Superstar Sleeze

NEVER Openwwight Champion Katsuyori Shibata vs Tomohiro Ishii - NJPW 2/11/16 They managed to have an even worse match than 1/4 which is impressive. The beginning where Shibata taunts Ishii to hit him but always strikes first was actually entertaining dick character work and then match is derailed into the Pain Olympics. Each man takes turns hitting the other. They take it a step further. Each allows the other to hook the other up and suplex them repeatedly. I have never come closer to turning off a match mid-match and walking away. In fairness to the match and them I kept watching. Nothing was egregious as that but there was nothing redeemable about this match. They had a cool undercurrent of Shibata being the better the counter wrestler using flash submissions like the Triangle Choke on the Powerbomb and a flying armbar after a sliding clothesline but other than that. This was just Bloody Knuckles wrestling. Who could tolerate the most pain? There is no more cynical and nihilistic take on pro wrestling than Bloody Knuckles wrestling. This was so cynical and nihilistic that it was almost impressive. Key word almost. Absolutely wretched pro wrestling, I loathe this match and everything it stands for.

Hiroshi Tanahashi vs AJ Styles - NJPW 8/14/15 G-1 Climax Took a nap this afternoon so I’m up but worried now that my daughter will be up in an hour but couldn’t sleep. Surprised I have never seen this match before as it is two of my all-time favorites and 2015 was the last year I kept up with New Japan in real-time . These two could roll out of bed and have a great match in my eyes and that’s exactly what they did. However this was not a lost classic or MOTYC so by that metric it wa disappointing but at 27 minutes and change this whipped right by and they had no trouble keeping me engaged the whole time. Great headlock work early. Lots of scouting throughout the match like Tanahashi hanging onto the ropes to avoid the customary AJ dropkick. Tanahashi goads AJ into making the first mistake. We surprisingly get early Tanahashi leg work as he wraps AJ’s legs around the post and splashes the knee. Tanahashi goes for a skin the cat and AJ shoves him off. AJ consolidates his control with a railing shot. Herein lies the rub as good as AJ as is at selling and he flexes that knee a lot he still has to make his “comeback” which involves a lot of running. One thing I noticed about watching this match is how truncated AJ’s move set was i WWE. He has impressive offensive arsenal. AJ now works Tanahashi’s knee. So I thought the whole reason this got such a high Cagematch rating because it was so dueling limb classic but never really gets there. There are some brief call backs later but this more of a Greatest Hits medley than a dueling limbwork classic. Now Tanahashi turn to hit a bunch of his mid match stock spots while half selling the knee. High Fly Flow to the floor after countering the Phenomenal Forearm which I have to remind myself is not a finisher at this time was cool. AJ’s inverted DDT thingy which he almost always hit flawlessly though it looks incredibly one of those moves I don’t remember him hitting in WWE. Tanahashi goes back to the leg but we get a ref bump. Dueling ball shots in a moment of levity. I never love the NJPW Strike Exchange breakdown but they sell it well. The Fireworks down the closing stretch is fun. I thought AJ countering the Styles Clash with an Anklelock was cool as was Tanahashi countering AJ’s Styles Clash with a Dragon Leg Screw. High Fly Flow eating knees but AJ getting right up not selling the knees and hitting a frog splash bummed me out. The spot of the match was Tanahashi catching the Pele Kick which was the prelude to the Styles Clash in NJPW and turning into a Dragon Leg Screw! Popped me huge! That went for a guaranteed AJ to sealing the deal for Tanahashi! A love a key turning point in a match! The double High Fly Flow for good measure ends it! GO ACE! At almost 28 minutes theres a never dull moment. These two know how to pace a match and their wide offensive arsenals keep you engaged but it is missing that hook or that one special aspect to take it to the next level But it is still great! ****

NXT Women’s Champion Bayley vs Sasha Banks - NXT 10/7/15 Ironman Match Rainy day in Quebec got an hour on a treadmill before baby wakes up let’s knock out a long match. My recollection is that the Brooklyn match smokes this match. Let’s see. First 15 mins: The match is already anointed before it began. “Main event” “Women’s Wrestling”, “You Deserve It” and “This is awesome” chants all before they touched. It was a watershed moment that was building for a year plus. A Jackie Robinson moment in 21st Century. For that reason this match should always be Canon. As for the work, it is solid but nothing too special. Sasha Banks carries the first 15 minutes with swagger and makes sure this never falls below great and entertaining. Bayley was the right character for the moment but her offense leaves a lot to be desired. They trade Eddie/Malenko style near falls because the moment calls for it. Sasha coming up with a dropkick out of it was interesting in a take what the match gives you moment. But they were determined to for Bayley to have her shine. Japanese Armdrags barely look good when done by others here it was just bad arm work. They trade finisher teases smart. Sasha feeling the moment goes for the Hug PSYCHE Hair Pull! Sasha is just so much more interesting. Bayley’s offense again falls flat for me. The eye poke roll up was a fun first fall and glad they weren’t going to go without any falls for 30mins. The yank by Bayley into Bayley 2 Belly was the best thing Bayley did so far. 1-1. The match picks up when Bayley with incredible core strength takes a wicked stairs bump. Sasha plays it old school throwing Bayley to the floor repeatedly and then into the titan tron. She messes on the Bayley Superfan and takes her bow. Sasha picks up the Countout as the Bayley Superfan cries in an iconic moment. Prophecy fulfilled the match is officially a classic. Second 15 mins: Sasha mocking and laying the badmouth on Bayley was great as was the Kawada style Boston Crab complete with head stomping action. Banks loses controls of Bayley and goes to re-apply But Bayley negotiates a roll up for the fall. Some bad Bayley offense follows. They get obsessed with the Tree of Woe position, but with 8 minutes left the match picks up. Call back to Brooklyn with Bayley smashing Banks’ hand into the Ring steps in a “taste of your own medicine moment”. Hand psychology gives something for Bayley to latch onto and her offense looks a lot better. We get the iconic Banks Dive into the Bayley 2 Belly. The Super Bayley 2 Belly follows but Bayley loses control of Sasha and Banks gets her feet on the ropes. They go for the Super Dragonrana another Brooklyn callback but Sasha lands on her feet. Bayley 2 Belly! Nothing says credible wrestling like a finisher steal. Sasha working in and out of the Bank Statement was great. Bayley gets a wicked Arm submission kinda looks like what Penta does crossed with the Rings of Saturn. Coupled with the hand work and the clock running down and the submission at the bell makes for an ELECTRIC FINISH! WWE Promotional Machine was fully behind this match. They bring out the whole roster and have the fellow Four Horsewomen front and center for the standing O. Thank You Sasha! The crowd gets the right. As HHH brings Bayley literal flowers. It is nice to remember what a functional WWE Promotional Machine looked like and how it can really take something special to the next level. They would have had to lay an absolute egg not to have a Canonical match. The match is undisputably great but Brooklyn does indeed smoke this match. This match benefited from the Moment and the Promotional Machine. Sasha delivered a fantastic performance but the match layout never gave her enough room to really take it to the next level. Bayley came alive in the last 8 minutes and delivered when it counts. The Sasha/Bayley Superfan interaction was gold! The moment was massive and they met the moment well enough. To quote Voltaire “The Search for Perfection is the Enemy of Good” and this was good enough. ****

Shawn Michaels vs Edge - WWE RAW 2/28/05 Pre-Lita Edge was rough. When he couldn’t get over as a babyface in 2004, they turned him heel and stuck with Good Ol HBK which honestly was the nicest thing they could do for this generic huffy puffy CAW. The whole he has SNAPPED or he is deranged now almost never gets over. You need a gimmick. A hook. A character. The Money In The Bank and Lita gave him that. Before who was Edge? After that, he is sex-crazed opportunistic sleaze bag. Thats something you can sink your teeth into. Whenever 21st century fans say a gimmick is a four letter word you know they don’t what they are talking about. This is Shawn Michaels show through and through which means it is very good but I would hesitate to call it great. I know I said before in these reviews but even though 2005/2006 were smack dab in the second wave of my fandom my teen years I forgot how violent it was. HBK taps a gusher and Edge takes yet another insane chair shot. I can’t believe he can still form complete thoughts in AEW. They really went from 60 to zero when they went PG with the blood. Appreciated the jeans and Shawn immediately going to whipping him with the belt. Mid-tempo Shine of Shawn beating Edge’s ass all over the place. Shawn goes for the ladder But gets wiped out by a trash can lid. Which creates a story that whenever Shawn goes for the ladder he is thwarted. Edge hits the Impaler on a chair triggering the massive bladejob we go to commercial as we have our hook HBK is a bloody mess can he survive Edge huffing and puffing and blowing his house down. Theres a real good anemic Shawn dive to the floor where it almost looks like he trips on the ropes and takes a header to wipe out Edge. It was a great sell of blood loss and exhaustion. Shawn’s selling carries this over Edge’s offense as he never had much. Edge’s homage to Shawn at Mania X falls short of looking cool. Shawn hits a homer off Edge’s head with a chair and a kendo stick. Shawn comeback. Apparently this was in Providence and they really rallied behind HBK. That and the blood make the standard Shawn comeback electric. I enjoyed the trading of ball shots. Shawn punching right in the balls on the One Man Conchairto popped me. Edge spear. Yeah right like he had a chance. Edge attempting a finisher steal only to walk into Sweet Chin Music was a pretty sweet finish. Angle attacking Shawn after the match because Shawn he the audacity to challenge Angle to a Mania is the classic 0 to 60 booking that WWE does that drives me insane. It sucks and it leaves you cold and senseless. Shawn was great and Edge was mediocre. The bladejob and finish run gets close to great But not over the Edge :p *** 3/4

Fuck I can’t believe I have seen this atrocity already and gave it 3.5 stars. This is a contender for the worst match ever. It was about as entertaining as watching two dudes play Bloody Knuckles at a the lunch room table. This was total Pain Olympics Self-Mastubatory bullshit. The Abdominal Stretch and Octopus Stretch were cool. The rest of this match was brutally bad.

Shawn Michaels vs Rey Mysterio - WWE RAW 11/14/05 Eddie Tribute Shawn and Eddie never wrestled I thought it at time and think it is true now Shawn didnt want to miss that chance with Rey so they booked the match. When Eddie passed, I had not yet lost a grandparent I have memories of or and uncle or been to a funeral. I remember the Owen Hart tragedy but I had only been a fan for two years and there were other wrestlers too as this was the era of big time wrestlers dying really young. Eddie’s death was a shock one week he was on my TV screen lighting up my world bringing me so much joy and then he was gone. Eddie was one of those wrestlers that just had infectious charisma and was a true joy to watch. Thank you Eddie! Fabulous match I have watched a lot of mid-90s Shawn recently but been a while for mid-00s Shawn. Brilliant Stuff. They turned cat and mouse on its head. Shawn was in a rare position to be the larger opponent. He knows Rey likes uptempo intricate moves so what does he is patient. He waits a beat. Surveys the trap. Then evades or stuffs the attack. The cat becomes the mouse and the mouse becomes the cat. It is wildly brilliant. Unlike cat & mouse, in pro wrestling the mouse has to Go on offense. Instead of pressing and letting Rey play counterattack. Shawn forces Rey into offense and plays counterattack. Now of course a couple times, Rey is still able to land a dive because he is the greatest high flyer to ever do it But it makes each dive worth more because he really had to earn it and the set up was so good. The dive that sent us to commercial was created by Shawn setting too early on a back drop. This was a match of patience. Who ever tipped their hand got caught. Shawn worked big on offense too with the stinging chops and working the back. That set up the Rey comeback with kicks to the legs and dropkicks well. Shawn hit the flying burrito. Looked he was going to run away with it when Rey got him into position for the 619. I love Shawn got pissed about this. He started mowing him down with clotheslines. Christian Good Guy Shawn had great matches but it was always nice to see a glimmer of petulant brat Shawn throwing a temper tantrum. Nice Top Rope Elbow but the Sweet Chin Music was telegraphed and Rey gets the 619 and drops the dime for the win! The whole match Shawn was patient. Biding his time, watching what Rey would do take a beat either Stuff or evade but as he got frustrated he couldn’t put away Rey he telegraphed his finish and he was the one that paid. WOW! Brilliance by two of the Top 20 wrestlers to ever do it. **** 1/4

Triple H vs Chris Benoit - WWE Smackdown 11/18/05 Eddie Guerrero Tribute Week takes me back. Such a sad week. Funny how it is the Kliq versus Eddie’s two best friends to headline the week. I recall HHH/Benoit having good chemistry and that was evident here. This is such a great TV match if this is what we were getting week in week out nowadays I would never complain. They play off Triple H tapping to Benoit at Mania XX. Benoit goes for the Crossface twice each time the Game powders and then switches up to Sharpshooter powder again. Third time Benoit gives chase stinging chops. HHH does the Valentine timbaaaahhh bump. HHH throws Benoit over the top rope to the floor to send us to commercials excellent shine. HHH works the back well Benoit hope cut off by the spine buster then into the Sleeper exchange. It is just textbook. Loved all teases between the Sharpshooter and the Pedigree. To go into the Rolling Germans and Diving Headbutt. Triple H one last gasp but the Pedigree into the Crossface. HHH looks to reverse but Benoit rolls through for the cradle win. A perfect match for the night clinical, elementary But oh so effective. The Shine was Aces. Solid heat segment and fun stretch run. Very good match. I wish more wrestling was like this. *** 3/4

WWE Champion John Cena vs Triple H vs Edge - WWE Backlash 2006 If the match was worth a damn, HHH’s bladejob would be remembered in the annals of all time great bladejobs but unfortunately for him this is another mediocre WWE main event from the mid-2000s that doesn’t really need to be watched. HHH is playing tweener as this is his last PPV as a heel before reuniting with Shawn as a babyface nostalgia DX act. Edge plays the chickenshit heel saying they can slug it out and then break it out whenever either gets a cover. Cena and HHH get wise to his plan and pinball him with punches and then taking turns bouncing his head off the announce desk. If Edge was a good stooge that would have been more effective. HHH and Cena take turns foiling the other. HHH hits another monster clothesline like he did at Mania. Did he always have a good Clothesline? Cool Top Rope Cena Splash! Match kicks into gear when Cena hoists both men up in the FU position. Edge bucks off and spears Cena which sends HHH careening of out of the Ring. The spot of the match HHH does the mid-air catapult blade job into the post thy would make Shawn jealous. Impaler DDT that doesnt break the Table was nasty and puts HHH out. STFU! A wicked bloody HHH stops Edge from tapping out and blasts Cena with the mic. HHH CREAMS EDGE WITH A CHAIR! How did we think that was Ok? That was a home run over the Green Monster! Cena gets STFU but a bloody HHH makes it to the ropes instead of tapping because he is fueled by dreams of nostalgia and glow sticks. I really like the story that HHH can’t negotiate the Pedigree on Cena and keeps ending up in the STFU. Lita gets involved and things almost get really bad as she charges with a chair into a HHH spine buster but as she loses control of the chair she hits herself in the head but thankfully HHH Misses the chair on the way down or she would have broken her back. HHH says hell naw to the Chair gets the Sledgehammer. Edge spears him. Cena goes for the FU low blow by HHH. Triple H goes for the Pedigree But Cena jackknifes him for the pin for an anticlimatic win. HHH blasts everyone with a sledgehammer and his music plays even though he lost which leaves a bad taste in my mouth. Everything after the attempted Double FU was pretty good especially the HHH bladejob and the key spots. I love that HHH couldn’t get the Pedigree. No FU was interesting also Cena did his standard sequence as the beginning so I like that it was not just a collection of the usual spots. But two things bug me they didn’t respect the Ballshot and the match felt incomplete like it just sort of ended. I will go higher Than WrestleMania But nowhere near classic status even though the bladejob is an all timer. *** 1/4

WWE Champion John Cena vs Triple H - WrestleMania XXII Surprisingly, I have never seen this before. I remember as a teenager thinking this feud/program was pretty flat. This was the last WrestleMania to be held in an arena and as they would move into Stadiums the next year and never look back. I wonder if they did some market research and they noticed they got a lot of fly-ins. The hot chick that is at the front row of every WrestleMania was this show, but not in the front row but they showed her twice. Maybe she is from Chicago but thats what made me think oh did they start getting fly-ins and realized they could go bigger. I have to say Vince's booking of Cena's opponents was pretty immaculate. Taking the title off the undeserving, chickenshit JBL. Ramping up to low-end Main Eventers Jericho and Angle. Booking back to back WrestleManias against the 90s Old Guard HHH & HBK. The HHH has the double whammy of getting the last bit of heel juice out of HHH before he embraced being a nostalgia act with Shawn reuniting D-X. Elevating Edge in 2006 and Orton in 2007 and throw in a couple monsters like Umaga and Khali. Really strong stuff. I think 2008 he had a misfire. He should have run Cena/Batista at Mania that year and then run Cena/Taker at Summerslam because you cant run Cena/Taker at Mania because of the Streak. That would have been gangbusters. Compare to what Vince did Roman Reign, this was borderline perfect booking especially the 2005-2007. The smartest thing he did was not giving in and turning Cena heel. He was way more over with the split reaction. The "smart" fans would have cooled immediately he was going to get way more heat with the polarized reaction. I skipped the Angle feud, but the split reaction was evident during both the Jericho and Edge matches. This was the first one with overwhelmingly boos for Cena and the Lets Go Cena/Cena Sucks chant that I have heard. Triple H "buried" Cena during the run up saying Cena Cant Wrestle which basically gave permission to all the smart fans to rabidly turn on Cena with "You Cant Wrestle" and "Cena Sucks" chants, but "smart" fans are the easiest to work. They gave them the ultimate heel and the kids the ultimate babyface. The Cena Experiment was genius. The gist of the story was that HHH was going to outwrestle Cena which is laughable because it is not like HHH is fucking Funk or Brisco but whatever. Funnily enough, HHH actually wrestles at the beginning which was a pleasant surprise. He does the same bit of chain wrestling Hulk Hogan does whenever he feels the need to chain wrestle. He does a hammerlock. JR makes a big to do about it. If they actually carried the story through the match I would have been impressed. I really liked Cena going for the FU and HHH's response being a hard, straight right. Sells the desperation. Then they work a weird sequence where HHH feels like the babyface with Cena working on a heat segment. HHH does the Harley bump over the top, but after HHH pokes him in the eye they go back to the traditional face/heel dynamics. Then the match becomes a typical HHH match. Typical knee-based offense. Some cutoffs. Nothing spectacular. HHH Sleeper. They make Cena run through his Comeback twice because HHH did a Spinebuster on the first 5 Knuckle Shuffle attempt they should have been more creative getting HHH back in position for that. STFU. They kick in the finish stretch HHH low blows Cena and the ref simultaneously. Suck It! Foreshadowing the DX Reunion. Sledgehammer ugh. Kickout. Double Ugh. FU 1-2-NO! It is WrestleMania BAY BAY! Cena misses top rope crossbody. HHH Pedigree NOPE STFU the tease the pass out but HHH a heel does the right thing and taps out. LOL at HHH protecting the Pedigree more than the Sledgehammer! They had a WAY BETTER match at a random Night of Champions in 2008 that I covered with Scott & JT on PTB Podcast. If it was not for the electric crowd, this was a pretty ho-hum match. They had an interesting story but because you know HHH does not actually wrestle it was going to be abandoned. It was a typical soulless HHH heat segment with an alright finish run tacked on. HHH is better than Edge easily. I would put HHH & Jericho at about the same level in my head but Jericho had the better Cena matches in my opinion. The Night of Champions 2008 match is shockingly good watch that. Skip this. ***

WWE Champion John Cena vs Edge - WWE RAW 10/2/06 Steel Cage John Cena and Edge has 11 WWE Title Matches together in 2006 including triple threats Thats ungodly. It is impressive that the feud never felt stale at the time and it is definitely remembered fondly as one of Cena’s best feuds. I saw the Summerslam 2006 main event live and in person and remember it being disappointing and I have no desire to relive it. I think the Unforgiven match is their best match together and the WWE MOTY for 2006. This feels like the feud blowoff though they have one more title match on a random RAW in December. Edge transitions to teaming with Orton against DX in a pretty big feud at the time. Cena surprisingly has a very quiet Q4 2026 before picking it up with Umaga next year. Finlay of all people injured Cena’s Arm. 2006 WWE was hurting for heels as we will see at the end of this match Cade & Murdoch make a run-in. King Booker & Finlay were having a very enjoyable run on Smackdown and I remember it fondly but basically there was nothing left on RAW for Cena so time to start interacting with the hot Smackdown heel act. This match is much better than the Rumble match I just watched but not as good as the Unforgiven match for my money. The arm injury helped them a ton. Cena really thrived in this. He gave a great John McClain Die Hard performance. Those back elbows the way he was throwing him to protect his left side looked great. He really presented himself as a one armed man in an ass kicking contest. Edge for his part didnt do anything spectacular Bur he also didn’t mess up the mode. He stuck to the script and worked the arm. This was not a violent cage match at all but a tactical one. Edge was attack the arm and go for the escape. This would trigger a lot of interesting cutoffs. You don’t see a babyface work cut offs a lot so I liked the novelty of that as well as the suplexes Cena used were quite novel for him especially that great belly to back. I thought Cena really varied his offense here. I was a bit annoyed when Cena did run through his typical comeback sequence when he has been working such an interesting style the whole match but one sequence doesnt ruin a whole match. Also where ever they were was super behind Cena I would guess the South he was always more over there. Lita gets involved she as so crucial to the Edge act. She passed him a chair before the ref throws her out. The ref gets wiped out by a Edge flying clothesline. This being pre-Benoit Cena swings for the fucking fences with the chair. Fuck how did we think that was ok back in the day. He smoked him. Cade & Murdoch of all people Storm the Ring. I had a soft spot for Murdoch as a teen but this was an over push. Don’t remember Cade with black hair. Ahhhh reunited DX man I have no recollection of this even thought I was watching every week. Classic Shawn Sweet Chin Music to Murdoch who hits the Cage door into Edge’s Face FU 1-2-3! Such a Shawn spot! The body of the match ruled. Cena’s selling and the way he changed his offense to compensate make this a great match. Didnt like the comeback BUT the overbooked finish was pretty fucking fun. Sets up DX vs Rated RKO and DX needed real heels after the long and very bad McMahon feud. Cena really has nothing until Umaga in January. Great capper to this chapter of the feud. ****

WWE Champion John Cena vs Chris Jericho - WWE RAW 8/22/05 Loser Leaves Town The night after Summerslam where Cena defeated Jericho. I thought they got the most out of Jericho before he left. He was a great first challenger for Cena. High level upper midcard, low main eventer that can take the losses, is leaving anyways. The only issue is that the heel turn was rushed and he was very popular. This began the issues for Cena with crowd reactions which was seen more the night before at Summerslam but existed here as well. They would continue to be exacerbated by Kurt Angle being very over and HHH's promo saying Cena Cant Wrestle. The problem was that the 90s/turn of the Millennium guys were still very over but Vince was correct in that it was time to make new stars with Cena, Batista and Orton. Being a teenager at this time that was too cool for school I rejected Cena because everything I read said he cant wrestle. Thats hogawash he was a great wrestler in 2005. However, I am partially vindicated because as I have bee watching these hype videos he is so off-putting on the mic. He is doing some sort of weird hybrid Mark Walhberg/Adam Sandler/Southern high pitched accent that is terrible. He is just deep unlikeable from a promo/character perspective. I would fall in love with Never Give Up/Rise Above Hate Cena, but Ruck Fules/Chain Gang Cena sucks. As for the match, I liked this better than Summerslam. In essence it is a very similar match, Jericho works a cutoff-heavy match. He gives Cena a lot of hope spots and cuts him off with dropkicks, spin heel kick etc. I really liked the missed Cena Cross Body from the top rope. I will give Jericho credit that he does work as a heel, it is a lot of choking, shin on the throat jawing at the ref, grinding offense, clawing at him. It is nothing flashy. I do think it is solid work, but not extraordinary work. He doesnt elevate, but what helps him relative to Summerslam is the presence of Eric Bischoff on the outside. Bischoff tripping Cena, and the ballshot really gives the Jericho act that extra boost. Cena's comeback offense looked great that Meat Hook Clothesline I wish they kept that in his comeback sequence. Interesting no Five Knuckle Shuffle either night. They mirror the Summerslam Finish but turn into the Walls of Jericho, classic Jericho playing off the previous match. Cena's sell of the Walls and how he has to fight so hard to get the FU was the best part of the match. Of course he FUs him too close to the ropes and Bischoff puts Jericho's foot on the ropes. Great stuff. The only thing that bothered me about the match was that Bischoff gave Cena knuckledusters and they did KO spot and Cena kicked out. Like a ballshot, I feel like you need to respect that. Thats they type of shit that fueled Super Cena. I think swing and miss with the Knux, shove Jericho into Bischoff on the apron, FU would have been cleaner and more impactful. We get the kick out and then they do that sequence except they add the title belt in Bischoff's hands so Jericho's head collide with the belt for protection. FU 1-2-3! I remember the dirt sheets were all over Jericho's departure so I wasnt surprised but I was disappointed. I was a huge Jericholic at the time. I am going to skip the Angle feud because I watched No Way Out 2005 match and that considered their best match. I remember this is when the cracks really started to show with Cena so they did a bunch of weird shit like Davari to get Angle over as a heel and none of that gets good reviews. I liked this more than Summerslam but it is in the very good camp, not a must watch. OH! Jericho does a great job milking and selling being thrown out of RAW. Really great chickenshit heel stuff. *** 1/2

WWE Champion John Cena vs Chris Jericho - WWE Summerslam 2005 I thought this would be an interesting match to see how it was worked and I was right. Jericho was clearly the Ring general and really show his poor Wrestling IQ. He has no idea on how to define roles within a match or how to build a match. But what made it nonsensical is why it was so interesting. Jericho the smaller man wrestled King Sized. He was cutting Cena off at every turn. Perhaps you claim this was a veteran vs young look story but that was not the story they were telling either. It wasn’t like Cena was proving himself to Jericho. It is just Jericho kept cutting him off with dropkicks. There was no real story or something to sink your teeth into. Eventually the worked a heat segment breakdown long enough for the crowd to do the famous dueling chants. If it is not the first, it is one of the first instances of the 50/50 Cena reaction, this is not the classic Let’s Go Cena/Cena Sucks because Jericho is over But it would devolve into that as the show became more about Cena and the opponents were less important. Fuck forgot to finish this review because work got crazy. Ogre Cena was on full display here. Meat hook clotheslines looked great and loved the tackle. Jericho wrestled a cutoff match with dropkicks but it just felt weird. I liked Cena’s missed shoulder tackle. I did like the finisher teasers Lionsault, Walls and FU. Finally the aforementioned breakdown let the crowd get into it. Cena Comeback Bur so much rawer and hard hitting than 2010s Cena. They shoehorn the Walls on here. They do a bit of swing dancing into the FU. Ill go *** I didn’t get this Summerslam as kid me and my brother were far more into HBK/Hogan which rightfully main eventes this show. Again this felt more like an IC Title match not a main event world title match.

WWE Champion John Cena vs Chris Jericho vs Christian - WWE Vengeance 2005 I remember this feud vividly from my teenage years. The Internet was strongly behind Christian and was pretty annoyed when Jericho was shoehorned in there for star power as Jericho had to rapidly turn heel. I think they would have been better off keeping Jericho babyface here turning him heel because he lost here to set up the mega match at Summerslam and ultimately Jericho leaving. Jericho was a perfect first opponent for Cena in a Mick Foley vein. Strong upper midcarder who can absorb losses easily and with him leaving it just made a lot of sense. Christian had some heat in 2004/05 but after this feud fizzled out and had to go to TNA. The cracks in Cena were forming in 2004 and would be blown wide open by late 2005. I think they thought could salvage it still so that’s why they rushed the Jericho turn to prevent Jericho for getting more cheers than Cena. I normally skip Triple Threats but this one stuck in my craw. Looking back on being 16, I think this was a program I was interested in and I was interested to see how Christian would work with the big boys. I will echo what OJ said in his review rather everyone wrestling up to WWE Title level this was wrestled down to IC Title or Midcard Title Triple Threat. HHH/Batista feels like a titanic clash befitting a world title main event. This felt like a fun micard opener. With both Jericho and Christian being heel most of the match is a Cena/Jericho and a Cena/Christian mini-match. Tomko, havent thought about him in a minute, interferes with both Cena and Jericho and gets tossed. The spot of the match is early as Cena FUs Christian over the top rope to the floor in a GNARLY spot. Cena/Jericho tussle that ends with a wicked DDT by Cena on Jericho on the floor. The match is structured to make Cena look great as they needed to cement him coming off Mania. Cena in 2005 is so raw. These Meathook Clotheslines are sick. I loved them. I want to see a video of Cena throwing a baseball or a football because I believe it would be awkward as shit because he can’t get his arm over his head for either his punches or clotheslines. Everything looks like a Meathook. He wrestled like a fucking ogre. His Shouldertackle just steamrolls Christian as opposed to the most graceful version of the 2010s. They do a fun spot where he drop toeholds one into Headbutting the other. Ten Knuckle Shuffle that was cute! Christian’s big move is a slop drop. Weak. Jericho gets a couples attempts at the Walls of Jericho but it is not like he had a lot of offense either. Christian goes for the Unprettier on Jericho never liked that move, but Jericho shoves him into waiting arms of Cena who clubs Jericho with Christian’s feet. FU 1-2-3! FU on the floor, Cena’s ogre offense and a couple cute shuffles that make this good but not much more than that. ***

Kurt Angle vs Marty Jannetty - Smackdown 3/17/05 ”Marty Jannetty is still Cant walk! Im just a Sexy Kurt! Sexy Kurt! I make your ankle hurt! Ankle Hurt!” I often say there was nothing nostalgic about my teenage years But digging into this stuff again I do have some fond memories and Sexy Kurt is still something me and my brother bring up. The good shit. This is a great build to the Angle/Shawn match and in the video package they show the Rockers reunion on RAW which I totally forgot about. This is a great example of Kurt Angle as an effective Ring general. He guzzles Marty on the mat and presents a clear contrast to Marty‘s feed. He is constantly feeding spots to make Marty look good. He is letting Marty bring the uptempo rhythm and pop the crowd and this crowd definitely was popping for Marty fucking hip tosses were getting pops like it was 1988 BABY! Angle would ground him again and we do it all over again. It was the perfect “You still got it” match. During the break Angle shoved Marty into the post. He was clinical in the dissection of the back. Good variety of throws and holds. The arm drag out of the Angle Slam popped off the page because of the story they were telling. Marty gets a DDT and we get the big rah rah sis boom bah grand finale from Marty. Spinning heel kick looked great. Crossbody roll through after that they timed near falls so well that you thought Marty had a chance. Angle lock fake out to get the real one on the Rocker Dropper was the cherry on the Sundae. Perfect TV match to get everyone over. I miss these kind of matches *** 1/2

WWE Champion JBL vs Big Show - WWE No Way Out 2005 Barbed Wire Steel Cage I dont know this match intrigued me I think it is an above average match but I don’t necessarily think you need to go out of your way to see it. JBL is on a Honky Tonk run of a lifetime. Having two world titles allowed them to experiment with shit like this that they never would have had they kept only one title. My brother and I always remark we were at the last Smackdown that Bradshaw was APA Bradshaw as a joke. JBL totally over delivered he went from a random what the fuck he’s getting pushed to winning me and my brother over. Great gimmick, great promo but honestly never watched back anything outside the famous bloodbaths against Eddie and Cena. In my research, Big Show has a pretty nonexistent 2005 was he injured he has this and the WrestleMania showcase against Akebono then doesnt pop up again until the end of the year. I’ll have to check his Cagematch, I wanted a Watts slobberknocker and sort of half got it. Both dudes lay their shit in. Bradshaw has some great offense. The comparisons to Hansen would have doomed him in Japan but he was probably better suited for Japan. He surprisingly doesnt really stooge or chickenshit sell for Big Show. The whole gimmick outside the ring is he is a chickenshit and the Barbed Wire Steel Cage means his jabronis Orlando Jordan and Bashams Cant bail him out. Yet he never really sells fear. He would get an opening and search for an opening in the Barbed Wire did this three times. Maybe the camera work was bad but he wasn’t selling it. Big Show and him were hitting hard Bur still something was missing. Man looking back on it 2005 WWE was FUCKING VIOLENT! It was nonstop blood. Show was bleeding profusely after a cage shot. I thought Show transition was weak though a nice Powerbomb. Cabinet smells defeat bum rushes the Ring and is able to get a pair of wire cutters to JBL before Teddy Long tells them to get to steppin. Bradshaw clocks Show with the wire cutters CLOTHESLINE FROM HELL! It is a fucking good one. For two! Big Show Chokeslam for two! Like hitting bombs back to back there. JBL low blow. He gets the Cutters so he is going to try to clip his way out. THEY TRADE ABSOLUTE BOMBS ON THE TOP ROPE! STIFF STIFF SHOTS! CHOKESLAM THROUGH THE MUTAFUCKIN RING! What a spot no one talks about. Big Show snaps the chain off the door. I know JBL wins but how?!? They shoot the camera shot in such a way you know something’s up. The announcer declares JBL the winner as WTF and you see JBL crawled under the Ring to win which is a clever finish for the chickenshit escape artist to escape with the title again. Batista and Cena take turns beating JBL…Cole says it could be a Triple Threat I groaned fuck no audibly out loud out of reflex even though I know that didn’t happen. The Chokeslam spot is INSANE! They are lucky they didn’t accidentally fall through that. How is that not more famous? February title match is a lame duck title defense and the finish kinda washes it out but damn I am surprised Thats not up there with Show and Lesnar breaking the Ring. The shots were stiff, big power moves, INSANE high spot but still this leaves me wanting more. I wanted more character work from both more fire from Big Show and more chickenshit from JBL. Very good but you can really just watch the clip of the Chokeslam and call if a day. *** 1/2