TonyPulis'Cap

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=opEPCaZpEBc https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0E_hyCS13F0 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=75X68JBv1KA This is not part of the FWA vs. ROH tournament, rather the next chapter in what would be a personal and bloody feud that would go on all year. The Family were a stable modelled on a religious cult. Started by a wrestler named Brandon Thomas – so called the Messiah due to his Jesus like resemblance (as ever these seem to be the high concept ways these things start in wrestling) – he had started to band together a group of babyfaces that had all been on losing streaks, preying on people looking to revive their careers. As outlined in Greg Lambert’s excellent book Holy Grail: The True Story of British Wrestling’s Revival which chronicles this period really well, with the Old School stable having been overcome, the company desperately needed a top heel act. And in fact it was the addition of Lambert as their manager – an evil journalist to spread their propaganda – that put them over the top as truly hated heels. A few months before this they’d won the FWA Tag Team Titles by defeating Alex Shane and Ulf Herman, and with The Family having six members (including Lambert as manager) they would defend them Freebird style with different combinations. This is a six person No DQ match and part of a run of the participants facing each other in different combinations. The Family’s signature entrance here with burning crosses is very cool, although the sort of thing that as Lambert sets out was pretty controversial and banned from a lot of buildings, although that might have been more on a fire safety note rather than for any sacrilegious connotations. As for the match itself, then I’d say car crash/train wreck would be the best way to describe it, very much in the ECW mould, whereby they start off in the ring with tags etc. but it soon devolves into brawling all over the building. With Shane and Herman being so much bigger than their opponents, The Family are unable to really get anything going as they bump all over for the faces. Herman, who spent some time in ECW, is a giant German who it would be charitable to say was rather limited technically (an understatement), but who created a cult following for himself in the UK though the use of weapons and in hardcore matches. A lot of the in-ring portion is pretty sloppy and all over the place, and there’s a fairly scary moment when it looks like Alex Shane legitimately knocks out Scott Parker with a Doublearm Chokeslam. From there the match completely breaks down into mayhem and the arena wide brawl, and your enjoyment will depend on how much you are into that style. Just as at British Uprising the craziest spot is a dive from the balcony with Nikita (Katie Lea Burchill) jumping off onto the pile of wrestlers below. There’s really too much for the camera to capture at times, with a brutal looking spot of Alex Shane giving his One Night Stand finisher to a Family member off the ramp through a table. Unfortunately a lot of the action is a mess and the match is notable for one of the worst Van Terminator attempts you’ll ever see when Ashe, one of the other Family members on the outside, slips when trying to springboard off the top rope and faceplants himself into the ring. It looks unbelievably painful but gets the expected you f**ked up chant. As if it needed it, the finish includes a ref bump and ends with Nikita getting isolated for the pin. The match is certainly entertaining at times, and there are some big spots like the dive from the balcony, but so much of it is all over the place with lots of sloppiness, and it’s hard at times to really work out what’s going on. At just under 25 mins it’s also much longer than it needed to be. These guys would have much better matches in what was a much better feud than just viewing this match in isolation would suggest. (**)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UT9d1IYyKJ4 As always before a Zebra Kid match, I’m obliged to tell you that he is one of Paige’s older brothers. This is supposed to be a non-title match, but Joe decides before the match that he “lives with honour”, so he’s putting the title on the line. This gets a big pop from the crowd, although as ever when a title gets put on the line, makes the result way more obvious than it already was. Interestingly enough, I believe this is the match where the ROH Title became a world title in ROH canon. This is a fun 10 minute sprint, although one largely dominated by Joe (as you would guess) after the Zebra Kid gets the initial advantage following some early strikes and throwing himself around as a human weapon, which includes a Cactus Elbow off the apron onto Joe, who was sitting on a chair. Watching him throughout his career, Zebra Kid/Roy Knight may never have been the most refined or smooth wrestler but I’ve always loved his intensity with which he does everything and he has some really nasty looking kicks and punches. His matches always bring a chaotic feel that draws you in. After the initial flurry, Joe catches him with his signature STO out of the corner and from then on is pretty much in control, spending the sizable chunk of the match throwing Zebra around and trying to kick his face off. Notably the Ole kick on the floor puts Zebra’s head through the wire mesh of the crowd barrier. Another fun little trivia note is that I think this is where the Ole Ole kicks start. The event was taking place on FA Cup Final day here in the UK, and the Ole singing from the crowd is very much patented on a football (soccer) chant. What’s more, after hitting it, Joe celebrates like he’s scored a goal with a run round the ring and a pretty decent looking knee slide celebration. Maybe he was just an Arsenal fan who won that game that day… Zebra gets one last brief flurry towards the end but when coming off the top trying to hit his finishing move the Zebra Crossing (top rope elbow drop) he gets caught in an arm bar. He gets to survive that and a subsequent big lariat but ultimately gets put away with a Rolling German into a Rolling Dragon into a Bridging German suplex to enable ROH to level at 2-2. I enjoyed this finishing sequence, as it was a great combination of moves, and I’m a fan when people don’t have to win by hitting a specific finisher. Joe was very good at this time at being able to win matches in multiple ways. The match overall is a fairly straight forward and largely one sided win for Joe, and there’s not really any drama in you thinking Zebra Kid has a chance of a victory, but as an intense sprint it’s fairly entertaining. (** ¼)

This is a rematch from British Uprising I eight months previously. They were due to clash as part of the round robin tournament at Seasons Beatings at the end of 2002, but Storm being pulled mid way through the tournament with an injury means this is the first time they have clashed since then. Storm won the first match - although that was after a ref bump when it looked like AJ had a visual pin - so Styles is coming in determined to even the score on a personal level, while ROH are also now 2-0 down in the inter-promotional matches. I said before the opener of the show that ROH were not being treated as the heels despite them being the ‘away team’, which goes even further in this match with Jonny cutting a pre match promo (and not a particularly good one, although it’s hard to tell with the terrible acoustics) on the crowd. This was mainly due to Jonny having turned heel at Crunch 2003 in March for a big feud against Jody Fleisch, but also I think because they predicted that the fans were going to be on AJ Styles side anyway. Like their first match this is very spot heavy, with a distinct whiff of early 2000s indie wrestling about it, but it’s definitely not as good as their first meeting. In the Uprising contest, the transitions were smoother and there was more of a feeling out process, whereas here they just launch straight into things. The first match also worked better as in that one AJ worked as a subtle heel, and he is far better and more varied on offence than Storm is. That match felt more structured with AJ being able to dictate the pace more and Jonny able to build sympathy from the crowd through his selling. The FWA clearly wanted to get behind Jonny as a top heel – which we’ll see from the post match actions after the main event of this show – and while he had the obnoxious personality bits down to a tee, he was still at times wrestling very much like a babyface with his high flying. There’s still a number of fun moments: AJ’s vault over the barrier into a superkick, AJ’s signature Quebrada DDT, and a nice springboard wheelbarrow into a DDT from Storm and I enjoyed a number of the counters of some of the big moves playing into the first match between the two. The set up the FWA had at the York Hall with the stage and big entrance ramp means there is always the temptation to use it and we get Storm trying to swing off the lighting supports into a rana only for AJ to block and go for a Styles Clash. I’m not sure this section was necessary, but does make it feel different than their first match. The finishing sequence sees Storm getting a top-rope rana (after a few attempts at hitting it) but AJ wining it following a rolling Shotei and a springboard 450-splash to even their personal score at 1-1 and bring ROH back into things at 2-1. Unfortunately the pinfall is botched by ref Steve Lynskey which brings some confusion as to whether the match is over, which in a way is symptomatic of the match where they were seemingly a step off their game. Post match, Storm shakes AJ’s hand before attacking him from behind until Fleisch makes the save. (** ½)

Mikey Whipwreck has always been a real favourite of mine, although I wouldn’t say a guilty pleasure as that doesn’t give him enough credit. His tag team with Tajiri is a legitimately brilliant team. However, it’s somewhat odd to see him here representing ROH, given from what I recall he wasn’t particularly prominent for that company at all, only I think wrestling in a couple of multi man scramble matches with Special K. Feel free to let me know if I’m wrong though! I think him being featured here was also because of the allure that UK companies had at the time for booking former ECW guys. While Whipwreck may not be the most obvious choice to represent ROH, it’s really good to see Xavier in here in a decent spot and being one of the FWA representatives. Like Tighe, Xavier was a young guy who fans were starting to get behind, and who would go on in 2003 and 2004 to be a prominent face for the company with his feuds against Alex Shane and Hade Vansen. The decision to match them up is logical, given the many similarities; both visually, in their statures and ring attire but also in their in-ring style. However because they are so similar, there are times when they simply seem to be exchanging moves with little transitioning – sometimes a styles clash, if it’s not too awkward, can work better than two people that work the same way. The match starts fairly cautiously with Whipwreck stalling, but gets more entertaining when they hit the floor and start trying to dive at each other over the crowd barriers. The selling is a bit all over the place but there is a frenetic chaos to the match and they bring lots of intensity. The match is wrestled in a 2000 ECW way, with chairs and the ringside table and guardrails being used, but as accessories to spots rather than just mindless plunder brawling. It’s a match that feels like it wouldn’t have looked out of place on an ECW TNN show from the last few months of the company. I liked the storyline of Xavier being a younger version of Whipwreck, teaching an old dog some new tricks, and being able to keep one step ahead of him by adapting some of his signature moves. It’s a match that puts Xavier over with him being able to kick out of the Whippersnapper. In one sense the roll up finish feels a bit anti-climatic given some of the punishment they are both taking, but it works in the sense of the youngster being just too quick for the veteran. The FWA goes 2-0 up. (**)

The growing momentum of the FWA in the latter half of 2002 came at the same time as the emergence of ROH as a company generating a significant buzz. With the featuring of Jerry Lynn and AJ Styles in prominent positions in the FWA, Christopher Daniels winning the British Heavyweight Title and in return Doug Williams being featured heavily in the States, a relationship between the two promotions was established. A joint card between the two was the logical progression. This brings us to Frontiers of Honor; a one night tournament between the two companies, featuring six inter-promotional matches. The concept was enough for another very strong attendance and the companies’ second show at the York Hall. A key note before getting into the opener is that unlike some inter-promotional shows, this is treated more like a sporting rivalry rather than an invasion or a heated grudge. As such, ROH wrestlers are not presented overtly as heels in their matches, outside of Christopher Daniels – who actually says he’s competing for himself rather than ROH. Given that so many in attendance were clearly excited to see US guys who were getting a lot of hype, it’s safe to say that was the best approach to go for rather than force a heel invading company dynamic onto the occasion that would have been somewhat tone deaf. What’s encouraging though, is that despite this, the home town FWA guys mostly get support as well rather than being turned on, which can sometimes happen when seen to be facing guys perceived as ‘cooler’ or better (something which can happen when ROH guys face New Japan wrestlers today for example). The opener between James Tighe and Paul London is very much a babyface vs babyface match, with clean action, and both guys getting support from the crowd. Listening to the ThROH The Years podcast on the PWO feed you can sometimes forget what a great babyface that London was at this point, able to elicit genuine affection and support from the crowd. Unfortunately, because of the nature of the match not having a defined heel, you don’t get to see that great selling from London. Tighe was a really promising technical wrestler at this stage, who was starting to grain traction with the crowd and he works the match in the style of a Dean Malenko in a WCW cruiserweight match in 96/97, looking to wear down a high flier with submissions and holds, but not in a necessarily vicious way, which would perhaps have allowed London to really rally people behind him. Early on there’s some nifty arm work from Tighe but nothing necessarily coherent that runs throughout the match, He does act as good base though and there’s lot of fun back and forth action. In particular is London’s impressive running shooting star press off the apron. Looking at their international reputations, it’s perhaps a shock that Tighe picks up the clean win with his Tighe–tanic finisher (a cross legged brainbuster), but he was starting to get a significant push in the FWA, with 2003-04 being arguably the peak of his career. It’s to Tighe’s credit at this stage that he looked so comfortable in there with a guy that would be signed to the WWE by the end of the year. This is an enjoyable opener that doesn’t overstay its welcome at a little over 10 mins, but I feel like if Tighe had been more vicious, and enabled London to generate that sympathy from the crowd it could’ve been something really good. The match puts the FWA 1-0 up. (** ¾)

Randomly managed to catch an excellent documentary on Jack Gallagher this week on a channel that you get in the UK called Free Sports called an Extraordinary Gentlemen. It traces Gallagher's development up to his signing with the WWE, and while it doesn't include any WWE input or clips (which can often be a pro when it comes to making a wrestling documentary more open) it's really well put together with clips from Future Shock wrestling and Progress and lots of excellent talking head contributions. In it Gallagher comes across so well, and a guy totally at ease with the way that he sees the wrestling business, his role in it and life in general. I'd heartily recommend catching it if you can find it, the only slightly depressing thing being you feel that since he turned heel, that WWE is really not utilising him as well as they could. He really seemed to be getting traction as a face and managed to get over, which for someone on 205 Live is an achievement in itself. His match with Neville for the title at Fastlane was one of my favourites of 2017. Here's a trailer https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-3V19KHGd3U For those in the UK, I'm not sure if Free Sports will replay it but keep an eye out, and here's a link for where you can watch it on Vimeo: https://www.figurefourfilms.com/an-extraordinary-gentleman.html

I've never minded Kevin Kelly either, but I've really enjoyed the commentary on ROH since they teamed up Ian Riccaboni with Colt Cabana. Indeed, given the ROH/NJPW crossover, would he (as in Riccaboni) be a decent fit? I really like him - he's engaging and when commentating on the NJPW crossover shows seems to have a pretty good knowledge of their wrestlers and storylines, while also being younger and feeling more contemporary. He also inserts decent wider sporting/pop culture references without it seeming overly contrived or showing off.

Bit of an explanation needed before this one then! This is set to be Doug vs AJ, before the final match of the tournament will be AJ vs Jonny Storm. Going in, Doug has 20 points, AJ has 20 points and Jonny has 20 points. After his three matches, Jody Fleisch has 15 points and has therefore already been eliminated. But before the match starts it’s announced that due to the DDT he received on the outside in his count out loss to Flesich, Storm is unable to continue so his match against AJ won’t be able to go ahead. This makes Doug vs AJ as the default final to win the tournament… …however we then get Jerry Lynn as a surprise, which was a pretty ballsy (stupid?) thing for the FWA to do, given you presume that if you had him booked you would’ve wanted to advertise him? Unfortunately there’s nothing on Cagematch that confirms if he was in the country wrestling elsewhere around the same time, but that could potentially be the case. For most of the second half of 2002, Styles/Lynn had been in a heated rivalry in TNA which had spilled over to other promotions, and like the continuation of the Williams/Christopher Daniels rivalry from ROH into FWA storylines I like this connectivity that doesn’t treat separate promotions as different universes and through respecting continuity delivers more layered story telling. Lynn gets on the mic to say that he was originally meant to be in the tournament but had suffered an injury against AJ, that Styles had then over-exaggerated to FWA officials to get his spot in the tournament. It’s a little hokey, but I like the logic and storytelling. He then asks the FWA ringside official, to be given Storm’s 20 points and enter the tournament, which he then does and turns this match into a triple threat. It’s all a bit ECW, but the effort with the backstory and carrying over storylines from another company just about gives it a pass from me. The match itself is only seven or eight mins long but they pack a lot into that and as you might expect it’s wrestled at a cracking pace. The chemistry between Lynn and Styles is evident and while, as with most indy three way matches in the mid 2000s, there’s not a huge amount of selling going on, there’s not a lot of down time and one guy lying on the outside either. The ending is controversial with Lynn power bombing Williams at the same time as he hits the Chaos Theory on Styles, with the ref counting the pin for Lynn while it looks like Doug is also pinning AJ. The ending, and the fact that a guy that has just wrestled the one match ends up winning the tournament still leaves a bit of a sour taste in the mouth 15 years later, but it continues the theme of the booking of Christopher Daniels winning the title whereby results were meant to shock the largely hardcore/internet fan that was following the promotion. However, overall, given the different storylines weaving throughout the tournament – and the fact it set up several rematches with most having legitimate gripes, as well as the fact that there is a solid evening of consistently decent matches, overall this is a strong show top to bottom. (*** 1/4)

This is a rematch from the final of the King of England tournament from Revival at the beginning of the year, in which Jody emerged the winner. This time coming in, it’s Doug who is under pressure following his opening defeat. This is not as good as the Revival match, which has a bigger, more high profile feel to it, but it was fun to see Doug wrestling a more high paced style reflecting his need for the points. There are some nice call backs to the Revival match, which the not always stellar FWA commentary team actually pick up on for once, in particular where Doug goes to powerbomb Jody off the apron, although this time it’s not successful. These two match up really well with one another and Doug makes a great base for Jody’s high flying. After two intense matches with AJ Styles and Jonny Storm, Jody is clearly vulnerable and Doug is able to stay alive in the tournament by picking up the win and the 20 points. At the same time this eliminates Jody who can’t now catch the other three who are all tied. (***)

This is your classic match up, that to this day these guys are still having against one another. At this stage they are largely respectful friends with a competitive rivalry, which would change in 2003. With this being the second match of the tournament, Jody is in a must not lose position. If Jonny wins and moves onto 40 points then there’s no way he can catch him and he’ll be eliminated. With that in mind, as you would expect he wrestles at a frantic pace, although, it’s hard to say that’s solely because of the tournament storyline – that’s the way these two always wrestle! For those who hate spot-spot-spot matches, then I can see why when these two clash – especially in 2002, I think both became much more well rounded as they got older – that some would be turned off by the style. I love the chemistry and rapid transitions they have however and the familiarity they have with one another is shown in the opening exchanges where each hit the others finisher but only for two. This is far from the best match the two have had against each other, more a greatest hits package, with them both trying to throw everything they have out there – Jody with the desperation of trying to stay in the tournament and Jonny trying to eliminate Jody from contention. The end of the match is Jody connecting with his 720 DDT off the guard rail onto the outside and Storm being unable to make the count back in. This gives Jody 15 points, keeping him in the tournament for now, but with Jonny looking like he’s sustained a serious injury. (*** ¼)

This is AJ’s second FWA appearance after he got over hugely in his defeat to Jonny Storm at British Uprising. At this stage none of the UK guys were heels in the company, meaning AJ takes on that role in the tournament, showcasing the cocky persona he had in TNA at this point. It also works well in this match as AJ is able to use his striking and the wide variety of signature moves he has that all look really vicious. Jody’s flexibility means he is the ideal guy to take the punishment that AJ is doling out and elicit a lot of sympathy. This is the best match of the tournament with some amazing exchanges between the two. Everything AJ does is with great intensity, and in storyline terms he is coming off the loss against Storm two months before when he’d tried to be more respectful and which hadn’t been successful. You can sense he’s coming in with more of a mean streak. AJ works really well when in there with other cruiserweight guys as he’s able to really throw them around despite not being much bigger than them and he rarely lets Fleisch build up significant momentum. Despite AJ being on top for most of the match, Fleisch gets some great hope spots in to keep the crowd invested, including a version of his 720 DDT while Styles is sitting on the ropes. In the end Styles has just too much intensity planting Jody with a powerbomb when he is coming off the ropes and then instantly hitting the styles clash. (*** ¾)

Seasons Beatings was the last FWA show of 2002 and came at a time when the company was really starting to gain momentum. At the previous show Christopher Daniels had just won the British Heavyweight Title so this was about finding a No. 1 contender to go to America to get the belt back. To determine who would get the title shot, a round robin tournament between Doug Williams, Jonny Storm, Jody Fleisch and AJ Styles was devised with 20 points for a pinfall/submission win, 15 points for a count out/DQ win, 10 points for a draw and no points for a loss. The wrestler at the end of the night with the most points would be No. 1 contender. Given that matches involving Doug, Jonny and Jody were fast becoming the highlights of the British scene this was a card built around the premise of seeing them all face each other in different combinations. Doug vs Jonny brought with it the simple dynamic of a more powerful competitor against a high flyer. Doug is by no means a giant, but he dominates a lot of the match, with Jonny at this time being a great underdog seller with his wiry frame, and taking moves like it looked like it was killing him. The added storyline going in was that Jonny had never beaten Doug, who was being presented going into the tournament as the favourite, not least as he had been in the Iron Man Match to crown the first ROH champion that summer. Most of the match is spent with Jonny trying to up the pace, and hit and move, whereas Doug is trying to catch him with a submission or with his suplexes, given his superior technical skills. The familiarity of the guys in the tournament means that they are all able to wrestle at speed and most of the tournament matches are fun sprints, given both the X Division style being popularised at the time and also the structure of the tournament with each guy having to wrestle three times. Jonny picks up the upset victory by catching Doug with a flash pinfall to take the 20 points. (***)

IPW:UK is no longer as heralded on the UK indie scene as it once was, overtaken by a number of other promotions, but has always been one that I’ve enjoyed. That did mean though that over the last couple of years you get to see some different guys and girls not seen in the more high profile promotions, with them using a lot of younger and not as polished workers that come out of their training school. Writing at the end of 2017 they’ve merged with Fight! Nation to relaunch the promotion, so I’m interested to see how that goes. Tom Dawkins hasn’t appeared too many times for the more high profile companies but is starting to get more buzz thanks to his Cara Noir persona which is really different from how he appears in this match. Before creating the Cara Noir character his moniker was ‘Black Belt’ Tom Dawkins, which he is going by in this match. You can tell then that his style is to work in a lot of kicks and strikes, and he makes them all look good. The storyline going in was that Ospreay had been acting as a sort of mentor for Dawkins and they had been a tag team, until Paul Robinson had ‘corrupted’ his old partner Ospreay and reformed the Swords of Essex. So this is former tag team partners, one of whom has turned back to the dark side squaring off, with the added stipulation that the loser has to leave IPW:UK. Because of the storyline coming in, and the style of the workers, there is a lot of striking, kicks and knees in the match, but they make everything look really stiff and realistic and they both do well at conveying the hatred. You also get to see a very different style of Will Ospreay match; there is almost no high flying from him in this match, everything is much more basic; kicks, elbows and some nasty looking headbutts. He also works as a complete prick heel and it works to get a crowd that still deep down wants to cheer for him, and on a non kayfabe level not leave the company, to boo him pretty much throughout. Another storyline that works through the match is that on the show when Ospreay reformed with Robinson, they did a double team move similar to the Homicide/Low Ki double stomp/Cop Killer move to Jay Lethal back in ROH in 2005 and injured Dawkins back. Ospreay drops him on the ring apron back first and works it over pretty well. When it comes time for his comeback, Dawkins selling of the back might have been slightly more consistent but it doesn’t really take you out of things too much as a lot of his offence is kick based and his fire and emotion wins you over. The next element is that Dawkins’ girlfriend is front row and Ospreay is constantly in her face, again being a great prick (if that’s not an oxymoron). He is so detestable that on the spot where she ends up pulling the referee out to stop Dawkins from being pinned it comes over as fully justified and not heelish – I popped for her getting revenge. The other reason the spot works is because after a ref bump – something I find a very tired trope in general but something that works in the overbooking of the match – the other third of the Swords of Essex (Robinson is not at the show, potentially due to some of the injuries that have led to his retirement); Scott Wainwright had nailed Dawkins with a chair to the injured back. My biggest low point of the match is that he also nails Dawkins with a pretty awful looking chair shot to the head. I didn’t re-watch to try and see if he gets any hands up, but from a match in 2016 with what we know about head injuries it seemed completely unnecessary, especially as the original chair shot to the back worked more logically in the story going on anyway. To even the score there is a run in from the tag team champions Duggan and Donnelley, who have teamed with Dawkins on a number of occasions, so again it makes sense and returns things to a one on one match. Rewinding to Dawkins’ girlfriend breaking up a pin, the result is that Ospreay drags her into the ring. As with the chair shot to the head, we really don’t need man on woman violence in 2016/17 and thankfully we don’t get any. Just the implication that Ospreay is considering doing it gets the necessary reaction and from there Dawkins is able to take him out by exposing his shin and kicking him for the 1-2-3. I really enjoyed this. The multiple storylines going on in the match: the back injury, the mentor/student tag team being broken up, Ospreay being corrupted by Robinson and the roles played by different characters that have been involved in the feud all helped this to climax to a match where the face was able to get a positive reaction at a time when that is increasingly hard to do in modern wrestling and against a guy like Ospreay who fans deep down want to cheer for. For anyone that thinks Ospreay is all just flips and gymnastics, watch this match to see him acting like a loathsome character and working a match with very few high spots. A word as well for Dawkins girlfriend. I’m not sure if she’s in the business at all, but from her facials and her acting I thought she came across really well and helped the story of the match a lot. (**** ¼)

We are in the Broxbourne Civic Hall, which was the company’s main base for most of it’s run. It was a building that had a cool set up for wrestling with tiered seating on one side and a stage which the FWA also set up with seating that then gave off an appearance of being a bigger venue than the 450 or so capacity it had. It’s a venue that traditionally always had a hot crowd. Going into this match, Doug was in his first reign as FWA Champion and was already starting to be presented as the ace of the company. Timewise, it is just a week before the big Revival show which I’ve written about here: http://prowrestlingonly.com/index.php?/topic/39613-doug-williams-vs-eddie-guerrero-fwa-revival-king-of-england-tournament-02092002/ We are also in the midst of the main storyline going on in the FWA for most of 2002; the ‘Old School’ - veterans who didn’t like the new direction for wrestling in the UK and the newer, younger guys brought up on the Attitude era and ECW. This match plays into that, with Christopher Daniels being managed by the Old School’s manager Dean Ayass and brought into be a hired gun to take the title off Williams. When the promotion wide storyline had begun Doug was something of a tweener, but after rejecting the Old School’s advances he’s now very much in a face role. The nice hook is that Daniels has been brought in specifically as he already has a victory over Williams in the UK. This is a really fun match, and as you’d expect between these two, very smooth and technically sound. Both guys match up well and Daniels is excellent at playing the slimy heel trying to exploit any advantage or opening. Looking at the FWA roster at the time, Doug was clearly the most polished and best performer and he’s really enjoyable in showcasing his mat wrestling skills, incorporating a number of traditional British wrestling/WOS counters to keep Daniels off his game. Recognising that he is outmatched technically, Daniels is always looking to up the pace and when the match speeds up he is able to take control. I enjoyed his work on top in the match, as he kept working the neck and upper back, It was also refreshing that Ayass on the side didn’t get too involved to overshadow or distract from the match. Earlier in the show he’d been involved in a tag match and he sells his neck, which I guess was also an effective way of stopping him getting constantly involved. At this point in 2002 you could see why Daniels was so highly regraded on the indy scene and why he would be a key part of the early days of ROH and then TNA. He is already very polished and everything he hits is crisp and on point. I know some find him to be a guy that can be quite mechanical in the ring, but I’ve always been a big fan and in this match he brings a nice variety to his offence and moves that would become his signature spots. The match has a satisfyingly clean ending which puts Williams over nicely, showing he can defeat an opponent that already had a growing reputation. It’s a rivalry that interestingly the FWA would revisit later in the year and into 2003 and which also crossed over into ROH, and shows how well the two guys meshed. Their matches together in ROH are well worth seeking out, as is this one. (*** ¾)

The commentary for the main event on Smackdown this week was way more interesting than the match (although given how much they were shouting over the top of it, it was hard to tell if there might have been a decent match going on). Taking away thinking about it in terms of a Daniel Bryan heel turn, or the story line, he was really letting rip at Byron at times, whose comebacks were basically, "well if it didn't happen in WWE then it doesn't count or even exist" and "I believe what my boss tells me 100% without any independent thought as that's what make a good employee". Or something like that. Byron very much being the voice of corporate WWE in the exchanges.

This is pretty much spot on with my preferences, trying to keep a balance between old and new, as there is good and bad to be found in both. Like many others have said, I enjoy the presentation of old school wrestling a lot, but then also find that there are plenty of aspects of the modern scene that can be as good, or in some cases better than old school stuff if you can be open minded. Like you I am also all about context and watching things chronologically. It sounds obvious, but matches are so much better when you have the back story and buildup, rather than being watched in a vacuum. I also went through all of 97 Raws and PPVs last year and it was tremendous - what a year. Rather than just watching lauded matches, I also like to watch TV shows in full as much as I can, rather than again cherry picking matches. It's far more time consuming but find that way you get to see matches and segments and guys that never get much recognition or that get forgotten. It's the best way of finding hidden gems. I also really enjoy watching the way a wrestling show is put together and the how well (or not) the segments flow together. In general, I'd say with a geographic bias, I watch UK wrestling the most, both the latest shows, but then also World of Sport and then the early 2000s stuff as well.

This is something that has bugged me for years!!! With Rey facing Matt for the Cruiserweight Title at Mania, then Hardy being the one that took him out with an injury makes more sense and puts heat on that match! Of course, that might have meant some forward planning... correct me if I'm wrong, but the A-Train/Rey feud was basically never revisited was it? Did they ever actually have a one on one match when Rey had come back? I remember buying the first Rey DVD that came out around this time, and on the brief documentary part, they had Rey going in for surgery on his knee (in his mask of course) with him cutting a promo on A-Train as the guy responsible as if it was some super heated big rivalry. God bless Rey and his kayfabing to try and get across a feud that I'm pretty sure had been well and truly dropped before the DVD had even been released.

Just catching up on episodes (most of the way through the Wrestlemania III pod at the moment), but wanted to say I really enjoyed this one with all the guys where you broke down the main matches. It delivered some great insight and got me pumped to listen to the Mania show itself, as if this was the pre show and I was laying down the cash to buy it! Obviously getting everyone together schedule wise not always easy but hope you return to this format before some of the really big shows like each Mania when you get there as I think it acts as a really good lead in.

I think this is a really good point. I understand why finishing moves are used - just like entrance music, a catch phrase, a particular taunt/pose etc they are things that the crowd react to through familiarity - but it would be good as Boss Rock says that a match can end as a result of accumulated damage that also works into the story of the match. These days a DDT is a world away from it being Jake's death finisher that the crowd chanted for, but if the structure of a match is based on one competitor working on the others neck or head for the match, or one competitor comes in with an existing head injury then the DDT should be a logical and effective way to finish a match.

Might have been mentioned already, but Ric Flair vs Vince Russo in WCW's knock off version of the Hell in a Cell where Russo holds on in the Figure Four for what feels like 5 hours while waiting to get in the right place for the fake blood to fall from the ceiling is pretty epic in all the wrong ways. The 1998 3 team War Games is both horrific and stupid at the same time. I'd probably also just watch the whole of New Blood Rising as well. In particular Stacy Kiebler vs Major Gunns in a mud pit match ending in a no contest when Stacy starts getting unidentified stomach pains because she's meant to be pregnant with delete as appropriate David Flair's/Ric Flair's/Vince Russo's baby is about as far from the women's revolution as you can get. Oh, now I come to think of it, the 'DNA' match between David Flair and Buff Bagwell at Halloween Havoc 2000 where Flair is trying to bust Buff open so he can get his blood to prove he isn't the father of Stacy's baby is a nice follow up.

This match shows why AJ Styles is such a fantastic wrestler. It’s not that he carried Corbin – he was fine in the match – but everything he did, whether it was his selling or when he was on offence, was done with such fire and intensity that always draws you in. I really enjoyed how he jumpstarted the match by going straight after Corbin and not getting into lockups etc. As a strategy that wouldn’t work given the size disparity, but also fits with the storyline; AJ lost the US Title without being pinned – he was going in angry. Throughout the match AJ was doing everything at full force and you really sensed his determination to take back the title. It’s often the little things and I love AJ’s ability to take his regular spots and then tweak them slightly for interesting variety. The best example being the fake out on the springboard forearm and then hitting it as Corbin was trying to duck. I try to be open minded about Corbin, but he’s still to win me over. I just find him very dull at times when he is trying to control the match. He reminds me of Nia Jax to some extent; he has a lot of the tools and has shown he can have good matches with the right opponents and in the right settings, but he’s someone that doesn’t use his size enough and sometimes wrestles ‘smaller’ than he is. AJ is of course the complete opposite, a guy that wrestles bigger than his size, to where you don’t think of a size difference when he is in there with someone bigger than him. I really enjoyed this and think it was probably the best Corbin performance I’ve seen in a long time. My disappointment at AJ losing being tempered just a few weeks later by him being moved onto bigger things and winning the bigger belt from Jinder. (*** ½)

Think you are right, recall hearing something similar. It's probably because he's working much of a lighter schedule these days/been off the road for months so they might be less of an issue? Especially as this is *probably* his last real run so also prepared to just suck it up as it's a move that's always over?* *wishful thinking

I should add though that I am actually very sad to see Emma go! (maybe I should put it on a t-shirt...). I really enjoyed her work in NXT, especially when she went back as a heel and the matches she had with Asuka there, particularly the Takeover one I want to say was in London that I thought was fantastic. For whatever reason she never seemed to be treated with any respect on the main roster in terms of being treated as a viable contender. As some have suggested, it may work out for the best long term to go away and do something of a McIntyre to where she comes back with more what you might call 'street cred', but wondering if there are the places for her to go to achieve that. That is if she ever wants to go back of course - some may feel getting released and then getting more freedom over the direction of their career and how they present themselves is actually a better thing than being part of the machine.

Huh? The same Emma who sandbagged the "sexy" Emmalina gimmick is suddenly going to become a model?! What's weird is that all the stuff they were doing to built up Emmalina she was already doing on her Instagram so it was strange to me she had issues pulling it off as a gimmick. Also weird is all the people in WWE reacting as if she died as opposed to just getting released. All the "we'll always remember you" stuff seemed a bit melodramatic. Hope Lio enjoys being the new Heath Slater, there's no way he's going to escape their doghouse at this point. This is very much the modern way sadly, where everyone has to be incredibly ostentatious about showing how sad they are rather than doing it quietly in person. You get it all the time over here in the UK/Europe where football players wear t-shirts with tributes to a player that has suffered an injury that will put them out for a couple of months. On the one hand showing someone you are thinking of them when they are going to be down is nice, but on the other, everything has to be so over the top and public to where it becomes more about the person paying tribute or showing support than the person that is directly effected.

This was absolutely tremendous. If you add up the matches they had during the past year with Rollins/Ambrose, the Hardys, Gallows/Anderson, then Cesaro & Sheamus are easily my highlight of the WWE. The chemistry they have and physicality of their matches makes each one a genuine struggle that feels like it has heft and weight. If so many wrestling matches these days feel like they are films with lots of CGI, Cesaro and Sheamus matches are those films that still rely as much as possible on real stunts and physical buildings and props being used. I loved the beginning of the match where they were running cut offs and distractions and I love that they are a team that look like they come in with a clear game plan and tactics they are trying to implement. When added to brilliant selling from Ambrose - loved the bit where he was trying to bring life back into his arm by banging it into the guard rail - and fire and flying from Rollins, this was all round great stuff. (**** 1/4)