Superstar Sleeze

NWA World Heavyweight Champion Ric Flair vs Ricky Morton - JCP 7/11/86 Steel Cage. This is not my pick for the Greatest Match of All Time which happened on 7/5/86. I usually like to watch the match and then write my review from memory. However, given the amount of footage I want to watch before Greatest WCW match of All Time. Unfortunately, I will be reviewing this how I watch it, which I think does not lead to as cogent of a review as I will be rambling and finding my way to a conclusion. Lets do it! No helicopter tonight for Flair in the indoor Omni, but Morton has his facemask. As a recap, Flair disfigured Morton's face because he was jealous that girls were going wild for Morton and he felt he should have a monopoly on female affection. Headlock throw off. Common beginning spot in their matches. Morton rubs Flair's face in the mat as revenge for having his face rubbed in concrete. Flair begs off. Fists balled now. Lockup. Morton rakes Flair's face across the rope. Great Flair sell. Love the psychology. Flair is the Man at milking a moment and really making it big. Flair loves to use the corner. Besides Vader, no one uses the corner better. Flair pulls Morton's facemask off in the corner. He revels in the victory but the celebration is premature. Morton O'Connor Roll and retrieves the mask and punches Flair. He puts the mask back on. GREAT TEASE! I love that! Morton headlock. Morton ten count punches in the face and then NOSE RAKE...grabs the beak and punches it again. He yanks the big schnozz of Flair! This is killer! Smashes face into mat. Flair is so great at verbal selling and really inviting more pain. Short Knee by Flair. One of the key differences between 80s Flair and 90s Flair is the use of the short knee as something the babyfaces have to fight through. Hiptoss and big dropkick. Fight through Morton does! Morton is a gamer! Goes for the first cover and the back to the nose. Flair face first into the turnbuckle and then Flair Flop! Love Flair. Morton misses a standing elbow drop, first mistake. Morton backslide glad they didn't go into heat yet. Good tease again. Heel hope spots are another great thing about the 80s add to the tension. You know the heat segment is coming, but don't know when. They do the Flair firefight in the corner that is always a Sleeze Pleezer and Morton wins. Ground and pound. Flair has had enough! He goes to escape and Morton yanks down his trunks which pops the Japanese announcers to prevent him from escaping. Always a fun Flair spot. I think that's the closest we ever got to X-Rated with that spot too! That was close! Flair short knee...maybe low...big chop...Morton kinda dies....ahhhhhh it was not the heat segment...faked me out....Flair misses kneed drop and Morton Figure-4. Flair was still premature. Morton playing possum. Good shit. Morton does the 7/10 split. Flair's sell is so damn good. Flair punches the gut as he is on one knee. Big elbow by Flair, but still selling the knee. Floatover on the vertical suplex, Flair bucks him off on the O'Connor Roll...misses Elbow...Flair is getting so close. Morton sleeper. This is such a great extended shine. They are varying so much, Flair is selling SO BIG and plenty of hope spots that Morton is evading & fighting through. This is another classic. Morton decks him coming off the ropes. O'Connor Roll bumps the ref...ref in position...Flair reverses has the trunks...1-2-3! WOAH! The match was literally all shine! That's super cool and unique. I think more matches should end like this. Honestly I think that's a cool wrinkle reminds me of the Andersons vs RnRs from Starrcade 1986. Cant go higher than **** but this is cool.

NWA TV Champion Arn Anderson vs Ronnie Garvin - JCP 4/12/86 Probably too clipped up to rate as it is 13 minutes of 20 but the clipping of this handheld is all over the place. Garvin swarms Arn to start in the corner and is all over him. Arn powders. Our video cameraman is not a Horseman fan it sounds like. JCP crowds in 1986 are the best. Garvin grabs a top wristlock and they go bananas! Our cameraman informs us that "Arn is a big baby like Tully Blanchard". I love how Arn always puts over the Hands of Stone. Garvin cocks his fist and Arn drops down and powders. Awesome! Get a clip after a tussle over a top wristlock to the ten minute mark. It seems like the cut out mostly shine. I am a big fan of shine so that matters to me. Arn starts to target the leg of Garvin. They are in a long drawn out hold and based on our vantage point does not look too interesting. Garvin starts to fire back with big chops. Arn does the Flair Flop. Arn & Tully are less likely to go toe to toe with Garvin like Flair would and puts a damper on their matches with Garvin. I am a bit lower on the popular Garvin/Tully Worldwide match from May 1986, Tully does not wrestle strong enough in it in my opinion, still a great match but not as good as the high end Flair or Valentine work against Garvin. Garvin stomps the hands. Anderson returns the favor and begins to work the arm. Clip to Garvin taking a big bump. Arn slams the hand against the top turnbuckle which is great psychology. I do believe this plays into the May Worldwide match with Tully. Arn working the hand is the best thing so far in this match. Garvin is selling the hand well and Arn is positively torturing it. As the clock winds down to the time limit, I was like this is really weird. Arn is being so aggressive as a heel champion and the babyface challenger is on defense, but it works perfectly to the finish. The finish rules with about 15 seconds, Garvin rears back and KO's with Hands of Stone BUT he can't cover because he is in too much pain! Arn really sells being knocked out cold well! That was a ***** finish, I'd probably go ~**** overall but hard to say for sure.

Tully Blanchard vs Dusty Rhodes - JCP 4/26/86 Non Title Texas Death Match This is a handheld and I am pretty sure we are not missing much. Tully is definitely Dusty's best opponent. I think with Dusty you need someone who is really going to go all in and stooge and show ass and is not concerned about getting himself over or working his layout. The beginning of this match the rout is on. Dusty just wallops Tully repeatedly and runs up the score with three straight falls showing clearly he is The Man and that Tully is overwhelmed. The missed legsweep and Dusty cocking the Bionic Elbow. Tully's frustration and Dusty's cockiness is so perfect. It reminded me of the best Dusty match ever their Starrcade 1986 when Dusty plays "Red Light, Green Light" with his Bionic Elbow. Tully needs a timeout after losing three straight falls. I would say so. Here comes Tully...lunging at the gut of Dusty well that is a wide mark...sorry had to and he gets vicious on the outside. He uses JJ's shoe to inflict further damage and Dusty juices. One thing that I think keeps Tully from being as great as Flair in my mind is that Tully usually stooges, feed and bumps even more than Flair without ratcheting up the aggression when it comes time. This match sees Tully take more charge. Bully Tommy Young and really stay on Dusty and grind him. Tully gets a fall and there's a little drama whether Dusty will get up and he does. Dusty times his comeback well with some well-placed rights that find their mark. Tully retreats to the safety of the ropes & JJ. As JJ distracts, Tully gets JJ's show wallops Dusty with it. This garners Tully his second pinfall and there's even more drama if Dusty will make it to his feet. Tully is perched on the middle rope ready for Dusty as soon as he gets up and Tully comes crashing down on him. This time Dusty kicks out and here comes Big Dust! Strong punches followed up by swinging for the fences with his double axe-handles and then exploding out of a three point stance. I guess this combines his love of baseball, football and wrestling. This gets Dusty another three count. Clip here. Tully sweeps the leg and goes after Dusty's perennially injured leg. He yanks off Dusty's boot and beats his leg with it. Figure-4! This match rocks! Dusty is such a great seller and Tully has been really good on offense! Tommy Young calls the fall as Dusty gets up, he CLOBBERS Tully with the Cowboy Boot! They love shoe-related offense in this match. Tully stays on the injured leg, goes back to the Figure-4, inside cradle gets three for Dusty. Tully lunges right at Dusty love the reaction. They knock heads on the criss cross. Lame finish coming I can feel it. Dusty beats the ten count, but Tully cant. No title switch so title was not on the line. Finish was very 80s. The Cowboy Boot would have been a great finish. Rest of the match was killer. Check this out! ***3/4

NWA National Heavyweight Champion Dusty Rhodes vs Tully Blanchard - JCP WCW 3/8/86 Joined in Progress as Tony/David bring us the title switch from some house show footage with Flair on commentary. Tully vs Dusty was the big feud of the opening part of 1986. Tully is working the leg and Dusty is selling like a million bucks. This crowd is RABID for Dusty. Crockett crowds are just on fire at this time period. Dusty gets a couple hope spots but Tully snuffs them out. TULLY HITS THE SLINGSHOT SUPLEX!!!! 1-2-NO Hugh sigh of relief! Insane nearfall for the 80s. I dont know if I had ever seen Tully hit that move on a non-Jobber before. Here comes Dusty. The crowd loses their shit. We are talking he puts on a Sleeper and you would have thought everyone had won a million dollars they went bezerk. They do a more convoluted Savage/Tito finish which happened just a couple weeks prior. JJ throws in the knuckledusters as Dusty is attacking JJ. Tully actually misses and ends up outside. Flair puts the knuckledusters back on Tully. Then they do the exact same Savage/Tito finish to switch the National Title. Baby Doll is incensed and starts wailing on Flair. JJ yanks her down by the hair. She smacks him into next week. The Horsemen take Baby Doll down by the legs and hold her down so that Flair can hit the Bombs Away Kneedrop. This is fucking insane! Magnum/RnRs save. That was crazy and the way Baby Doll was resisting made it very uncomfortable. Very enjoyable match, great heel finish. One of the better Dusty matches, wish we had the whole thing. ***3/4

I dont know who pissed in my corn flakes, but this match is way better than ***, it is ***3/4. They built the Hands of Stone really well, with Arn powdering both times. Great tension and really puts over that move for when he faces Flair. Great combination of physicality and workrate which is what the Carolinas are known for. They are always moving but it is because they are always jockeying for a hold or an opening for a strike. Great stuff all around, one of the best TV matches. I still recommend Flair vs Jabroni. Kickass Flair offensive performance.

National Heavyweight Champion Dusty Rhodes vs Arn Anderson - JCP 2/23/86 Steel Cage Death Match Again this is filmed for Japanese TV and thus I was super confused what the rules were. Dusty takes the first fall at the end of the shine which totally caught me off guard. Then the match continued and I was like Oh it must 2 out of 3 falls. Then Dusty won 2-1 but the match kept going, I was like what the fuck. Then I was like maybe it is Death Match Rules but the ref has not been counting then Dusty Walloped him with Cowboy boot and got up before ten and the match was called. So I am pretty sure this is contested under Death Match rules. I thought the beginning of this ruled hard. Arn is just the perfect big bumping stooge heel for the ultra-charismatic Dusty Rhodes to work. Dusty kicks ass then Arn punches the cage by accident and then looks for a way out. Good stuff. We get the whole work the leg for revenge. Then he just hurls Arn into the cage a bunch, he juices. Bionic Elbow 1-2-3! You will be hard pressed to find a better shine. Good craic. Dusty presses the advantage. Arn gets a hold of some knuckledusters probably from the bloody Flair who is ringside. Arn ties it 1-1. Arn works the leg in grand fashion! Flair is celebrating, gets on the house mic to talk trash twice including letting Baby Doll know she will not be riding Space Mountain. Great selling and work here. I LOVED Dusty's fire up. DOUBLE BIRD! BIONIC ELBOW! OH HELL YEAH! Arn cuts it back off. The finish peters out. Arn goes for the Figure-4 inside cradle for three. Dusty Cowboy Boot and Arn is knocked out. I thought this was killer up until the finish where there was no energy. Horsement try to break his leg again but are run off. ***1/2

NWA World Heavyweight Champion Ric Flair vs Magnum TA - JCP 2/23/1986 This was taped for Japanese TV, other than that I dont have any info on it besides the date. In my opinion, Magnum TA is the ultimate broomstick for Ric Flair. That sounds mean but let me explain. The Ric Flair match, if you are a fan and I am, will stand out based on what unique wrinkles or twists the opponent can provide. For instance, Ronnie Garvin or Wahoo McDaniel will turn the match into a fire fight, very physical and kick ass. Lex Luger or Kerry Von Erich will turn it into a power match. Ricky Steamboat or Barry Windham will turn it into a cardio, workrate match. Hulk Hogan or Dusty Rhodes will turn it into a charisma, babyface/heel lots of shenanigans match. Those are the examples I could think of. The opponent becomes important in how much novelty the match will have because left to his own devices Ric Flair will work his spots and his layout, which is a great layout but if you have watched a lot of pro wrestling, something unique is nice. To me, I dont really know what unique thing Magnum brings to the table. I see Magnum as a jack of all trades, master of none. He is a body guy, but not a power guy like Luger/Kerry. He is a puncher but not as stiff as Garvin or Wahoo. He is charismatic but not as charismatic as Hogan/Dusty. He is technically sound but not as smooth as Steamboat/Windham. Honestly, I think the fact that he can compete in four radically different categories means he is a great wrestler! However in this particular setting he is not going to stand out. I have seen so many Flair opponents do what he did but do it better. There's no shame in that. I am just breaking it down and calling a spade a spade. It was a great Flair Formula match. It has been a while since I saw one and so I was enjoying it immensely. Opening shine was fun, thought the transition to heat could have been stronger but the heat segment was well worked on the leg, climaxing with the figure-4. The comeback is sort of the guitar solo of the Flair Formula. It is when the Flair opponent gets to show what makes him unique. Magnum went with every workmanlike punches. No fancy charisma like Hogan or Dusty. Very blue collar. The punches dont stand out compared to the beauty of a Lawler or the stiffness of a Garvin. It was a solid comeback. We get double juice. Lots of Flair trimmings like the Press Slam off the top and Mags putting him in the Figure-4. I LOVED The finish and that was the best part of the match. Magnum hits the Belly-To-Belly but wipes out Tommy Young in the process. No ref to count. They tussle and Flair drops him balls first on the top rope! They do the 1985 Mid-South finish, Flair pins and swipes Magnum's foot for the ropes as the ref counts three. If you love the Flair Formula, you will love this. If you hate it, you will hate it. If you are looking for something new, you will be disappointed. I like a good, reliable home-cooked meal more often than not. ****

I won’t be doing the deep dive on Sam Houston BUT BOY OH BOY was Sam Houston good in this match! Check this one out! NWA TV Champion Arn Anderson vs Sam Houston - NWA WCW 2/15/86 This one came out of left field! Sam Houston is usually the low midcarder of the Crockett that people will throw out there. He kinda looks like Barry Windham and Shawn Michaels had a kid. Like BW, he needed to grow into his long, gangly frame. I loved his fire here. Arn was a cocky heel champion putting Houston on his ass twice in short order and looked like he was going to cruise to a victory but Houston has other plans. He fired up and forced Arn to powder. I love how verbal Houston was. Hollering for Arn to get back in and face him. Great tight headlock by Houston. Loved Arn headbutt to abdomen on the criss cross. Arn SLAMS the injured wrist on the top turnbuckle and Houston screams in agony as Tony explains the story of the Anderson’s breaking this a couple months ago. Houston’s verbal selling is so good. Arn tortures the arm in true Anderson fashion. Houston fires up. I LOVED the second Monkey Flip charge ended up with him eating a reverse Atomic Drop! I thought that was the finish. Awesome spot. Houston keeps fighting and then Arn evades as Houston takes the Bret bump into the ropes really fucking hard. I gasped when it happened. Looked gnarly and that’s the finish! Killer TV Title match! ***3/4

National Heavyweight Champion Dusty Rhodes. vs Tully Blanchard - JCP 2/7/86 Tully Blanchard has the distinction of having the best Dusty match of all time, Starrcade 1986. This match starts off great but Peters out in the end. Dusty is looking to break each of the Horsemen’s leg and has Tully’s former valet, Baby Doll looking to gain revenge. Dusty’s work on the leg is good but Tully’s selling puts it over the top. Dusty throws some weak kicks but Tully is such a great heel selling. It is pretty heel in peril but Dusty is so charismatic that’s it pretty fun. Dusty no longer has a special protective boot. He comes off the top with a sledge but hurts his leg. Tully rocks this heat segment. These two control segments were awesome but once Dusty catches Tully off the ropes & slams him I thought the finish was pedestrian and lukewarm. Dusty hits a belly 2 belly duplex but no ref. It never gets rocking. They start counting down minute by minute I thought Tully was gonna steal it but no real hot near falls. Dusty has him in a Boston Crab as the bell rings. First 3/4ths is worth it. ***

I don’t know why I was so grumpy when I first watched this match. This match rocked! Yes it was not as electric as 12/28/85 but this was still a badass firefight, trading lethal and wailing on each other. I love the wrestling in the corner. It is so vicious and so uncomfortable. The way they were choking each other, grabbing each other by the face and hair. I love how they were bullying each other into better position. Not a lot of Flair’s usual histrionics or stock spots like the Figure-4 and Press Slam off the top. They just focus on having a stand up, knock down slobberknocker. Great match. ****

NWA TV Champion Arn Anderson vs Dusty Rhodes - JCP Atlanta 1/19/86 Steel Cage Fallout from the famous Horsemen break Dusty’s leg in the cage. In the weeks prior, Dusty broke Ole’s leg in revenge and saved Baby Doll who got hit by Tully. Now he wants to break Arn’s leg in a steel cage. Big match for Arn probably his biggest singles match to date. Dusty is a lot like Giant Baba the very charismatic boss whose shit doesn’t always look great but they make up for it by being so over and so cool charismatic. Dusty targets Arn’s leg and Arn makes this so much fun. Great heel Selling by Arn. Loved Arn charging into the cage and his knee slams into it. Great stooging. Arn targets Dusty’s bad leg and Russians hit the ring and they try to re-break it. Magnum & The Raging Bull save. Besides too much clipping, this was a ton of fun and stays too true to the story.

NWA World Heavyweight Champion Ric Flair vs Ron Garvin - JCP 1/19/86 Clipped up but we get a lot! Worth the watch! As these two always are together. You gotta love when Flair gets trapped in a firefight and is forced to trade leather and no one forces his hand better than Ron Garvin baby! Lots of jaw jacking to start, Flair got knocked out cold by the Hands of Stone on TV the day prior. It looks like Flair is forcing Tommy Young to remove the tape around the fist. Besides maybe the exception of Vader there’s nobody better at using the corner in a match Flair. They trade heavy leather in the corner. Flair registers and sells so well. I love how he crowds and bullies. He gets slapped and his natural inclination is to clinch and close the gap. Hands of Stone! Early! Flair sells it by writhing and it looks like Garvin may have hurt his hand. The lack of tape is important. Long fun shine as expected. Ball shot in the corner turns the tide for the Champion. He is so mean in his heat segment. I think that’s what people forget the most about Flair. The histrionics aside he cab get vicious and mean with the best of them. Garvin’s Carolina No-Sell is great and has the place rocking. Lots of great punches. I’m surprised he landed Hands of Stone middle of the ring and Flair got the shouder up. Flair gets the knee crusher and it is Figure-4 fun. I liked the second Kneecrusher and then Garvin punch good level the playing field spot. They tumble to the outside and it’s a double count out. Easy **** match maybe as high as ****1/2 too much clipping to properly rate but these two are killer together. Physical, great Flair struggle making Garvin earn his shit, great Flair transition to hear, loved the Garvin comeback, the finish was the weakest part but hard to judge without all of it.

Impact World Heavyweight Champion Brian Cage vs Michael Elgin - Impact Slammiversary 2019 This will be the last Impact match I review as I have completed all the noteworthy matches from TNA/Impact which feels like a pretty crazy thing to say. I am looking forward to get back to Japan and especially get back to the 80s. I havent decided yet if I am going to do New Japan or All Japan. TNA/Impact was a good change of pace, but more often than not it feels a tad bit soulless or digestible. This match albeit very good is a good example of an "in one ear out the other" match. Where the moves impressive? Hell Yeah. Am I going to remember them? Hell No. The match ended 2 minutes ago and I am struggling to remember what happened and in what sequence, which is never a good sign. I feel like I always like the beginning of these matches way more than the finish. I liked the energy a lot of Cage's shine. The big dive over the top was a perfect climax. The transition to Elgin's heat segment on the back was wicked weak. That being said Elgin did a great job targeting the back with suplexes/slams while Cage sold the hell of it. The thing is these matches could go in interesting directions from there especially since they laid down a good foundation, but they never do. It is just bomb-throwing that is completely inconsequential. The one nice thing about Shawn Michaels being an active performer in WWE was it prohibited people hitting a zillion superkicks with no consequences. This was just just egregious all these strikes that meant nothing. I like Powerbombs a lot so the Powerbombs were good. Elgin's Backlund-esque Powerbomb was cool. Cage drilled Elgin with a Powerbomb at one point. The Canadian Destroyer was fine. The setup was silly but it was so sudden that I enjoyed. The finish was nonsensical with Cage getting thrown around like a ragdoll only to counter a Powerbomb attempt into a finish. The heel slipping on the banana in a hoss fight is silly. I know I seem down on the match, but I did enjoy it. I just dont like writing about MOVEZ~! This is a very MOVEZ~! heavy match. It was enjoyable while watching, but not very interesting to analyze. ***1/2

Impact World Tag Team Champions Pentagon Jr & Fenix vs LAX (Santana & Ortiz) - Impact Rebellion 2019 TLC (Full Metal Mayhem) The only nice thing I have to say is that it was cool to see a tag team match main event a pay per view. I think we have come a long with women, plenty of work to do but the fact that Women have main evented WrestleMania, it would be nice to see more love paid attention to tag teams. This was a full Feng Shui borefest. They really should rename these type of matches to Interior Decorating matches. The first two matches were way better. The video package gave me hope we were going to see a violent match because Pentagon/Fenix disrespected Konnan and Konnan told LAX to go hard, but nothing happened. LAX dove onto Lucha Brothers at first but they totally squandered the babyface shine. They rearranged some furniture and Pentagon/Fenix dove onto them through the table. This match did nothing for me. At one point, they just stop the match, everyone gets a chair. They sit down and have the most pitiful fighting spirit exchange I have ever seen. Fenix walking the rope and hitting a Spanish Fly through a table on the ramp as the LONE BRIGHT SPOT. That's it. The finish I am pretty sure was a fuck up. Let me set the stage. Tacks on a table. Ladder. Pentagon is positioned to take a back bump from Ladder on Thumbtack Table. Santana opposite side on a higher rung. They are duking it out. Ortiz gets under Pentagon ready for the Powerbomb. Santana uses a fork to jab head of Pentagon. I am pretty sure they were supposed to hit the Street Sweeper off the ladder through the Table with Tacks. You can audibly hear Santana yell "WAIT! WAIT!" as Ortiz powerbombed Pentagon through the table with tacks. A fitting end for a boring match.

Impact World Heavyweight Champion Johnny Impact vs Brian Cage - Impact Rebellion 2019 SGR: Lance Storm This match up got 8 bajillion times better by having Impact turn heel. After one of the worst matches I have seen in a long time at Homecoming, Morrison turned heel and it made this so much more entertaining. In the video package, we see Morrison's wife, Taya, ballshot Cage, Morrison throw his lot in with former Aries' cronies, Killer Kross & Moose and the coup d'grace referee John E. Bravo joined Morrison after chop blocking Cage during a title defense. I love big circus matches and I think they could have leaned into it a little more, but still with Taya & Bravo at ringside there was enough shenanigans to keep me entertain. I know immediately I would like this match way more because they started with a big 'ol shine for Cage with Morrison playing his ragdoll. I love good power wrestling and Morrison was bumping & feeding great. I wish Cage showed a little more charisma and had a little more fun in there. Some recent Samoa Joe shines I have seen is what I am picturing. Cage looked like a man who was so focused on hitting his spots and getting to the next spot, he forgot the most important part which is to have fun! Morrison took over when Cage went to the well once too often for the outside-inside suplex with a nice German suplex. What I loved is that Cage ultimately shrugged it off and just kept coming. Lance Storm, who is the troubleshooting after the recent issues with Bravo, pulls a merciless Cage off Morrison and this allows Morrison to eye poke. Nice. Again, Cage would not be denied. I love it. A babyface should be like the Russians at Stalingrad, always forward, never back! Great job, Cage! The big turning point spot is a Spanish Fly off the ramp to the floor, which was a badass highspot. I wish it was set up better. I think the time was ripe for Bravo/Taya interference or more intense cheating from Morrison. Cage sort of gave up which kinda kills my Russians at Stalingrad analogy. Morrison squashes his head between the railing and knee. This busts Cage wide open. The blood was great as was Morrison relentlessly attacking the wound. Cage gets a hope spot but Morrison keeps rocking the head. Taya/Bravo get greedy and set up a table. I will give you one guess what happens...Cage powerbombs Morrison through the table. Here comes the finish. Taya drags out Lance and Morrison wipes him out. Then Morrison cracks Cage with the title belt. In the ultimate scumbag move, Morrison leaves his wife with the smoking gun of the title belt. She eats a powerbomb. Normally I would bitch about man on woman violence but Impact has a tradition of intergender matches thus is their universe even if I dont agree with it. Morrison is able to take advantage of the distraction and hit a terrible Starship Pain. Aries is right that move sucks. I love Morrison as a wrestler but get a new finish, bro. John E. Bravo has a ref shirt but Cage still kicks out at 2. Lance Storm superkicks Bravo and Cage hits a terrible Drillclaw to win the championship. A debuting Michael Elgin punks out the new champion with a spinning backfist and a simple powerbomb. Anti-climatic. I will watch their Slammiversary match soon. I loved the layout, but it didnt quite have the zip I wanted. This is a perfect example of the fact that a great layout is not enough, you need great execution too, I thought the execution didnt quite have the energy/charisma that I wanted. Still a big step up from January. ***1/2

Impact X-Division Champion Rich Swann vs Johnny Impact - Impact Slammiversary 2019 John Matthews declared it a ***** classic, Don Callis tells him stop being conservative that was ******* brutha. Um, ok guys. There was actually a lot to love in this match even if the commentary was being hyperbolic. The reason to love this match was Morrison was committed to playing an old school cheating heel. Morrison has a stooge named Johnny Bravo. Hold on, one second, Momma, I thought Johnny Bravo was a cartoon, yeah this is some referee turned lackey. He threw streamers at Morrison as if he was coming out at the Budokan for All Japan, which I loved. He polished Morrison's abs mid-match. It was good craic. Swann was getting the best of Morrison so Bravo had an idea. He threw in a fistful of tacks from the last match into the ring. This forced the ref to have to clean up the mess. Morrison cracked Swann and then crotched him on the top rope. Then he raked his balls across the top rope. I loved. Some really great king of the mountain shit from Morrison, good trash talk. Just a really good arrogant heat segment. Swann has a terrific punch, which I am a sucker for. I really enjoyed the initial comeback which saw Swann perform some really breath-taking acrobatics. See when the heel has established a strong, grinding heel heat segment. It makes the athletic stuff from Swann POP rather just be buried in interminable workrate sequences. Morrison drags his ass to get in better position for an Elbow Drop. What the fuck? Can the camera at least not catch this shit so it doesnt sour me on the match? Ugh so lame. They fight over a Spanish Fly and both fall off the top rope. Not a huge fan of the Spanish Fly. Morrison hits a Double Spanish Fly for a nearfall. Swann wipes out Bravo with a dive. Morrison catches with a Tidal Wave Kick, really nice set up on that. Starship Pain, 1-2-NO! Great nearfall! Swann BLITZES him with a zillion strikes, two Cutters, Phoenix Splash 1-2-3! Fuck yeah! That's how you efficiently and robustly finish a match. Loved Morrison/Bravo's heel work. Swann is the perfect uptempo babyface and really excels when he has a good heel to play off of. They lost me for a bit with all the Spanish Fly. The finish was red-hot! Sorry Josh, not *****, but still worth your time. ***3/4

Impact World Champion Brian Cage vs Sami Callihan - Impact 10/29/19 Steel Cage This was Impact's debut on AXS after spending five years in TV Purgatory of Destination America, Pop TV and Pursuit. I still cant believe Impact lasted long enough to see this day but good on them. Their 2018/2019 run was definitely fun & entertaining and they deserved to be rewarded. Very smart booking to take your top two stars and featured them in World Heavyweight Title Defense in a Steel Cage. It is so refreshing that their roster is so fresh and so new. I remember liking their Bound for Glory match well enough. Loved the start, Callihan enters the cage first and as Cage is about to, Callihan dropkicks the door in his face. I love how Cage REGISTERS and then commences to whuppin' ass. Callihan has piledriven his wife and threatened his daughter. Let the ass kicking begin! Callihan is able to get away and he locks himself in the cage because he is scared of Cage. Cage scales the Cage quickly and the way he leaps down, it was very cool, badass, felt like superhero. I think they should have let the shine continue for longer because there was more heat to be had. Cage is overzealous and when Callihan sidesteps him he goes into the cage. Baseball bat shot. Cage blades and it is a pretty good one. Effective heat segment for Callihan who is growing one me more and more as one of the better heels of the 2010s. No Cage sidesteps Callihan and he charges into the Cage and it is all even into the ad break. I read my Bound For Glory review after watching the match but before writing this. It reminded me how much I loved the finish, the use of the one count, the Hulk Up and ultimately the win. The one count was used here and again it has heat. Cage needed to dive into it. Instead he waited for Callihan to get up, get in position. It was lame and it squandered a lot of heat. Cage loves the one count and I think a one count can be super effective but you need that follow through. It seems they wanted to protect Cage's finishes because it does not get any major nearfalls. He gets one but nothing major. The way they protected him was showing his resiliency he took four piledrivers total, three of those consecutive and still kicked out. He succumbed to a fifth one coming off the top rope. I actually like this structure. Cage fell behind and was never able to claw himself out. Cage does not look like a choke for not getting done or his finish is not exposed. It is just Callihan took an early lead, Cage was resilient and had hope spots, but couldnt regain the lead. It happens. It all stems originally to him being overzealous and hitting the cage on his own. You can tie it back to Callihan's attacks on Cage's family paying dividends. I enjoyed this as a old school, bloody cage match that features strong babyface/heel dynamics. ***1/2

Impact World Heavyweight Champion Sami Callihan vs Rich Swann - Impact No Surrender 2019 OVE stands for Ohio Versus Everyone. As if I didnt need another reason to hate Sami Callihan, it only stands to reason he is from the Worst State Ever, Ohio! I am a Michigan Alum, Lets Go Blue! O-H F-U! I dont actually hate Callihan. The white trash paramilitary gimmick as long as it used as a heel gimmick I can get behind it because it is a great heat seeking gimmick. I hate spit and it is fucking gross. He is a heel. I think what I like about him the most is that he is a selfless heel. He will stooge, cower and show ass for the babyface. I think there is a lot of 21st Century tropes in his matches and an overreliance on death match extremism but overall I would say I like him. The best Callihan match I have seen thus far was against Swann at Rebellion which was a Street Fight where Swann proved he could be just as violent as Callihan. This is taking place in Callihan's hometown of Dayton, OH. So Swann is in hostile territory. What I loved about this match is how old school it felt in terms of babyface vs heel dynamics. The crowd was super invested. Even though it was split, it was not split in the smarky way it is now. It is because some of the fans were blindly cheering for the hometown boy and others realized Callihan is a prick were not going to root for him. It had a big fight feel. Furthermore, it was wrestled at a normal pro wrestling pace with less reliance on perpetual motion and too choreography. I felt like I was watching an 80s Championship House Show match and I dug that vibe. Callihan was great shining Swann up. Powdering three times after Swann would get the best of him. Swann did three consecutive dives off the apron after the third powder. Callihan always lets the babyface chop him without the vest and he always sells it so well. He is a total chump about it afterwards. Swann had some really damn good punches and elbows in this. The best was when Callihan spit and Swann SLAPPED THE FUCKING TASTE OUT OF HIS MOUTH! It was two absolute CRACKS of a slap! Beautiful! As a person who loves to root against Callihan, I popped for that. I thought Swann oversold the back body drop, but I liked how Callihan pounced with the wrist tape to choke Swann. Good old school heel cheating. Callihan worked a really nice, methodical heat segment on top. Scott D'Amore was really good on commentary mixing wrestling analysis with the storyline. I was impressed. Callihan unleashes the grossest fucking lugi ever on Swann's face. It was stomach-churning. Swann wiped it off and licked it. That was tough to write. Swann mounts a comeback. I liked the finish, very good escalation. Swann had to earn that Phoenix Splash, built to it with a Top Rope Elbow before getting that big nearfall. While for Callihan with the Cactus-style piledriver he was seeking. He hit a piledriver on the apron and then the Cactus Piledriver in the ring for two. It was only after absorbing the Phoenix Splash that he sent the ref into the ropes to crotch Swann on his second attempt. Callihan hit a piledriver off the second rope for the win. Great finish. The Piledriver is one of my favorite moves and it was great to see on display meaningfully. Yes a kickout afte two was a bit much but it ultimately won the match so we call it even and it did put Swann over as a major player. These two just have great chemistry with each other. I love the versatility. This match is totally different than their April Street Fight. I would say it is Pick Em between those two, both are great and recommended! ****

Impact World Tag Team Champions LAX vs Pentagon Jr & Fenix - Impact 2/8/19 Cero Miedo. Cero Psicologia. Cero Estrellas. Above was going to be my entire review, but I ended up liking the finish. Fenix's two suicide dives are the two best I have ever seen, even topping the ones from Homecoming. Move over Austin Aries & Homicide there is a new King in town. I like that they inverted the finish. Santana & Ortiz did the finish stretch that won them the match last time, didnt work. Street Sweeper didnt work. Then they went to multiple Spike Stuffed Piledrivers. That Double Stomp/Piledriver combo is cool. The first 75% of this match was some of the worst wrestling I haver ever seen, but the finish was damn good. The Homecoming match was a much better spotfest.

When you need your faith restored in pro wrestling turn to Sheamus who is our modern day Greg Valentine. Riddle & Sheamus put together a wrestling match thy focused on wrestling and body-on-body contact. Great submission work. Riddle’s transition from the headlock to the double wrist lock was great. This was not loose, lazy work, it was tight and sensible. So many people go through the motions just hitting their spots A, B, C, D but these two wrestled what the spots gave them. No getting in position for the next spot. They worked with what they had. Loved the late back injury to Riddle. Amazing selling! Sheamus hit hard baby! It was a great Riddle fight from underneath for most of the match BUT an even better Sheamus on top performance. I’ve called Sheamus the bastard child of Bret Hart and Greg Valentine before. The Bret Hart comparison is twofold Sheamus has a deep offensive arsenal like Bret but also they are both joys to watch working in control and how they grind. The finish being Riddle’s back giving out and Sheamus POUNCING with the Brogue Kick was the cherry on top of a terrific match! Don’t sleep in this one! ****1/4

Impact World Heavyweight Champion Johnny Impact vs Brian Cage - Impact Homecoming 2019 Brian Cage scooting his ass in the middle of the ring to get in position for a Shining Wizard only to duck to get into the next move IS everything wrong with professional wrestling in the 21st Century. There is a great story about the GOAT, Eddie Van Halen and when he came in to do the solo on "Beat It". He did not just come in and shred. He listening to the song, to the rhythm section. He said if we change the bridge to my solo, I can do this, it will sound better. He took the time to create an organic transition so that his solo would have the most impact. Pro wrestlers SHOULD NOT be moving to get in position for the next spot, the next spot should be done because thats where the fucking pro wrestler is. If you want to get to a specific spot think 2 to 3 moves ahead, play that game of human chess and make it happen. I dont want to see 280lbs, jacked to the gills Brian Cage scooting around like he is a dog wiping his ass after a shit. I am not one for one spot to mar the entire match for me, but I needed to get that off my chest. I should say that Brian Cage is not the only guilty party, pretty much every wrestler in the 2010s is guilty of that shit and it sucks. A lot of wrestlers lament that when the fans stopped believing in kayfabe that wrestling went downhill. I say it was when the wrestlers stopped believing in kayfabe that wrestling shit the bed. I thought the middle stretch of this match sucked out loud. Both guys looked like they were blowed up. It was slow, clunky and dawdling. Neither man seemed to have a clear strategy what they were trying to do. There is this utterly bizarre stretch where Cage roars back and hits a German only for Johnny Impact to hit two Moonlight Drives with zero transition. It was terrible. That German Suplex in the ropes was a farce and even Don Callis had to call it out, but Cage took the Snap Back Bump anyways. Before you know it is Cage with an F-5, in fairness they did at least set that up with a failed attempt at Starship Pain. Before you know it Morrison is back at it. There was no flow. There were long stretches of down time. They were just throwing shit out there. I did like the beginning and I actually had high hopes for the beginning based on the start of the match. I really do enjoy Johnny Impact as a wrestler even if this was a pretty bad performance from him. I liked how he used his evasiveness and feigned strikes to set up big offense against Cage vs Cage's raw power. It was a clever story. It was not power vs speed per se, but Morrison was actually playing the mental game well. That's not something you see to often. The heat segment at the beginning that starts with Cage's sad attempt at a Backlund lift. Can I take a second put over how fucking strong Bob Backlund is? All these boydbuilders show you they do not have the pure strength of The Man Bob Backlund baby, a power wrestler's wrestler. Love you, Bob! The Backlund lift ends pitifully into the buckles. The rest of the heat segment was great. Loved the dual Tilt-a-Whirl backbreakers and the two monkey flips were awesome! So damn good! Somewhere in there I think it was between the Backlund lift and the Tilt-A-Whirl Backbreaker was the Spot of the Match. Cage single legs Morrison while he is on the ropes. Morrison's head hits the top turnbuckle and he SNAPS into a front belly flop on the mat. AWESOME DOUBLE BUMP! Gnarly! Loved that! I liked the move to transition back to Morrison. Morrison hits this insane somersault, corkscrew knee thing off the top onto the floor that looked awesome. Seriously first 5 minutes of this was killer. The middle was atrocious. The finish was not too much better. They wake me up from my nap when Cage does not even take a one count after a Super Spanish Fly. He HULKS UP! Finally some personality, some testosterone and SOME URGENCY! HELL YEAH! CAGE OBLITERATES MORRISON WITH THREE BRUTAL POWERBOMBS! HELL YEAH! Weapon X is a fucking shitty 21st Century Wrestling Move, BUT AT LEAST IT IS A BIG BOMB! BOMBS AWAY! Terrible transition to Cage going to the floor, a weak Morrison superkick that makes no sense. Morrison's Survivor Castmates are here. Cage gets involved with them. He shoves one. He hits the Drillclaw in the ring but the ref is fiddlefucking with the Survivor fans. Homecoming is Impact Wrestling going back to the Asylum in Nashville. Welp, this is a very TNA finish. The ref makes his way back in for two. Cage goes for the Cesaro suplex from the middle rope and Impact fucks up the counter, who knows and it is three. First five minutes is really good, Cage's Hulk Up is amazing, the middle is shit and the finish is drizzling shits. I get it you need to protect Cage, but it felt like the climax of the match was Cage/Survivor Dudes/2 count. Impact's win just had to exist to get them to the rematch and it was totally tacked on. That's what I mean. Where was the thought put into this? Incredibly disappointing, these two should have had a way better match.

Impact Women's Champion Tessa Blanchard vs Taya Valkyrie - Impact Homecoming 2019 SGR: Gail Kim Gail Kim in that referee outfit...Shawn Michaels eat your heart out...WOW! Impact being a well-booked company actually set up the troubleshooting referee well with Tessa getting two retentions because of a questionable refereeing and the other being her slugging the ref. So we need a badass ref like Gail Kim who can impose her authority and not take shit. I dig. I am glad Taya dropped the Viking Queen aspect of her gimmick and embraced being Wera Loca. I liked this match and was close to loving it, but fell out of love with it by the end. Taya used a Lucha Armdrag very early and after that it was off to the races. A good combination of Lucha Libre/solid kicks made for a fun shine. I liked the double stomp a lot. Tessa powdering was great and I loved how she transitioned to heat where Taya was caught in between the ropes trying to give chase. The best part of the heat segment was on the outside. Tessa let that mean streak out and she hit hard & furious. Good stuff. Back in, we start to see that friction between Kim and Blanchard. Ultimately, the match became a backdrop for the angle, which is disappointing in a way because I had grown fond of Taya and didnt think she deserved to be the third wheel in her big championship victory. Taya uses her power advantage to work her way back into the match big time German Suplex and Northern Lights Suplex. Tessa is a powerhouse in her own right so it is cool to see someone throw her around. Taya's moonsault is very graceful, nice arch, very pretty but in this case she crashes & burns. Now here come the shenanigans. First Gail Kim gets bumped. Tessa hits her finish but Gail isnt around. So Tessa gets the Title Belt presumably to crack Taya. At this point, Gail has arisen from her slumber. They tussle over the championship but Gail Kim as she wrests the belt from Tessa loses control and whacks Taya with it. Ruh roh! Shades of Summerslam 1997?!? Taya kicks out at 2. I think Gail Kim and Tessa brawl breaking out at this point makes more sense. The kickout at 2 didnt have much heat on it. Lots of shoving. Tessa got another nearfall, which I was surprised by again not much heat. Im really glad the quick schoolboy rollup didnt win for Taya that would have been lame. However, it doesnt get much better as Gail Kim hits Eat Defeat and Taya hits Road to Valhalla to win. I think if I was booking. It would be errant belt shot. Brawl for 2 minutes or so, but no clear winner. Taya recovers and hits a setup move and then Road to Valhalla to win. You put over the Gail Kim/Tessa feud, give the people a hot brawl and Taya gets a much better win. I think another reason they didnt get much heat is that Tessa didn't do anything heelish! Yes mean muggin' and aggression arent endearing, but she was not being a coward, overtly violent or a cheat (ok belt shot). I think if Tessa ratchets up the heel heat the finish gets way more over and there is less booing of Taya's victory. They were turning Taya/Morrison heel so I think that's why they didnt protect her more, but still Tessa ratcheting up the heel heat helps her feud with Gail Kim. There was good stuff in this match but the finish was flat when I think it could have been a home run. ***

Impact World Tag Team Champions LAX (Santana & Ortiz) vs Pentagon Jr & Fenix - Impact Homecoming 2019 I was kinda dreading this, but this match was a lot better than I expected. Besides the insanely awesome Street Fight against Best Friends, LAX has been a dud for me in AEW thus far. They need more performances like this. Lots of urgency and excitement. It ensnared me. Pentagon & Fenix I know the drill by now. They could be greatest of all time contenders, but they either dont know any better or they dont care when it comes to psychology. LAX's first offensive run was a thing of beauty. If all spotfests were this good, I would never complain. Hand To God. Immediate urgency. Engrossing. Fenix's body control is sublime. Those two dives to the floor maybe the two greatest dives in history. It was so fast & furious I cant remember the rest but it was really, really good. Yes LAX during their offense was a notch below, but still it is attiude that matters. Their attitude was in it to win it, hit hard & fast and just bring it. Ortiz's Homicide-esque cannonball outside was great, good stuff from Santana. Lets call a spade a spade, after this it went downwhill fast. Out came, the overly elaborate, overly telepgraphed, "lets gets everyone in perfect position" spots. It was too bad. The cutesy shit with the kicks was so fucking lame. A couple good things down the stretch that I loved. Pentagon's Canadian Destroyer was Holy Shit Awesome! It popped the crowd and it popped me! The symmetry of the Double Stomp/Package Piledriver and Street Sweeper both being broken up in a Epic Fashion. Really loved that. I kinda found the finish to be a little anti-climatic. I think I am so used to these things going ad nauseum, way past their expiration date. They hit the chic spots: Ace Crusher and Codebreaker to win. Once I got over my surprise that it ended so quickly, I would say it became more of a pleasant surprise. It was refreshing to be short, sweet. See I dont hate all spotfests, just bad ones. This was one of the good ones, but it take out the overly telegraphed, cutesy shit and this is a best spotfest of all time contender, but even with it in there it is still great. ****

Su Yung & Allie vs Jordynne Grace & Kiera Hogan - Impact Homecoming 1/6/19 So since Bound For Glory, Allie has transitioned to the Dark Side and has become Dark Allie complete with dye job and face paint joining Su Yung in the process. Kiera Hogan needed back-up enter rookie supernova, Jordynne Grace is a phenomenal powerhouse. I looked it up Jordynne Grace has been wrestling since 2012 WTF, mate?!? Still her first major break was in late 2018 as part of Impact so I am sticking with rookie supernova. Not a match I expect to remember tomorrow, but a fun little tag. I have come to hate Tree of Woe spots but Su Yung does a nifty one where Kiera Hogan sits up to avoid the dropkick to the head and Su Yung pivots into a neckbreaker that was nifty. I like Su Yung crawl up the turnbuckles and do a hurricanarana. I know Allie needed to play up the whole Dark Allie gimmick, but it was just so many facial expressions and not a lot of substance. Su Yung is so good at her gimmick it is hard to be in her shadow. Hogan had a nice shine at the beginning but other than that didnt see much out of her. Grace was a great hot tag. Couple big right hammocks to Su Yung especially the one as Su Yung was about to dive, a little too telegraphed but great execution. Finish was so well-done. It reminded me of the 80s where the finish was actually used to advance the plot. Su Yung blood mists Jordynne Grace to take her out. Dark Allie Codebreakers Hogan. Su Yung gives the bloody glove to Dark Allie for the Mandible Claw win. After the match, they rough up Hogan so more and the Nashville crowd chants for Rosemary! Fancy that! A storyline that resonated with people and characters they feel invested in so the crowd naturally does what you want! Who would have known? I love it! They threaten to stuff Hogan in a coffin as the Undead Bridesmaids wheel one out. ROSEMARY POPS OUT OF THE CASKET! Doesnt get quite the pop they wanted or expected! But they do eventually chant for her again that was cool. She uses Su Yung as a bowling ball to knock down the Undead Bridesmaids. Then stareoff with Dark Allie but nothing comes of it as expected. Great angle to close. This felt very 80s in a very good way! ***1/2

Michael Elgin vs Rich Swann - Impact 5/17/19 Elgin recently debuted in Impact less than a month ago taking out the new champion, Brian Cage. Elgin is being pushed very similarly as Cage as a hybrid athlete, an athletic jock meathead. Cage is the babyface version and Elgin is the heel version. Elgin is hospitalizing wrestlers including Cage. Swann stood up to him and that's how we got here. This is coming from the ECW Arena, but there is no Hat Guy so it doesnt feel like the ECW Arena. Very much a 21st Century workrate match with not much in the way of hooks but a whole lot of noizzzze. Elgin could be a great wrestler but he is too busy trying to prove he can hang when I would much rather see him bang. Swann is good craic but he aint the guy to carry this, mack. Workrate sequences to start. They kill time. Elgin catches Swann with an elbow to the back of the head and throws Swann on his head. Damn that looked nasty. I perked up. Elgin worked an alright heat segment. I liked the hope spot with Swann knocking him off only to have Elgin hit a ground to air anti-air dropkick to counter Swann. That was the only time Elgin's hybrid athleticism looked scary. It looked like nothing Swann could do would be able to beat Elgin as he a power and athletic advantage. Then Swann countered the Elginbomb with a DDT and the match just became a normal workrate match. Swann hit three dives to the floor and then a top rope elbow drop. Back from the break, they just do some inconsequential stand up wrestling. The lariats from Elgin at least looked meaty and impactful. The finish is Swann hits the 450 Splash (ugly, fell short), but misses Phoenix Splash. Elgin hits the Lariat and Elginbomb and only gets two. This is the move that hospitalized your World Champion and Rich Swann kicks out at two because it is a wrestling match. C'mon bro. Swanna hits a couple Dragonrana because it is 2019, the second one was a pretty nasty spike. Somehow we end up on the floor. Elgin powerbombs Swann into the post three times. Oh shit! Some actual storytelling advancement. Instead of chasing "This is Awesome" Chants how about Swann misses the Phoenix Splash and it leads to Elgin powerbombing Swann mercilessly into the post. Protects Elgin's finish and makes Elgin look like a monster. I guess this was ok for 2019. ***