Tag: pro wrestling

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AEW ALL IN LONDON vs. ALL OUT [Reviews] – Which Event Were You ‘ALL’ About?

What a week for All Elite Wrestling. By far the biggest roller coaster ride of Owner Tony Khan’s career, AEW went from All In London at Wembley Stadium with the most tickets sold for any pro wrestling show ever(!!) to All Out on arguably the promotion’s single biggest star in CM Punk. Not only did they hand Mr. Brooks his walking papers mere seconds before landing in his hometown, AEW overperformed on the back-to-back PPV as they usually do when everyone questions the card on paper.

All Out was a fantastic show in the squared circle, while All In London was a spectacle unlike any other. But which was the better event? Our Moody man breaks it all down.

ZERO HOUR

-ALL IN-

ROH Tag Titles: Aussie Open vs. Better Than You Bay Bay – A mostly fantastic 7-minute pre-show match to kick off the 81,000 PAID with some fire, highlighted by a Kangaroo Kick and DOUBLE CLOTHESLINE(!!!!) to give the main event another added element. New champs in a quick, yet fun one. – 3.25/5

FTW Title: Hook vs. Jack Perry – A brainbuster on the entrance ride limo kicks off another quick, but fun title match. Perry teases a high spot coast-to-coast but flips the fans the bird. Hook eventually gets his revenge with the redrum. – 3.25/5

-ALL OUT-

Over The Budget Charity Battle Royal (Hangman Page vs. a bunch of midcard crappery): A ring full of mostly job guys besides Hangman, Daniel Garcia, Best Friends and Aussie Open, and not one of the better battle royals from a company that typically excels at them. Garcia’s dancing was the best part, especially his hip-shaking all the way back up the entrance ramp after being eliminated. Just fantastic. Otherwise, pretty typical stuff although I liked Cage skinning the cat following a hurricarana from Page, who won after some difficulty with the Swolverine on the apron. – 2.25/5

Hikaru Shida/Willow Nightingale/Skye Blue vs. Athena/Mercedes Martinez/Diamante – Just a way to get another women’s match on the show after people criticized AEW for having just one female bout a week early at All In. Sky Blue rocked Chi-Town gear and won to many fan’s delight, while Athena needs to move up to the main roster. She’s way overdue for that call-up! – 2.5/5

Trios Titles: Jeff Jarrett/Satnam Singh/Jay Lethal vs. Acclaimed/Billy Gunn – This was all about Rodzilla and his return to Chicago. Damn, Dennis is looking OLD. He did get in an awesome chairshot on Singh in a battle of former NBA players. Sonjay did a mockery of the whole classic Chicago bulls starting line-up segment. The best thing about all of this was that it was just 6-minutes. Acclaimed retain with Mic Drop. – 2.25/5

Better Zero Hour: ALL IN.

YO JOE!

-ALL IN-

Real World Title: Samoa Joe vs. CM Punk – Shame that what happened.. happened, because this was the best of the two Joe/Punk matches in AEW and a promise for some BIG TIME Punk matches in the future — including another one with Joe. Punk pulled out a hilarious Five Moves of Doom into a Hulkster Legdrop on Joe. And later, we did see The Pepsi Plunge — a middle-rope pedigree finish that was a deep cut to Punk’s old ROH days. Regardless, this would be Phil’s last match in the promotion. – 3.5-3.75/5

-ALL OUT-

Ring Of Honor TV Title: Shane Taylor vs. Samoa Joe – Going into Sunday there were some questionable matches on the card and this was certainly one of them. SHANE TAYLOR!!!??! REALLY??!!? Hey, it wasn’t bad. I mean, you had Joe there. And it was only 6-minutes. Taylor is a decent hand, but how many folks who follow AEW really know of dude? ROH needs to be on TV… maybe to replace Rampage? So we have an idea who’s at Ring of Honor besided the champs who are also AEW superstars? Just a thought… – 2.75-3/5

Better Samoa Joe Match: ALL IN.

BULLET CLUB GOLD VS. THE ELITE

-ALL IN-

Golden Elite vs. Bullet Club Gold/Konosuke Takeshita – Great match besides the sad fact that Kota Ibushi has lost a few steps. While he looked better here than Blood ‘N Guts in Beantown, the Golden Star is not the world class worker we salivated over in New Japan. In the 6-Man, Kota struggled/slipped on the ropes when attempting to match moonsaults with Kenny to the outside. Above that, this was all about setting up Kenny & Takeshita with Don’s new “son” getting the sneak roll-up on Omega for the win. Tons of action here and the crowd ate it all up. – 3.75-4/5

-ALL OUT-

Bullet Club Gold vs. FTR/Young Bucks – So The Gunns pinned The Gun With The Gun! Because of the weekend’s circumstances, because it was in Chicago at the United Center, because there is the interesting dynamic of Punk’s worst enemies tagging with his best friends the day after he was fired, there was a lot more intrigue in this match than the Gold vs. Golden stuff at Wembley — especially for an 8-man tag that was thrown together last minute. I absolutely adored seeing FTR and the Bucks mix and match their finishers together (Shatter Machine, BTE Trigger), and The Gunns have really stepped up from being in comedy tags in the past. – 4/5

Better Elite/Bullet Club Match: ALL OUT, barely.

TAG TEAM BACK AGAIN

-ALL IN-

Tag Team Titles: FTR vs. Young Bucks – Arguably the best pure wrestling match from a show that sat over 90,000 folks, a rubber match between the two best tag teams in wrestling today and perhaps all time. Of course the mix of finishers when they super-squaded up at All Out were callbacks from this match last week, as FTR hit a BTE Trigger and the Bucks nailed the champs with their own Shatter Machine. Also kudos to the EVP’s for giving FTR the rub in the biggest match of their life. Even if you hate the Bucks, you’ve got to love this. – 4.25-4.5/5

-ALL OUT-

Ring Of Honor Tag Titles: Dark Order vs. Maxwell Jacob Friedman/Adam Cole – A highly questionable match coming into the card that wound up a hot opener… Look. You know Silver and Reynolds are a dynamic team, maybe the best with double team dexterity in the business. Dark Order really just isn’t a hot act ATM, but Better Than You Bay-Bay is; maybe this was TK’s proof that you could basically mix MJF & Cole with anyone and it would go over. It did, it was incredibly hot for what it was, with MJF playing babyface who gets more cheers the more he heels up (Piper all the way), Kangaroo Kicks, Double Clothesline chants (and one even from the D.O.), a returning MJF from the lockeroom (ala Hulk Hogan) following some deep neck pain, and a terrific D.C. finish with the champs retaining. – 3.25/5

Even better: After the match, Max even gets shoved on the entranceway from Joe (a deep cut to his days when he was a security extra for the big man in the WWE), turning into a brawl with Joe laying the guillotine (*cough* Hi, Punk *cough*) on Max. This sets up an obvious title match, and All Out certainly needed to set up some fresh angles for the promotion moving forward.

Better Tag Title Match: ALL IN.

MORTAL COMBAT!!!

-ALL IN-

Stadium Stampede: Best Friends/Orange Cassidy/Eddie Kingston/Penta El Zero Miedo vs. Blackpool Combat Club/Ortiz/Mike Santana – The Eddie vs. Claudio rivalry has been one of the most underrated in AEW, and this wild-as-expected bloodbath only enhanced that long narrative. This was a blast, and I’m real happy for the former LAX/Proud and Powerful to get the return pop in front of so many. Umbrellas, tables, ladders, barbed wire bats, boards and chairs, BBQ skewers, cookie sheets, and minivans! It was all here. Thank you, Sue! The then International Champ surprisingly pins the ROH Champ following an Orange Glass Punch, which now may mean something with Mox taking his title 8 days later. – 4-4.25/5

-ALL OUT-

Eddie Kingston/Katsuyori Shibata vs. Claudio Castagnoli/Wheeler Yuta – The Saga continues, sans the aforementioned main event Mox vs. Cassidy, this time adding Shibata to the mix. The Pure Champ looked outstanding in yet another hastily thrown together match. What I liked, the tag slowed down the tempo after a furious classic strap match; but it def felt like something they could have easily had on TV. Hell, most of All Out felt that way until we saw how greatly almost everyone performed. The flat euro-uppercut finish from Claudio on Eddie prevented a higher rating. – 3.5/5

Better Eddie/BCC match: ALL IN.

HEY LADIESSSSS

-ALL IN-

Women’s Title: Saraya vs. Britt Baker vs. Toni Storm vs. Hikaru Shida – Many complained that there was only one women’s match on the show, but without Jamie Hayter, they really had no choice. At the end of the day, you’ve gotta put out the best show possible and, unfortunately, the women’s division at AEW — while deep on paper — just hasn’t lit it up in the promotion. Not having Thunder Rosa around doesn’t help either, and Tony has given countless women chances to get over. Very few have. Maybe it’s the AEW audience.

The British audience didn’t seem like a great place to showcase female talent unless they were from the UK either, so having a fatal four-way here (with Tony & the former Paige present) for the title was the right move. Putting the strap on Saraya at this moment was the right move, too. While I wanted to see a deeper run from Shida, you just had to do it in London, in front of 90,000, and in front of Saraya’s notable wrestling family. – 3/5

-ALL OUT-

TBS Title: Kris Statlander vs. Ruby Soho – Let’s face it: After the surprise comeback and beating Jade, Kris has cooled off a ton. A unification seems like the right move until they can strengthen this roster. Skye Blue seems in line for something, so they could go there, or call Athena up… so there are options. This match was real good, as Soho is an excellent worker when spray paint doesn’t get in the way, and I like the story they’re telling with Toni and her (former?) Outcasts. – 3.25-3.5/5

Better Women’s Title Match: ALL OUT.

FATHER OF THE YEAR

-ALL IN-

Coffin Match: Sting/Darby Allin vs. Christian Cage/Swerve Strickland – Hearing Metallica’s “Seek And Destroy” at Wembley was mindblowing. Sting used a cricket bat. There were matching thumbtack jackets. Allin Coffin Drops.. the Coffin. OUCH. I really wish they would stop beating Swerve, one of the absolutely best talents in the company in all aspects; but with the direction for All Out I understand why you can’t beat the TNT “champ” either. This was super fun. – 3.5-3.75/5

-ALL OUT-

TNT Title: Luchasaurus vs. Darby Allin – Maybe the best Luchasaurus singles match we’ve seen yet. AEW certainly has their version of “Kane” with the big Lucha man, and the co-champs thing with Christian is both hiliarious and worthy of nuclear heat. Allin’s best matches are with bigger dudes and this def worked. While Lucha’s tombstones looked weak, I give credit for the big man for protecting the little one, and seeing how Darby was all banged up from All In, Luchasaurus retaining was the right choice. This overachieved. – 3.5-3.75/5

Better Darby/Christian Match: TIE.

THE CALLIS FAM

-ALL IN-

Chris Jericho vs. Will Ospreay – The Entertainment G.O.A.T. vs. The Star Rating G.O.A.T…. Great story here with Callis, and while folks wanted another Omega/Ospreay at Wembley, the tickets were already sold and they had stories to tell–both concerning the Callis Family, which will obviously LEAD to another Omega/Ospreay match. No need to rush to it. This was fantastic because you had the former self-professed BITW keeping up with arguably the current BITW. 15-minutes, all action, few mistakes and the former Painkiller outdid himself. – 4/5

-ALL OUT-

Kenny Omega vs. Konosuke Takeshita – Another banger in a stretch of bangers at All Out, my current favorite wrestler Omega battled my future favorite wrestler Takeshita. If you like knees, this was the joint for you. Moreover, Konosuke, like Starks, shot himself to another galaxy with this match — and victory — with an explosive performances that saw a DANGEROUS belly-to-back, outside brainbuster, a wicked Blue Thunder Bomb, and, later, a SUPER Blue Thunder, a massive dive on chairs and a gazillion knees. For those not keeping track, Omega is 1-5 in his last 6 on PPV; nearly the same record as the Young Bucks… – 4.5/5

Better Match With Don Callis Present: ALL OUT.

SUNDAY MORNING’S MAIN EVENT

-ALL IN-

AEW World Title: Maxwell Jacob Friedman vs. Adam Cole – When announced on paper, this didn’t seem like the best title match to have for such a show this big, but it wound up one of the greatest story-driven matches of all time. As I expected, there were so many twists and turns worthy of a Hollywood script (not conjured up by AI!) with newly embraced babyface MJF entering the match in a grandiose devil mode, playing the lighter side of Piper to Cole’s babyface HBK. Lots of callbacks to their own matches, many classic WWF moments of the 80s/90s, including a self-inflicted DOUBLE CLOTHESLINE (Hogan v Warrior).

Instead of 5 more minutes after a double pin, they went into Sudden Death; they have fun with the classic Eddie Guerrero chair/possum spot; we see a Panama Sunrise on the cement; MJF conflicted about the use of Dynamite Diamond Ring; Cole not accept Roddy’s interference and so forth. MJF retains, but, wow, what a ride. A hug after the bell sends almost 100,000 peeps to the mean streets of London with ultra glee. – 4.5/5

-ALL OUT-

–International Title: Orange Cassidy vs. Jon Moxley – O.C. has had arguably the greatest title run in AEW history; he’s also been the most featured pro wrestler in the promotion, wrestling on all 3 shows most weeks, defending his title nearly every time in the process. The All-Atlantic thing Pac had was a weird title with a weird name and stranger purpose, and there’s no doubt that Orange has solidified the International strap as the “worker title” ala what the Intercontinental Continental championship has traditionally meant for the WWE.

Lots of odes to Terry Funk from Moxley, while Orange is the one who bleeds and keeps Jon’s head clean. This match had great pacing, awesome submission grapple work/reversals, lots of brawling and a Beach Break on the cement floor! Just me or Cassidy hitting a spear followed by his Orange Superman punch either a shot/ode to Roman? Also, awesome finish with Moxley nailing not one but two Death Riders followed by a pair of heavy lariats that nearly took Orange’s head off. What a match! – 4.5/5

Better Championship Main Event: TIE, for completely different reasons.

A’THANG ELSE

-ALL IN-

Trios Titles: House Of Black vs. Acclaimed/Billy Gunn – These two teams never really had chemistry from the jump, and it was the breather before the big one, so it just kinda happened. There was some solid action, lots of love for the returning Bad-Ass and a feel-good moment with the new trios champs getting in that beloved “scissor me” once again. It’s time for these teams to move on. – 3/5

-ALL OUT-

Powerhouse Hobbs vs. Miro – I knew this would be a fun hoss match, but the Chitown faithful getting behind these two felt like magic. Miro really needed a big moment here and he got one, with Hobbs showing why he’s got so much fucking promise for the company as the company’s best young big-man. The Game Over break up and exhange of spinebusters was awesome, and the two goliaths had a furious pace for 15-minutes. Lots of fun Big Meat chants from the crowd. This was awesome, and saw the debut of CJ Perry and an intriguing storyline for Saturdays thrown in with it. – 4.25/5

Strap Match: Bryan Danielson vs. Ricky Starks – One of the greatest substitutions in wrestling history! Thanks to Punk, we get a faster return of The American Dragon and A-E-Dub found a nifty way to utilize Ricky “The Dragon” Steamboat in an angle with Starks on Collision to build this up in, essentially, 24 hours. It worked in spades, as Danielson gives us yet another classic with one arm not quite ready for return. Bryan admitted in the presser afterwards that there were a lot of “smoke and mirrors” to hide any weaknesses and he put over Starks in the best way ever, even in victory. This was a gem, and Starks elevated to the moon–especially with that great facial as he passed our from the LeBell Lock Choke via leather strap. – 4.75/5

Everything else: ALL OUT (by miles).

OVERALL

ALL IN LONDON

Presentation = 4.5/5
Matches = With Zero Hour = 3.5-3.75/5; Without =  3.75-4/5
Overall = 4.25/5 Johnnie Walker Blue Label Whiskeys.

ALL OUT

Presentation = 4/5
Matches= With Zero Hour = 3.5/5; Without =  4/5
Overall = 4/5 Mikkeller Whiskeys.

Better Presentation – ALL IN 
Better Matches – ALL OUT

WINNER: ALL IN LONDON.

-Travis Moody

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AEW: FIGHT FOREVER [Gameplay Trailer] – Looking Dynamite.

With THQ Nordiq & Yuke’s in their corner, the hottest pro wrestling promotion on the planet is about to take it back to the ol’ school days of WCW vs. nWo: World Tour, WWF WrestleMania 2000, and — of course — the legendary WWF No Mercy.

But this is All Elite Wrestling’s time, bay-bay, and it’s time to chant “Fight Forever” (or “This [could be] awesome!” with AEW: Fight Forever. Publisher THQ Nordiq has a digital showcase in advance of GamesCom on August 12th, so expect more gameplay, more wrestlers revealed and more reasons why this might very well compete with the solid WWE 2K22 title from earlier this year. Iffff.. we get more than the 2-minute clip with Tony and Britt far down below…

AEW diehards will be happy to see the inclusion of the Casino Battle Royale, Unsanctioned Lights Out (doesn’t count against your record!) and Exploding (we promise!) Barbed Wire Death Match. Would be both hilarious and sad if there was a glitch that prevented the ring from blowing up. Poor Eddie. The Casino Battle Royale should be a ton of fun with 21, of course the final entrant will play the “joker” while the others arrive in packs via the random draw of clubs, hearts, diamonds and spades. And Omega/Mox deserve that Death Match rematch, don’t ya think?

A feature I’ve wanted from the WWE 2K series for a long time now: wrestler edit. And I don’t mean custom wrestlers, I mean given the ability to update the appearance and attire of current roster wrestlers (yeah, not “superstars”). Yuke’s was also nice to include the ability to change/update anyone’s move-sets, entrances, and, of course, factions. What if Daniel Garcia stops appreciating Jericho’s Society? Exactly. Other than accessible gameplay, the feature many THQ/Yuke’s vets arguably appreciate the most from the esteemed creators’ wrasslin titles was career mode, and AEW: Fight Forever promises a campaign along with online tag team co-op.

We can’t wait to feel the Rampage when this future multi-plat (PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, PC, and Nintendo Switch!) pro wrestling hit pins us with a release date announcement on.. oh, never mind– it doesn’t look like we will find out on August 12th, if that leaked footage above has anything to do with it. With 2K22 still fresh on many palms, I’m hoping they shoot for a fall release date, despite the usual holiday competition.

So, mini-games! How very Japan/Nintendo of you, Kenny. So far we see: dance-dance, pachinko and baseball. It all works with the vibe Mr. Omega wanted to v-trigger into Fight Forever. And seeing intergender matches in AEW has hardly happened to this point, but want Britt vs. her beau, Adam Cole? No problem. You can have the D-M-D curb stomp and twist that prettyboy’s teeth in, with gameplay that appears more arcade-speedy and fluid than its WWE counterpart.

More stuff we found:

-According to THQ’s official AEW: Fight Forever website, the game’s “deep career mode highlights the fun and personality of an All Elite Wrestler’s life on the road. Players can create and develop their own wrestler who joins the AEW roster and appears in matches and stories over an event schedule. Points are earned by winning matches and fulfilling certain objectives which can then be used to enhance their wrestler’s stats.”

-When more dangerous moves are applied, the game relies on a particle effect system on screen.

–AEW: Fight Forever features 40 weapons (yeah, that’s way more than any 2K).

-Despite no release date just yet, you can already preorder the game on Amazon and soon on the PlayStation store!

-Travis Moody

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ALL ELITE WRESTLING [SDCC 2022 News]: Heroes & Villains!

AEW DESCENDS UPON SDCC 2022

“In its short history, AEW has put on some absolutely incredible matches that have captured the hearts and the imagination of the wrestling community, creating some real wrestling history in the process” – Sports Obsessive

Five Powerful Champions from the Massively Popular Franchise Hit the Convention Floor for the First Time

WHAT:                        Join some of the biggest stars of TBS’ AEW: Dynamite and TNT’s AEW: Rampage at their San Diego Comic Con debut, giving a ringside view of the wrestling promotion which draws 4 million viewers each week. CM Punk, Jade Cargill, Darby Allin, Orange Cassidy and Bryan Danielson will be available for daytime interview opportunities, followed by an evening panel moderated by AEW commentator Excalibur.

This discussion will dig into the heroes, villains, and championship quests through the eyes of the biggest names in wrestling.

AEW: Dynamite airs every Wednesday from 8-10 p.m. ET on TNT and attracts the youngest wrestling audience on television; the fight-forward show AEW: Rampage airs every Friday from 10-11 p.m. ET. Follow the fandom on Twitter and Instagram at @AEW and @AEWonTV.

WHO:

Bryan Danielson 

Jade Cargill

CM Punk

Darby Allin

Orange Cassidy

WHEN & WHERE:     Saturday, July 23

AEW Pressroom at the Hilton Bayview – Timing TBC

Panel Begins at 6:30p PT / Room 6BCF at the Convention Center

-Press release courtesy of AEW’s PR

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AEW DOUBLE OR NOTHING 2022 [Review]: Viva Las Anarchy!

–The Buy-In: Tony Nese/Mark Sterling vs. Hookhausen – Exactly as you’d expect or want–“Smart” Mark Sterling in a silver and yellow Power Ranger outfit. Ha, I kid, this was a fun warm-up for the soon-to-be-lava-hot crowd with Hook tossing the Baddie lawyer around while Danhausen gets the flamboyant three. Very evil, very quick. – 3/5

-Maxwell Jacob Friedman vs. Wardlow – MJF shot himself into a work, Brother! There’s no way to review this match as a wrestling match: it needed to be the “end” of MJF. Ya’ll can go crazy with your theories but this won’t be the last time we see Max in All Elite. As wild as MJF’s heat was in T-Mobile, Wardlow’s rise to super babyface should be nothing to take lightly. Dude’s over, as those ten — count ’em TEN! TEN! TEN! — powerbombs can attest. – n/a/5

The Hardys vs. Young Bucks – As rough as The Hardys looked in this match, especially a seemingly smoked-out Jeff (who still went on to take some wild dives and swantons), this match’s still greatISH quality is a testament to the legend of the Young Bucks. Matt and Nick have been carrying tag teams for years, or at least adjusting to the style of their opponents. Incredible heelwork on their end, too. Jeff just got to AEW and already needs a break. – 3.5-3.75/5

TBS Title: Jade Cargill vs. Anna Jay – Jade is getting better; Anna is a solid hand. This title match, despite the interference and some sloppiness, overachieved. I enjoyed it! Stokely Hathaway makes his AEW debut as Jade’s new manager (Sterling maintains his lawyer duties), and Athena (read: Ember Moon!!) ran in to confront Jade and the Baddies, alongside Anna and Kris Statlander. Sounds like a fun 6-woman tag is on the way, maybe even this Wednesday. – 3/5

House Of Black vs. Death Triangle – Great, great, great! Spots, spots, spots. Mostly incredible, as you’d expect from 6 of the most gifted wrestlers in the business. Dark Pentagon looked as good as he ever has in AEW. This one also had an interesting finish that finally needed to happen for young Julia Hart. – 4/5

Men’s Owen Hart Foundation Final: Samoa Joe vs. Adam Cole – A really sound wrestling match that probably didn’t need to be on the card, but rather as a super-hyped main event on Dynamite this week. It just never went into 2nd gear, nevermind 3rd. I typically don’t mind interference from the Undisputed Elite, but I really wish Fish hadn’t been involved in a tournament decider. And Cole winning also tipped off the winner of the next match… – 3.25/5

Women’s Owen Hart Foundation Finals: Britt Baker vs. Ruby Soho – Rancid were the big stars here. In a nice treat for the fans, the longtime punk band performed “Ruby Soho” in full. The match itself was good, but, again, woulda been better off as a Rampage main event. Horrible sharpshooter, which has been overdone in this tourney–as you’d expect with any tourney with the title Hart in it. Next up was the Martha Hart-led Owen Hart Cup Trophy — and belts! — presentation, which I would’ve preferred to see on the show itself rather than the matches. – 3.25/5

Sammy Guevara/Frankie Kazarian/Tay Conti vs. Men Of The Year/Paige VanZant – Another match I would’ve preferred to see on Dynamite or Rampage, especially for PVZ’s first official match. The mixed 6-person tag definitely had its moments and a super fun finish, but Sammy & Tay never really got the heat AEW wanted and I think fans were just resting for the bigger stuff at this point. PVZ was green as all hell, definitely no Bad Bunny or WrestleMania debut Rhonda Rousey, but she did look good on some select moves. While I wouldn’t give up on her yet, this wasn’t the place to begin. – 3/5

Kyle O’Reilly vs. Darby Allin – Added to the card by TK who bought another hour of PPV for the Martha segment, this was a great surprise. I guess Khan was worried about going head-to-head with Game 7 of the NBA Eastern Conference Finals (Boston vs. Miami), but isn’t this a Pay-Per-View? As a Celtics fan, I shut my phone off for 12 hours following the game (a victory for the C’s, by the way!) and watched the DoN replay. I don’t see wrestling fans being conflicted here; if anything, they’ll use multiple screens (laptops, tablets, phones) to watch both. – 3.75/5

Women’s Title: Serena Deeb vs. Thunder Rosa – This will forever go down as the most underrated match of the night, simply due to the length of the show and the position these two ladies were put in. Oh, and the build has been kinda shit. That said, they put on a hell of a technical clinic. It’s definitely the type of match you’ve got to watch again, if you watched it live on PPV. – 3.5-3.75/5

Anarchy in the Arena: Jericho Appreciation Society vs. Blackpool Combat Club/Santana/Ortiz/Eddie Kingston – This was.. amazing. I don’t know what it was, maybe a “Vegas Street Fight” type brawl all over the arena. Actually, it was a live version of a Stadium Stampede, with all 10 men fighting and kicking the crap out of each other all over the arena and the crowd went absolutely insane. I, at home, did too. While this didn’t have the premediated stunts of the SS, the live wild spots in this were enough; the brawling was so fun and off-the-cuff that it should remind many of the “Attitude Era” or “Ruthless Aggression” type stuff we used to get from WWE. Oh, those were the days. Thank you Jericho, Mox and DB for bringing it back. To top it off, they played Moxley’s entrance song for a 1/3rd of the match until Chris ripped apart the sound data. Brilliant. – 4.5/5

Tag Team Titles: Jurassic Express vs. Team Taz vs. Keith Lee/Swerve Strickland – The late stage momentum continues with another fantastic match. My new fav tag team has to be Swerve in Their Glory or whatever, but damn all 9 dudes here rocked it. Each team has a very special cruiserweight/superweight (think The JeriShow or Team Hell No) dynamic and they absolutely made the most use of it. Swerve’s springboard moonsault off Lee’s chest is just the best. As much fun as this was, I think it’s time we get J.E. vs FTR. Do it! – 4.25/5

AEW World Title: CM Punk vs. Hangman Page – Some slight miscommunications aside, this was a great match and it had super heat. People loved Punk and/or Page or hated Punk and/or Page. It was really something to hear. Throughout the contest both men sold the left knee, hobbling around and slipping on spots (such as Punk’s “Buckshot Lariat” x2), which looked like Botchamania; but if you consider the selling, a lot of their stuff looked more like a struggle than a mistake. That’s just how damned good Punk and Page both are. Adam Page has the absolute best facials in the business (the ol’ wrasslin’ term for facial reactions, you pervs), and his determined looks and will he/won’t he go heel ponderings were classic. As a storytelling match, this was a classic; as a wrestling match it was almost great; and, together, it def kept the crowd roaring well past the 5.5-hour mark. New champ, well deserved, and definitely feels like the right move heading into the next pair of big shows. – 4.25-4.5/5

Matches = 3.75/5 (if you don’t count the buy-in and MJF squashes!)
Entertainment = 4.25/5 (if you’re OK with long shows!)

Overall = 4/5 Whiskeys.

Fuck, this was a long show. But AEW Double Or Nothing 2022 was a damned good one. Heck, if you took away the two Owen Hart tournament finals and the mixed 6-person tag, this would go down as one of the best PPV’s in AEW’s 3-year history. That said, it was still an awesome show and somehow kept the ultra hot Vegas crowd going nutty for nearly 6-hours. Can’t wait to attend Dynamite at the Forum on Wednesday!

-Travis Moody

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WRESTLEMANIA WEEKEND [Day 1 Review]: Wild Things.

Here are the Top 3 WrestleMania Weekend Shows from Thursday, ranked in order!

1.) Mark Hitchcock Memorial Super Show 2022

THE BEST:

–Surprises. The show formerly known as the WrestleCon Super Show had all the hilarious shock value we were accustomed to from previous Spring Break‘s. Either High Spots is stealing GCW’s past Mania Weekend shine, or GCW is opting to keep the focus on their own roster. Regardless, this show was an absolute blast this year. I mean.. it had BARRY FUCKING HOROWITZ. And, if that wasn’t enough, the legendary WWF jobber teamed up with PCO, Dirty Dango (Faaaaaaannnnnndaaaaannnnngooooo), ENZO (yes, that guy) and Jimmy Wang Yang.. lmao. And their opponents were Juice Robinson, Colt Cabana, the Rock ‘n Roll Express and legendary FMW death match dude Onita! It was as glorious as a bad match could ever be.

–Dirty Dishes Match: Johnny WrestleCon vs. Taya Valkarie. O-M-G. Chalk this one up as a “WrestleMania Weekend” classic! This rare Husband vs. Wife match saw everything but the.. NEVERMIND: hell, it had the kitchen sink! Just crazy. Wild. And beyond the realm of imagination. “Johnny Dishes” might’ve had to change his moniker to Johnny Therapy or Johnny Divorce (or Johnny Doghouse, as the crowd chanted earlier), if not for his sweet somewhat-apology to his lovely lady post beatdown. how can any wrestling fan not fuckin’ adore this? – 10/5

–Bandido vs. Speedball Mike Bailey – It’s Bandido vs. Speedball Mike Bailey– do I really need to explain why it was great? Also, having Mike’s wifey Veda Scott do commentary for the match is just the cherry on top. Watch it. Find it. Skip some of WrestleMania for this if you have to. – 4.25+/5

THE WORST:

–WrestleCon didn’t go Gaga over Strong Style. Maybe because many of the same fans went to Bloodsport earlier in the day, or maybe the fans at the Memorial were just a different breed than that of the GCW faithful (likelier!), but the stiff, more methodical worked “strong style” matches featuring New Japan stars Tomohiro Ishii (vs. Timothy Thatcher, solid as solid is!) and Minoru Suzuki (vs. Biff Busick, which felt like the longest squash match ever but still good) weren’t as hot as the other high-spots or high-antics matches on the card.

–Rottweilers hold WrestleCon hostage. Um.. Low Ki almost fought some nerd mark in the crowd (shocked?), and his infamous 1-8-7 tag partner, Homicide, got in on the action with some extreme sexual verbiage. The jaw-jacking went on for a little bit and stalled the beginning of their otherwise decent main event match against the newly crowned GCW Tag Team champs, the Briscoes. – 3/5

–Nothing else. If you love professional wrestling, do yourself a favor and seek out WrestleCon’s Mark Hitchcock Memorial SuperShow (which you can order here)! Minus the finish and somewhat of an up-and-down crowd, it was a pretty wonderful show.

Overall = 3.75/5 Whiskeys (Entertainment = 4/5; Matches = 3.5/5).

2.) Joey Janela’s Spring Break 6, Part 1

THE GOOD:

–GCW World Championship: Jon Moxley vs. AJ Gray – Mox is having himself a weekend. I’ll be the first to admit I hardly know a thing about AJ Gray, but I like this guy. He’s talented. He sold (or just felt?) a ton of barbed wire punishment, took an incredible tope con helo into the crowd on Mox, and, overall, “Black Death” just made for a legit contender for Mox’s strap. This one started off with solid in-ring wrestling that developed into something scarier, but it was just my type of “extreme rules” where the gimmicks become secondary (even with Mox’s incredible cutter onto a barbed wire-wrapped light tube!). Fun match. – 3.75/5

–The return of X-Pac. Sean Waltman looked in great shape for his age, had a very solid outing against the yearly host Joey Janela (in addition to his greatest hits, Pac hit a Canadian Destroyer and some other high spots to the outside), and cut a heartfelt promo to the fans and brand of GCW following the match. Good story for the late Scott Hall’s bestie, as the former nWo Syxx claims he will return!

–GCW Tag Team Championship: The Briscoes vs. Nick Gage & SLADE vs. The Second Gear Crew – Super fun opener that helped make up for the rushed/awkward finish to January’s Tag Title match at THE WRLD show between Dem Briscoes and Gage/Matt Trement (who was replaced by SLADE this weekend). Lots of big moves, crazy spots, tornado trios tag style. I loved the blend of hardcore tag team and indie pro wrestling here, rather than the usual 80 weapons in the ring stuff we’re accustomed to. Even with Mance Warner teaming up with “Seth Fauxlins” (Matthew Justice), this was the perfect way to kick-off JJ’s sixth Spring Break. – 3.75/5

THE BAD:

–GCW Ultraviolent Championship: John Wayne Murdoch vs. Alex Colon – This just isn’t for me. This is the type of stuff that keeps me from being a GCW mark in the first place. And that’s okay. I’m not exactly their audience. I love hardcore stuff, but maybe not the “ultraviolent” stuff– especially if I can’t get into the characters. At least with FMW/ECW, etc. I bought into the wrestlers involved. I’m glad people love this niche, but I’m not exactly sure how much they loved it following that flat finish. They weren’t a fan of the decision either, as we got a new champ. Eh. – 2/5

–Lack of usual humor/match variety. While GCW (Gee-See-Dub! Gee-See-Dub!) is chiefly known for its barbed wire, light tubes and hardcore loyalists, the brand has certainly diversified its pro wrestling content in the couple of years. Unfortunately, Spring Break 6 felt more like your usual GCW show than the signature hilarious and unpredictable Spring Break‘s of Mania Weekend Past. Although the show was super easy to watch (at least up until the end), I don’t remember any real “WOW LOL” moments. Damn, COVID is weighing on us all.. isn’t it?

Overall = 3.25/5 Whiskeys.

3.) Josh Barnett’s Bloodsport 8 

THE GOOD:

–Jon Moxley vs. Biff Busick was yet another damn “IndieMania” classic for The Artist Formerly Known As Dean Ambrose. This guy is relishing in all his AEW glory and the flexibility his boss TK allows, edging himself in Game Changer Wrestling history. For someone who’s such a big star — arguably the 2nd biggest star in the 2nd biggest wrestling promotion on the planet — Mox gives NO FUCKS. Here he is, in another Bloodsport bloodbath with Boston’s Biff Busick a.k.a. Oney Lorcan. That dude brought it, too, and the crowd appreciated every second, especially Mox’s callbacks to his new faction boss William Regal and Busick doing his best Blackpool Combat Club audition with bulldog chokes, hard face slaps and killer American Dragon stomps. Fucking loved this. – 4.5/5

–The crowd in Dallas. They were tremendous for Bloodsport 8, which has basically become the event to unofficially kick off Mania Weekend every year.

–Chris Dickenson vs. Minoru Suzuki – Maybe an upset here, but we all know that the New Japan legend has no problem putting a guy over whenever he can. Minoru won his last 2 against the Dirty Daddy, so with Mox, Barnett & Johnny Bloodsport winning, I like the call here. Not a great main event, which started off a little slow, but def an entertaining one once the crowd booed Chris Dick’s spinning low kick to the upper groin, and the two beasts exchanged smacks ’til kingdom come. – 3.5/5

THE BAD

–Too many matches. I get what Josh is doing with Bloodsport, sorta branching out, extending and diversifying the brand with hopes of maybe making it something than the bi/tri-annual event it is. I enjoying seeing competitors from all walks of life take part in this Pancrase-styled of pro wrestling, but I really loved Bloodsport when it was a mere 7-8 big time match-ups hovering around 2-hours rather than 11. That said, the crowd hung in there for the majority of the extended show.

–Royce Isaacs vs. Bad Dude Tito & Masha Slamovich vs. Janai Kai – We’ve seen some meh matches in Bloodsport before, yet thankfully nothing on the card was as bad as, say, Dominic Garrini vs. KTB (insert cry-laughing emojis). Again, I could’ve just done with less filler. Also, Masha is billed from Russia and got a wonderful ovation from the crowd. Texas, don’t change.

Overall = 3/5 Whiskeys.

-Travis Moody

Stay tuned for more Mania Weekend reviews tomorrow night!

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PWG BATTLE OF LOS ANGELES 2022 [Review]: Red Death Redemption.

Following a two-year hiatus, Pro Wrestling Guerrilla‘s famed Battle of Los Angeles tournament has returned. Instead of the traditional three nights, we got two– both to a rambunctious, sold-out Globe Theater crowd in downtown LA.

Here’s a quick re-cap and mini-review of all the weekend action.

NIGHT ONE

First Round

Aramis v Rey Horus – 3.5/5 >>> Fun, smoother-than-usual lucha opener with an awesome top rope Blue Thunderbomb finish.

Wheeler Yuta v Blake Christian – 3.5/5 >>> Nice debut for Wheeler with Blake showcasing his high spot prowess and improved mat work. This was a replacement match for David Richards vs. Jonathan Gresham, and they did their thing!

Buddy Matthews v JONAH – 3.25/5 >>> Fun WWE parody match that would prelude a great BOLA narrative for Buddy with a chair curb stomp finish. This one had rock/paper/scissors and some cheeky homages to (the same night WWE Royal Rumble‘s) Seth Rollins/Roman Reigns.

Daniel Garcia v Kevin Blackwood – 3.75/5 >>> Snug strikes, strong suplexes and tight submissions that set the stage for what was to come. Both guys looked great and worked well right away. Garcia proved he wasn’t fucking around with that apron piledriver!

Lio Rush v Jack Cartwheel – 3.5/5 >>> Super speed, selling and athletic chemistry. Crowd loved/hated Lio, but he wins via signature frogsplash.

Black Taurus v JD Drake – 3.5-3.75/5 >>> Fairly sensational big hoss match with hard slaps and surprising big man flips. (Will SOMEONE buy some merch off Drake, dammit?)

Alex Shelley v Lee Moriarty – 3.25-3.5/5 >>> A better match if you knew all the “master vs teacher” easter eggs going in and have a deeper appreciation for baby v heel counter-grappling. A little slower than everything else on the card, but still pretty damned good.

Main Event: “Speedball” Mike Bailey v Bandido – 4.5-4.75/5 >>> This early MOTY candidate is an also arguable candidate for Best — at least Top 3 — PWG Match At The Globe. I’m not kidding. Crowd went insane for both guys, but especially Speedball. They worked damn near flawless together. Expect a PWG title match for the rematch later in the year.

Night 1 Overall = 3.75/5 Santa Monica IPA’s.

Front to back, one of the most consistently strong PWG events I’ve been to in the past 5 years. Dragon did a bang-up job booking the first round with zero downers, and finding the right chemistry for each match-up. The main event was an instant classic.

NIGHT TWO

Round 2

Black Taurus v Aramis – 4/5 >>> Blow-away lucha opener that had everybody in the Globe rockin’. Insane high spots over and over and over. Even a pinfall miscommunication was easily overlooked with how dynamite this was!

Daniel Garcia v Alex Shelley – 3.5/5 >>> Awesome heel v heel psychology that also allowed “Red Death” to gain some babyface sympathy along the way, with the crowd often calling Shelley “Sabin”.

Lio Rush v Buddy Mathews – 3.25-3.5/5 >>> Difficult to rate a match that ended via injury and DQ… That said, Lio’s selling was incredible in the early going, while Buddy cut a terrific heel promo leading up to it — turning on the fans — and worked strong as a baddie until Lio’s shoulder injury (following a buckle bomb and curb stomp). Well, this one had two things you hardly ever see in PWG—promos and DQ’s, with this being just the 3rd Pro Wrestling Guerilla match to end in such a fashion since 2010.

“Speedball” Mike Bailey vs Wheeler Yuta – 3.5/5 >>> Yuta is super smooth, while Speedball sold like a million bucks. I wish Yuta would show this much charisma in AEW!

Semi Finals

Daniel Garcia v Black Taurus – 3.75/5 >>> Another banger, with Taurus gettin’ the babyface love and Garcia growing into even more of a killer; Red Death stepped out of the Black Death with tons of fearless resilience.

“Speedball” Mike Bailey v Buddy Mathews – N/A/5 >>> Quick roll-up victory for Bailey after Buddy took the place of Lio and Pillmanized Bailey’s injured ankle; awesome storytelling that really pushed the Night 2 crowd into second gear!

Jonah, Kevin Blackwood, Rey Horus, & Blake Christian v Bandido, JD Drake, Jack Cartwheel, & Lee Moriarty – it doesn’t matter/5 >>> The annual “Loser’s Ball” BOLA tradition with high spots galore and fun comedy moments. Hell, Blake had a TV remote that would literally pause the action. Jack almost killed Blackwood late in the match — in a bad way — after almost killing everybody — in a good way — with a crazy balcony spot. JD Drake had his most fun dealing with Jonah. Rey & Bandido mixed it up once again, while Lee and Horus looked to have the most fun overall (Rey would hiptoss, well, everyone — until the Ref Justin hiptossed his ass on the attempt!). While not without its messy moments, this 8-manner was a fun, much needed break before the finale. Rating this would.. not be cool.

Finals

Daniel Garcia v “Speedball” Mike Bailey – 4.25-4.5/5 >>> The first BOLA singles main event since 2013 was a great Days of Future Past match-up that had it all: extremely stiff strikes and especially kicks from Bailey, who used a zillion variations (crane, windmill, spinning, crescent, karate, kung-fu, etc.); innovative drivers, punishing, rolling knee-crushers (almost literally); outstanding ring psychology, mat work, selling, shit-talking, aaand… I really wanted Speedball to use the theme to Cobra Kai as his entrance song (instead of “Brass Monkey”). In the end, it was lengthier and not as mind-blowing front to back as Speedball v Bandido, but close. A fitting end to a wonderful weekend.

Night 2 Overall = 3.75/5 Biergarten Blonde Brews.

BOLA 2022 mostly wound up how I had envisioned, minus the injury to Lio, which was a shame seeing how much heat his match with Buddy had, and how terrific Rush was in BOLA leading up to the “205 Live” rematch. Shame we’ll never know how he and Speedball woulda panned out, but let’s pray for Lio’s sake that it’s sooner than later.

Garcia made himself a true star in this tournament, and begin his tournament winning promo with a striking sentiment (and I paraphrase): “PWG is back… Independent professional wrestling is back”. And for this weekend, it certainly was. The buzz in The Globe certainly felt better than it had since the Covid-era began. The entire weekend event went without a bad match, or at least none that felt the need to have light tubes, barbed wire and tacks. While I kid, it’s good to feel that familiar buzz again from attending PWG.

-Travis Moody

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