Migs

Even by PR standards, this is a lot of blood, but there's not much to the match otherwise. Basic chain match stuff. It undercuts the upset aspect when Jovica dominates so much of the match. **

It appears Embry's valet Sasha is now with Invader, and Embry is fired up. Love his exclamations. This is a pretty fun brawl, topped with the piledriver on a table. Embry's response to Invader kicking out of the piledriver later in the match is spectacular. With the one camera and the crowd brawling, this feels very proto ECW. Emery bleeds a gusher. They really love this double countout finish here, but otherwise this was great. ***1/4

This starts off like a pretty standard version of their match, although the violence does seem to escalate a bit. The pencil spots, with Abby's blood literally splattering on the camera definitely unique. The camera man doesn't bother to clean it, which really re-enforces the violence. Colon controls so much that it's a bit like he's trying to kill a zombie, if that makes sense. Colon dominating so much just didn't work for me for some reason. Were they trying to indicate that Colon had stayed the beast once and for all? If so, it didn't quite seem climactic enough. Were they trying to put Abby over as a babyface for the future? Either way, I'm not as high on this as others, but maybe some of the Extras will provide context that increases my appreciation. ***

Knowing what happens a couple of years after, it is so, so weird to watch this. Interesting to see the fans closer to the ring for this one, which I had assumed they had been avoiding for potential riot reasons. The double countout into the fans carrying Invader on their shoulders was a bit odd, and again, lack of a finish hurt a bit. ***

I generally don't like scaffold matches, but I like here that the platform seems a bit wider, so the balance of the wrestlers is a bit better, which allows stuff like Invader's drop kick. They still stick mostly to a brawl, but keep a good pace. I didn't like Chicky thinking Invader had gone down - it strained credibility. Wouldn't he have seen him hold on? Wouldn't he have assumed he held on if he didn't hear him land? ***

I liked the energy on this. A lot of fun. Liked Abby coming in for brief spurts. Good brawl all the way through, and a clean finish. ***1/4

Bit of an odd story, where the heel Embry is the one coming in hurt. Fast start, and then the RPM shine segment, which is kinda dull. Liked the quick tease of a heat segment before hitting the real one. Loved Hugo saying "testicle." The real heat segment is pretty good. Not sure who this Crusher is, but he's pretty decent, and Embry is really good. Loved the chin lock / figure-four combo. Dug the finish, with the tease on Embry's piledriver as the ref was putting Davis out of the ring, and then the switch playing on how Davis and Lane look basically the same. Giant pop for the end. Miss Wrestling Puerto Rico did not look like she was having much fun. ***1/2

This was another tag match in a series that was pretty okay but wasn't a standout. I did like Ron Starr's brain buster at the end, as it was pretty sweet. Match seemed way too short for a time limit draw. **

Good big v. little dynamic, but this is pretty paint by numbers. Decent heat. I guess Tommy Lane is the worker of the RPMs, as he takes most of the match again. Finish was botched, though, which hurt. **

Watching Total Bellas, and Daniel Bryan talking about the style he would have used to wrestle Brock made me deeply sad that we never got to see that.

First time seeing the RPMs, and this is a full-on RnR Express tribute. Match was standard and fine. **

Dig the shot of the ref getting in between them to take the fork away. Dedication! I like the progression (I presume) of Colon deciding to use his own fork to deal with Abby. Again, love Colon's comeback, even if it's mostly just punching and kicking. The body slam looked cool, and the butt drop was nice too. Two separate ref bumps. Oh great, a Dusty finish. Still can't totally get into these Colon-Abby matches. **1/2

Good start to this, and then LeDuc takes over and it gets grizzly. The barbed wire in the mouth was, uh, something. Particularly crazy because no one's ringside! There's no way the fans can see Colon spitting up blood. Love Colon's cartwheel in the comeback, it's like a Hulk Up but somehow way better. Finish felt like it came a little too quick, but this was pretty fun. ***1/4

This is a very energetic Kamala to start. Really liked the overall pacing of the match - the blows land and mean something, but there's no resting, no preening, just two guys going after each other. Hard to rate it too highly given the length, but I liked it. ***

The way the sound on this one mutes the crowd really took me out of it. Like the ECW style brawl to start, before they moved into a solid heat segment. Colon is awesome taking the hot tag, and it really kicks up a level after that. Finish felt like it could have been a little better, but fun all the way through. The music on top of the post-match brawl is hilarious. ***

Didn't see a thread for this. He was 66. http://www.wwe.com/article/frenchy-martin-passes-away

Didn't see a thread for this. He was 66. http://www.wwe.com/article/frenchy-martin-passes-away

I love Embry's shirt. Interesting to see him without a gut or a beard. Emery plays a good stooge, but we know what a hot Puerto Rico crowd looks like, and this is not it. There's a really bad cut from Embry controlling with a chin lock to Invader in control with Embry bleeding. Man, is this match slow. Invader is controlling by moving from hold to hold, with very little happening in between and the holds not really building - he works the knee, then locks on a head scissors. Embry's selling is good, though. Emery hits the piledriver and it doesn't seem like a big deal? The match just sort of continues. The dive is great, for sure, and then we just get a countout. Okay then. Not feeling this at all. **1/4

The extended armbar felt antithetical to the beatdown that preceded it. The pacing just felt really off in that regard. The comeback is heated but only okay, and then Starr just walks off. Fun but not great. **1/4

Maybe they're trying to get in on a bankruptcy proceeding so they'd get a cut of the sale of the streaming rights?

THIS is what I was imagining from the Sheepherders. Heated, intense brawl. One dude has a coal miner’s glove. I like that this stipulation is basically just beating the shit out of a guy until they can’t move - nothing cutesy at all. ***1/2 Going to get more verbose with these comments for Disc 2, since we have the threads up. (Watched Disc 1 a while ago.)

This just felt like Flair-Dusty, with the new setting adding something visually but not really changing much about the actual match. ***

Weird wipe edits. Punch, choke, punch choke. Decent enough. **1/4

Colon’s entrance looks like a non-staged version of the Hulk Hogan’s Rock’n’Wrestling intro. Absolutely incredible. The problem with Abby as an opponent for Colon is that he doesn’t seem to make use of Colon’s energy, which is what impressed me so much about watching him against Flair and Tully. Why did Dillon juice? Why am I going to watch so many Abby matches? **1/4

They really use the wire a ton - props for not covering up, but maybe the barbs aren’t that sharp? They seemed very willing to roll in them. Bloody brawl. They do use the ropes a bit, which helps the actual wrestling aspect as compared to other barbed wire matches. Not a ton to it other than the blood. **1/2