Superstar Sleeze

Samoa Joe vs Christian Cage - TNA Bound For Glory 2007 WOW! This may be my favorite Samoa Joe individual performance ever! HE WAS ALIVE! I was just vibing off all his energy! It was charging me up! Dude felt like the biggest star in the world. His charisma was effusive and he just came in hyped, supercharged and was playing to the crowd so well. You got to watch it. He comes off like a total badass rockstar in this match. The Destination X match from earlier in the year for the NWA World Heavyweight Championship gets more hype but this match is way better and way more fun. There are so many great Joe moments but I think my favorite was he does his usual nonchalant walk-away but adds a Middle Finger and then does some flex thing that just came off as cool. Christian's timing was phenomenal. He gave Joe the lion's share of this match. As the heel who was losing, he could have taken a large heat segment, but he didnt. He would get short flurries almost like heel hope spots to let you know he was alive but more often than not he was thwarted. It felt like an extended shine. The shine is my favorite part of the match so I loved this. Also when Christian did get control it was always through an elusive evasion tactic. It demonstrated Joe was the bigger man but Christian could use his savvy to get one up on him. The best example of this is how Christian hit a cool DDT on the floor. Again, his control didnt last long because Joe was a force of nature who would not be denied in this match. Joe busted all his badass offense. Elbow Suicida AND the Corkscrew Plancha! I loved the Kawada Enziguiri as Christian went for a Springboard. They use the Christian Coalition (AJ Styles & Tomko) as a distraction to give Christian a ballshot and the Unprettier but no one is buying it. We all know Joe is taking this one. Joe beats the shit out of him. Musclebuster & Koquina Clutch for the win! Interesting tidbit is that Christian had been in TNA since like late 2005, definitely by January 2006 and he had never been pinned or submitted and it was October 2007. I feel like TNA does not get enough credit for how well they booked Angle, Christian and Sting their main eventers. Their main events follow a logical progression. Angle vs Sting was their biggest possible match they were smart to put that on here. Their third biggest star is Christian and Joe got a wicked clean, definitive win here. I know their next "big" PPV was in April at Lockdown and they did the smart thing and it was Joe vs Angle, but Joe was red hot here. I would have moved that timetable up to January and let Joe reign through 2008. This match is wicked fun and shows Joe still had the IT FACTOR well into 2007. I dont think he lost until he took that fucking stupid bump on the stairs against Sting was it in mid-2008. That was so dumb. Joe from 2002-2008 was The Man! ****

Samoa Joe vs Chris Sabin - TNA No Surrender 2005 If only all pro wrestling was so simple and elegant! Samoa Joe's first PPV for TNA after going an undefeated streak the month prior on Impact and this is his biggest test so far. Sabin to me the ultimate average, generic X-Division wrestler, but he does great in this match. Tenay says Samoa Joe is 6' 8". Dont have Tenay write your dating profiles, fellas, the girls will be very disappointed when they see you. Joe is on fire during this period of his career. So explosive and powerful. He snatches and gobbles Sabin up. He throws him around with authority. Sabin makes Joe look like a million bucks. You fucking believe Joe is 6' 8'" and the biggest person in the world the way Sabin was bumping and selling for him. Great power vs speed match. Don West for all his idiosyncrasies does a great job expounding on Sabin's strategy. Sabin does not have enough mass so he has to compensate by either combining his mass with speed or with height to create more energy to bowl Joe over. Sabin's first big offensive flurry is a three MASSIVE dropkick all aerial from the ropes or apron. He SMASHES Joe with him and Joe takes him like a champ. His next big flurry climaxed with a Tornado DDT, he used speed and the leverage of the ropes to make that happen. His BIG nearfall was the Powerbomb off the top when Joe took too long on the Musclebuster. One reason I avoided this match is I expected it to be a glorified squash but it was NOT at all. Sabin got a lot of well-timed hope spots. The offense just made Joe look more of a beast because there was such desperation in Sabin's movements. You knew he needed a fluke home run to win. It made Joe look all the more badass. Another AWESOME wrinkle that I am a total sucker for. All three times Sabin lost control of the advantage after going on offense was because he went for his finisher, the Cradle Shock, which involves him trying to hoist up the big man on his shoulders! What a neat nugget! Sabin knows his advantage is tenuous at best and wants to make the most of it by going for his killshot BUT he cant execute because Joe's size. Another neat nugget is each attempt he does get closer and closer! I am very surprised that Sabin's performance is what stood out to me. Joe was excellent. Joe was just running a clinic. In terms of execution, he never looked better everything was snug and with power. Great throws and strikes. LOVED the finish. Joe SWEEPING the leg while Sabin was on the top rope had me marking out! Musclebuster and Koquina Clutch and that's all she wrote. Dont be like me and sleep on this match just because you think it will be a glorified squash this is an excellent power vs speed match! ****1/4

Gail Kim vs Taryn Terrell - TNA Slammiversary 2013 Last Woman Standing A while ago, Soup (aka Chad) asked on Twitter the best match you have seen live and the correct answer for me is this match! I had stopped watching TNA for a good year or two and the only reason I went to this show because I really wanted to see AJ Styles wrestle live. This match easily stole the show. I went in with zero expectation and by the end I was going absolutely bonkers! Over seven years later, I still remember every major highspot. That Gail Kim charge into the steel chair was GNARLY! Not to be outdone Taryn just HURLS herself and eats a belly flop on the ramp way. The single leg pick up on the ramp was such a nasty THUD in the ring. OW! Then the fucking ACE CRUSHER OFF THE RAMP TO THE FLOOR! I SHOT UP OUT OF MY CHAIR! Gail Kim was smooth as silk in this match and it is a damn shame that she was so ahead of her time. Kim vs Horsewomen, Asuka, Nia or Shayna would be money! I watched the video package and I didnt realize Kim was injuring women using Bret Hart's Figure-4 around the post so it was a big deal when Taryn turned it around on her and gave her a taste of her own medicine. So that enhanced the match for me! Taryn was definitely unpolished but sometimes that works in your favor. She came off so raw and organic. She was just throwing herself into everything with reckless abandon and I was digging it. This is definitely in the running for best US Women's Match pre-2014! Still holds up 7 years later as an awesome bout! ****1/4

NWA World Tag Team Champions Team Canada (Bobby Roode & Eric Young) vs America's Most Wanted - TNA Final Resolution 2005 Damn look how young James Storm looks! Look at Roode trying to grow out his hair! Bunch of babyfaces in that ring wow! Meltzer gave this match ****1/2, which is a monster rating all things considered. I was putting it off, putting it off. I said what the hell tonight and never in my wildest imagination did I think these four could live up to the hype, but this match ROCKED! Roode & Young were the best 80s stooge heels of the 21st Century. This was terrific old school Southern-Fried wrestling to start. They jumpstart the match with a terrific, upbeat, energetic brawl for a couple minutes outside the ring where AMW tools on them. Young ends up with a huge Goose Egg on his forehead. Then they have an awesome shine in the ring. Hey babyface shines, you remember right? You remember when pro wrestling was actually fun?!? This was fun as fuck! Young was bumping around everywhere. They threw Young into Roode and Roode into Young. It was gangbusters. Team Canada does the Hart Foundation sliding knee and they work such a beautiful old school heat segment on James Storm. Great heeling, great hope spots, good pummeling without giving too much away. There's an excellent moment where. Storm hits a pair of Enziguiris as a hope spot. Roode does a Flair Flop. Young does his Flair Flop off the apron, I popped huge. Here's the kicker, Roode stopped Storm from making the tag. Extending the heat segment! I love it. They get a good heel nearfall off a Young Elbow Drop. Roode ends up missing a charge and tag out to Harris. I am not saying Harris should have been a huge star but I am surprised he did not have a bigger run. He was a fucking great hot tag in this. Roode and Young were bumping and feeding like champs. The finish was just awesome old school chicken soup for the Pro Wrestling Fan soul. Handcuffing D'Amore to the post. Team Canada member Johnny Devine getting involved. I was biting on nearfalls left, center and right. I thought the Hockey Stick to the back was for sure the win for Team Canada and then AMW would win the belts back the next month in a gimmick match. Nope kick out! Then AMW hit one of their double team finishes! 1-2-NO! The Impact Zone and me are fucking rocking! They have whipped this crowd into a frenzy and I am on the edge of my seat. There is a tussle over the chair. Roode hits the Northern Lariat such that Harris lands head first on the chair! They telegraphed that false finish a little much with the camera angle on a smug Devine, but it was a great spot nonetheless. Devine accidentally smokes Young with the Chair and AMW Rollup! 1-2-3! MASSIVE POP! I can tell Team Canada were old school cheating heels and they were foiled by their own machinations so it was very fitting victory. I loved this! If you love old school, Southern style, babyface vs heel wrestling, you owe it to yourself to check this out! ****1/2

Hahaha I am glad you took it well. I do think he has improved as Moxley compared to Ambrose. I do think WWE is a nearly impossible environment to truly thrive in BUT there have been some promos in AEW that really showed WWE was NOT the total problem. There was one promo in a desert where he was making Dean Ambrose-esque shitty jokes. There was another promo in a garage I wanna say in advance of Brian Cage Title Defense where he couldnt make up his damn mind who he is. Is he a reverent Bret Hart babyface champion? Is he a zany Terry Funk champion? Is he a moody, brooding loner champion? I think that's my issue. I dont really know who Jon Moxley is. I dont think he knows who he is either. Part of it is who I am as a person. I just dont connect with the moody, brooding loner types. However, even if I dont connect with it, I can usually tell when that archetype is done well and I dont think he does it well because he will add a dash of Terry Funk or Bret Hart when it was not warranted. I hope that make sense.

Jon Moxley is trash and I don't get people who like him. (I am being serious).

Sabu vs Rhino vs Abyss vs Jeff Hardy - TNA Bound For Glory 2005 Monster's Ball "This Is Awesome" has been around since 2005? Jesus that makes me feel old. That being said, this was indeed fucking awesome! It was something I skipped over because it seemed non-essential but a couple good reviews and the allure of Sabu swayed me. This was one of the best garbage matches I have ever seen. The Jeff Hardy Highspot is UNREAL! Fucking Insane! I LOVE Sabu no matter what but he was the definite MVP of this and he was hitting everything clean as whistle. I think the TNA ropes were way better than the ECW ropes and this helped him. He was selling the best, bumping the best and hitting most of the highspots. He was just flying everywhere. Rhino seemed to be his main target. He was demolishing tables and wiping people out. Abyss and Rhino were better than Jeff Hardy but Sabu was the standout. The finish was great. Abyss throwing Sabu down belly first through the table. Abyss getting all cocky with the thumbtacks only to eat the GORE! GORE! GORE! through a table of course. Then Rhino DESTROYS Jeff Hardy with a middle rope piledriver. Super fun, quick garbage match that did not overstay its welcome! ****

Kurt Angle vs Jeff Jarrett - TNA Slammiversary 2011 Kurt Angle is the anti-Tito Santana. Tito Santana wrestles every match like it is a blood feud. Kurt Angle wrestles every match like a cold, passionless workrate robot. Jeff is shacking up with you ex-wife, raising your kids and being a total jackass prick about it for six months and you just do your standard finisher trader match. Ugh. Angle works headlocks early like this is their first encounter for a heavyweight title. Oh, the number one contendership and Angle's Gold Medal are on the line. I think this should have been Loser Leaves Town. Jarrett back drops him over the top rope and Angle lands hard on the outside. A great heel transition to heat if this was an 80s Championship match, not a blood feud. Jarrett rams him into a metal object ok thats more like it. Then they do the double crossbody spot. Yep back to 80s Championship Match. Jarrett grabs a desperation sleeper but once Angle breaks on that. Angle goes on a fast break with throws and strikes. Angle catches a nice Powerbomb into an Anklelock. They work their minor finishers. Olympic Slam, missed moonsault -> Stroke. The Stroke is a shitty move. They do a Tombstone Reversal spot! That was pretty cool! Ref bump. Jarrett ballshot and Guitar shot and waves on a ref. This was comically bad and heatless spot. Angle fires up, but Jarrett ends up hitting the Super Stroke. Tries to steal the Olympic Slam but steals the Anklelock. What happened to the Figure-4?!? Angle reverses into his own and wins. Everyone and their mother knew Angle would win. So make it enjoyable have him beat Jarrett to a bloody pulp or embarrass Jarrett. This felt like a basic first match in the series. Outside the ring, this feud was one of TNA's best, inside the ring just totally devoid of heat.

Christian Cage vs Kaz - TNA Genesis 2007 Ladder Match A very WCW moment happens when Christian had his hand on the contract and Kaz wipes out the ladder causing Christian to take a nasty fall and the contract to fall, but not the clipboard. So they end up fighting over a blank clipboard which is pathetically hilarious. Oh TNA. This match had a bit of buzz at the time and I am surprised I have never seen this before maybe it was not available during my original TNA rewatch project. This was supposed to be Kaz's breakout match but he was looking like a One Hit Wonder until he hooked up with Daniels in 2012. I didnt see anything special out of Kaz that say a Chris Sabin could not have done. Christian was the glue holding this match together. Great selling and bumping. Good timing too. There is a nasty bump right at the beginning with Kaz reverse crossbodying Christian while he was holding the ladder leading to Christian getting busted open hardway on his left eye. Nasty cut. The Christian splash on Kaz on the ladder and Don West put over these were real metal ladders. Had WWE transitioned to fiberglass ladders? I hate stupid spots and Kaz setting up the ladder and being like "Oh fuck I am too far away" was so fucking dumb. No shit, numbuts. Then he misses the legdrop and just nails the ladder. The dropkick that blows away the ladder and Christian bump was the best spot of the match. The contract coming down was unfortunate but funny. I forgot Christian Coalition! I loved that stable! I dont care what anyone says AJ was a great comedy character! His promo skills improved leaps and bound that year. Him and Tomko come out but Christian gets distracted and ends up falling on them from the ladder in the ring out to the floor. Ok the finish is pretty cool, Kaz lands with one foot on the top rope and he pushed off and re-sets up the ladder and gets the empty clipboard for the win! I didnt see anything special in Kaz. Just looked like your average Create-A-X-Division-Wrestler. Decent ladder match. ***

Kurt Angle vs Jeff Jarrett - TNA Lockdown 2011 Ultra Male Rules I have always had a soft spot for Jeff Jarrett, must be because I am a sucker for blondes. That being said, Karen Jarrett was a smokeshow and sadly she has been tossed from ringside. I was pretty much done with TNA at this point, one of the last things I remember before I stopped watching was the Double J Double M A Exhibition gimmick that was excellent. The Jarrett Wedding Angle is one of the most criminally underappreciated angles in wrestling history, such good camp, Big Daddy Jeff! I need to track that down again. I will say I have found Angle/Jarrett disappointing in the ring even though I find the angles usually pretty entertaining. First Fall Submission: Ultra Male Rules is code for Three Stages of Hell and because this is Lockdown it is contested in a Cage. First Fall is Submission. Second pinfall only and third fall if necessary is Escape Cage. I liked the first fall just fine. I liked Jarrett using the ref break to sucker punch Angle, but that doesnt lead to much. Jarrett busts out the Figure-4, in a very WCW move the ref counts Angle's shoulder down repeatedly making Mike Tenay look like a fool. Sleeper by Jarrett and cross armbreaker. Show that Double J is truly an MMA master. Angle counters into a Anklelock for the finish. Super basic like all their matches. Wish there was more Double J heel shenanigans. Second Fall Pinfall: Yeah this match is pretty boring again. Damnit. I bit on the quick nearfall from Double J. Throw Angle into the cage and Stroke. It is customary that Second Fall is short so I bit. Then they did a Top Rope Crossbody Reverse spot in an "Ultra Male Rules" match. Isnt this supposed to be the most personal match in TNA history? Pretty basic Angle suplex throwing layout. Jarrett hits a ballshot and that doesnt go anywhere. Heel work needs to be sold to mean something! Ugh. Angle gets an Olympic Slam and a big Fireman's Throw off the top as nearfalls. Jarrett gets the tights on a cradle on Olympic Slam. This match has zero heat. Third Fall Escape Cage: Deathwish Angle was in full effect. He attempts a Misawa-Rana From the Top of the Cage and either Jarrett didnt know or was like I aint fucking taking that and chumped out, regardless Angle came inches from breaking his freakin' neck again. That was insane. Then he did a moonsault off the top of the cage and totally belly flopped but he was supposed to hit. I thought the heat was ratcheted up. More cage shots and Jarrett blading, Angle raking his bloodied face in the cage. Then Karen came out for some great heeling. Hairspray in eyes, Guitar shot, then Cage Door in face to give Jarrett to win. Big upgrade from the first two falls, but still I am waiting for these two to really bring it. ***

TNA World Tag Team Champions American Wolves vs Team 3-D vs The Hardyz - TNA Impact 9/16/14 Full Metal Mayhem Full Metal Mayhmem is TNA's name for TLC and you do have to pull down the belts using a ladder to win the match. I remember this getting quite a bit of buzz back in 2014 and I thought I'd check it out. Having four of the original six TLC combatants helped this match from a framework and escalation perspective. One thing I liked about the original TLC is how they used the big highspots to effectively eliminate people in the match. We see that in this match. D-Von tumbles hard from the top rope through two tables. The "big" highspot is Jeff Hardy being shoved off the ladder in the ring and then splashing Bully Ray through tables ringside. I did not think this was as crazy as the Mania X-7 wipeout where Bubba Ray really demolished those tables with Matt I believe. Matt Hardy was eliminated when Eddie Edwards powerbombed him off the ladder through a table and Richards won. It was interesting to see Richards take two "elimination' spots a powerbomb on a guardrail and a Matt Hardy legdrop from a ladder through a table, but he survived. This put him over. Edwards also took a ladder bump from ring to floor even though I would have been scared shitless didnt look that cool. The coolest highspot in my opinion was Jeff Hardy doing a legdrop through a table flipped upside down!?!? Those legs could have collapsed into his head/neck. That was my big oh shit highspot. Everybody looked a half-step slower and the Wolves didnt pick up the slack. The beginning of the match was kinda pointless, no real interesting connective tissue. Followed the same TLC Elimination formula, but not as good and not as chaotic or insane. Surprised this was highly praised. Just very good because they followed a great formula. ***1/2

Just finished my 2020 version of Top 100 Greatest Pro Wrestling Matches Ever had to drop 20 matches from last year 2 accommodate the great matches I watched this year. Excoriating, harrowing & gut-wrenching. I love all 20 matches that got cut. Dont know how I'll do this next year. I am going to sleep on this list and submit tomorrow.

Best of Puroresu 2010-2014 Part 2 At the risk of hyperbole, Hiroshi Tanahashi saved the Japanese Pro Wrestling Industry. There are very few instances of a single wrestler taking a company back from the brink of bankruptcy and not just survive, but thrive and make pro wrestling popular in Japan again. He did this with a very small support structure with no stars from the 80s or 90s to help him. Furthermore, the largest Japanese company, Pro Wrestling NOAH completely fell off the rails due to the tragic in-ring death of Mitsuharu Misawa and retirement of Kenta Kobashi. Tanahashi was able to turn New Japan around and stop the bleeding until 2012. In 2012, he finally found his archrival, Kazuchika Okada and over the course of the next couple years, business exploded for New Japan Pro Wrestling for the first time since the 90s. Tanahashi was not just popular, he is a fantastic pro wrestler where sound psychology underpins all the action in his matches. He claims four of the top five spots with four different opponents for best wrestling matches in Japan between 2010-2014, which is just utter singular domination. Very few wrestlers combine box office attraction and critical acclaim like 'The Ace of The Universe". I am so lucky to say I have seen him three times in person here in the United States and each time it has been a huge thrill! Pro Wrestling Love vol. 65 is dedicated to Hiroshi Tanahashi, a man who I know truly loves Pro Wrestling! Check out all his matches and the two non-Tanahashi matches to make the Top 6 by clicking the link below! https://ridingspacemountain.blogspot.com/2020/08/pro-wrestling-love-vol-65-best-of.html

Austin Aries vs Low-Ki vs Jack Evans vs Zema Ion - TNA Destination X 2011 I was expecting an all-time great spotfest but was disappointed. There are some great highspots but this is as balls out as I wanted it to be. WWE has gotten so good at these multi-man matches that are devoid of thought but provide plenty of sensory stimulation. I think Jack Evans won this on style points but history shows that they made the right call putting Austin Aries over as he eventually got a World Title Run and was a main event player. I would say the pinfall break ups were really good Ki hit a double stomp at one point and Evans hits a crazy somersault while Ki was bridging. Evans had some great kicks and just loads of charisma. They clearly treated Aries and Ki as the stars. I am shocked Ki did the job but he took the 450 from Ion, 630 on his knees from Evans and then Aries dropkick/Brainbuster combo. I have seen Ion a couple times when I would flick on Impact over the years. He didnt do much to stand out. This was fine. Definitely overrated. There are better spotfests out there if you are looking for something mindless but visually stimulating. ***

Brutha, I really appreciate that, man. I am happy that I can entertain you or help you find great pro wrestling! Keep spreading the Pro Wrestling Love! Best of Puroresu 2010-2014 Part 1 I have compiled another volume of Pro Wrestling Love focusing on the very best pro wrestling to take place in Japan between 2010-2014. It is not quite as New Japan heavy as the experts would have you think! Yes the New Japan resurgence with rise of Kazuchika Okada to rival the "Ace of the Universe" Hiroshi Tanahashi starting in 2012 contributed a lot to this list, BUT All Japan had its own mini-resurgence with defection of Jun Akiyama and others from NOAH and the signing of ex-Pancrase fighter Masakatsu Funaki. The 2010s were also the last gasp of the 90s as Kenta Kobashi retired and had his last great matches, Kensuke Sasaki kept NOAH afloat until his retirement and Jun Akiyama gave a spark back to All Japan in the twilight of his career. NOAH, once the dominant force in high quality matches throughout the first decade of the 21st Century became a desolate desert bereft of spoils of workrate, was able to use veterans like Sasaki, Akiyama and Yoshihiro Takayama to face off against their young guns like KENTA, Takahasi Sugiura and Takeshi Morishima, but once they retired or defected, it was slim pickings. KENTA as the clear Ace did the best he could having great matches with Sugiura and Nakajima in 2013, but it was not enough and even he defected to WWE in 2014. In addition, the last gasp of shoot-style (FUTEN), Dick Togo's crazy 2010-2011 run and Fujita Jr Hayato's campaigns in Michinoku Pro are covered. This is a jam-packed edition of Pro Wrestling Love you dont wanna miss! https://ridingspacemountain.blogspot.com/2020/08/pro-wrestling-love-vol-64-best-of.html

Great Sasuke & Jinsei Shinzaki vs Fujita Jr Hayato & Kenou - Michinoku Pro 11/4/13 I believe this was for Michinoku Pro's 20th Anniversary. Sasuke shirtless and in capris is definitely a jarring site at first. I love most of the guys in this match especially Hayato but I gotta admit the first 15 minutes has been a letdown. There is not really much that happened. The veterans jumpstarted the match. Shinzaki busted out his ropewalk on both and then tagged out. Sasuke was being really weird. He was selling his left side or left knee and moving into an Unorthodox stance to keep Hayato away but I am not sure why. Maybe it was a pre-existing condition or maybe Sasuke decided to start selling you never know. They do some nice groundwork that Sasuke ultimately wins. It is a pretty dry, pedestrian control segment on Hayato. He sells well, but they are just working holds. I always love when someone busts out the Butterfly Lock that was my go to hold against my brother when we were kids and that hold is no joke. There is a just bizarre transition. Sasuke just watches as Hayato crawls to tag out. Kenou does not urge him or extend his hand. I dont know if this is because Hayato and Kenou are usually rivals or just because Sasuke is strange. Kenou is able to hit the left side of Sasuke who crumples and then he works a heel hook. Sasuke sends him to the floor and he hits an Asai Moonsault. The first big highspot. Lucha rules so Hayato & Shinzaki are legal now. They do a New Japan style strike exchange but Hayato knocks him down and dropkick to the mush. It looks like business is about to pick up but yeah not as exciting or interesting as I was expecting. This match was just bizarre for me. It didnt click at all. It just felt flat. No struggle, no urgency. Sasuke is not even watching the match from the apron, he is watching from the floor. He only gets involved two more times. Hayato disappears for long stretches also. Shinzaki catches a knee and Hayato applies a Guillotine Choke, Sasuke needs to two attempts but successfully interferes. Shinzaki dumps out Hayato. This is just Shinzaki vs Kenou. It is not whirlwind action with Hayato or Sasuke keep the other at bay, they kind just watch the match. They trade some powerbombs. The best highspot is Shinzaki hits a Top Rope Chokeslam. They then struggle over powerbombs for a while. All of sudden Shinzaki is selling death even though he is really not taken that much damage. Kenou starts blasting him with kicks and is trying to hit a Dragon Suplex. Hayato starts help out. The Dragon Suplex is a nearfall. They pelt Shinzaki with kicks to the head. Shinzaki goozles Kenou once to show life but Kenou just kicks him in the head again. Shinzaki does the whole Kobashi stumble around the ring dazed and another high kick to the head wins. The offense was not the problem but the connective tissue was not there nor was the emotion/fire/passion. No urgency. Was Sasuke legitimately injured? I am very disappointed because I love Hayato and really wanted to see another great Hayato match, but this was not it at all. Maybe I will give this another chance down the line, but this was not very good.

"Your balls are big again" "Youre a family man, I love that for you." Punching yourself until you bleed. Ric Flair unleashed in TNA is still one of the greatest things people dont talk about enough. Mick Foley is trying to keep this car on track, but you can tell he knows he is watching pro wrestling gold and is just letting Flair go. I remember watching this at college on my TV where the TV Stand was a cardboard box and I was in shock at just how amazing, organic, intense, psychotic this promo was. This is pro wrestling. Flair and Foley each show the best aspects of pro wrestling. Foley is always brains, weaving this coherent, intricate story together while Flair is all heart, primal & emotional. Both appeal to me and I need both in my life and in my wrestling. Between this and the Jay Lethal stuff, I bet if you watch enough of Flair in TNA, you could make a case for this being the best promo year of the 2010s for anyone. I know I must have watched the Last Man Standing match, but I dont remember it, but I want to now. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zbn2-Ku0oQ0

Just rewatched this and this is still fucking hilarious. I think this is the greatest thing TNA ever did.

TNA World Heavyweight Jeff Hardy vs Austin Aries - TNA Turning Point 2012 Total car wreck match. I was really excited for Austin Aries' 2012 campaign, but besides the excellent Samoa Joe sprint, he was really hamstrung by lame opponents. Hardy takes about four really gnarly bumps. The splash into the hinges of the ladder was wicked. The worst one was the way he fell off the ladder. You know the standard tipover spot well Aries didnt gently tip it over, he steamrolled it and Hardy collapsed into a heap. It was wicked. Aries dropkicked him off the ladder. My favorite was when Aries setup the ladder so that he dropkicked it into his throat on that high intensity dropkick into the corner he does. Aries took some bumps too but none like Hardy. Aries hit the Brainbuster, but Hardy made his comeback Twist of Fate off the ladder, SWANTON! Not enough, Aries raises the belts. Dastardly. They do this convoluted setup which ends with Hardy hitting the Twist of Fate on the ladder on the top turnbuckle. I am not even that averse to spotfests, but this was a not good one. Things like the WrestleMania ladder match from this year is way better than this. I cant believe this is generally considered one of TNA's best matches. They have had loads better.

TNA World Heavyweight Champion Austin Aries vs Jeff Hardy - TNA Bound For Glory 2012 The crowd dynamics are all fucked up for the match. It is clear TNA wanted Jeff Hardy to be the big babyface on his road to redemption since that famous incident with Sting. The crowd was 90% behind Aries especially early just overwhelming the Hardy support. There was one time during the shine, Tenay exclaims "Here is the Creatures making their voices heard" and it was just Aries fans chanting Aries. Taz was like what the fuck did you just say? I thought Jeff was more aggressive than normal which I liked. Aries was the consummate heel. He was feeding and left himself get showed up at every turn early. When he did get an offensive move, he over-celebrated and taunted unfortunately to overwhelming adulation of his fans. Hardy hit Poetry In Motion using the ring steps which was the climax to an ok shine. He missed Whisper In the Wind. Aries took over. Aries chose to pummel Hardy and really grind it out. Aries is a great offensive machine. He is not a great grinder ala Bret. I think you can be a great heel and still keep it uptempo in heat segment but you do that by giving Hardy a lot of hope spots and you just cut off. Anyways, Hardy was just playing ragdoll which did not help matters. Hardy hits a Front Suplex out of nowhere and then caught him in an atomic drop and did legdrop on the balls. Whisper In The Wind connects. I like Hardy's look and vibe a lot but the more I watch him wrestle and really analyze it, he is a lackluster wrestler. I just want so much more out of him. He just hits his highspots and takes his opponents. Where's the struggle? Where are the wrinkles? The match picks up when Hardy misses a plancha. Aries his trademark Explosive Suicide Dive and hits a second one for good measure. Best Suicide Dive I have ever seen. He goes all out and that first one was like he was fired out of a cannon. He hit the railing so hard he busted himself up. Last Chancery was set up or teased well. Didnt have any heat or oomph. He slams Hardy's head on the ramp that was good. Missile dropkick usually the prelude to that massive corner dropkick which is in turn a prelude to the BrainBuster. Hardy gets his feet up. Crowd is booing every Hardy punch vociferously. Twist of a Fate. Aries meets him up on top on the Swanton Attempt. STANDING TOP ROPE FRANKENSTEINER! Ballsy. CORNER DROPKICK! Lets Go Aries! BRAINBUSTER! Put this punk away! 1-2-NO! He's fucked. I didnt know the finish but I know I am certain. They futz around a bit and Twist of A Fate and Swanton finishes it. Crowd does NOT shit on the finish as bad as I expect. Hardy was on cruise control this whole match. He hit his highspots and sold that was it. He was not going to go above and beyond. Aries fed well at the beginning and did the heel work. Then he went balls to the wall at the end. I like his effort. I wish when he goes full workrate he doesnt forget his heeling and his character but it is hard to focus on two things at once. Ultimately match falls flat in my eyes due to Hardy's lukewarm performance, BUT Aries brings enough goodness to mean this was still entertaining enough. ***1/4

TNA World Heavyweight Champion AJ Styles vs Kurt Angle - TNA Impact 1/4/10 I was a pretty big TNA fan from 2005-2010 I would say and a large part of that was AJ Styles being my favorite wrestler in the world. Nobody combined big bumping, crisp execution, smart psychology better than AJ Styles. I remember watching this live and at the time I had never ordered a TNA PPV so I had never seen AJ vs Angle live. I was really into TNA at this point because AJ Styles had been champion and it looked like he was getting a strong push and was not just going to be a lameduck champion. Hogan & Bischoff were coming in. The internet was ablaze with mostly negative comments but it was exciting nonethless. I remember watching this match already back at school in Michigan and my mind being blown. At the time, I had never seen a Springboard 450 Splash and I thought that was the coolest thing ever. They lived up to the Total Nonstop Action claim. Best part was AJ Styles won clean in the middle of the ring. The crowd was molten for this match. By the Fall of 2010, I was done with TNA talk about falling off precipice to go from one of their most ardent supporters to never following them again. 2010 was such a bad year for booking for TNA. Just three years later, I watched & reviewed a ton of AJ Styles matches and found Kurt Angle to be his worst opponent. So what happened? I became hungry for something more out of my pro wrestling. That hunger was for psychology underpinning the action in the ring. If you liked Cena vs Owens, this is your match, you would love it. I would say this is match is a bit better because they at least miss some moves on the transitions. You can predict who hits the next move based on who hit the last move. This is very "My Turn, Your Turn". They do a brief excellent shine from AJ Styles. Angle scouts the dropkick, hesitates then charges and then AJ nails it. Nice swan dive over the top to the floor. Some masked dude that I have no recollection of attacks AJ. Angle beats him back, it is about PURE COMPETITION BABY! They come back from commercial and it is 11 minute finish stretch. This is the 21st Century US version of the All Japan all finish stretch match. They pop off all their highspots in one glorious highspot fireworks display. I liked the Pele into the Anklelock admittedly and AJ rolling through and then hitting it. It is Angle there are a ton of Olympic Slam attempts and HITS and Anklelocks. AJ has such beautiful spots. There is zero downtime. Workrate freaks like Meltzer must have loved this. This is precursor to all those WWE spotfests. Correct me if I am wrong but I believe this is debut of the Springboard 450 Splash, I should check my notes from 2009 AJ Styles matches. It takes two but he does win with it. It is such a spectacular move. It is harmless, Summer Action Blockbuster fun. It is the perfect TV main event to catch people's eyes and pop them. Honestly, you are going to need psychology to make them stay but I can this getting their foot in the door. It is very entertaining and enjoyable, probably their best match together, but "my turn, your turn" knocks it down a peg. ***3/4

TNA World Heavyweight Champion Bobby Roode vs Austin Aries - TNA Destination X 2012 Even though I think this is overrated, I am really excited this has a such a great rep and it is generally considered one of the top ten or twenty best TNA match ever because this is a classic championship formula match. The Classic Championship Formula usually does not play well the critics of today so it is refreshing to see this praised so much. I have always liked Austin Aries but sitting down watching three of his matches in a row from his landmark 2012 campaign has made me a huge fan. I think his execution is always crisp and everything he does has zip, but most importantly he is always moving forward and he is always fighting back. I know this shouldnt be a compliment but at the end of the day Benoit was a great wrestler and I see a lot of Benoit in Aries. The story of this match is Roode is the traditional heavyweight champion and does not think he smaller X-Division champion is even in his league. How do I know this you may ask? Well Roode says "Youre not in my league" about a bajillion times so thats how I know! Solid shine from Aries that is great character work. Roode slaps his head playfully on an exchange so Aries tools on him and slaps him around. Good shit. Aries fires off a couple quick, impactful moves to pop the crowd. Aries misses two of his signature moves. First is the missile dropkick, this leads to a short heat segment where Roode suffocates him but doesnt have a plan. Roode misses the kneedrop and looks like Aries is poised to run away with this but Aries EXPLODES out of the ring as he normally does but only to eat the railing. OW! This leads to the heat segment proper and it is a damn good one. Roode spears Aries and then the Gourdbuster shows that he believes Aries injured his ribs/abdomen on that dive. Bodyscissors and bearhugs are holds of choice as Roode peppers in shots to this injured area. Commentary totally drops the ball on this, but I picked it up. Aries is so good at peppering in the hope spots and Roode is great at cutting off. The big problem is that Roode is very similar to HHH. He gives very soulless, mechanical performances. The heat segment is executed correctly but whereas the panache and the flair. What makes this uniquely Bobby Roode? Or what is he doing to get heat on top of just working Aries over? After some basic trash talking, Aries starts to hulk up. Roode tries to pieface him and Aries responds with an overhand chop that would make Ronnie Garvin proud! He CRACKED him! SUICIDE DIVE! WIPES OUT ROODE! MISSILE DROPKICK! I like how he is hitting the moves he missed earlier. He goes for the big dropkick in the corner to set up the Brainbuster BUT Roode catches him and slams him to the mat. Great cutoff. Excellent layout and Aries is wrestling for two with all his energy & character work. Roode goes for the spear again but Aries lays out and pancakes him into a Last Chancery. Cool spot. They do some submission trading which is a lot less cool. Roode rakes the eyes on the second Last Chancery, he should have just down that in the first place. Spinebuster, always a great heel transition. They do a Crossface for no apparent reason. Even though Roode is clearly in command, he wants the title belt. Stupid. Ref takes title away, ballshot. Still cant win. Roode is arguing with ref. CORNER DROPKICK! Prelude to the Brainbuster?!? Roode escapes and shoves into ref. Belt shot! 1-2-NO! Aries kicks Roode in the face...BRAINBUSTER! 1-2-3! Love the efficiency. Here's the thing the story of the match that they clearly wanted was Aries overcomes cheating heel champion to win so why did they wait to have Roode cheat. Roode should have cheated to transition to the heat segment and at least 1-2 times more. It feel like only the last 2-3 minutes of this match matter because that where the hook and the actual story is. The 18 or so minutes prior were pointless in the grand scheme of the story. I still enjoyed the traditional Championship Match Formula with a great heat segment with purpose set up by a hellacious Suicide Dive to the railing. Aries was so good selling and peppering in the those hope spots. I really liked the finish run a lot but the match was disjointed. AJ Styles' still has Booby Roode's best match by a country mile, but this is a solid outing. ***3/4

TNA X-Division Champion Austin Aries vs Samoa Joe - TNA Slammiversary 2012 HOLY SHIT! What a banger! This is like the most athletically perfect David vs Goliath match ever! Joe looked like a beast and Aries was just relentless. Everything was crisp and organic. I cant praise this match enough. High octane and furious. It is a sub-15 minute sprint and they just go balls to the wall! They do such a great job establishing Aries underneath and forcing him to get creative and use his speed to even have a chance against the furious power of Joe. Joe blasts him with a kick on a Suicide Dive. Aries needs to hurl his whole body at Joe to even have a chance, but that is very risky. Joe just owns him in the corner with those facewashes. Every time Aries gets a hope spot, Joe squashes him like a bug with a powerslam or Island Driver. Joe goes for a dive but Aries uses his quickness to evade and get back into the ring. ARIES SHOOTS OUT LIKE A FUCKING BULLET AND WIPES OUT JOE! Holy shit! Missile dropkick. Aries charges and thats when Joe hits the Island Driver. You get that taste of hope and then it is just extinguished like that. Love it! Joe runs through his awesome combinations. Fuck TNA! Joe should have been the biggest star ever. Dude is a badass! I love this sequence in particular because it is so organic. Joe goes for the musclebuster, but Aries fights back so Joe beat him back but goes to middle rope so he switches to a superplex. Aries headbutts back and boxes the ear. Joe bumps off the middle and Aries IMMEDIATELY hits the 450 Splash. I loved the urgency. Great nearfall. Again, Joe is the one back up but he is rocked and catches Aries in the Koquina Clutch but Aries rolls back and almost pins Joe. This is killer. HUGE URNAGE IN THE CORNER BY JOE! Joe is feeling it! SUPACHARGE ME WITH THAT TESTOSTERONE! HELL YEAH! Musclebuster??? Aries elbows out, Crucifix Bomb, dont love that move. Great sell by Joe, ROARING ELBOW, DROPKICK CLOBBERS JOE IN THE HEAD, WICKED BRAINBUSTER 1-2-3! Everybody needs to watch that dropkick that was fucking wicked! I didnt love how easy it was for Aries to escape the Musclebuster nor did I like the CrucifixBomb as the set up for the finish. The finish itself was raucous, three hellacious moves by Aries all targeting the head. The body of the match was perfect! They told a great version of David vs Goliath with the athleticism turned to 11! Not quite as good as Final Battle 2004 but this is wicked awesome! ****1/4

TNA X-Division Champion Austin Aries vs Alex Shelley - TNA Against All Odds 2012 A shockingly basic match between the two former Generation Next. Basic means I liked this match! Nothing is overwrought. They focus on babyface/heel dynamics ok really Aries is just a great heel and Shelley is a long for the ride. I have always liked Shelley since the Paparazzi Productions with Nash but he has never done much for me in the ring and nothing has changed here. Aries seems like the brains behind this operation creating payoff spots and places for Shelley to excel. Shelley's shine is very boring compared to Aries establishing he is a dick early. I like how Aries misses the Pendulum Elbow after too much taunting. Again Shelley's comeback is pretty lackluster except they do a good payback spot. Earlier Aries had outsmarted Shelley by hiding under the ring and popping up the other side this what set up the first heat segment. This time Shelly got wise to his tricks, backdropped him and hit his own suicide dive. Again Shelley does not add much from character or heat perspective. Aries drills him with a Death Valley Driver on the apron this being TNA in 2012 I know he is coming back. Yes Shelley evades the 450 Splash and hits a Sliced Bread No. 2. Ugh. That's Shelley's big nearfall, crowd bit hard as Aries barely gets his hand on the ropes. Aries goes INSANE on Shelley. Total tenacious pitbull with knees to the head, just gobbling him up, nasty Brainbuster for two! Oh cmon that should have been it. Shelley gets some roll ups but Aries eats him alive against Brainbuster into Last Chancery for the win. This was a total carryjob by Aries who apparently had a stellar 2012. Aries is offensive dynamo, everything has snap and zip behind combine that with great character work and he is a joy to watch. ***1/4

Daisuke Ikeda & Takahiro Oba vs Makoto Hashi & Kengo Mashimo - FUTEN 10/24/10 FUTEN 2010 was supposed to be the promotion that salvages a very mediocre year of puroresu similar to how 2008 BattlArts salvaged the year 2008 for puroresu. For me, at least that has not been the case as FUTEN 2010 has not been as good as BattlArts in 2008. First Half: Oh boy, Oba is in this, I didnt really care for him in the May tag but he is more subdued in this. Donnybrook to start. Ikeda taunts and then Oba goes over the top. Draws a Yellow Card. There is a cool dynamic of Ikeda as the Ace and Oba as the comedy goofball against two asskickers. So on two different occasions Ikeda has to save Oba in holds, but Oba holds his own especially in his second stint applying some gnarly holds on Hashi. The value of this match is when Ikeda is in there. He is a totally bully to both Hashi and Mashimo. When he finally relents to a clean break to Hashi, Hashi cracks. Mashimo is the first to get a knock down scoring against Ikeda. Ikeda is such a wonderful offensive worker. On his second stint, he goes full battering ram and they unleash sick shoot headbutt on one another and that bust each other open hardway. I am not a big headbutt fan. They dont look as cool as punches or kicks. Yet they are super painful. It is kinda how look like shoot punches sometimes look worse than worked punches because they are too fast. Worked punch have that beautiful wind up and rear back nature to them. There are some headbutt marks out there that probably love this match but I didnt care for it. Hashi gets a knockdown in the corner on these nasty headbutts. Ikeda is selling really well and hits two beautiful kicks that wrap around Hashi's head for a knockdown. That I like it. They do the JYD/Terry Funk headbutt exchange in the dog position which yeah does nothing for me and it is just ridiculously painful for no reason. Ikeda looks fucked and Oba is having trouble holding his own, will Hashi/Mashimo cruise for the win or will Ikeda/Oba rally? Second Half: If memory serves me correctly, Ikeda gets the better of the dog headbutt contest and this forces Hashi to tag out, Ikeda also takes advantage to tag out. Oba decides his best recourse is windmill punches and an airplane spin. No matter what year or what culture, the airplane spin is in any comedy wrestler's arsenal. There was a one legitimately funny spot when Oba goes to tag out but tries to tag Hashi because he is so disoriented. I am sucker for that. Oba lasted long enough to give Ikeda a breather and after a couple elbows tags out to the Ace. There is a funny moment where Ikeda takes one wicked headbutt and goes to tag out and Oba SMACKS him, ostensibly to fire him up, but more likely because he wanted to no part of Hashi. They just destroy each other with headbutt. I can see why this got a rep because I feel like a lot of the DVDVR gang love headbutt. This was headbutt-palooza. They tease Ikeda losing by knockout but he gradually makes in-roads. The finish stretch is pretty dramatic. Even within a minute of the end of the match, Ikeda is being counted down after a wicked headbutt. He roars backs with an onslaught of kicks and Hashi cant make it up. The match did not do much for me, but for stiffness marks and headbutt marks this must be downright pornographic. I enjoyed enough of it, but I dont see a classic here just sado-masochistic theatre of pain. ***1/2