DQ stip they still abide by tag rules…at least until Kong gets tried of Christy shaking her ass in her face and decides to get in the ring and do Awesome Kong shit. 

The match breaks down after this. The women pair off and brawl before setting for a spot where most of them get taken out by a Crossbody by Wilde. The crowd perked up during this point and I’m not sure if it was for the spot or because Taylor was coming out of her top. The match goes for a little bit more before Wilde rolls up Khan to end this.

Wasn’t much of a street fight but it was a decent match. Rhaka didn’t have to do much of anything which is a plus.  The con is though that we don’t get to see the others show off. Like if you put Awesome Kong in the ring I wanna see her be Awesome Kong not just another body in the  match. They got in, threw hands, did some spots, and went home. Disappointing but not terrible. 

TNA Impact 12/20/07

Santa’s Workshop Street Fight

Ms. Brooks vs. Ms. Jackie vs. Roxxi vs. ODB vs. Awesome Kong vs Christy Hemme vs. Angelina Love vs. Velvet Sky vs. Gail Kim

Oh hey I found the first Santa’s Workshop Street Fight. Not an official upload so the quality’s pretty rough but whatever. 

Putting Awesome Kong and Jackie in the same match is scary, but giving them weapons on top of it is just sadistic.  Luckily one of those women won’t be a problem for most of the match. It’s Kong. Gail Kim bee lines towards Kong and the two take their feud to the outside while the other seven stray throwing down in the ring. 

Unlike the sequel, there’s actually a box full of weapons but most of them don’t get used and the ones that do are impossible to see in this video quality. ODB pulls a big brain move and traps Angelina under the toy chest of weapons and then tries to suffocate Roxxi with her boobs. The Beautiful People put their noggins together and ram the toy box into ODBs ass and that debilitates her for the rest of the match. 

Jackie and Roxxi attempt to kick Christy and Traci respectively back into Playboy. The brawl continues until shit gets real. Kong returns to the ring and the BP pull another genius move and try to team up to take her out…that doesn’t work. ODB and Jackie try the same thing…it doesn’t work. Kong then knocks Roxxis teeth into the New Year and kills poor Christy with an Awesome Bomb to seal the victory. 

A lot more chaotic then the second and that’s why I prefer this one. These nine ladies understood their assignment and ran all the way home with it. Really fun stuff.

Day 20 2021

 

Smoky Mountain Wrestling 03/19/94

Ladder Match

Tracy Smothers vs. Chris Candido

I try to keep a wide variety while doing this project and I’ve never covered SMW before so let’s go. First of all, Rest In Peace to both men. Secondly, the ladder is completely fucking useless. The damn envelope with the $25 grand is hung on a clothesline that dips in the middle. It’s so low that either man could just jump and grab the envelope. It’s like that Ultimate X match where the x kept falling down but nobody tried to catch it and win. Like fuck the technicalities and kayfabe, work smart not hard. 

That aside this is essentially Candido getting his ass kicked for like 15 minutes. He takes the lions share of the offense and all of the big bumps. Putting the ladder around the neck and throwing the guy into the turnbuckle pole? Candido took it (then Smothers cracked him over the head with the ladder. It’s not a gimmick ladder either, I’m pretty sure it’s just an actual aluminum painters ladder.). Missing a splash and landing on the ladder instead of your opponent? Candido. Flying into the ladder with your forehead after a kick to the back of the head? Candido. 

And that’s pretty much the match aside for the fisticuffs and few arial moves. Obviously there have been better ladder matches over the years, but I’m a sucker for a good ladder match and this was good. You could tell the match was in its infancy as Mark Curtis the ref kept trying to enforce rules, like counting Smothers out when he chokes Candido. 

Day 19 2021

 

WXW Ambition 1

Ambition First Round Singles Match

Tommy End vs. Bryan Danielson

Ambition is a shoot style tournament held by the German promotion. No pin falls, only knockouts, submissions, or a count out like in boxing can earn someone victory. Tommy starts hot with a Bicycle Knee and a couple of strikes but that’s about it for him. Danielson begins to kick away at his leg and takes End to the mat. This is how the match goes for basically the rest of the contest. Despite brief flurries, Danielson always ends up going back to the injured leg and in the end it’s a particularly nasty leg kick that leaves End unable to continue. 

This was ok. It’s short and different. I don’t really prefer this style but I don’t mind seeing these two mix it up for a little bit. I would’ve liked to seen more offense from End but that’s just a personal gripe. Would definitely down for a full fledged match from these two somewhere down the road in Jacksonville. 

Day 17 and 18 2021

 

WWE NXT:UK 9/23/21

WWE UK Title Number One Contenders Triple Threat Match

Rampage Brown vs. A-Kid vs. Nelson Frazer 

A real clash of styles here. Rampage is a bruiser while A-Kid and Frazer are quicksters with a knack for submissions (A-Kid) and high flying maneuvers (Frazer). For a majority of the match A-Kid and Frazer try their damnedest but are out powered and usually tossed around by Rampage. They try to work together to neutralize Brown but that doesn’t work. A-Kid even sabotages the teamwork at one point then karma takes the form of a 6ft scary Englishman and knocks his ass into the corner. The rest of the match basically follows this formula with occasional breaks for Kid and Frazer to show off together. 

Fuck this match is too good for me to do it justice. It’s close to twenty or thirty minute and never once feels like it. It’s like a really good movie. The action is phenomenal throughout and even at twenty plus minutes I didn’t want it to end. It sucks that NXT UK is basically non-existent for most fans, myself often included, because these three and other talent deserve more eyes on their matches. 

WWE NXT:UK 9/2/21

Heritage Cup Rules Match

Nelson Frazer vs. Teoman 

A quarter final match in a tourney to determine the number one contender for the Heritage Cup held by Tyler Bate. Refresher, 6 three minute rounds, and the first to score two falls win the match. 

Teoman is absolutely viscous in this match. He controls the first two rounds and scores the first fall. Teomans reign continues into the third round but Frazer mounts a comeback  that eventually brings him a score tying pinfall in the fourth round. The two go into hyperdrive in the fifth, and ultimately final round. 

This was really good as well. Teoman is a vicious as fuck heel and Frazer is almost a natural at playing the face in peril. The two waste no time in this match as they are constantly moving. It’s just two good wrestlers having a really good fucking match  and I’m pretty sure I’ve never seen the finishing move anywhere before.