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cactus

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Everything posted by cactus

  1. cactus
    This was tag team psychology worked to perfection. Shawn starts this one out and gets some shine in. He gets a few near-falls in before he is driven headfirst into the ring post and bleeds a gusher. Shawn starts losing blood quickly and it's up to him to tag out or The Midnight Rockers will have to kiss their tag title shot goodbye. I used to find people who thought that Rockers Shawn was better than 2000s Shawn to be insane, but this match showed me what a hell of an undersized ass-kicker Shawn could be when the odds were stack against him. He throws some mean desperation shots trying to tag out and the crowd erupts when he finally gets to Marty. That was one of the most perfect hot tag segments ever. Marty also starts to bleed and all kinds of pandemonium breaks loose before the referee has to throw this one out. ★★★★★
  2. cactus
    In the first few exchanges, they establish everything you need to know about this match. Bryan's shoulder is naff and these two aren't afraid to bully each other and get nasty. Bryan starts to heel things up when he gains control and he is amazing at being a smug asshole who takes joy in hurting people. His reaction to the fans teasing him about botching a Mexican Surfboard was golden. Although I've seen this before, the finishing stretch had me on the edge of my seat with some of the most convincing near falls I've ever seen. This was incredible! ★★★★★
  3. cactus
    The commentator going on about this is a blood feud and it's not being about athleticism as London lands a crisp standing backflip tickled me more than it should have. London plays the sympathetic babyface well and Shane does a serviceable job at being the cocky heel. Some of the spots here are still mind-blowing. They seem to toss out the face/heel divide during the final moments so that they could get more shit in, but some of the final ladder spots are so incredible that I can easily forgive it. This match made London a star with the ROH faithful and the match itself holds up surprisingly well. ★★★★
  4. cactus
    Yeah, this was hard to watch. Nigel eating a full-force suicide dive that causes him to crash head-first into the barricade was disgusting and it took me out of the match for a while. They really shouldn't have been doing stuff like that so soon after the Benoit tragedy. Thankfully this happened in the first few minutes of the match and they were able to win me back with some excellent mat-work. Aries and McGuinness are pros at making their mat wrestling look flashy and still have it feel like a struggle where each man is trying to gain an advantage. The go-home stretch is molten-hot here with many signature moves being countered, Arie's bumps like a maniac for Nigel's stiff lariats. The fans turning on Nigel for taking time off to heal his injuries didn't sit well with me, but this is a stellar ROH title match that's rife with good mat-work, stiff blows, and a generous helping of psychology. ★★★★½
  5. cactus
    A bloody grudge match that outwore it's welcome in the final third. Generico is a fantastic seller and Steen is a total bully here, although he did veer a bit too much into comedy when he was beating Generico down during his long control segment. They were able to work their indy high-spots into this seamlessly and they didn't look a hair out of place. Steen licking Generico's blood off his hands was a horrific sight that added a lot to the match. The final minutes feature way too much over-booking with multiple run-ins and referee bumps, but the wicked chair shot to the head was a perfect way to wrap this up. ★★★½
  6. cactus
    This is a great slow-burner NWA mat classic that broke down into a brawl as the match progressed. The first fall sees a lot of focused mat-work, with single holds lasting for literal minutes, but they are able to keep things interesting as it always feels like they are working towards something. Tension builds up and they are soon chopping and punching each other. This had a bullshit finish that protected Terry from taking the fall, but it's an incredible bullshit finish that sees the referee calling the match off as Terry is too bloodied up to carry on. The ring announcer repeatedly calling for the doctor really help his injury as legit. Terry Funk's performance here is obviously great, but I think Race is being undersold here a tad. His stoogey selling here was fantastic and I thought he more than held his own with Funk. ★★★★¼
  7. cactus
    This features a career performance for Severn. He's by far the least impressive worker overall, but he brought his best here. He sells his injury convincingly and actually tries to fight back as his leg is getting worked over by Strong & O'Reilly. Speaking of the Undisputed Era, they were are smooth as ever cutting the ring in half and making constant hot tags. The finish with the towel is great, although I think they milked it a bit too much. My other gripe is how the Undisputed Era would constantly do double-team moves in front of the referee and not get penalized. Even with my minor gripes, this is one of the best standard tag matches that WWE has ever put out. ★★★★½
  8. cactus
    Hennig shows plenty of fire as he tries to put away Hansen in this 10-minute challenge. The action never slows down nor does the crowd ever quiet down. The pace is frantic and Hansen is very rarely able to defend himself. He escapes this with his title after being quite literally saved by the bell. ★★★½
  9. cactus
    This is my first time seeing non-AEW Kingston and he impressed me big-time in this ruthless Last Man Standing. Firstly, the shitty aesthetics of the gym really enhances the scumminess of this, which can be said for many of the more gritty IWA-MS matches. These two lay it into each other. The brawling looks snug and every spot involving a foreign object looked organic. This is about as far away as you can go from your bog-standard WWE weapons match! The constant trash-talking added to the hatred. Kingston looked downright scary here. Unlike most Last Man Standing matches, the counts never felt like they were killing the flow of the action. I think this might just be my favourite match from 2007. ★★★★½
  10. cactus
    For those who have sworn off Arn's podcast, I'd suggest you give the last handful of episodes a go. Conrad has admitted that the feedback they've gotten hasn't been great and he's now telling Arn's story from the beginning week-by-week. It feels like an ongoing audiobook of Arn's life and Arn's a fantastic storyteller.
  11. cactus
    This was a slow and bloody epic that was rife with psychology. Undertaker's hand is in a cast and that's a crucial part of this match. Lesnar wants to rip it off and do more damage. Undertaker dominates early on and wasn't that interesting when doing so, but Brock makes up for this by bumping into the cell like a madman, This match was so chaotic that even Heyman got color! That visual of him being violently pulled by his tie into the cage wall will stick with me for some time as did Undertaker's horrific bladejob that had him pissing blood all over the place. I wish they didn't forget about Undertaker's hand injury during the last few minutes (he stops selling his hand after land a barrage of punches on Brock), but that's only a minor gripe. ★★★★½
  12. cactus
    They're doing the whole unlikely bedfellows storyline with Benoit and Angle. They don't like each other, but they will get suspended if they attack each other. It made sense for them to not attack each other, but they could have worked in some miscommunication spots so they could build up some drama, which is something that I think this match ultimately lacks. The finishing stretch features some incredible spots and a break-neck pace. Rey and Edge work surprisingly well together as a tag team and Rey breaking up a Crippler Crossface with a 619 was easily my spot of the night. This is definitely overrated, but it's still an exciting showcase for four of the most interesting guys in the company at the time.★★★¾
  13. cactus
    Sasaki has a massive power advantage over Kawada, but that's not going to stop Kawada from giving it his all. This was a big meat and potatoes fest with strike exchanges made for the Tokyo Dome. I'm usually a huge fan of Kawada's selling, but I thought his selling to Sasaki's closed-fist punch was a little much personally. I'm not sure about the finish either, as I felt like it came out of nowhere. This might be a dream match, but don't go into this expecting a Rock vs Hogan! ★★★★
  14. cactus
    This didn't do much for me apart from making me wince at some of the hard strikes. If you've seen one big Ishii match, then you have seen them all. It's all big bombs and nothing else. Goto mirrors Ishii and it doesn't create an interesting dynamic. It's just too lads trading shots in an effort to figure out who has the bigger dick. The crowd is hot and the strikes are hard, but I need more than that in my wrestling. It's still entertaining, but I wouldn't call it a great match by any stretch of the imagination. ★★★
  15. cactus
    This was a few notches below their Unified classic, but it's still essential viewing. The opening exchanges were snug and physical. Bryan slapping the taste out of McGuiness's mouth set the tone perfectly. Although McGuiness wasn't a natural babyface, Bryan heeling things up made up for it. The final strike exchange feels incredibly reckless, but it certainly shows how much passion these guys have and I can't say that I wasn't entertained by it! ★★★★½
  16. cactus
    This lives up to the ridiculously high expectations that I had for this. I can't remember the last time I was suckered into a babyface showing some fire as much as was when Dustin Rhodes entered the match. The War Games stipulation hid Sting's limitations well and they had me hooked with the Nikita storyline about whether or not he was going to turn or not. This had the right amount of bells and whistles enhancing an already action-packed match, such as Madusa climbing the cage and the heels using part of the ring post as a weapon. This had picture-perfect pacing and everyone played their roles to a tee. ★★★★★
  17. cactus
    Sabre working with a smaller guy allows him to look believable as both a technical wizard and a total bully. The grappling is the kind I like. Although it's snug and worked like a chess match, what I like about it the most is that it's rife with story-telling. A-Kid can hang with Sabre, and this pisses Sabre right off. Tension flare up and soon they are slapping the taste right out of each other mouths. The crowd are fully behind A-Kid and that feeds right into the incredible go-home stretch. ★★★★¾
  18. cactus
    This was an indy dream match between two men with very similar styles, so you can expect plenty of stiff kicks! KENTA bullies Ki for the first few minutes until Ki is able to back control, which he would hold for the majority of this match. The last few minutes feature some incredible sequences and spots, but it never touches on feeling like a spotfest as these two make this feel like an explosive fight. Although this went over 25 minutes, this was an easy watch due to the aforementioned brutal strikes and jaw-dropping athleticism from both guys. ★★★★½
  19. cactus
    Although this is a match that doesn't quite live up to its electric atmosphere and post-match, this is still a damn fine encounter. Up until the DVD on the apron, this is worked like a classic NWA title match, with lengthy holds building up the tension between Punk and Aries. This could of ultimately benefitted a lot by having an experienced agent whispering in each guy's ear as there are some seriously questionable moments in the go-home stretch. Punk kicking out of a Pepsi Plunge at 1 and hulking-up is dumb no matter what way you slice it. Punk's final flurry of moves at the end felt decisive and his post-match promo is legendary. ★★★★¼
  20. cactus
    This starts out incredibly strong, with all of the youngsters having something to prove. The NOAH guys absolutely bully the piss out of the Kensuke Office guys. KENTA is the most experienced and lets everyone know about it. Okita looked like a total hoss too. As much as it pains me to say it, but this took a turn for the worse once Kobashi entered the match, as everyone had to slow down to accommodate him. His knees were beyond busted by this point, but he does a serviceable job stretching out poor Nakajima. The final fall went into overkill, with a FIP segment on Nakajima that outwore its welcome and a finishing stretch with way too many 2.9 near falls. Sasaki looked in incredible shape when compared to Kobashi and he was fantastic as the ace of Kensuke Office defending his promotion from the NOAH invaders. An incredibly physical marathon of a match, but I'd be lying if I didn't say that sections of this left me cold. ★★★★
  21. cactus

    Triple H

    cactus replied to Grimmas's topic in Nominees

    I know there's a good worker hidden inside Triple H. He can work exceptionally well as a despicable heel. His matches with Bryan at Wrestlemania XXX and Foley at Royal Rumble 2000 prove this. The issue with him is that he insists on going 25+ minutes when he could have easily made his point in 15. With the exception of the mixed tag with Rousey, nearly all of his matches in the last decade have felt like total slogs. Oh, he also can't work as a babyface to save his life.
  22. cactus
    I heard bad things about the WWE A&E documentaries, but I gave the Warrior one a shot to see if they would touch on his most despicable moments and to watch it as a companion piece to the Dark Side Of The Ring episode. Yeah... it wasn't great. I was surprised that they even mentioned his 'queering doesn't make the world go round' comments as WWE seems to never want to acknowledge the existence of gay people (remember when they tried to celebrate Darren Young without using the words 'gay' or 'homosexual'?), but I'm with @El-P in that this felt like a puff piece disguised as a non-puff piece. The documentary did make me feel sorry for his daughters, but Jim Hellwig can continue to rot in piss. Are any of the WWE A&E documentaries worth watching?
  23. cactus
    After the shenanigans with Team Angle causes them to be sent to the back, this is worked as a straight wrestling match with Angle and Benoit trading holds to try to find out who is the better man. Every hold in this had a struggle and it never looked like they were grabbing an arm or leg to try and kill time or catch their breath. The finishing stretch touches on feeling like a spotfest at times, but the crowd is still fully behind Benoit. This was a super intense and aggressive 17 minutes of action between two of the best ever. ★★★★½
  24. cactus
    I thought Jericho was mostly uninteresting when working on top during the first half of this. He'd trash talk and bring some smug facial expressions to the table, but I didn't find him all that interesting until he was cutting off Rey in a variety of awesome ways. That Codebreaker counter was incredible. Rey was the better worker here overall, his comebacks were glorious and he'd pull stuff that I didn't think 2009 Rey could still pull off. I like the idea of the finish (which saw Jericho yank of Rey's mask only to reveal he was wearing a second mask underneath, with the distraction being enough for Rey to sneak a victory), but they moved through it so quickly that neither the fans nor the commentators had enough time to react. ★★★★
  25. cactus
    Kenoh defends his Tohoku Junior Heavyweight Championship against Davey Richards in the main event of the first 4FW/Michinoku Pro UK show. I know it was popular to hate on Davey Richards back in the day, but seeing his performance here was a reminder of why people found him so polarizing. This went 16 minutes and you could disregard the first two-thirds as nothing of note happened apart from no-frills exchanges. They established nothing; there was no limb work or finishing moves teased. The final third at least featured some cool spots and the go-home stretch at least felt physical, with Davey busting his nose on a blown spot. Davey hurts his ankle and nearly taps out in a moment that was so over the top and dramatic that made your typical Shawn Michaels at Wrestlemania performance seem subtle. I could see why people liked Richards at the time, as he felt serious and all his moves and sequences always looked smooth and crisp, but he's certainly lacking when it comes to psychology. Kenoh was slightly better, but he's still a while away from the Kenoh who would be taking names in NOAH that we would see in a few years after this. ★★¼
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