Cap

I am not on the twitter machine... is it getting lots of love there?

Made it to the Kernoble Cup - Night 2 last night and it was absolutely bonkers fun. CWF really put together a strong, logical, and entertaining tournament. It as booked beautifully. I didn't get to see night one, but a coherent two night tournament seems like it is really in CWF's wheelhouse, so I imagine there were some good throwbacks to that and solid coherence through the weekend. This was my first introduction to a number of these teams and individuals and I was really impressed, particularly with the Carnies. The tag tournament was fun and really good, but everything sits in the shadow of the Chip Day vs Trevor Lee title match. What a fucking match... christ. I have been to my share of shows and that was one of the best live matches I have ever seen. I was jumping out of my seat marking out, legit buying some of the false finishes they were selling. They way they used momentum and crowed expectation at the end to add wrinkles was just outstanding. So good. I'll have to see it again, but I would be surprised if this wasn't my MOTY so far once I do. I can't wait for this to hit the interwebs. I am going to do a write up on it later, so I may return to throw some of the high points of the evening on here.

My buddy is going to 10 shows over the weekend or something stupid like that. He lurks here for the most part and since I didn't write it I will just plug what he did. He posted a rundown of what he is doing and looking forward to on our blog (link in sig). I will probably watch a decent amount of Evolve this weekend and obvious Takeover and Mania. It should be a load of fun.

I don't know. I think those kinds of wrestlers are uniquely set up to give Brock something different and great. Brock/Punk was pretty great in my mind and I still believe Bryan/Brock would have been epic. I don't think they would feed styles to Brock for a squash.

I quite liked the Hero/Roode match. I think it is a testament to Hero and how the dude just has a high floor right now. Roode wasn't carried or anything. I am not a huge fan or anything, but I don't dislike him and I thought he was actually really stepping up in this match and the Nak match. i get those who think he is boring, but they got the most out of him as a big match guy in these last two Sure, this was somewhat long, but it didn't both me. It kept me interested. I am not super excited by the Nak/Roode rematch. Roode is a guy that just doesn't get me pumped, but he has over-delivered (with respect to my expectations) lately, so I assume this match will be pretty good. Their first one was probably better than anything form the Joe/Nak feud. I hope they do a super match send off for Nak (against Hero) like they did for Zayn (against Nak), maybe at the next takeover.

Cool... I don't really know what yall look like. I'll be in a Dominic Garrini "Bone Collector" shirt. Hopefully we can cross paths.

I would be ok with Brock getting some real momentum back with a full year as champ. The rosters are such that he could have 7 or 8 really compelling matches that keep him interesting and really establish his reign as something special. I would even have him beat Reigns at Summer Slam (or earlier) in a competitive match that Brock winds up winning somewhat convincingly (giving Reigns a month or two off). It would make sense to book that close after Mania if Reigns goes over taker. If they really do bring Styles over they could do Styles/Brock at SummerSlam as well. Between Reigns, Rollins, Balor, Owens, Styles (maybe), Joe and with a little work Zayn and Cesaro there are plenty of options to keep Brock's potential year LONG run fresh and compelling before Reigns finally bests him.

Yep.... just watched it this morning and gave it **** as well. The grappling and transitions were great. The sprinkling in of big moves was done well. You can tell they are both rookies. There are a few slightly clunky places, but you can also almost see their confidence building as the match goes on. Things get a little more fluid as they really open it up. I am really hoping we get a rematch down the road.

Was there live and did a little review off live watching memory. I haven't watched it on tape yet but this was the standout match of the evening for me. I'll likely come back once I do but live this came off as something different, with lots of fantastic transitions and grappling with real urgency behind it. I was a Justice fan before the match but I left a believer in both guys.

I got my tickets for night two of the Kernodle cup a few days ago and they just recently announced Chip Day vs Trevor Lee. Now that is something to look forward to. This is the kinda match that gets the kids jumping up and buzzing MOTY before it even happens, especially if you saw them together in the 6 pack challenge match. I am really looking forward to this show.

I actually just watched this today and looked to see if anyone else had chatted it up after I wrote my review. I am right there with both reviews so far. Fuck yea, I liked this match A LOT. Cota is incredible. I have only seen a hand full matches of him at this point but I haven’t seen a bad Mocho Cota performance. He is such a bad ass killer; even when he is being more comical he seems crazy and dangerous. Cota jumps Casas before he gets in the ring while he is still wearing an incredible (almost already out of date) denim jacket. Casas is beat bloody in about 30 seconds and he is selling like he legit has no idea what hit him or what to do about it. It isn’t just a wild brawl either, Cota is working on the ankle and knee. Casas’ comebacks are dramatic and really well timed. He is still on the defensive most of the match, but he picks away at the monster putting a beating on him and ultimately eeks out a win. After getting his knee blown out in the first fall, Casas wins the second all via low blow DQ and then gets a pin by a hair (which comes across somewhat awkward and a touch abrupt).While the ending isn’t the greatest thing I think it fits with the match, Casas stealing away with a win despite having his ass handed to him most of the match. The match is really and truly great. It never quite hits that last gear to get to the 5 star mark for me, though it is close. I think it's a combination of the pace and the ending being just enough to keep it at 4.75, still nothing to balk at. ****3/4

They had a much better match 3 years later in WCW at the Great American Bash. Savage in '92 was not at his best. Ohh yeah, clearly this wasn't their best match and I am still not sure we ever saw the match they were capable of, but I think that match is still worth a mention. Still it is pretty easily - at best - Savage's third best Mania match.

I was actually going to mention Flair/Savage. It is one that I have really fond memories of, but it didn't hold up quite as well for my tastes last time I watched it. Still, I sort of missed it when I made my working top 10. It might actually sneak into #9 or #10 for me. It really was a great overall product. The sum was greater than the parts, for sure.

I have to agree with stro (and those of a similar opinion). Hogan was certainly unoffensive in the match. Sure there were a few spots where his lack of mobility was obvious, but for the most part he did exactly what he needed to do for the match and those fans. Plus, it isn't like he went over. Everything Hogan could give still wasn't enough to pin The Rock. I am not really a huge fan of either guy, but this match was spot on for what they needed to do. Like I said, it doesn't crack my top 10, but it makes sense to me as a pick.

Just rewatched Hogan/Rock and it is pretty great. I don't think it cracks my top 10, but it is close just based on the drama they are able to create, harnessing the energy from the crowd. That really was a special match in a lot of ways and one of my favorite Rock performances. I also rewatched Flair/Taker from that same card and that was a deceptively fun little match. I didn't remember liking it all that match, but this time around I thought it was put together quite well. I also looked back and I actually must not have watched 17 recently (don't have a rating for it - its the only way I can keep things straight in my mind sometimes). I must have lumped it in with the other two in my memory after going back and watching them. I'll have to add that to the list soon.

That is a good list. Nothing too out of wack of offensive to my delicate sensibilities really. I had the top three in that order and most of the top 12-15 in that zone, just switched up. Bouncing off the early conversation I had Nigel one ahead of Aries and that is how it played out. Yeah, that match is bonkers good. It isn't my favorite ROH match as I have a few pretty highly rated myself, but it is way up there, top 10 for sure, if not top 5. It is probably the most brutal version of Joe vs Ki i can think of. They have other matches later in their careers that are a bit more polished, but this was a MAN contests between these two and it still has me jumping out of my seat when I watch it.

Roughly my list would look like this. 1. Austin/Hart 2. HHH/Bryan 3. Owen/Bret 4. Savage/Warrior 5. Savage/Steamboat 6. Brock/Reigns 7. Punk/Taker 8. Taker/HBK 26 9. Taker/HBK 25 10. Cena/HBK The top 5 of that I feel pretty comfortable with. The bottom 5 are a bit tighter, maybe more in flux. I actually haven't watched Rock/Hogan since the night of, but have been meaning to. The Austin/Rock matches don't hold up as well to me. I watched them again in the last few months and just didn't love them.

Remember when Rusev rode a TANK to the ring to face John Cena at Wrestlemania? Jesus... getting beat by the Big Show in a segment designed to start a feud with Jinder Mahal might be the actual opposite of that.

I was literally just thinking this. This segment is taking up a lot of time, so I am not expecting much out of the main.

Joe vs Zayn was what it was supposed to be, and in turn it was quite enjoyable. The match was well executed with little splashes of dynamic moves that really stood out. That straight right looked really good. It was a Joe showcase, but they played up Zayn's heart and determination.

Why? I don't think people want to see long Goldberg matches. It's all about his aura of being a destroyer. I don't care if he wins the title tonight or not but I don't want to see him wrestle Kevin Owens for twenty minutes nor Brock at Wrestlemania. That's what they tried to do with him his first time around in WWE and it sucked. He's not really made for long matches. Because he is eventually going to have to wrestle Brock at Mania and unless they are planning on making that a squash he might want to go through some of the motions of having a match in front of an audience at some point. I said 10-ish minutes with Owens doing most of the work wit distractions and hellishness, not an iron man match. You are right, no one wants 20 minute Goldberg matches, me included; I just don't want to see him come in and run through Owens. Aside from how much it frustrates me from a booking standpoint (another story for another day), Goldberg running over the roster is just not appealing to me. It is the kind of booking my friends who stopped watching at the tail end of the Attitude Era would book between beers the one night they come over to watch wrestling a year. They got the surprise with him squashing Brock, so I hope they give us a surprise with something other than a 2 minute squash here.

Ugh... I do not want to see Goldberg squash Owens. I suspect it will happen. I suspect Jericho might be involved early, but I really don't want to see a squash match. I know a lot of people here don't care for Owens much, but I am confident he could walk Goldberg through a 10 -15 minute match where Goldberg more or less looks dominant, but Owens makes it competitive with heel tactics, stalling, and street smarts. I am hoping for AT LEAST that. They really need to get Goldberg in a real match setting for more than 2 minutes before Wrestlemania. Looking forward to the card on the whole. It should be fun. I am really interested to see where they go with Zayn/Joe, hoping that one or both of them is going to be doing something other than a ladder match or a battle royal at Mania.

I should rephrase, they can and should have put more people over him in meaningful ways perhaps, used him more strategically. I guess it is easy to say they could have helped make more stars along the way - and they probably could have - but I guess when I think about it, they have used him fairly well to add some legitimacy here and there all the while really protecting him long term first and foremost. Like I said Cena's evolution into Mr. WWE is one of the most coherent long term things they have done and it at least in some ways has paid off.

for sure.... they can and should be putting more guys over Cena. They can and should have used him more effectively to make stars. I just don't think him saying people aren't on his level in promos has quite the same detrimental effect it would have in yesteryears because of the current wrestling climate. Ultimately, I agree, the way they use Cena on the whole has its flaws and my original point about how the WWE being at its best when it gets people in invest differently doesn't always shine brightest through Cena, even though that is where they commit to that kind of story telling the most (for better or worse), for those reasons.

I agree for the most part and maybe this is me not really being able to put myself in the shoes of other fans, but I don't think in today's wrestling there is really the risk of Cena convincing fans that his opponents are nobodies. Part of the reason it works to a degree is that in the world that Cena represents these guys were nobodies for a long time and for their fans its a jab that stings, even if they don't believe its true. Cena absolutely should give his opponents a little more, but that is precisely why he is a heel to a lot of people. This goes back to my original point that he should never be a face because he already inspires massive fan investment in this other way that is disconnected from the heel/face dynamic. The ultimately problem is that Cena comes out of far too many of these going over in a big big way and the win/loss story aligns with his narrative a little too much, but we live in a goldfish WWE universe. Things are forgotten about fairly quickly, reset, glossed over and the machine keeps moving. That is far more my problem with the WWE, the lack of coherent long term stories. If anything Cena's evolution into Mr. WWE, the unstoppable smiling face with company at his back, is one of the longest stories they have maintained and him returning to those tropes kinda holds his king of the mountain story together over a long period of time. Will they pay it off one day? I doubt it. I do wish they switched it up with him, of course, got more creative with how they execute his stories and feuds, but the WWE universe is fragmented as it is and Cena's Mr. WWE thing keeps working for what they want.