Tag: Wrestlemania

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WRESTLEMANIA WEEKEND 2023 [Day 2 Review] – TJPW x ROH Supercard of Honor x Joey Janela’s Spring Break 7.

–Free WiFi (Hikari Noa/Nao Kakuta) vs Daisy Monkey (Suzume/Arisu Endo) – High speed tag team match that wasn’t so high speed but super fun for 11-minutes or so. – 3-3.25/5

–Janai Kai vs. Yuki Kamifuku – What I loved about most of these matches is that you had a split crowd for almost every match. Janai looked very strong with strikes with Yuki has the sassy, anime villain doll look going for her and the character work to back it. A fun 5-minutes for what it was. – 2.75/5

–Hyper Misao/Trish Adora vs. Yuki Aino/Raku – Hyper Misao is a superhero! She brought Trish a superhero mask! So cute. So funny. Trish is impressive, physically, with great strength and ring presence, while Misao is a comedic genius. On the other side, Raku matched Hyper with hilarious pillow spots (as a DANGEROUS weapon, as a dangerous version of the sleeperhold) and innocent timing. If you’re OK with Toru-Yano type gaga, you’ll love this. – 3/5

–Wasteland War Party (Max The Impaler/Heidi Howitzer) vs. Shoko Nakajima/Miu Watanabe – Awesome Giants vs. Minis match, or is it Kaiju vs. Mini-Jaegers? Miu feels like the third or fourth biggest star in TJPW, and she was way over and also showcased some immense strength against her far larger opponents (she also performed the “Cesaro swing” to Heidi!), while Shoko’s furry outfit is the cutest thing in the world. This was a super fun match that went into extra gears and told a great story. Tons of dives right in front of your front row yours truly, too! – 3.25/5

–International Princess Championship: Rika Tatsumi vs. Billie Starkz – A good little title match that never really got the time it deserved, with the 18-year old Starkz (who’s been on AEW Elevation/Dark before) showing so much promise. She’s the female Nick Wayne in terms of youthful hype. Rika is also very crafty in the ring. Crowd was into it. – 3/5

–Princess Tag Championship Match: Magical Sugar Rabbits (Yuka Sakazaki/Mizuki) vs. 121000000 (Miyu Yamashita/Maki Itoh) – The reason we’re all here, right! Maki is one of the biggest wrestling stars on the planet, and Miyu and Yuka have gotten a ton of exposure in AEW and ROH. I’m less familiar with Mizuki, but I definitely heard of her name and her style and frail size reminds me of Riho, especially with those twirling planchas (Whirling Candy!). All four come off as Joshi stars, although none bigger than Maki — between her entrance, look, attitude, facial expressions and bizarre in-ring style. This match had super heat and the work rate was also great. – 4/5

Matches = 3-3.25/5
Entertainment = 4/5

Overall = 3.5/5 Too Early For Alcohols

This show was all about Tokyo Joshi Pro Wrestling’s brand, the pageantry, the aesthetic and the crowd interaction. The best part about the 6 matches is that nothing sucked, and I was HEAVILY entertained even when mistakes were made and a grudge or title match would barely scrape 6-8 minutes. TJPW won’t be everyone’s cup of tea, and it’s far less competitive than STARDOM; but it’s also unlike anything you’ve ever seen this side of DDT. It never reaches those (sometimes cringy) levels of gaga; it’s on brand with the Princess vs. Evil endeavors and you got good, crisp fun pro wrestling out of it. This was definitely my fav of the indie — i.e. WrestleCon, GCW Collective — shows I saw this past weekend, even when other cards had some significantly better matches. I’m a fan!

–Zero Hour Match: Jeff Cobb vs. “Hot Sauce” Tracy Williams – Pretty much a squash.. this makes FOUR matches in 5 events I’ve seen up to this time with Cobb. Just insane. Sadly, nothing really happened here. Glad I watched it on YouTube in the Uber over. – 2/5

–Zero Hour Match: Konosuke Takeshita vs. Willie Mack – OK, so this one was ALL ABOUT The Bet. Sure, we’re in LA and not LV; but a massive bet was placed at the Arts District Brewery. None of us wanted to miss a Takeshita match (especially against Willie!), but we had a dilemma: we had no idea what order the Zero Hour matches would take place. Do we leave now and possibly sit through 3 matches we don’t care about with expensive bad beer, or stay for one more fine pint of the city’s best IPA’s for half the cost and risk losing out on Konosuke? Well, had we left early and Takeshita didn’t wrestle yet, the round was on me. But since the group chose to stay and possibly miss our Japanese stalwart, my dudes both had to split on merch. So, of course, this match took place SECOND and we had to watch it on our phones in the Uber. I’ll show you the gift down below in the Spring Break review 🙂 – 3.25/5

–Zero Hour Match: Willow Nightingale vs. Miranda Alize – ROH is going to be a great home for Willow and Skye Blue, until they’re ready. – 2.5/5

–Zero Hour Match: Stu Grayson (w/Evil Uno) vs. Slim J (w/Ari Daivari & “Smart” Mark Sterling) – The early arriving crowd was red hot for Stu, who recently returned to AEW and gave it his all in a war against Moxley. Will the Dark Order be ROH staples now? TBH, I think they’d be a great fit there; fun character but really good workers. I don’t know “The Righteous” but they made an appearance at the end to confront our boys. – 2.75-3/5

–AAA Mega Championship Match: El Hijo del Vikingo (c) vs. Komander – Word to the wise: you DON’T want to follow Vikingo. That said, EVERYONE (but the Zero Hour folks) had to follow Vikingo. And, as early as Komander is in his singles career, he delivered BIG TIME too. Like I mentioned in the barnburner these had with Black Taurus at WrestleCon, this won’t be everyone’s cup of tea — and I get it. SOME OF YOU ARE CRAZY. But, not nearly as crazy as these guys… and the amount of creativity put forth in this 15-minute plus opener was on another level. Super hot start to the show, and I felt bad for everyone afterwards. THIS. WAS. AWESOME. – 4.5/5

–ROH World Six-Man Tag Team Championship Match: The Embassy (c) (Brian Cage, Kaun & Toa Liona w/Prince Nana) vs. AR Fox, Blake Christian & Metalik – Two things here: Brian Cage’s contract is up, and he wore very D-X/HHH-inspired tights. But his team won. The other? Good on Tony for keeping the show momentum going with a high-flying team in this spot. It’s a death spot, but at least it was all action for half the time given as the opener. Kaun & Toa Liona have a great look; if they improve their workrate they will be something to watch in the future. If not, they will end up like the Authors of Pain. – 3.25/5

–ROH Women’s World Championship Match: Athena (c) vs. Yuka Sakazaki – Yuka didn’t wrestle this same morning like she had a championship match later in the day! What a professional. And this was a perfectly professional woman’s title match, with some great dives from Yuka and awesome power from Athena. She hit her top rope stunner to victory, but not before a couple of great false finishes from Yuka and even better heel work from the champ. – 3.5/5

–ROH World Television Championship Match: Samoa Joe (c) vs. Mark Briscoe – Uncle Dave called this the biggest surprise over Mania weekend. Since I also said that Cody beating Roman wasn’t exactly a sure-thing, I might have to agree–other than seeing last year’s Mania weekend MVP Mike Bailey lose 4 matches in one day. So, yeah, after a super valiant effort from Brother Briscoe, he still didn’t get it done against Joe and got choked out in front of his kids, nonetheless. Great Redneck Kung-Fu and awesome relentless brawling and submission-based tactics from Joe. This was excellent, despite the not-so-happy finish. – 4/5

–Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Daniel Garcia – Both of Tanahashi’s matches this weekend let me down, especially against a pair of my favorite wrestlers currently working for PWG. That said, this was still a fine match-up and the sports entertainer stuff from Garcia got some tongue-in-cheek heat from the ROH faithful. I’d like to see Garcia make a run in ROH, hence why losing this match did him no favors. Tana is well past his prime and didn’t need this, nor the Bailey win at Multiverse. – 3.25/5

–ROH Tag Team Championship “Reach For The Sky” Ladder Match: Lucha Brothers (Penta El Zero Miedo & Rey Fenix w/Alex Abrahantes) vs. The Kingdom (Matt Taven & Mike Bennett w/Maria Kanellis-Bennett) vs. Top Flight (Dante & Darius Martin) vs. Aussie Open (Mark Davis & Kyle Fletcher) vs. La Faccion Ingobernable (Rush & Dralistico w/Jose the Assistant) – An absolutely AMAZING match that got overshadowed by the unfortunate ankle/leg injury to Dante Martin. Well, since Saturday, our Top Flight stalwart has been released from the hospital and appears to be very optimistic. That all happened during a nutty ladder bridge destroyer onto a table from Penta. The move was executed greatly, but Dante was overshot over the table and snap. It doesn’t sound like it’s broken, so thank God. Everyone here was excellent; I’m so happy to see Aussie Open working among the best tag teams in the world, Rush and Matt Taven stood out in particular otherwise, while the Luchas are beasts. If you can forgive the injury, this was a near-classic with FTR helping Mark Briscoe congratulate the winners. – 4.5/5

–ROH Pure Championship Match: Wheeler Yuta (c) vs. Katsuyori Shibata – Maybe another major upset. Despite his pedigree as “The Wrestler” and one of the most dangerous strikers in the professional wrestling world of all time, Shibata wasn’t a lock to win the Pure title. This initially felt like a one-off, but now it’s clear that dude has a new home with Ring of Honor. I’m not sure half of the Mania Weekend audience ever had history with Katsuyori, but he def won some new fans with his dominance of Wheeler, who’s quickly becoming one of the best young heels in wrestling. Pure rules are weird, but both wrestlers made the most of it. – 3.75/5

–ROH World Championship Match: Claudio Castagnoli (c) vs. Eddie Kingston – A very solid fight, a very solid war — that got turned up several notches when Eddie went into a third gear. I noticed the match shifted in several gears for our challenger; just when he looked too exhausted to keep up with Claudio, Eddie would turn it on — whether it was one-kicking out of a finisher or hitting a backfist from nowhere. The climax of the match was absolutely awesome and a bit shocking with a roll-up victory for Castagnoli, but I believe the right man at this moment won. Shibata came out to help Eddie from the pummeling of Claudio and Wheeler, but it wasn’t as effective an ending since we already watched Shibata battle Yuta just moments earlier. – 4/5

Matches (with Zero Hour = 3.5/5); (without Zero Hour = 3.75-4/5)
Entertainment = 4/5

Overall = 4/5 Stone Buenaveza Salt & Lime Lagers

This was a very strong, very BOLD Pay Per View! The best matches featured Lucha stars, or, at least, Lucha-inspired wrestling, which gives you an idea of where the trend of great “indie” match is going. I say “bold”, because Briscoe didn’t win, Eddie didn’t win, Shibata did and CAGE did! So much for him leaving? But, it’s arguable that the roster for Ring of Honor is stronger with the Lucha Bros, Joe, Shibata, Claudio and Athena as champs. That’s a stacked line-up. Sadly, the horrific Dante Martin injury overshadowed another tremendous ROH PPV and, while I’m pulling for a super speedy recovery for the kid, let’s not overlook what TK and the brand accomplished on Friday night.

–Grab The Brass Ring DLC Match: Gringo Loco vs. Shane Mercer vs. Tony Deppen vs. Cole Radrick vs. Komander vs. Billie Starkz vs. Blake Christian vs. Alec Price vs. Jack Cartwheel – We missed the match because of the Uber craze leaving The Galen Center for ROH, but, from what I gather in other reviews and comments, this was a decent showcase but nothing like the Ladder Match we saw earlier in the day–especially since the winner (Blake) didn’t even have to climb a ladder to win… Glad this was the first match! – 3/5

–Tag Team Titles: Motor City Machine Guns vs. East West Express – Big upset here, as the already AEW signed Nick Wayne and Jordan Oliver took the GCW tag straps from the legendary MCMG! This was high-paced; def a passing of the torch match between one of the original innovators of tag team wrestling to the future. Maybe a little too soon for the kids to win — and the finish was definitely flat — but this is GCW where Nick Gage, Masha Slamovich and Matt Cardona have been/are champs, so you can’t be too upset. Lots of spots, dives and speed on display here. – 3.25/5

–Battle of WrestleMania Weekend MVP’s: Mike Bailey vs. El Hijo del Vikingo – Exactly what the match title (that I made up) says. Here, you have arguably the greatest indie performer in one weekend of Mania Weekend history (from last year in Dallas) in Mike Bailey to another guy who’s ready to take that mantle this weekend in El Hijo del Vikingo! While both guys were clearly exhausted and missed the connection on a few spots, it’s still Speedball and Vikingo and they still did the damn thing and turned out a Match of the Show in their (literal) sleep. – 4/5

-Bussy (Effy and Allie Katch) vs. Maki Death Kill (My Wife Maki Ito Moody and Nick Fucking Gage) – OK, here me out. Maki made me a Nick Gage fan, at least for one night. I’ve always been on the line as far as where I stand with the death match legend/lunatic, but this was insane fun. It’s garbage wrasslin’, but Maki made all the gory violence cute…and she was, indeed, the biggest star of the whole f’n show. I’m not sure whether I loved this or hated it, but I love Maki Ito and Maki Ito loves me, so there you go. Also, my 6’3 twin Matt Zack Ryder Cardona came out with a Cody jacket (something I bravely rocked at a GCW show) and beat the living hell out of Gage. It was a fun, violent scrum, and Effy and Allie might be the most ridiculous tag team of all time. – 10/5 (or, really, a 3.5/5 but who’s counting? Lulz)

–GCW World Title: Steph De Lander vs. Masha Slamovich – Overall, it appears the GCW “Collective” is OK with Masha as champion. But this impromptu championship match def took the sting out of the momentum of the zaniness we just witnessed for several reasons I won’t get into here. Even at face value (for whatever title or no title this was or could be for), this was just OK. Def not Masha’s fault, as Steph — in her street attire — didn’t do much to impress much more than her mouth (and I don’t mean that sexually). Big talk, little action. This was only 6-minutes so.. whatever. – 2.5/5

-Joey Janela vs. Kota Ibushi – This never reached great for one reason: I don’t think anyone believed that Joey could go a hard 24-minutes with Ibushi. Despite how hard they worked to put together a great match, it just didn’t make sense. Joey has his supporters and I’ve witnessed him have GREAT matches at PWG Battle of Los Angeles and even on the first night of AEW Dark against Omega, but something about the dude just doesn’t click besides the fact he gets to hand-pick his oftentimes legendary opponent every year at Spring Break and make a big deal about it. Don’t get me wrong; having Ibushi perform in front of a few hundred at the Ukrainian Cultural Center in Hollywood was pretty damn cool. But after wars with Jay White, Okada, yadda yadda.. having to struggle a little against.. Janela is all the more baffling. That said, Kota looked great and hit all his spots. I’m just glad he didn’t get killed on an apron DDT — a move I would have stayed away from with his past. Still, this was a strong way to end a wacky show. – 3.5-3.75/5

Matches = 3.25/5
Entertainment = 3.75/5

Overall = 3.5/5

I believe I mentioned a year ago that Joey Janela’s Spring Break had taken a turn from a mostly fun, relaxed wacky night of comedy and surprises to a more serious wrestling show and this year’s seventh sequel in LA was no different. Other than Cardona and (to a lesser extend) De Lander, there were no real surprises here, and, minus a tamer than usual hardcore tag match, we didn’t get a whole lot of hardcore. Instead, we got talents like all the gents and ladies in the opening DLC match, MCMG, Speedball, Vikingo, and Ibushi. GCW feels more serious wrestling-based than hardcore/comedy now, which is a good thing, but it also takes away from what made Spring Break so special in the first place. Since Joey Ryan’s Penis Party blew its last load a few years ago, I was expecting more of a fun, party type of vibe attending my first Break than a “PWG With Pizza Cutters”. That said, JJSB7 still felt like nothing else I attended this past weekend, and, for that and my beautiful Maki Itoh (muah!), I have that to be thankful.

-Travis Moody

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WWE WRESTLEMANIA 38 [Night 2 Review]: Not So Stupendous.

Felipe Crespo
@F7ovrdrv

Welcome to Night Two of the most stupendous night in SPORTS ENTERTAINMENT HISTORY!!! WRRRRESTLEMANIA!!!

I’ve got a few thoughts on Night One, but, for more detail of Saturday night, please do check out Shawn Puff’s full review…

-What. The. Fuck. Logan Paul is a natural. Hate, hate, hate to admit it, but he’s a great natural heel. He knows how to work the crowd, the camera, does smooth work in the ring… He’s sure as hell better than Cody’s Tat.. Sorry, I meant Dom. And the Miz? Icing on the cake.
-It’s so weird that the End of Days had remained unbeaten and they decide to throw that way in a “nothing” match.
–Bianca and Becks went hard. And I’m tired of Becks. Hats off.
–Cody. Amazing return and possible MOTN (I’m torn between them and Bianca vs Becks).
–Charlotte and Ronda? Basura, basura, basura. Bullshit finish because God forbid Chars doesn’t win a PPV match. Wish they had cut this instead of the New Day match.
–Stone Cold can still go hard!!! Has better stamina than some full timers, goddamn!

Onto Night Two. Ready to Acknowledge…

We open with Triple H having a nice little intro moment. I’m not crying, you’re crying. He kept things short and (too) sweet.

Raw Tag Team Champions RK-Bro vs. The Street Profits vs. Alpha Academy (Triple Threat Match)

I’m in the unique position of being both pretty entertained and underwhelmed. It just feels like they always do too little with Gable. He’s a surprising, deceiving powerhouse and it was awesome when back in the day, they’d let him go on a suplex rampage on guys way bigger than him. Yet again, it didn’t happen. Kudos to Otis for doing the first ever Judas Effect that actually looked devastating. I expected more spots in this good match, but it was not stupendous. – 3.25/5 (The Stevenson suplex thing was so mind-numbingly stupid and unnecessary.)

Bobby Lashley vs. Omos

“Laaaashley! Laaaashley!” I don’t care. I liked the Lashley/Lio pairing. Anyway, where’s MVP? I was more invested in this match than I care to admit. Build up was short, but something about how it was put together just worked for me. I know Omos is not Taker or Nash; but, this brawl should’ve lasted longer and it should’ve taken more than one spear to get the win, especially with how they’ve built up Omos. He didn’t even have to kick out of the spear, just have Bobby do two or three in a row for insurance. Not stupendous at all. – 2/5

Johnny Knoxville vs. Sami Zayn (Anything Goes Match)

Didn’t know what to expect. We knew Johnny could take a ridiculous amount of punishment and that definitely counts for something in wrestling. Just ask Mick Foley (don’t @ me). What I sure as hell didn’t expect was to unironically love that match. I fully recognize that it helps if you’re a fan of Jackass (a lot) or just being a sadist (a lot), but that was great. I was thoroughly sports entertained!

Knoxville and crew were clearly game for taking shots and Zayn didn’t shy away from anything either. The nods to the Jackass shows and movies were brilliant. Anyone else surprised they went through with the Party Boy appearance? First STUPENDOUS match of the night. – 4/5 (Before you start whining, I’m not calling it a great wrestling match by any means, but it gets a 4 by sheer entertainment value.)

Women’s Tag Team Champions Queen Zelina & Carmella vs. Sasha Banks & Naomi vs. Rhea Ripley & Liv Morgan vs. Natalya & Shayna Baszler

Why did Naomi get in the car to ride for 40 feet? I honestly don’t have much to say about this one. Nothing bad to say, and nothing to rave about. Love that Liv/Rhea finisher, though. Match was mid– not STU. PEN. DOUS. – 2.5/5

Edge vs. AJ Styles

I’ve never been an Edge guy, never will be. It doesn’t help that they have him on a PPV winning streak… Match was fine but ugh. Edge wins. – 3/5, I guess.

Xavier Woods & Kofi Kingston vs. Sheamus & Ridge Holland

Cole just called the team of Bitch, Botch, and Butch the Unholy Trinity. Calm down, Cole. You’re not talking about the Ministry of Darkness. That was so fucking stupid. Honestly, they should’ve just left the whole thing cut. It was a complete disservice to Woods, E, and Kofi. Fuck this and whoever produced that match. – 1/5.

Pat McAfee vs. Austin Theory

I was looking forward to this match between Pat and Austin (not Steve) more than I’d like to admit. Hey, I feel they handled the build up well, what can I say? Match was a lot more fun than expected and McAfee impressed a lot of people. Ending was predictable, but didn’t take away from how enjoyable it was. – 3.5/5… Wait, what the hell is happening?

Pat McAfee vs. Vince & The Battle of the Austins – What a weird ride. The Vince match was clearly an odd ego project of his. It was surreal, and I’m sure people felt it was a mass hallucination. Thankfully Stone Cold snapped us back into reality and we got both one of the best and worst Stunner sells of all time. I genuinely don’t know who had the best rub of WrestleMania weekend: Theory or Owens. I consider this a segment, not an actual match…

WWE Champion Brock Lesnar vs. Universal Champion Roman Reigns (Winner Take All Championship Unification)

Our Tribal Lord vs. The Mayor of Suplex City. Soooo what just happened? With the epic build-up and history between these two, I was expecting a way longer match. Don’t get me wrong; I thoroughly enjoyed what they did put on, it just felt like the finish came way too suddenly. I’ll wait to see if there are any reports of an injury because something feels really off. Hate to say this match was good but not stupendous. – 3/5.

Matches = 3.25/5
Entertainment = 2.75/5

Overall = 3/5 Whiskeys.

Night 1 was better than Night 2. That’s pretty obvious. They shit the bed with New Day and the main event was painfully too short, a pity because it was shaping up to be (one last time)… stupendous.

-Felipe Crespo

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WWE WRESTLEMANIA 38 [Night 1 Review]: Cody Does Dallas.

“Pastor” Shawn Puff
@ShawnPuffy

It’s finally here!! The grand-daddy of them all, the show of shows, the “showcase of the immortals”!

Last night and tonight, it’s…

Or is it Sports Entertainment Mania now? I don’t know.. but this weekend has been wild. I’ve consumed more wrestling from my home than any human ever should in a single weekend.  Anyway, Mania is now a two-night extravaganza. By the way, this company that everybody hates sold over 70,000 tickets, which isn’t too shabby for a shitty company that nobody likes anymore.

But enough trolling the IWC, they’re going to be in enough tears when Shane-O-Mac shows up as Seth’s opponent tonight. That said.. there was absolutely no need for a two-hour kickoff show with zero matches– especially when the US and Intercontinental titles aren’t even on the card. Damn you, Vince!! Anyway, let’s pour a glass of whiskey, sit down and take in the biggest show of the year. It’s time for WrestleMania 38, Night 1!!

SmackDown Tag Team Championship:
Shinsuke Nakamura & Rick Boogs vs the Usos (c)

Damn, do they misuse Shinsuke. This match was a lot shorter than it should have been. Boogs blew out his knee and left Shinsuke to fight the Usos, two on one. Nakamura got off a few good moves in but it was basically a handicap match the rest of the way and a 1D put Nak down rather quickly.

We found out later on that Boogs’ injury was real. He tore his quad and damaged his patella and needs surgery.  I mean, that would explain how the remainder of the match went and why it ended so quickly. If this is a sign of the night to come, I might need to crack open the good whiskey. – 2/5

Drew McIntyre v Happy Corbin

Wait… did Samantha Irvin just call Happy Corbin undefeated? Come on. Sure, he hasn’t lost since his “name change” but that doesn’t constitute undefeated. I love that Pat McAfee called him Bum Ass Corbin before he changed his name. Corbin looked strong to start this match. McIntyre doing a tope suicida was pretty insane.

This one was a slight step up from the opener but not by much. Corbin is no longer undefeated and this match felt like it belonged on SmackDown or the Kickoff Show. Which, by the way, why was this match here instead of Ricochet defending his title? Who booked this shit, Bruce? Oh great, McIntyre destroyed the ring ropes so the next match is going to take a bit before it happens. Time for more whiskey. – 2.75/5

Rey & Dominik Mysterio vs Miz & Logan Paul

HOLY SHIT!!! LOGAN PAUL IS FRICKIN GOOD!!!! Give this kid a damn contract. This was the best match so far tonight and it shocked the world. Logan pulling off the Three Amigos AND a GREAT Frog Splash with a little shoulder shimmy on the top rope!! I don’t like this kid at all, but I have to give him credit. He did a bang-up job. Logan Paul looks better than Dominik, to be honest. Logan Paul may be the greatest sports entertainer ever.  

Anyway, this match might be the turning point of the night. After the match, Miz turning on Paul just set up his first feud if they keep him around. I’m sure we’ll, at the very least, get Miz versus Logan Paul at Backlash or SummerSlam. This felt like Mania to me. The other two should have been in that horrendously long kickoff show. THIS started the night of Mania. – 3.25/5

Stephanie McMahon comes out and introduces Gable Steveson to us. So, the Olympic Gold Medalist will NOT be the swerve on us to face Seth Rollins. Has Shane been seen in Dallas? Hahaha. Interesting that this kid is getting the bump directly to the main roster and skipping NXT. I guess that’s what happens when you win a gold frickin medal WITHOUT a broken frickin neck. Can’t wait to see what this kid brings to the table.

RAW Women’s Championship:
Bianca Belair vs Becky Lynch (c)

Here we go with the over-the-top entrances finally. That marching band. Fire. OK. We’re definitely at Mania now. These two women put on a hell of a battle. If you’re looking for good women’s matches to watch this weekend, this might be the best of them. This will be on my list for the women’s match of the year. The entrances also set the stage perfectly for the culmination of this feud.

Bianca had her WrestleMania Moment stolen from her last year by a returning Becky Lynch and this year she recaptures her moment. Great match overall and almost the show-stealer. If they really wanted a women’s match to be the main event tonight, they should have gone with this one. – 4.25/5

Seth Rollins vs Mr. McMahon’s Hand-Picked Opponent (Cody Rhodes)

So, after much speculation, rumors and to-do, we finally find out who Seth’s mystery opponent is going to be. Seth gets sung in by a chorus. That was weird. And Cody Rhodes came home!! So, we have our first impactful cast off from AEW that lands in WWE. Not saying it means anything, but I would take note: This was a great wrestling match. Cody may have just had the match of his career with Seth Rollins. Definitely Match Of The Year contender right here. He even got a little homage to Dusty in there. Now let’s be real. Cody needed this. This was the only way this comeback would have worked.

I know everyone always looks at what Vince does wrong but they forget about what he does right. Sometimes you need to go away and prove yourself somewhere else to get the push. Remember the Chosen One, Drew McIntyre, or Christian? They proved themselves and then came back and went to the moon. Now, I don’t know that that’s the plan here but don’t doubt it until it gives you a reason to. I mean, we might have just witnessed the greatest WrestleMania Moment in the history of WrestleMania. Cody came home. Holy shit! – 4.5/5

SmackDown Women’s Championship
Ronda Rousey vs Charlotte Flair (c)

This match was done a disservice for coming after Cody’s return. It was kind of sloppy. I don’t know if it’s Ronda or if Charlotte just isn’t really at the level that WWE puts her at for her name. Logan Paul looked better than Charlotte Flair. They had their moments, don’t get me wrong, but after the last two matches, it just wasn’t the same.

It picked up and got a lot better but the first half was pretty rough. Ronda got out of the Figure Eight and kicked out of a Natural Selection. Neither woman would tap. The ref got knocked out and it cost Rousey the title in a fuck-finish. We couldn’t go the whole night without one right? Of course, it was in the main event. I should have gone to bed before this match. Overall, it wasn’t the worst match but compared to the two that preceded it, this was meh. – 3.5/5

K.O. Show with Stone Cold Steve Austin:
Kevin Owens vs Stone Cold Steve Austin

The big question was, would this turn into a match? I mean after the actual main event I went in HOPING it would save the main event. Luckily for us, it did. And no holds barred at that. It was great to see Austin back in the ring. Austin drank beer and stomped mudholes. They went out into the crowd and up the ramp and Austin took some bumps that I never thought I’d see him take again. This got the crowd back into it to end the night. Both men ate Stunners and Austin came out victorious in the end.

After the match, it was time for beers, beers and more beers followed by another Stunner for KO. And just when you thought it was done, Stone Cold shared a beer with Byron Saxton and Stunned the hell out of him then celebrated with his real-life brother. This is how you send the crowd home happy and buzzing in Texas. And there’s still one more night! Can night two outdo what we just watched? – 4/5

Cody came home

Above all, Mania’s first night really didn’t disappoint. Clearly, it started off slow and really bumpy, but it slowly reached true Mania level. In the end, we got an amazing Mania Moment recaptured for Bianca and one for Stone Cold and KO that the entire arena enjoyed. In addition, Logan Paul shocked the world because he’s actually pretty damn good at this. And of course. “the greatest WrestleMania Moment in the history of Mania” came with Cody Rhodes returning home. Hopefully, Rick Boogs heals up quickly, but what happened to the New Day versus Sheamus and Ridge Holland? Guess they got the bump. Maybe on the night two kickoff show? They could use a match or two on that two hours of nothing. In fine, I thoroughly enjoyed night one of WrestleMania and will be looking forward to night two. Now, more whiskey.

Matches = 3.5/5
Entertainment = 4.25/5

Night 1 Overall = 3.75/5 Whiskeys.

-Shawn Puff

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WRESTLEMANIA WEEKEND [Day 2 & 3 Review]: Speedballin’.

Here are the Top 4 WrestleMania Weekend Shows from Thursday, ranked in order!

1.) ROH Supercard of Honor XV

THE GOOD:

–I mean.. almost everything. From the last minute buzz created for the show, to the tremendous crowd, to the front-to-back match quality, to the big surprises — Brian Cage! Young Bucks! Samoa Joe! (“Joe! Joe! Joe!”) — to Tony Khan’s AEW imprint smothered all over the show, this “new beginning” for the Ring of Honor brand is off to a hot start. There are a lot of questions to be raised, sure, but let’s enjoy this event for what it was– maybe the best thing we’ll see all weekend.

–ROH World Tag Team Championship: FTR vs. The Briscoes – The match that sold tickets, the match that had all the hype, the match that had a bit of controversy for one team and a clear second start for the other. The ROH tag title match was everything it intended to be and more, and don’t be surprised if this winds up the match of Mania weekend. GO SEE IT NOW! – 5/5

–The TK post event media scrum. I love these. I guess that makes me a mark, but if you’re reading this then you clearly are one too. FTR was so damn amazing in the post show press conference, while Samoa Joe added a little kayfabe, and Mercedes proved she might just be “the realest in the room”. How you doin? I’m feelin’ good.

THE BAD:

–Nothing. If we want to get nitpicky, the women’s matches didn’t exactly tear the roof off; then again, Women of Honor has always (sadly) been ROH’s clear-cut weakness. Mercedes is a great choice to be new champ, even if it’s in the interim while we figure out a time and place for her and Deonna to get it on, while A.Q.A. & Willow both show a lot of promise.

–ROH World Championship: Jonathan Gresham vs. Bandido – Oh, don’t get me wrong: this was a very good main event on a very good pay-per-view. I’ll even bump it up a 0.25 score for all the amazing action that happened after the final 3-count. While a “styles clash” of sorts, both competitors indeed adapted to each other as best as possible and it made for an exhilarating final 5-minutes. But we’ve seen better from both, especially Bandido the day before and Gresham in various matches all over the place. I’m intensely curious to see where all of this goes, be it Gresham’s whole deal with Lethal/Joe, or Bandido’s current status with ROH/AEW.. So, while I have this in the “bad” category, a whole lotta good came out of a slightly disappointing title match. – 4/5

Overall = 4/5 Whiskeys (Entertainment = 4.25/5; Main Card = 3.75).

2.) Impact! Wrestling Multiverse of Matches

THE GOOD:

–The Card. It’s in the name– wrestlers from all corners of the “Multiverse” come together to celebrate the fact that Impact Wrestling is still a thing, no matter what promotion they’re representin’. While I haven’t been the most loyal fan of the brand over the years — returning many moons later to when Killer Kross and Bobby Lashley made it a thing again, mostly led by the hands of Sami Callihan — this event’s card piqued my interest. (Speaking of which, isn’t it kinda crazy having a WrestleMania/IndieMania Weekend without Sami? Without CZW? I remember them holding some pretty serious weight over the years.)

–Motor City Machine Guns. No, not together. Both Chris Sabin and Alex Shelley had the two best matches of the night, on a somewhat loaded card. With a somewhat stacked deck, that’s a clear testament to their ability to stay in shape, stay relevant and stay great in that squared circle.

-Their opponents: Jay White‘s frequent trips to the Impact Zone and the Impactful actions of the Bullet Club have made both the long-time faction and longtime up-and-down promotion relevant again. His match with Sabin was fire, unsurprisingly. But Switchblade losing his first match on Impact on this night was definitely not a given! The man he had a banger with over on Lonestar Shootout, Speedball Mike Bailey, had a 4-4.25-star clinic himself with Shelley — highlighted by a springboard moonsault to the floor and a twirling shooting star. Find these matches if you can!

THE BAD:

–Ultimate X Match. This was almost as anticlimactic as Roman vs. Brock. While not bad by any means, it’s definitely one many Mania Weekend goers had circled on their calendar. With talent like eventual winner Trey Miguel, hot free agent Blake Christian, Bullet Club’s Chris Bey, not that Virgil Vincent, the bomb Rich Swann, and Jordynne Fucking Grace, I was expecting nothing less than a 4-star smash. Didn’t happen. Seemed too sudden. Maybe there were too many matches in this.. Multiverse that prevented the X from reaching its proper peak. – 3/5

–Husband & Wife vs. Husband & Wife – Dirty Dishes at the Morrison household this was not. As much as I adore my evil twin — and the greatest heel in the business today — Matt Cardona and his lovely hot-mess bride Chelsea Green, this never reached the HYPE. Sad since their opponents, the legendary Mickie James and NWA’s Nick Aldis are just as great. Maybe they instead should’ve opted for a double date. – 2.25/5

Overall = 3.5/5 Whiskeys.

3.) NJPW Strong Lonestar Shootout

THE GOOD:

–Consistency and time. This show had arguably the most consistent wrestling of any show this weekend, and took more or less half the time! I feel like most events this past weekend (especially that of the “indie” type) needed to shave an hour. This one did and the five matches (yes, not 11, Josh Barnett!) felt like a smooth ride- especially when we have 3700 other shows to catch, including those near 11-hours of WWE content. Thank you, New Japan!

-Speedball Mike Bailey vs. Jay White – As mentioned prior, these two killed it on Impact and Bailey in particular had killed it everywhere else. As much as Suzuki made a presence this weekend on numerous shows, Bailey’s workrate remained supreme no matter the opponent and he also had nearly twice as many matches (9!) with many more high-spots. Incredible. And to think this awesome battle was only his 3rd or 4th best effort of the bunch. Also, lest we not forget White whose latest babyface Bullet Club thang is interesting AF; he’s more or less carried the weight of this promotion ever since re-calling America home. – 4/5

THE BAD:

-The obvious: lack of big time international stars like Naito, Okada and Tanahashi. But this isn’t really a complaint since NJPW has the word “Strong” behind it in the title in reference to its sister U.S. brand, and, really, we had the aforementioned White and Suzuki, and Tomohiro Ishii (who had a very strong main event with Chris Dickinson). Throw in Narita, Rocky, Juice, and a surprise promo from Mox (!!) and this was a very strong extended episode of NJPW Strong.

Overall = 3.5/5 Whiskeys.

4.) Joey Janela Spring Break 6, Part 2: The Greatest Clusterfuck

THE GOOD:

–The Greatest Clusterfuck and The Return of the Invisible Man. In my Night 1 WrestleMania Weekend review, I pointed out the lack of humor in Spring Break‘s Part 1. Well, not on this night. While this “Greatest” Clusterfuck was nowhere the greatest, it did return what made this event so must-see in the first place: the zany, wacky surprise entrants. Buff Bagwell (in crutches), Invisible Man (I laughed at ANYTHING & EVERYTHING involving the infamous legend), Maven (who basically called it a night after dropkicking everyone in the ring), Josh Barnett (who thankfully wiped the mat with that dirtsheet annoyance Sean Ross Sapp), Jimmy Wang Yang (and his super hot daughter Jazzy) and Early Morning Guy Steel (my personal fan favorite!) gave the SB brand the one thing Night 1 lacked.

–Tony Deppen vs. Biff Busick – Feel bad for Biff, who made a valiant return to the indie scene this past weekend only to get jobbed out in every major match. This was a hard-hitting affair, maybe Deppen’s best match in a minute as he also hit the crowd with a tenacious promo after. Let’s see where this all goes for “The Gatekeeper” – 4/5

–Minoru Suzuki vs. Effy – Another fun one, maybe the zaniest match-up of match-ups all weekend– and yet one that was actually watchable from a quality match stand-point. Imagine the scariest man in professional wrestling versus the gayest. Yup. Classic. – 10/5

THE BAD:

–The Greatest Clusterfuck and The Factions That [Almost] Killed It. Just me, or did almost every single WrestleMania Weekend event (including both nights of WrestleMania) finish ever so anticlimactically? This return of the wildest randomly generated and segmented “Royal Rumble” in the land was so much fun for its massive first half.. which mostly consisted of Joey Janela being a dick and eliminating every one by one. It was hilarious. Once the thing turned into a giant Cluster, it got Fucked. But I guess that’s the point. I’m happy for the humor, the surprises (some of whom we did see earlier in the weekend…), and the creativity, but the 1000 no-name bums and death match dudes hitting the ring late in the royal leveled this one down. – 3/5

–Nuttin’ else bad but the Bad Boy. Night 2 > Night 1, even if barely. The first half of the main event was super fun and hilarious, and the other 4 matches were all good-to-great in their own special way.

Overall = 3.25-3.5/5 Whiskeys.

HONORABLE MENTIONS

Speedball Mike Bailey vs. Davey Richards (WrestleCon USA vs. The World), Bandido & Extreme Tiger vs. The Workhorsemen (WrestleCon USA vs. The World), Hoodfoot vs. Billy Dixon (GCW For The Culture), Jai Vidal vs. Carlos Romo (Effy’s Big Gay Brunch), Dirty Dango vs. Alli Katch (Effy’s Big Gay Brunch), Travis Moody vs. WrestleMania Weekend (For watching 45-hours of wrasslin’ this weekend!).

-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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RINGSIDE APOSTLES [Episode 4]: Best of WrestleMania Week 2021.

The Ringside Apostles — Travis Moody! Destiny Edwards! Shawn Puff! — shoot for the triple threat tag titles with plenty of WWE​ WrestleMania 37​ talk, as we also stand and deliver the best moments of NXT TakeOver​, to boot.

Your fav wrasslin’ critics also hit the sunny Tampa Streets with all the indie squared-circle wackiness from GCW​ and IWTV​! Grey Sweat Pants FTW!

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