Superstar Sleeze

John Cena vs The Rock - WrestleMania XXVIII Thanks to this match I ended up with front row tickets to Machine Gun Kelly, Sia and Flo Rida. I totally forgot MGK rapped. God he fucking sucks...he made for a great Tommy Lee in The Dirt. Flo Rida is good craic as the Irish would say. This match is also good craic and better than I remembered. I talked about this in my HHH/Taker review but I had shit seats at this Mania so I. Don’t remember a lot because I couldn’t see. I said prematurely that Punk/Jericho was the MOTN but this match was a frog’s hair better as Stone Cold would say. Very well-laid out Clash of Titans. All the highspots popped and Cena played a good subtle heel ring general guiding the rusty Rocky through the match. Lots of good symmetry in this match which makes sense as this is being billed as Icon vs Icon so they are equal footing. Each shoving the other off during the opening lock ups was a nice touch. Rocky doing La Magistral was great to establish Rock still remembered how to wrestle. Rocky goes for the Sharpshooter and Cena heads for the hills. Cena looks like he underestimated The Rock. He STEAMROLLS The Rock with a clothesline in the best move of the match. Cena plays heel in the control segment working the midsection. Rock still sells well. Rock hits his DDT and they do an extended finish stretch that is well-paced. Rock does his little comeback routine and when he goes for the People’s Elbow. Cena picks the ankle. I like how the camera still went wide. It sold it well. Cena does his comeback sequence. They trade the FU and the Rock Bottom early. That’s smart because it put heat on the bear falls after because people already saw the big hits. It also was not rapid fire. They would re-build to the highspots. Sharpshooter vs STF was good. I popped huge for The Rock top rope crossbody into an FU! Cena is the Man. Great nearfall for Cena. Glad they went home right after that with Cena looking to steal the People’s Elbow but getting stuffed with a Rock Bottom! The finish makes sense given the rematch the following year. Really well-structured clash of titans match where they played all the right notes even if it could have used a little more soul. O I really liked the slugfests in this much better than the NJPW strike exchanges, I liked Cena’s punches and the register of each men. ****

100% this. It should have been face vs face going into Mania and when Jericho loses he becomes a sore loser and turns heel. WWE Champion CM Punk vs Chris Jericho - WrestleMania XXVIII I remember thinking this was the best match of the night but was pretty underwhelmed. I remember nobody could hear John Laurinitis so we had no idea what happened. Given where I was sitting the entire beginning of the match made no sense to me. I think last minute rule changes need to be announced better if they are done and thought this was a dumb narrative for a stadium match. The beginning was Jericho trying to get under Punk’s skin to goad him into overreacting and getting DQ’d to lose the belt. It climaxes with Punk contemplating using a chair. Punk has become mentally compromised. Jericho hits a dropkick and really seals the deal with a wicked Suplex inside out and Punk lands hard on the floor. I thought that was the best spot of the match. Punk sold well and Jericho targretted the back. I thought what this match did best was symmetry. With both men claiming to be “best in the world” symmetry not trying to get DQ’d was a better narrative. Jericho used a double undertook backbreaker which is a move associated with both men. I liked how each man countered the bulldog. How each hit their finish but in both cases the opponent was outside or too close to the ropes. I didn’t like how inconsequential a lot of the big moves felt. There was a lot of hit a big move and follow that up with the opponent hitting the next big move. Punk hit a really nice Standing Shining Wizard causing Jericho’s head to hit the post. The next move is a Codebreaker. I thought the Codebreaker was shit on. The ending sequence with the submissions the battle of Boston Crab vs Anaconda Vice was the best part and is when the crowd finally came alive. I love how Jericho fought to survive in it. Knees to the back of the head, grabbing the hair to pull him into a pinning predicament only for punk to re-position in control and move his head out of the reach of Jericho for the win. The symmetry of the match especially the dueling submissions at the end would have been perfect for a babyface vs babyface match to determine who “the best In the world” is. Then you have Jericho be a sore loser and turn heel to set up the more personal grudge. I don’t know why they shot that angle before Mania and the didn’t deliver the street fight. There were times when the match felt flat where it could have used character work. It was solid but definitely not “best in the world” ***3/4

Crusher Blackwell vs Butch Reed - St. Louis 11/82 Loved the simplicity of the first fall. It was all about establishing the impressive strength that Butch Reed possesses. He is constantly overpowering Blackwell into the ropes. He even lifts Blackwell into a bearhug which is an incredible feat of strength. Blackwell has to resort to eye gouges. I love when giants cheat. There is something so purely scummy when a dude with a significant size advantage is forced to cheat. On the second eye gouge, Blackwell finally turns the tide and he sticks with good heel wrestling of choking and strangling. Reed gets a solid kick out out of a elbow drop that shows he doesn’t give up. Nice comeback from Reed before he runs into a big forearm smash in the corner and then he drops down prematurely on a criss cross and Blackwell hits the big splash for the first fall! Reed is only a three year veteran so you can explain those two crucial late mistakes to inexperience whereas Blackwell’s experience allowed him to capitalize. One more thing, Blackwell is the king of heel registering but never bumping to really put himself over as a mountain. He did some really great heel selling. Awesome face/heel dynamics, just pure American wrestling at its most basic and finest. Per tradition, the second fall is short and this one sure is sweet. Great babyface selling from Butch Reed! I love how he is staggering. Blackwell bullies him in the corner. Just ramming his massive girth into Reed sandwiching him into the corner. Then it is headbutts to the small of the back remember that Big Splash was on the back of Reed. Blackwell bearhug! Reed fights back! Big running forearm knocks the Big Man off his feet for the first time! Holy shit! Fist drop! Leg drop! 1-2-No! Are you shitting me? Reed goes for the powerslam but Blackwell is just too fat and squashes Reed as His Back gives out. 1-2-No! Damn! I bit on that too! Now it is Blackwell trying a bodyslam but it is WM III finish with Reed rolling through with an inside cradle. Blackwell kicks out at three. They put together a really strong, compact fall with lots of drama. I had forgotten that one of my favorite Blackwell tropes was that person who can do the most damage to him is himself as he misses the big splash after an eye gouge & Suplex set up Reed. This supercharges the match! Then Reed misses a flying fist drop! Huge heat! Slugfest erupts big & meaty. You can feel the time limit draw. One last nearfall...Reed goes for the crossbody...Blackwell catches...here comes the slam...wait...Blackwell loses him and Reed ends up on top for 2. Liked the tension. Slugfest goes to a draw and Reed keeps fighting. Perfect adequate finish to get Reed over as a contender with a big time heel. So simple but so gratifying. Man I missed pro wrestling! This was great! ****

Thor got a huge pop in Infinity Wars when he made his entrance to the battlefield with his BattleAxe!

I’ve long thought Big E as a potential Ace Face. Is my correct in the Fall of 2013 there was a power struggle over whether to pick Big E or Roman as the heir apparent? Big E deserves a shot at the top and I constantly tweet that he should be in Kofi’s position.

Thank you Cap! Thank you Cap! Thank you Cap! Love the Summerslam move! Still have not rewatched All Japan 90s yet. Starting to get back into a regular routine. Hope to finish WWE 2005-2014 soon.

Yes Agganis Arena is in Boston proper. It is Boston University's hockey arena (college hockey is pretty big in New England, well as big as college hockey can be) and it holds about 5000-6000 people. I have seen NXT there, a TNA PPV and a RAW house show. Perfect arena for AEW.

I didnt see the Blind Guardian one (I would have loved that), but I popped huge for Kreator! Rowan definitely wins best dressed week in and week out!

My Dad did the same thing. I am going to AEW for sure. It was amazing. So we all (Dad, Mom, Brother) went to RAW in summer of 2018. Really boring show. Been going to shows by myself since then. Sent out a text to the family about the new company featuring Jericho and huge buzz. My mom is pumped for an alternative. It is hilarious. I will probably go to New Japan too. Need to get on that.

Brock Lesnar vs Triple H - WWE Summerslam 2012 This is the match that actually inspired me to join PWO. I found PWO in the spring of 2012 and fell in love instantly, but like most people started out as a lurker. I loved this match so much and was surprised a lot of people here didn't like it so I decided to join and speak up. The rest is history. I still think this is one of the most underrated matches in WWE history. I am a huge, unabashed Brock mark and this is a stellar Brock performance. Brock has a pro wrestling IQ so much higher than everybody else it is scary. He just has a great feel. He knows exactly what makes sense for Brock Lesnar. We start with the usual Brock bullying and crowding the corner, which is the perfect start. Now watch how HHH clotheslines him over the top rope twice. First off you see the impressive athleticism of Brock. I have seen LeBron James in person live and I am not sure if he is the greatest athlete I have ever seen because Brock is just that damn freakish. Brock is a great bumper and at his size all his bumps look great. The key is how does he sell it. He is NOT selling pain. He is selling shock. Big difference! That's pro wrestling IQ. Then we go into Brock Beast Mode. He literally takes the gloves off. How does he take control a cheap shot to the back of the head. Michael Cole does a great job pointing out you would be docked one point in UFC and the next time would be a DQ. Brock is an asshole. He is a bully. That is not a respectful move. Great job by Cole putting over this heelish action. Then it is a focused attack on the arm. It is Brock Lesnar in all his reigning offensive glory. Slamming HHH on the bad arm (he broke it in the build to the match). I loved the King Kong Spot where Brock tips the announce table on its side, ascends it and then leaps into the air and crashed down on HHH. HHH was great with peppering in hope spots and shots to make Brock cut him off. His arm is in pain, but he can still fight back and he showed that. This was the Brock show but HHH was doing a good job. Brock was great with all the cutoffs. What is also great is how they foreshadow the big turning point. HHH is throwing kneelifts and punches to Brock's gut constantly. By the time we get into the latter stage of the match, we see the best Brock, the wounded bear Brock. Andre and Vader had this special charisma when it came to selling. They were even more dangerous as these "wounded bears". Perhaps the greatest of them all is Brock Lesnar. I have consistently said that Brock Lesnar is the seller on the WWE Roster since 2012. AJ Styles is a close second just as AJ is the best bumper and Brock is a close second. You can already see Brock selling those shots the stomach. How it is slowing him down and the grimace on his face. Then when HHH pulls him into the pointed edge of the announce table stomach, wow, some of the best selling of all time. Brock Lesnar put on an absolute master class in selling. HHH to his credit stayed on it. Every punch and kneelift was to the gut. Brock was milking it. It had me on the edge of my seat just like back in 2012. Pedigree was a great final hope spot. Then the BALLSHOT~! I forgot about that. The match was effectively No DQ, No Countout because HHH told the ref to let everything go. Here you have the man who is supposed to bring legitimacy back to WWE. He is the Shootfighter and he has to stoop to a low blow. That's great fucking heeling! I love that shit! I love when a monster heel cheats because it just much more terrible. It also puts over how desperate he was. I liked the F-5 kickout to give HHH a little love and protection. The one part of the match I didnt dig was the finish. I think first Double Wristlock (I refuse to call it a Kimura, we are in pro wrestling) should have ended it. The Pedigree -> Flash Submission is stupid modern day wrestling where moves don't matter. What is so great about this match is every move up until the finish had consequence and had meaning. I am sour on the finish, but it does not negate how tremendous this match is especially as a standalone Brock performance and you see all three aspects of Brock that make him great, Brock the Bumper, Brock the Asskicker and Brock the Seller. Come in with an open mind and give this a shot. ****1/2

Man between the hate for Seth Rollins' badass theme and Dolph Ziggler's glorious 1989 straightened Hair Metal hair, I'm so out of touch with PWO. There's probably no bigger glam metal fan on Earth than me so I have been totally digging his glam metal aesthetic for years now.

The Undertaker vs Triple H WrestleMania XXVIII Hell In A Cell Match I was at this WrestleMania live and I didn't have the first clue about how to buy tickets properly for a WrestleMania. So I ended up with seats before one of the giant Palm Trees that was holding up the canopy. Couldnt see shit. There were "Move The Palm Tree" chants throughout the night. Somehow, my Dad, brother and me snuck onto the floor and just stood in the back near entrance ramp the hold time. At least the entrances were cool. However, because the floor is not raked, I really could not see much especially anytime they were out of the ring. I don't have many memories of this show besides high-fiving CM Punk after his match with Jericho. Had a much better time the following year at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey where I knew where to buy tickets and had a perfect view of the ring in the lower bowl with stadium seating. I have plenty of memories and had a lot more fun. This match was not bad per se. It was definitely long in the tooth. It felt more like a routine Undertaker and Triple H match. They hit their standard spots. Even though, they were prattling on about how this was The End of An Era, no one believed it then and it clearly wasnt as Taker and HHH have gone on to main event Wrestlemania since against Roman Reigns. Jim Ross saying "An Era we will never go back to" made me laugh more like an Era we are stuck in. The first ten minutes is methodical brawling around the ring. Undertaker controlled. Brief flurries from HHH, but caught off from Taker. They were pushing the storyline from last year that it was Pyrrhic victory for The Undertaker. Triple H left in better condition than Taker and Taker looked vulnerable. Taker is out to prove this is still His Yard. It made sense that Taker started off hot and maintained control. I sighed so hard when the first transition was a random DDT from HHH. Lame videogame wrestling. The Spinebuster on the Steps was much better, but Taker immediately applying Hell's Gate on the stairs undercut the spot. HHH cements control by slamming from the Hells Gate. Now we enter Act II. We moved from routine Undertaker control segment to the replay of last year's WrestleMania. When HHH uses weapons (Chair and Sledgehammer) to batter and bruise Undertaker. Oh yeah, Shawn Michaels is the ref. So HHH keeps telling HBK to ring the bell and just end it. Undertaker took an absolute asskicking. His body was back & blue. At one point, HHH attempts to bash Taker's brains in with the sledgehammer. Michaels stops him. That was a little excessive. Taker's gets annoyed with Shawn's constant nagging and puts him in Hell's Gate. HHH hits with the sledgehammer. He goes for the Killshot (like an actual fucking killshot)...Taker boots him in the balls. Now we go to Act III which was my favorite act basically they do a big bomb throwing fest. Undertaker looked great here. He was explosive. Chokeslamming HHH and Charles Robinson. Undertaker doing his full comeback and running the ropes was great. One of the few things I remember from being there live was the Sweet Chin Music->Pedigree spot. That was hot shit. The Kliq Conspiring to end the Streak is a great storyline and really should have been more of a focal point. Then what ends up happening is the reverse of the last year. Undertaker is the one standing tall and HHH is left dragging himself to fight. It all begins when Taker grabs the chair, and HHH is going for the Hammer but Taker puts his foot on it. Damn that is some great Alpha Male shit. Taker exacts his revenge with the chair. I loved Triple H lunging at Taker with the Hammer, but having no gusto behind and Taker just stops him. It is very reminiscent of the Undertaker goozle from the previous year that HHH no sold. Then they do the Defiant Crotch Chop Suck It, which mirrors Taker's Defiant Throat Slash. Taker puts him out of his misery with a Tombstone to prove it is still His Yard. I'll tell one thing is that this match makes the previous year's match look WAY BETTER! That match had a Huge Fight Feel, great pacing, awesome highspots and great drama down the stretch. This was 20 minutes of boring, plodding brawling with stock HHH, Taker spots thrown in. The last ten minutes raise this match to good. Undertaker rocking his comeback and then Walking Tall and putting HHH in his place was glorious. It really did set Undertaker up looking strong to lose the following the year. They waited two years, but I liked this as a two year story arc to plant the seed of doubt and then re-establish Taker to set it up for the big loss down the road. It was a win there. ***

WWE not covering travelling expenses is bullshit. Lodging, food and transportation should be provided. No questions asked. I bet they get out of it due to the independent contractor bullshit.

This is the one bizarre take I can keep hearing crop up from wrestling fans. I don't know any company that acts as a travel agent for its employees. I book all my own hotels and then expense it. Now WWE should pick up the tab and if they aren't that's stupid. However, the actual booking of the hotel is not on the WWE, it is on the talent. Now my guess is that because RAW gotten re-written so much a Smackdown talent like Xavier may have not known he was going to be on RAW until it was so late that it caused this to happen. So that is a legitimate gripe. WWE the travel agent is not.

World Heavyweight Champion Randy Orton vs Christian - WWE Over The Limit 2011 One of the last WWE Classics I have never seen before. This was right at the nadir of my interesting pro wrestling before CM Punk's Pipebomb promo gave my passion for pro wrestling an adrenaline shot. I had stopped watching Smackdown all together so I only vague recollection of this feud from when it was going on, but I due remember this being one of the most praised matches of the year besides Cena vs. Punk. This was a fantastic singles match that did not rely on any gimmicks or crutches. It is one of those matches where you dont see what the big deal is until about 5 minutes left and you are like damn they got me. The story here is Christian finally won the big one in a hellaciously boring ladder match against Alberto Del Rio earlier in the month after his best friend, Edge retired. The twist is that five nights later on Smackdown he lost the belt to Randy Orton, which was a great troll of the smart marks and also just a great storytelling device. Career journeyman underdog finally wins the World Title just to cough it up later in the week. I liked the opening a lot. Lots of movements. Lots of energy generated off criss crosses. They were punctuated with great spots. Christian loved his dropkicks and Orton was hitting power moves like tackles and back elbows. Shout out to Orton for the Cheerleader Toe Touch on his Leap Frog. I dug Orton a lot in this match. I thought he sold well for Christian and worked quite snug. Christian took a lot of this match cutting Orton off with some wicked slaps to the face. First big highspot was Orton hitting his Superplex at about the five minute mark. They were working a good pace. Orton sold the impact of the Superplex well and how it prevented him from making a solid cover. I liked Chistian cutting off Orton with a spinebuster during what felt like a routine Orton comeback and then hit his inverted DDT. It felt like Christian came to play and that Orton would have to earn this victory. Another thing this match did well is incorporating scouting into the match. Orton had the slap on the outside scouted, but Christian had the Hangman DDT scouted. Another one is how Christian got Orton to bite on a feigned crossbody and Orton revealed he was going for an RKO. Christian bided his time and got a Sunset Flip for 2 instead. Great stuff there. The crowd heat was pretty intense for the midcard World Title match it shows that good work does get over. I did pop for Orton busting out the inverted Boston Crab which I have seen only a couple times and they way he got into it was very organic. I dug that a lot. It was around this spot that I realized I was watching something special and got more invested in the match. They hit the finish and they did a great job with escalation. Orton gets the Hangman DDT off a counter to a usual Christian spot. Goes for the RKO but Christian throws him off. Christian wants the Spear as a tribute to Edge. ORTON POWERSLAM! That was great! Babyface Orton has second thoughts about punting Christian's skull and SPEAR by Christian, great nearfall for two. Christian wants his finish, The Unprettier. Orton reverses and BANG! RKO! Christian sells it like a million bucks. I thought this was a real fun babyface vs babyface match. Orton played bit more of the face fighting from underneath, but this was wrestled very straight. I enjoyed the counter-heavy approach and it built to a great crescendo. Lives up to the hype. ****1/4

The Undertaker vs Triple H - WrestleMania XVII The beginning of the match was truly something interesting and dare I say innovative. I'd call it highspot brawling. I'd never seen it really done up until this point. They were doing brawling highspots but with minimal brawling in between. It was war of attrition style brawling centered around big time highspots. I really liked how everything was set up as a counter. I think in current wrestling there are too many hits. Each of the wrestlers have BIG TIME Irish Whips that set then up for wanting to do announce table spots. Each time, they thwarted in dramatic fashion. First HHH tackling Undertaker into a Cole Mine explosion and then HHH taking a hellacious back drop off the announce table. The first person to hit a big time offensive move is Undertaker hits his suicidal tope which I am such a mark for. Then it is right back to the counters as HHH hits a Spinebuster to a running Undertaker through an announce table. This ends Act I. I thought this was really lean, mean highspot-oriented wrestling. I think Act II was where they dragged but it was necessary to get to Act III. Act II is the worst excesses of Pro Wrestling NOAH with none of its connective tissue. I can at least dig the escalation. Chokeslam vs Spinebuster. Chair is introduced by HHH but used against him. Pedigree vs Last Ride. I will say HHH's moves were better set up because they were true counters and had desperation to them. Tombstone ->1-2-NO! HHH DDTs on the Chair and that sets Pedigree #2. I think the selling especially from the Undertaker was really good in this stretch. He sold how incredulous he was that HHH would not stay down and then sold being concussed really well. This ends Act II and now we go to Act III. What separates Pedigree #3 from Pedigree #2 is we all believed Pedigree #3 actually had a chance of winning the match. Now we have entered the part of the match where we actually believe a finish can happen. This is also perhaps the greatest use of WWE Masterpiece Theatre. I think Savage vs Warrior is better, but this is pretty damn great. Undertaker's selling is fucking off the charts. Some of the best selling of all time. He totally has the Old Gunslinger going to out in a Blaze of Glory at the OK Corral down pat. HHH was great at being the remorseless asshole that was basically willing to kill this man dead to win the match. Chairshots were brutal, a protected chair shot to the head. That moment when Undertaker reaches up to choke HHH and HHH does NOT sell. Damn how good was that. How many times have we seen Undertaker use his other worldy powers to vanquish his opponent at the last second. Not today says HHH. Great example of how no selling can be such an effective tool. From there Undertaker has to pull himself up by the ropes. He is staggered on jelly legs with his fists balled up. My God, we are seeing the Undertaker...vulnerable. Fucking brilliant. HHH slashes the throat and hoists him up for the Tombstone nails it! Man Alive that place went fucking nuts! HHH sold it so well. This prompts HHH to get the sledgehammer which is great escalation. Undertaker, The Undertaker, is on his back squirming for the bottom rope trying to pull himself to safety. He is like a giant version of Ricky Morton. Holy shit, selling to another level. Taker gets him in Hell's Gate. Great sell job by Triple H, loved the last ditch pick up of Sledgehammer only to drop it again and then go unconscious. What a finish! Bonus points for Undertaker's after the match. It is very telling Triple H gets to his feet first and walks away first, while Undertaker lays motionless for quite sometime before collapsing off the apron to the floor in a powerful moment. Then they have to cart the Deadman away up the ramp. Wow! Talk about vulnerability and putting the story over! Some of the best character acting in pro wrestling history! They take you on a journey through selling that is sublime. The middle drags this down and does not make sense as the brawling spots were higher end than the middle. That's nitpicking that ending is the cinematic journey that Shawn Michaels always wanted to take you on. ****1/2

Seth Rollins has the best entrance music in all of wrestling, maybe ever. That is a glorious slab of head banging metal. Slipknot wishes it wrote something good. It is the only good thing about him. I don't have many problems with Rollins in-ring that is specific to him. He has a lot of the same problems his peers have. I think he has the Lex Luger problem. He is a better character as a heel, but he is a better in-ring wrestler as a babyface. Rollins is just so lame on the mic as a babyface. I would not follow that dweeb tool anywhere. His bitching that Brock Lesnar is a not a good champion for the brand is just a bunch of smart mark whining. Save it for the marketing meeting, brutha. That's what I feel like is that wrestling has become one big marketing meeting. Wrestlers complain about their adversary not being entertaining enough as the crux of their feud. It is so lame. What happened to personal feuds? What happened to wanting to be the best? C'mon, Rollins beat Brock because he nutshotted him not once, not twice, but three times. What a loser babyface! Good on Brock for bringing it up. Cant remember what promo. It was when Brock has the MITB. Rollins said something about beating him and Brock loudly said "Only because you hit me in the balls". What dumb booking for a babyface. You can claim that a lot of Rollins hate is generated by how he is booked and the content he has to speak, but man he does not make it sound. The only person that can really make WWE speak sound remotely normal and entertaining is Alexa Bliss.

I just saw Mick Jagger give an energetic 2 hour performance at 75 years old, three months after heart valve surgery. I think Dave has at least 15 good years left in him if he wants. I don't think he's going away anytime soon.

Beth Phoenix vs Melina - WWE One Night Stand 2008 I Quit Match A women's match without the title on the line! Wow! I didnt know that happened. Mickie James was champion at this time, FYI. Kadaveri recommended me this match on Twitter after I raved about Beth vs Candice. I got to say I really enjoyed this one. It felt like a really good PWFG match catch wrestling match. They focus almost exclusively on submission holds and there is no weapons. I thought there were a lot of innovative submissions that looked great. One thing, I think is that they dont always cater to the women's strengths in women's matches. They make them wrestle like men, but women have certain physical advantages over men, but they dont take advantage of them. One of those things is that women are more flexible and limber than men. So submissions look a lot cooler and financing on women. The psychology was very sound. Melina was hurling everything she had at Beth while Beth was using raw strength. I liked the immediate Guillotine Choke from Melina and Beth's sell. Beth's backbreaker out of it was gnarly. They were hitting each other hard too. I loved Melina's Mutoh Deathlock Back Bridge. Again more impressive looking because Melina is so flexible. Beth pulling herself to the ref with Melina still holding onto the submission popped me huge. What a cool spot. Then they tumbled out of the ring together! WOW! A lot of good Beth strength spots, but Melina avoids the Glam Slam. She kicks Beth in the ass into the post. She starts working the arm with the ropes. Awesome! FUJIWARA ARMBAR! I AM MARKING OUT! Cross-Armbreaker switch! BETH PICKS HER UP AND THROWS HER ASS DOWN!!! OH FUCK YEAH! GLAM SLAM! THEN SHE BENDS MELINA IN HALF UNTIL SHE SUBMITS FROM THE TORTURE! What a finish! I loved how submission based this was. Melina was a great scrappy underdog with lots of submissions and Beth was Beth just a glorious monster heel that owned it in this match. ****

World Heavyweight Champion Chris Jericho vs Shawn Michaels - No Mercy 2008 The feud so hot that they simply had to put the strap on Jericho. Jericho really floundered when he initially came back in 2007 and this feud saved his career and established him as a main event draw for the rest of his career. Up until this feud, Chris Jericho was a song & dance man. He was great on the stick and very charismatic, but he did not do much in the way of having those truly great matches and hot feuds. This feud with Michaels changed his career and his legacy. I remember at the time clamoring for this feud to extend to Mania. In retrospect, I think it should have been Jericho defending against the chasing John Cena. Have Cena win in his big return match, but drop it back to the nefarious Jericho to set up the heated rubber match at Mania. I always felt like Jericho was Cena's personal job boy. He was on such a roll would have liked to seen more. Anyways on to the match... I had watched this match a lot back in the day because it was on one of the many DVD sets I bought in the pre-Network days. I always remember that king-sized Jericho bump takes on the ladder. I remember thinking this was potentially one of the best ladder matches I have ever seen. I think it falls just short of HBK/Razor Summerslam '95, but this is still a tremendous physical match. Characteristic of many HBK Ladder Matches is the creative yet organic use of the ladder. It begins with Jericho trying to send HBK into the ladder, but he jumps onto it and uses it as a springboard to reverse crossbody Jericho. The match continues the heated exchanges of the previous matches, but it does seem dialed down compared to the Great American Bash and Unforgiven. Those felt more like bar fights. This felt more like a car crash ladder match built around BIG ladder high spots. For example, Shawn dove onto the ladder causing it catapult into Jericho's face busting his lip (and maybe cracking his tooth?). This is similar to spot that broke Mercury's face. I thought they did a great job creating meaningful transitions with the ladder. Michaels control segment on Jericho's knee began with Jericho missing a move and wrenching his knee into the ladder. I thought the knee work was some of the best of the match. It was short and I wished it a more integral part of the match. The best part was again the transition when Jericho kicked the ladder in such a way it spun around and hit Michaels RIGHT IN THE INJURED EYE! It was killing me that there was no blood. Cmon! Alright I just got to let it go. Jericho did a great job targeting the eye. Again, it was the ladder and Michaels sending Jericho into the turned the tide. I thought they took a little long on the HBK/Foley Mind Games spot through a table only to do it from a ladder. It didnt look quite as cool either. I HATE when people do offensive moves on ladder. Elbow drop and Lionsault. Stupid, stupid, stupid. Put the ladder under your opponent! I liked the ladder stopping Sweet Chin Music, did something (Michaels' head or the ladder) hit Jericho's face. He came up clutching his face and his tooth was chipped. Then comes the crazy the spot where Jericho takes that insane bump from the top of the ladder to the floor. I would have shit a brick in my pants if that happened to me. Cade comes to Jericho's aid. SWEET CHIN MUSIC! It is a race to the top. Tug of War over the belt was a great finish. I love the headbutt to the injured eye to give Jericho the win. I feel like this match is more of a standalone match than a continuation of the feud. There was less sense of personal anger and hatred in the match. The eye injury was not a central focus. It got brought and it was used, but it was not the crux of the match. Like you can say the headbutt to the injured eye is what won the match for Jericho, BUT it was not presented as such. I dont know if it was because the heel was going over and they did not want to glorify it too much. I feel like the Unsanctioned Match is the true climax to the feud and this was just tacked on after the fact. This match excels at creating meaningful big time ladder highspots that are memorable and are consequential in the match. I have this a notch below the Bash and Unforgiven matches, but this is still a great capoff for the best blood feud in WWE history. ****1/2

WWE Women's Champion Beth Phoenix vs Candice Michelle - WWE No Mercy 2008 I watched this on a whim and it rocked! Yep, that's right it rocked! No sliding scale, this was legitimately good. I bet Stacey (Jimmy Redman) has already sung this match's praises. I was a pretty big Glamarella mark as it is my favorite style of comedy and Beth was my favorite women's wrestler along with Mickie James, but I think Mickie was already being phased out. This match is built around the fact that Beth injured Candice's shoulder. Beth taunts Candice right at the beginning by trying to touch the shoulder and Candice dropkicks her knee. It was a rapid fire shine. Where Candice was sticking and moving. She was a ball of energy trying to beat the monster quickly. Think of a version of Kobashi vs Hansen. I love Beth's selling. It was a register. It was I cant believe this is happening to me. It was happening so fast she couldn't recover. I love how she would drop to maybe one knee but never take a bump. She was protecting herself and the match integrity. He was creating a mountain for Candice to scale. Candice threw some great forearms. The dropkicks were solid. Of course, the monster Beth eventually catches Candice and squashes her like a bug and then works on the arm. Candice fires up and hits a Hashimoto Spinning Heel Kick for two which is her big climax. Now they hit the finish with Santino. Beth takes a tumble off the top rope and Candice looks poised to win, but Santino yanks Beth out very roughly I may add. Candice hits a baseball slide on Santino. Beth BULLDOZES Candice. Candice took a rough bump. Santino accidentally trips up Beth and Candice schoolboys Beth and I bit! I fucking bit! I actually went "Well the finish sucked" and I popped when Beth kicked out. Give WWE its due they have done so many shitty schoolboy finishes that you actually do bite on them. I mean that as a backhanded compliment. Great finish Candice goes for the UNprettier and Beth turns it into the Glam Slam! for the win! Efficient execution of pro wrestling 101. Great shine! Effective heat segment and strong finish stretch. I would have liked a little more character work from Beth to get herself over as a major heel whether it is heat-seeking taunting or monster shit like a Hansen. I think she was very focused on being a ring general and she looked great. Thumbs up! ***1/2

Shawn Michaels vs Chris Jericho - WWF Unforgiven 2008 Shawn Michaels' amazing 2008 campaign continues as he delivers another triumphant performance in the best blood feud in WWE history. At Great American Bash in July, Jericho bloodied Michaels with a wild back elbow that landed on the injured eye. Jericho ended up winning by TKO after Michaels could not defend himself from the barrage of punches to the open wound. Michaels came out at Summerslam to announce his retirement due to injuries, but Jericho came out and wanted to Michaels to admit it was due to Jericho. Michaels admits the injuries are at the hands of the evil Jericho, but Jericho needs to admit his family and himself that he will never be Shawn Michaels. Oh shit! Jericho goes to haul off and punch HBK, but instead nails his wife in the face. Another awesome angle! Now it is deeply personal as if it was not before! It is all leading up to this Unsanctioned match. Shawn's demeanor in this match is pitch perfect. He is in blue jeans and cowboy boots. He is not here to wrestle. He is here for a fight. Everything is a punch or a strike. He takes off his cowboy boot to whack Jericho in the head with it. He hurls his own body at Jericho. Everything is physical and for maximum damage. There is a great moment where Michaels is making his first comeback. He hits the Flying Burrito, but it is not an inverted atomic drop. He CHOKES Jericho! It is a fight. He is out to maim. I love it. Adding to the list of injuries, Michaels' left elbow has been injured. He misses a chairshot to the head of Jericho instead nailing the post. Jericho takes over. There were two minor complaints about this match. One is I think Jericho could have shown more personality, more sadism, really relish in what he was doing. He was doing some furniture set up. Take a page out of Michaels' playbook and just throw nothing but fists. I thought the first Jericho heat segment was missing some "Oomph". The second was this was just after the "no blood" policy which sucks. Shawn tapped a gusher in July, but could not tap on here. The blood really would have put this over the top in my estimation. After, Michaels first comeback, Jericho as desperation defensive move pulls him into the chair eye first! Where's the blood! Give me that sweet, sweet blood. It is such a shame! Shawn's selling and wild swings are great. Jericho zeroing in on the injury was the best part of his performance. The climax of Jericho's heat segment is the Walls of Jericho. Shawn uses a fire extinguisher to get out. Again, I wish the drama is whether the hold can be applied rather than can he get out of a hold, but that's a problem in American wrestling. Now Michaels is attacking the eyes of Jericho and they brawl up the ramp. Here comes Lance Cade. At first, Michaels is able to fend off both, but eventually succumbs to both. They attack the injured left arm in brutal fashion. Jericho goes to break Michaels' arm but HBK superkicks Cade and then chairshot knocks Jericho off the top rope through a table! My favorite part of the match was Michaels doing one arm swinging of the chair onto Jericho's body. It felt so wild and out of control, truly a man possessed. Loved it. He stacks Jericho and Cade on top of the announce table and drives an elbow drop through both. Michaels comes up fist pumping and the crowd roars. My second favorite part of the match was Michaels whipping Jericho like the dog he is. In my world, brawls should consist of cowboy boots, belts and chairs; on special occasions, powder and fireballs can be included. There is something about the belt that is so apropos for a blood feud. They re-do the Great American Bash finish but this time Michaels wraps his hand with the belt and just pelts Jericho with punches until he is defenseless. The ref calls it for Shawn Michaels. They do a really great job selling the violence of this match. I like the contrast to that elbow drop through an announce table. That's a pro wrestling spots. That's to be celebrated. However, the ending with the belt shots that draw blood and HBK beating Jericho senseless with fists. There is no fist pumping. There is no celebration. He had to go to a cold, dark, scary place. He had to do it for his family and himself and we get it, but we don't like it, quite frankly, Michaels does not like it either. I dig that. Violence of that level should be a last resort. I am glad they are not casual about it. It makes it all mean more. I have to admit I liked the Great American Bash match a bit more. I missed the blood in this match and I thought there were couple too many WWE weapons tropes (fire extinguisher, furniture decoration) that undercut the gravity of the match just slightly. This was an amazing Shawn Michaels performance who came to FIGHT! I am looking forward to the ladder match, which I remember loving. ****1/2

Brutha, I fucking love that you went the fully month on this. I am not quite that high, but this is a fucking badass match that does not get talked about enough. Shawn Michaels vs Chris Jericho - Great American Bash 2008 The trilogy of the best WWE Blood Feud begins here. They had a great match at Judgment Day, but that was just a place setting. Jericho has gone full heel in memorable fashion by smashing Michaels' face into the Jeritron 5000 severely injuring his eye. Michaels retaliated by costing Jericho the Intercontinental Championship. Now we are here. Up until this point, this is easily the best Jericho singles match of his career. Michaels has had three all-time great years: 1986, 1997 and 2008. He is in the midst of an amazing run and it is a true testament to how good he was that all three of those years are in different decades. There is a lot to love about this match and it is shocking how overlooked this match is. I think it is because it overshadowed by the two matches that follow. I love physical this is, how uncooperative and how much they had to earn their offense. There was no wrestling at all. It was just forearm shivers and knees. I loved Jericho throwing knees right off the bat. Michaels comes back with some head rocking forearms, but he is grabbing those ribs. I love it. He knows he is injured so he tries to get out of Dodge quick. Chopblock and an inverted Figure-4 summarily follows. I love it. When the rope break happens, Michaels is tenacious on pressing his advantage, but the ref keeps separating him. Eventually this allows Jericho to make to his feet, he whips Michaels hard into the corner and Michaels does the Flair Flip. Jericho does his patented springboard dropkick and Michaels takes a hellacious bump on the apron. I love how Jericho sells his knee on the Irish Whip and through the dropkick. He knows it is going to hurt but he has to do it. I like how he gradually recovers during his heat segment. Michaels does a great job selling the ribs and peppering in hope spots. The Enziguiri was a great cut off and cover by Jericho. I love how Michaels had to earn his comeback. It was not just given. Cut off by a Walls of Jericho. Fighting through the pain for the kip up. Fighting Jericho off for the Top Rope Elbow. Jericho was great as he started to move from the body to the eye. After the Walls, Michaels went for a surprise Sweet Chin Music (makes sense he was losing badly, needed to go for the Knockout Blow), Jericho blasted him in the face. Once he earned the Top Rope Elbow, Michaels went for Sweet Chin Music and now that's when you get the chicanery. Lance Cade, Shawn Michaels' student turned Chris Jericho disciple, distracts Michaels who knocks him out. You get the big biel over the top rope as Jericho wipes out Cade. The Michaels top rope moonsault to the floor knocking out both guys is the climax for the babyface. We definitively got to the babyface Michaels triumphant. Just when it looked like he take it home, Jericho throws a wild elbow in a waistlock that connects with the injured eye and busts Michaels wide open. What a glorious moment. Five alarm blade job from Michaels. I love how Jericho sells it he does not even know. Only back in the ring, he sees it and is astonished. After a few seconds of that, he BLASTS Michaels with a right punch to the cut. It was amazing. Michaels sold his ass off. Jericho worked the cut like a vicious heel, not just punches by kicks and great headbutts. Great trash talk by Jericho even Cade got in a shot on the open wound for extra heat. I really liked the one last ditch hope spot for Michaels, Jericho is trash talking and Michaels wrestles him down by the arm and puts him in a crossface. Too little, too late. Jericho makes the ropes and just relentlessly attacks the eye until the ref has not choice to call it because Michaels cant defend himself. Another reviewer mentioned this and nailed it, this is some great Lawler/Memphis stuff. The fundamental body of the match that is efficient and lean. Everything is earned and makes sense. You get to see Michaels overcome both the ribs and Cade interference. Only to lose on a wild elbow. Then we kick in the big time, bloody Memphis angle that is going to draw big money. I have seen the two re-matches and love them both, but now I am really looking forward to them. This is the best work of Jericho's career and right up there with the best of Michaels. ****3/4

Rey Mysterio vs Eddie Guerrero - Summerslam 2005 Ladder Match Im a big proponent of more personal issues. Rollins bitching about how Lesnar is not good for the brand should be left in a marketing meeting in a conference room not a kick ass pro wrestling show. This crossed the line into the ludicrous. What court would actually accept that the custody of a child would be decided in a ladder match. There should be a happy medium between the two. i thought this was a very entertaining ladder match lots of vicious spots with Rey taking the lion share of the bumps. The finish fell very flat to me. Vickie Guerrero won the match for Rey. It wasn't even Vickie districts Eddie and Rey hits a move. Vickie pushed over the ladder and Rey won. They also certainly loved their Sunset Flip Powerbombs. There were three, the second was a crazy botch that was dangerous. I really liked Rey's offense. Did a great job incorporating the ladder. I think the Dominic distraction was a given and necessary should have set up the Rey win instead of using Vickie which undercut Rey and didn't gives us that satisfying ending to the feud. This feud is really all about Judgement Day and that June Smackdown match after that it peters out. This was a great Rey performance. ***1/2

Hulk Hogan vs Shawn Michaels - Summerslam 2005 You know I don't think I have ever seen this match before, which is surprising because I really loved the build to this match. I think one of the big missed opportunities for the WWE consistently since 2002 has been the build to the dream matches. In a lot of ways, once WWE purchased WCW, it became a dream match company and it really hasn't deviated from this and thats why finally in 2019 it is finally coming back to bite them. WWE knows the dream matches sell themselves so for the most part they don't put much effort into the build. I thought the build to this was phenomenal and it is still something my brother and I reminisce about. 1997 Shawn is one of my all-time favorite characters and for one month in 2005 we got him back. The stuff about teasing Bret in Montreal was fucking legendary. The heel heat was fucking nuclear. The shit with Larry King was amazing. The promos were great. The callbacks to 1997 and "Whatcha Gonna Do When The Heartbreak Kid Doesn't Lay Down For You" was such money. Hogan was great at being Hogan in all this. I remember really wanting to see the match, but it kind has been forgotten about except for Shawn's bumping, which some claim is exaggerated and overdone. That's basically all I knew about the match was that Shawn was being a ham. I am glad I watched this after I have immersed myself in 1980s American pro wrestling because I would have not appreciated it as much in 2005. This was Shawn Michaels doing a 1989 Hulk Hogan as the big bumping stooge heel. This is the match Mr. Perfect should have had with The Hulkster. The key difference was that Michaels got the offense and cheated his ass off to add to the drama. He was not just a pinball for Hogan but he through relentless cheating actually looked poised to defeat Hogan. The beginning was great with HBK establishing early this was going to be a big bumping match out of the lock up. Then it became a combination of Michaels bumping for Hogan's stock spots and Michaels doing his stock stooge spots. I love that spot he does on the turnbuckle laid out and then ends up getting crotched. It is such good camp. I think a lot of "serious" pro wrestling fans miss the point of camp and that pro wrestling is supposed to be fun. The 1980s were very campy and this is a call back to that era. What makes this better than the usual Hogan match from the 80s is how hard Michaels does work to try win and there are moments of real tension. When he was going around smacking Hogan in the face, it really got a rise out of me. I have never seen Hogan slapped and repeatedly. Michaels set up the payoff so ready and when Hogan finally let him have the big hammock and Michaels bumped on the apron I popped huge. As I said previously, it was Michaels' will to win that separated this match from Hogan's 80s fare. There are eye pokes, steel ring post, dogged punching until he busts Hogan open, ball shot and a chair shot. They use every bell and whistle to hook you in. I really like how they used the persistent punches to cut Hogan open rather than the ring post. It showed Michaels earned it. What a crimson mask! It looked gnarly. I liked that they teased the Hogan comeback twice, first the Sleeper and then after the elbow drop. The ref bumps were well used to increase the drama. If Bret had come out during the Sharpshooter, the roof would have blown off the place. It would have been insane. The ballshot and chairshot were huge. Then they build perfectly to the finish everyone knows. Elbow Drop->Sweet Chin Music->1-2-KICK OUT! I knew the kick out was coming, but boy did I pop. That was a glorious Hulk Up! Absolutely terrific Shawn Michaels performance that was a throwback to the 1980s and all Hulk Hogan had to be was Hulk Hogan and this had me smiling ear-to-ear. I love pro wrestling. ****1/4