Migs

Glad he was able to reconcile with WWE and get some of the love he deserved. A star of a sort that can't be matched.

http://www.wwe.com/article/bruno-sammartino-passes-away?sf187243454=1

Hey, just wanted to quickly plug that season 2 of my podcast has mostly dropped (although we still have a few more to go). The episode on Savage v. Hogan is my favorite one we've done - we really dig into the way we responded to those characters as kids and now. Episodes are here: http://theatlantictransmission.com/podcast/the-best-there-ever-was-2/ (And also iTunes, Google Play, iHeartRadio, Stitcher, etc.)

The other shift is that I think fans are super aware now that you buy the shirt to support the wrestler / band, since album sales (getting paid by promotions who sell shows) have been killed by streaming.

I watched it because I was up late with my newborn and needed something on. I nodded off at a few points. If they'd brought that gauntlet down to 20 minutes or so, it could have been fun, but there was no need for it be 35.

They don't necessarily need Miz to take the title - they could flip Jeff Hardy over to Smackdown with the US title tonight.

So this week's show is skippable? The end of the taping cycle usually is.

Was curious to see what Corino and Tajiri were up to with ECW running so few dates around this time. Here, they're doing a standard garbage brawl. While it's always fun to see Corino stooge for Tajiri and inevitably stain his blond hair red, there's really not much to this one other than weapon shots. The RF Video-level camerawork is a killer for any parts on the outside, and even misses the finish (which I think was Corino blocking a Tajiri charge with a garbage can and getting a roll up, but it was hard to tell). Very skippable.

It appears that in a different promotion we've flipped roles for Punk and Pearce, with Punk now being the heel. Instead of comedy to open, Punk cuts an intense promo (hard to hear, though), and they go straight to a brawl. Pearce leads the crowd in a "Pepsi sucks!" chant. They work a totally different style than their last match, with the focus here on work outside the ring and some big spots - a pile driver on a table by Pearce, for example. Pearce even busts out a top rope pedigree (which I believe is what would become Punk's Pepsi Plunge). The crowd eats it up. It's a good indication of how these guys are improving that they can work two totally different matches within days of each other, both tuned to the crowd they're in front of. Not something I'd call must see on its own, but a good companion to their other match.

Yeah, I get a lot of pixelation on the archive shows. The only reason to subscribe to ROH right now is to stream the current shows.

This one hits at a core point in a match being 5* - this match is all about your emotional investment in it. If you care, that match is great and has held up as 5* on rewatch. It's tuned to the way the fans react and the emotion in that room. But I can see not being engaged and finding that match to be just fine.

That would probably be my pick. How is this lesser than the PWG spotfest mentioned in the initial post? Bucks-Lovers is a well-constructed match with serious emotion behind it. The PWG match is a fun spotfest.

This would go on to become a pretty big matchup on the indies, and this may be the first of them. Loved the creativity in the early matwork, like Ki using a split to escape Xavier holding his foot. This isn't super high level yet, but pretty fun. The dragon sleeper is way over for Ki now, and he can find cool ways into it. Thought this was a worthwhile watch.

Pearce is definitely the heel here, as he's really going after the crowd in his entrance. Odd vibe, as the lighting gives everything an orange glow. Punk is in smiling babyface mode, which I don't think would last much longer. Funny bit at the start where the ref finds a series of weapons on Pearce. Punk steals Pearce's shirt and puts it on - they're full in on the gaga. Lot of stalling, but it provides some nice energy when they actually do touch. Unfortunately, the camera work here is pretty bad, and we lose sight of the action with some frequency. They do some simple but effective brawling outside - a Pearce clothesline puts Punk through several rows of chairs. From there, the pace picks up pretty nicely. Finish sees some interference from Colt Cabana lead to Pearce getting the pin. Really solid match and a good marker if you're following Punk's development.

Apparently they were taking this match around the horn, as it's just a few weeks after a Dog Collar match in the FWA. This one has a faster start, which I liked. Bad Crew still throws pretty terrible punches for guys that are primarily brawlers. I like that a fan lets one of the Bad Crew use what appears to be his legit cane as a weapon. This one builds a bit by wandering into a bar area in the venue (it looks like we may be in a VFW or Knights of Columbus). This one ends up going a bit longer than the FWA match and suffers for it, as it's really all just repetitive weapon shots. Bad Crew hits their finisher, but get attacked by the Backseat Boyz. This leads to Mafia power bombing one Bad Crew through the other through a table in a nice climactic spot. Watchable but not recommended.

This sounds like the perfect work from home Friday afternoon.

Fascinating to see Ki so well positioned here. He gets more of the offense and looks pretty good, although he doesn't hit the handspring kick cleanly (bigger ring issue?). Wonder if something about his performance or attitude kept them from moving further with him, given how well they treat him in this match.

I thought this was mostly pretty slow and dull. Bad Crew throws awful punches, but I did like their finisher. Hit Squad were solid here but they couldn't elevate their opponents; they'd have much better brawls in the future, though.

It's really cool to see Punk finally land on the classic look, after all the variations we've seen this year. The other outfits all very specifically date this to 1999-2000. The match is just a total indyriffic mess. They're trying, but the pacing is all off, and a lot of it feels sloppy. Weak stuff.

I thought this one was hurt a bit by the camera angles - made some of the cool spots, like Ki stopping the dive with a kick, or the Phoenix Splash, hard to see. But this definitely is starting to feel like the modern style we'd see over the next few years, with the mix of grappling, striking, and high spots. The finish stunk, though.

This was fun and WWE should consider the occasional Speed Rumble as a Raw main event or something.

It's always a little weird to see Shane do the act he perfected with Francine with Torrie. Booker's a bit sloppy early on, which hurts this. Tremendous WCW camera work completely misses a trip spot. Shane is pretty solid but vanilla in control here. The finish is a schmitz with some decent ideas behind it, but such poor camera work again that we miss key points. Nice to see Shane getting past the injuries to have better performances, but the match isn't much to write home about.

I keep reading the reviews of Dragon's matches waiting for them to get another long showcase, and I'm glad it finally comes here. I like the fluidity of the opening matwork. They keep up a pretty nice pace, which feels plausible because the moves are pretty low impact. They slow it down a bit once Dragon hits the big reverse suplex. Dragon bows at one point before a low dropkick, which was odd. There's a very cool spot where Dragon tries to knock Spanky off the top rope and Spanky leaps to avoid it and lands cleanly, still on the ropes. This never seems to fully take off, although it's sort of impressive for them at this point that they can have a nice match without emptying the arsenal - big area of improvement over the course of the year.

How does this make that shitty booking make sense? If part of the deal with the Saudis was a title change on the show.

That show was way too long. My podcasting partner had a coffee at 11:30 and then went home after Kenny v. Cody - we were so spent. The Bully Ray angle might have been okay (although I don't get the point of turning a guy who'd been a perfectly fine part of the TV show in his role) but not over three hours into the show. I thought Kenny v. Cody was pretty good and really liked the finish on the assumption that they're building to something else with it. Cody is reaching a really glorious megalomaniacal point here and it's a joy. I did watch the main event and thought it was fine, might have even been good without the burn out. Another championship level performance from Castle. Would be happy to see them go again after a show that's slightly shorter than 4 1/2 hours.