TonyPulis'Cap

This was the main event for TNA's first 3 hour Sunday PPV, so of course it has Jarrett in it, and while it made sense to have Hardy in terms of his profile, this was during his initial post WWE run where he was pretty dreadful in the ring, probably not helped of course by what he might be doing outside of it. Hardy as a singles guy can be really hit and miss, but when he came back to WWE in 2006 through to the end of the Punk run I thought he was really good. Again, back in TNA you get the infamous Sting match where he's in no position to perform, but overall there was a lot of good stuff, particularly his matches with Austin Aries. Anyway, that's a lot of digressing - bottom line, is that Hardy is all over the place in this match. The storyline going in is that the ladder match stipulation favours Hardy, and that's shown by him dominating the early stages, which makes good sense. Hardy shows good fire. and you can't fault the effort of both guys, it's just they are on different pages. Hardy is trying to run through a greatest hits package of some of the moves he would do in the big tag ladder matches in the WWE while you get all the Jarrett NWA Title match tropes of refs being knocked out and outside interference. Hardy's had some great singles ladder matches, but just like someone like Sabu, that relies on him being on his game and hitting his spots. Here, there are not massive botches, although they mess up a sunset flip powerbomb twice in quick succession, but everything looks a bit odd. Jarrett for the most part's role in the match is just to stagger around and try to be vaguely in the right place while Hardy is throwing himself around. Most of the damage Hardy sustains is by missing big moves rather than anything Jarrett does, although that does play into a narrative of Hardy being a risk taker and Jarrett being a smart veteran. The other storyline going into the match was The Outsiders were in different corners; Hall with Jarrett and Nash with Hardy, although the pre-match video package makes it absolutely certain that Nash is going to turn on Hardy. Hall is fairly heavily involved throughout the match, at various times preventing Hardy from climbing and he actually takes some of the worst punishment in this. The match sort of meanders to the point where Nash comes out with two guitars, telegraphing what the finish from a million miles away. Hardy gets taken out by all three hitting him with guitars and Jarrett retains in the standard TNA way at this point. Post match we see what would soon to be named as the nWo Kings of Wrestling taking out a load of babyfaces, incl. AJ Styles until you get the bizarre and probably forgotten arrival of Randy Savage into TNA, for what would ultimately be one match where he would barely take part. Overall then, this is pretty poor - for a ladder match there are no memorable moments, and it suffers from one having one guy (Jarrett) who isn't natural in this type of match, one guy (Hardy) who is all over the place, and a heavily telegraphed and cliched turn that everyone would've seen coming. Not good (** 1/4)

This is such a great point. If you go back and watch WWE TV from the mid 2000s it's striking the lack of diversity. Yes there used to be a token Japanese stereotype like a Kenzo Suzuki, but look at how few European wrestlers there were for example. There was maybe Regal and Finlay - who had been in the US so long at that point they were practically native - but nobody else. When Paul Burchill got signed for example in 2004/05, it was a massive deal for the UK indie scene here as NOBODY got that opportunity - they just weren't interested. Now you have English, Scottish, Welsh, Irish, Dutch, Austrian, German, Swiss, Italian... And as you say, to see women from different ethnic backgrounds, and from Japan and China when previously the most 'exotic' you could be in WWE as a woman was to be Canadian then it makes for a refreshing change.

Very much on board with this. The rational part of my brain rolls my eyes a little when people knock each other in interviews and social media, mainly as it often comes across as incredibly forced and cringey, and as a lot of people have pointed out we now live in a world where we can watch everything....but the other part of my brain, where you want to get lost in what you are watching and get wrapped up in people firing shots at one another says bring it on - as Log says, let them talk shit and then sit back and enjoy. I haven't really enjoyed WWE for a couple of years now, and willing AEW to succeed, not because I'm a Young Buck stan, but because I see it as beneficial for the industry as a whole to have some genuine competition to give WWE a kick up the backside and out of their comfort zone. I would just hope though that if the wrestlers on both 'sides' are going to be firing shots at each other they bring some decent material to the table!

Yeah, it turned out being a better show than I thought it would going in when you heard it would include matches from different tapings and a match from NOAH. Hammerstone looked decent in the match, with good presence, although as a few people have pointed out, seeing less people there than you get for a regular MLW show was a bit jarring. Also, of you were taking a drink for everytime the commentators talked about the lack of noise that Japanese fans make then you'd have a sore head the next morning. This isn't an MLW specific point, but I've always wondered if a weekly wrestling TV show with matches from different events and arenas in the mold of a sports highlight show like a Match of the Day here in the UK, would work rather than the more traditional model of a wrestling show that we typically get from most companies.

My thought on Impact the last few weeks can probably be best summed up by the phrase "I like where they are going, I'm just not quite enjoying how they are getting there". fully agree that the Bound for Glory card is looking like a good one, but the last few weeks of TV from Mexico have been pretty uninspiring. I'm hoping that the Vegas tapings step things up and have more energy to give us a hot lead into the PPV. I agree that the wedding party being crashed angle should be something to look out for. On top of what you've outlined already, I think (hope) we will get The North vs. Rich Swann & Wille Mack for the tag titles, which should be very good. In terms of Tessa's match, I've been saying for a while that I could see her winning the X Title from Jake Crist (he's an offshoot of the Sami storyline and cost her the No. 1 contenders match so it makes sense) as a trial run for putting her in a world title feud with Callihan if he beats Cage for the title.

So, while it was a good match between The North and LAX last week, I was a little disappointed given that going in I thought this could be excellent. With everything LAX have achieved in Impact and their careers being on the line, you wanted to feel more desperation and intensity in the match, but in the end, it was just 'a good match'. Obviously a massive blow to lose them from the company, but I have been impressed with The North since they won the titles and there's a fun couple of match ups on the table for them against the Rascalz and Rich Swann/Willie Mack. To me though, the rest of the show continued the rather uninspiring streak Impact has been on the last few weeks. I thought the Mexico shows with a more lively crowd would pick things up, however their roster is feeling very thin now and the shows seem really haphazard with some of the matches they've been putting on. If Bound fir Glory heads in the direction I think it will, then I think the card will be strong, but it's so far been a grind getting there. Cage vs Callihan looks like what they are going for with the title match but with the added twist of Cage proposing to Melissa Santos. Melissa was brilliant as a character in Lucha Underground, and I wonder if we are going to get a bit of reprise of her big story line there, with Callihan taking on the role of Marty the Moth. Hoping the shows can pick up again as we get closer to BFG.

Feel like I'm the lone person round here who still enjoys MLW! I can absolutely see the criticisms people have... but I enjoyed last week's show, and thought it was a good episode, in fact one of the stronger ones for a while. Just having the two matches meant both got some time - often MLW have really short changed their main events. The opener was indyriffic, both in terms of the action and also the look of the guys in the match, but the action was fun. And I liked the main event. The criticisms about Lawlor's strikes, I can very much see, as is often the way when you get legit MMA guys/boxers they end up over compensating and pulling things, and the match did get a bit repetitive, which can perhaps be chalked up to Fatu's inexperience or being asked to 'do more' than just his spots, but overall I liked it much better than others seemed to, with Lawlor's fire at the beginning making it more compelling than their first match. The closing angle was very much booking 101 when it comes to setting up a 4 on 4 match, but the reveal of Low Ki as the final member of Lawlor's team got a strong reaction and made sense in storyline as Contra targeted him a few months back. I'm looking forward to the cage match, although not them trying to squeeze another week out of the New York shows as Migs says. I wonder if Ki is being set up to be Fatu's challenger for the PPV.

That is Squire Dave Taylor of WCW fame, and of course a British veteran. He’s brought in here as a mystery opponent for Drew McDonald, as part of the show long storyline that if any members of the Old School lose then they will be fired. On the face of it a slightly jarring, given Dave Taylor would seem a natural fit for the Old School, but it’s played up as him coming back to the UK to help the younger guys. Going into this match I was excited at the prospect of two tough veterans just laying into each other, but, while this match is technically solid, it’s really dull. I don’t mind a methodical pace, and there is a contrast in this match to what the younger guys on the card were doing, moving too fast and doing too much, but this tips over too much the other way. We some long battles over headlocks and a figure four, but I was hoping for much more of a heated brawl. Taylor doesn’t get to showcase much of his technical wrestling, while McDonald does little of interest. McDonald was a good character in the FWA and a good heel but very rarely were any of his matches any good, as he seemed reluctant to want to work with his opponent much, especially the young guys working the new indie style. Which is why I was disappointed in this one as I thought Taylor would’ve been the type of guy McDonald would’ve been more prepared to put the effort in against. The ending is fairly cliched as well, with McDonald’s manager Dean Ayass sacrificing himself as a distraction, allowing McDonald to hit the stunner for the win. This was the only match Taylor would work for the FWA. (* ½)

This is essentially the beginning of the Family stable, a religious cult group that would become home to wrestlers on losing streaks or going nowhere with their career, with the idea that Brandon Thomas – ‘The Messiah’ – would give them direction. After the end of the Old School storyline, they would become arguably the top heels in the company in 2003. Before the match Paul Travell turns heel in his home town to become Thomas’ first member. In this match they are up against the New Breed, who in the early days of the FWA were it’s top tag team, but who are close to the end of their run as they would soon get squashed by the UK Pitbulls and then taken out by Paul Burchill at British Uprising a couple of months after this. This match is a bit of a mess. Despite being the company’s top team (the FWA’s tag division was never it’s strong point) the New Breed were very hit and miss. As they show here they hit some cool double teams, but were often attempting things above their skill level. In turn, Brandon Thomas was more of a personality than a wrestler, and while he has presence and charisma, brings very little to the table in being capable in ring. Travell for his part is still very raw here, but shows flashes of the decent worker he would turn into, and it’s his nutty bumping – which would become a staple for the rest of his FWA run – which makes this somewhat watchable. For the finish, the New Breed hit a double diamond cutter off the top rope, but rather than going for the pin go for a double van terminator, leaving Ashe to get hit behind the refs back with a chair, and Travell to score the win with a big splash from the top rope. This made sense to put The Family over to start building their momentum, but this one is really rough. (* ¼)

I also laughed out loud during the Ace Austin doing his best Daniel Craig impression and coming out of the sea. It was corny as hell, but as long as stuff like this is in the undercard it's perfectly harmless. I've also enjoyed Austin getting to be campy and over the top with it. The show being in Mexico added some energy to the last show and helps it look more 'big time' rather than the week before when they were taped from the tiny venue that Championship Wrestling from Hollywood films at. I'm never convinced the Mexican crowd are following along with the storylines too much, but maybe I'm not giving them enough credit. However the show itself was the poorest edition of Impact for a while, capped off by a dull main event. I hoped that Elgin and Rhino would have some fun brawls, but their matches have been really lethargic. I liked the Rasclaz vs Swann and Willie Mack tag match, but the less said about the women's trios match the better. The main highlight was The North/LAX promo which got me really fired up for the match between them next week. Obviously them turning up at All Out last night telegraphs the result somewhat, but it's still a match I'm looking forward to. So a real non event of a show this week, but Impact continues to be a promotion I enjoy and if the matches for Bound for Glory pan out as I think they might, then that should be another strong PPV from the company. Lets hope it comes with some buzz.

Given the participants, and the chemistry that these two teams had - witness both the cage matches between them - this is a massive disappointment, and a complete mess. And a lot of it is down to the structure of the match inhibiting the wrestlers from being able to produce anything watchable. First of all, it's a gimmick better suited to one on one matches, second, while it's No DQ by definition as being a last man standing match, the wrestlers adhere to making tags after the first couple of mins where everyone is in the ring at the same time brawling. Then you have the rules whereby someone needs to be pinned before the 10 count is administered so you get - as can happen in Iron Man matches where people get pinned after a couple of mins by moves they would normally be kicking out of. While some of the work is decent because of the guys involved, because of the fundamental inhibitions of the match, it's so choppy with no flow. What AMW excelled in was classic southern tag formula but this doesn't allow that, as it's also elimination rules. The story coming in is that James Storm's knee was injured, but he doesn't really sell that much, although he is pinned and can't stand off a chair shot to the knee, which at least is logical. There is then a small heat section with Chris Harris having to fight of Daniels and Skipper but Daniels is eliminated very quickly, so we don't get much time for any heat to build from being two on one. I'm not sure where it happens, but Elix Skipper I think gets a concussion at some point - he definitely hits the back of his head hard on a chair for the final pin - and while it looks like he kicks out, the ref counts three anyway. In fact, both Daniels and Skipper's eliminations look botched. How bad this match is, can be summed up by the fact that Harris looks actively disgusted on being announced the winner, so happily they would get the chance to redeem themselves the next month with a terrific cage match at Turning Point. This match though is not good at all. (*)

Can't comment on his Dragon Gate stuff, but his first forays back onto the Indie scene, especially here in the UK got very mixed reviews from people. I think people were hoping he would be able to let loose, but instead in a lot of his matches it seemed like he was too intent on getting over his 'bastard' character to the detriment of the match. A lot of the negativity was more though that he never seemed like he could lose due to being a title holder in Dragon Gate, so you had matches against the likes of Zack Sabre Jnr and Will Ospreay where the matches themselves were good to great but had dodgy finishes, that the crowd knew was coming. Over the last few months though he's been much more impressive, in particular finding a really good formula when in their with some younger names where they've actually managed to take the crowds perceived belief he wont lose and manipulate this into creating real drama. As good examples see his matches with Michael Oku in RevPro and Cara Noir in Riptide, the latter of which is I think on Youtube. Cautiously optimistic that he's getting back into the groove now and finding the right balance between character and in ring.

Not too much to get excited about from the last couple of weeks of TV, although I did really enjoy the Teddy Hart/MJF main event from the most recent show. I like the chemistry that these two have, both in terms of in ring but also in their outside the ring interactions. You would never describe Teddy as the most sympathetic of babyfaces, but it's a massive credit to how much of a douchey heel MJF is by the fact he makes Teddy come across as a valiant hero. Given they have such different in ring styles they make the contrast really work and I think this is the second 1 on 1 match up in MLW between them I've really dug. As others have pointed out the Hart Foundation/Dynasty rivalry has been consistently the best part of the promotion.

This is for the X Division Title, and came at the time when AJ would routinely bounce between being a contender for the X Title and then the World Title. This is from TNA's first 3 hour PPV, with the hook being that AJ is the X Division ace that Petey would have to overcome if he wanted to cement his own credibility as champion. Because of this there's a real buzz at the the beginning of the match from the crowd and the opening exchanges are really good with lots of intensity, and I liked, whether through reality or design that Petey looked to be having to work extra hard to keep up with AJ, who just felt like he was just getting started. I think this is the story they were trying to tell in the match, but ultimately it goes too far and this is way to one sided. Again, not sure if this is by design or just simply that in non kayfabe AJ is on that next level, but he just looks several notches above Petey here. He rolls out some fantastic sequences including a back flip off the apron and then scoring with a kick from behind, as well as dodging Scott D'Amore interference on the outside to score with a springboard forearm and is so smooth but also explosive in everything he does. Petey by contrast rarely gets to land a blow unless it's a opening caused by D'Amore distraction. I remember that being a criticism at the time that Team Canada matches wouldn't often devolve into too many D'Amore spots and that would overshadow matches, and that's the case here. When done right, manager involvement can be a fantastic storytelling tool but here the interference overwhelms the match, and while they were probably hoping for a bit of show stealer coming in, Petey comes across as nowhere in AJ's league and someone that flukes his way to retaining rather than being sneaky or resourceful. (** 3/4)

All for people trying to be creative with stipulations and be different, but the whole "24 hours spent in solitary confinement with no food or water" is pretty hokey and save for them initially selling the reaction to the bright lights, means nothing once the actual match starts. There's some decent intensity in this, but it's a fairly average brawl with your typical garbage spots. Given he often put together the WWF Hardcore Title matches, I wouldn't be surprised if Raven was the one structuring this. I did enjoy Monty Brown a lot in both the match and his pre-match promo and it just reminds me that he could've been such a big star. He's still rough around the edges in the match itself but he had so much natural charisma and Goldbergesque explosiveness to him. As others have highlighted the double table spot for the finish is really well done and builds to a good crescendo, but I thought the rest of what went before it was pretty uninspiring. Abyss in particular would go onto have much better hardcore/Monsters Balls matches against the likes of Jeff Hardy and Sabu the next year.

This is a No. 1 contenders match for the FWA British Title, and part of the overarching Old School vs New School storyline in the FWA. Storm is the young up and comer, while Richards was a former champion who had been with the company since the beginning. The storyline for the night was that the Old School wrestlers had all been set the ultimatum that they would need to win their matches on the evening or be fired. The match has some fun exchanges, but is way overbooked with lots of interference from the Old School’s manager Dean Ayass. While Jonny is a high flyer, Richards is looking to ground him, but aside from a nice top rope German suplex, he doesn’t bring much to the table at all. Richards had good fundamentals but was a fairly uninspiring wrestler, which is why he made a much better trainer in the long run. Storm wipes out both Richards and Ayass on the outside with a plancha before accidentally taking out the ref with a superkick. With the ref down, Ayass goes to throw powder into Storm’s eyes but in cliched wrestling 101 fashion this backfires and a blinded Richards falls to the rewind rana. As a result Richards is fired from the FWA – and for once it’s a stipulation that sticks as that would be his last match ever for the company – although on the way out he gets a beatdown from his former Old School stable mates who take him out with a spiked tombstone in a decent angle that gets some good heat. (* ¾)

It’s topical as I’m writing this, given just this week Kendo Kashin has been rather randomly named as a trainer at the WWE Performance Centre. Indeed, this is a battle of PC trainers, although not sure there’s much in this match that those down in NXT need to study too hard to learn from… Brookside had been a heel and member of the Old School stable that had been feuding with the younger FWA guys in the company’s main storyline for most of 2001 and 2002, but after clashing with Drew McDonald had been kicked out of the group and had now turned face. Kashin at this time was the AJPW Junior Heavyweight Champion, although the title is not on the line. He was an All Japan regular at this time and indeed he and Brookside would go on to team up for that summer’s Real World Junior Tag league. This is a solid technical match, as you would imagine from these guys, but as was the case for a lot of Brookside’s FWA matches, he just didn’t seem to fit in with the new indy style that the company’s fans were gravitating towards, particularly not as a face. I enjoyed the mat work and some of the classic World of Sport exchanges, but there’s not much to get your teeth into, and at just under 9 mins, at the stage when it looked like the match was just starting to build into something with potential, it ends rather abruptly. Kashin works the arm, trying to set up his armbar finisher, while Brookside in turn works on the leg. I enjoyed Kashin going back to the arm whenever Brookside was mounting offence as a way of regaining control, and that’s how he is able to block the Iconclasm first time around, although Brookside is able to hit it on the second attempt for the win. Technically proficient, but little excitement to this one (**)

This is a mixed tag team match, with the main heat being on the Saraya Knight and Nikita interactions. Saraya Knight is the mother of Paige, while many will know Nikita as the future Katie Lea Burchill. Because of the very small number of active women wrestlers on the UK scene at this time, Nikita was often put in there with men, so it’s good to see her mixing things up with another female competitor. For anyone that’s seen Saraya Knight in action, you’ll know that she brings great intensity to her matches and as anyone that’s seen her Shimmer run will probably back up, she’s a fantastic heel. That’s in evidence in this match where she’s really vicious and full on in everything she does. The men are essentially just window dressing in this match and bring little to nothing to the table. Vansen would go on to be a major player in the FWA, however Cruz was a guy I had no idea who he was coming in, and I can’t remember him doing anything else for the company coming out. The exchanges between Nikita and Sweet Saraya are fun, if really rough at times – although that’s always been Saraya Knight’s style – she’s a Roddy Piper type wrestler, all intensity and brawling rather than a technician. There’s very little to the match really, with Nikita getting a hurucanrana into a pin for the win, although it didn’t look like that was potentially meant to actually be the pinfall with a botch from the referee. (* ½)

We are at the Pyramids Centre in Portsmouth for this show. Portsmouth on the south coast of England was the original home of the FWA when it was initially the Fratton Wrestling Alliance, but despite the FWA Academy being based there this would end up being the last but one show they would run in the city. Speaking of the FWA Academy, this is a master vs. student match, with Sloan being the trainer of Tighe who has been his star pupil and protégé. Tension had been teased between the two of them due to Tighe accidentally costing Sloan the All England Title to the Zebra Kid at the previous show Vendetta. The teacher/pupil relationship is the narrative for the match; with the two knowing each other so well, the initial stalemates and counters make sense. Despite the familiarity the sequences aren’t as smooth as you might think however. Sloan gets the first advantage and starts to work the arm, and increases the aggression by throwing Tighe out of the ring and onto the ramp, which is a nasty bump. When Tighe returns the favour with a body slam on the ramp, it’s clear the ‘friendly’ exchanges are over. There’s some decent psychology with Sloan concentrating on the arm and going back to it to counter Tighe when he tries to get on offence. Tighe shows good resilience, but probably kicks out of too much as they seem to get a bit bored of the simple story they were telling in favour of big moves. In particular, Sloan hits a top rope superplex into a DDT that looks brutal and probably shouldn’t be just a nearfall. Tighe’s win comes out of nothing, when he rolls though a t-bone suplex into his Tighetantic finisher and feels very abrupt considering he was selling for most of the match. There were some nice moments in this, but I felt they could’ve done more with the teacher vs pupil storyline in terms of building it into the match structure. After the match they share a handshake, but when the Old School stable of disgruntled BritWres veterans comes out, Sloan then turns his back on Tighe to join the faction, where he would essentially become their lackey. (** ¼)

This is face vs face going in, and played up as a dream tag match, between The New Breed – who were the No. 1 tag team in the company at this point (albeit the FWA’s tag division was never one of it’s strong points, mainly due to the shallowness of the UK scene at this time with anyone with ability being needed as a singles wrestler) while Jody and Jonny were of course the two up and coming top stars. There’s a handshake at the start, but the New Breed then jump Fleisch and Storm immediately after the bell to set themselves up as the heels in the match. The opening exchanges are very early 2000s indy stuff, looking very choreographed, but the dive sequence we get from everyone is fun and works to get the crowd fired up. This leads to Jody missing a Shooting Star Press from the top (a move he’d broken his wrist doing previously) and from there he’s now your FIP. Jody, because of his flexibility and his ability to make moves look like they are breaking him in half is always able to gain good sympathy, and while Ashe and Curve don’t do anything revolutionary they do the basics of tag team wrestling well enough that it leads to a good hot tag to Jonny after a few minutes. However just as it looks like the match is going to progress from a competent one into something more engaging it starts to fall apart. The hot tag was well built to but gets cut off too early, and what’s more the New Breed’s big double teams like a super bomb from the top rope and an assisted X Factor are really sloppy. Even then it would’ve been nice for one of those moves to be the finish rather than Jonny missing a moonsault and getting pinned, which feels very anticlimactic. I’ll always give a thumbs up for an established tag team beating two singles wrestlers, even when they are more high profile, and they did tell the story in the match of Storm and Fleisch not having as good continuity when Jody accidentally hit Jonny with the 720 DDT midway through the match. However Fleisch and Storm were clearly on another level in terms of talent and The New Breed were always a team that felt very indy; attempting big moves outside their ability while looking sloppy with their fundamentals. I liked this being built up as a dream tag team match in terms of the BritWres scene of the early 2000s, but it sadly just doesn’t have much coherence too it and it’s a bit disappointing all in all. (** ¼)

An uneventful edition of Fusion last week, although I continue to enjoy the cheesy (in a good way) skits the Dynasty are doing. Still intrigued to see where they go with the Konnan blackmailing Salina stuff, but feels like they need to set up some fresh rivalries as things are starting to feel a little stale in their main programs. I am interested in seeing the War Chamber match though, even if MLW do not have the best track record when it comes to delivering on the big match... Did anyone else catch the Hammerstone/Savio Vega match? While a nice idea on paper, and I was excited to see Savio in action going in, thinking he would bringing some old school brawling to the table, I thought he looked pretty awful in the match. I don't know if anyone else can vouch for some positive work he's done recently, but in this he brought nothing to the table, and looked all over the place. There was one awkward edit where they cut to the crowd where something probably got screwed up and then the finish is brutal looking with him taking a terrible bump where I'm shocked he didn't break both his legs. Not good.

Feel like I'm more on the Migs side of things rather than yours El-P when it comes to Contra - although think I've enjoyed more of the angle than you both! - but I agree with Migs that there's been good energy for the feud and unlike in WWE when you get a Hell in a Cell match because, well, it's time for the Hell in a Cell PPV, some sort of War Games match is logical given the way the angle has played out so far. My main issue is that we still haven't had much more of an explanation of what is behind Contra's motivation other than, they like violence. Fatu is clearly very good, while Gotch and Samael are pretty much bodies, but in a world where talent is being hoovered up like never before I respect trying to use booking - in terms of a group of heels going over strong since they've debuted - to get people over rather than just relying on someone with a reputation and just putting them in matches for the sake of having 'dream matches'. Which sort of segue's onto my thoughts on last weeks show, where you essentially had a couple of squashes, some angles, video packages and then one longer main event match. I've banged on about it across several threads, but to me, this is what a wrestling TV show needs to be - it doesn't need to have lots of competitive matches that burn up your combinations - but build to big shows (the problem being with MLW of course that they seem to so often screw up the big match...but think the point still stands!) and I'd be happy if they continue with this model. The DBS Jr/Thatcher match was also a nice change of pace from some of the garbage brawls and indy spotfests they've had recently, even if it was a bit odd seeing someone like Thatcher in a TV wrestling format.

Catching up on the last few weeks of Impact following Slammiversary and some random thoughts... The Mash Up tournament was a change of pace, although I've never been the biggest fan of teaming up random pairings, or deliberately people that are feuding with one another and there was only so many times you can watch tag partners that 'don't get along' before the formula becomes very samey. The 4 way final was a fun match though, with lots of chaos and continued the Callihan/Blanchard rivalry. As I'll come onto, with Tessa being the only women in the tournament it seems like they are continuing to go all in with her competing with men rather than going back to the Knockouts Divsion. A note as well about the arena. I personally like the more intimate venues to the soulless identikit basketball arenas that WWE films TV, and I don't mind smaller venues, but I'm glad this was just one show as it did look incredibly small time for a national TV program to be shot from there. Thankfully moving onto the last couple of weeks and the venue in Windsor, Ontario comes across pretty well on TV with a hot crowd. The main thing from 2 weeks ago was the really unexpected changing of the X Division Title from Rich Swann to Jake Crist. It was a fun match, but considering the strong run that Swann has been on I was shocked to see the result, as after PPV wins over Callihan and John Morrison, I thought he was doing really well to elevate the belt. Jake Crist winning it is interesting in terms of him doing something that Callihan couldn't, but I do wonder if they are setting things up for Tessa to win the X Division Title with Crist being the transition to her... Elsewhere we saw the official debut of Rhino. I've always been a fan, but him being so heavily featured after being basically a jobber in WWE for the last couple of years does show how shallow Impact's roster is. I'm intrigued to see where they are going with Cage as the broken down champion, as he's barely been on TV since winning the title, but as any fan of Lucha Underground will tell you, getting Melissa Santos more of an on screen role is a very good thing. Finally then, last week was a fun show with a great little 6 way X Division sprint to open the show and then a great (I'd go ****) main event between The North and The Rascalz that I'd definitely recommend. Once again you are seeing some of the depth issues in the company with who they are featuring in some matches, but it's still a really fun show where they build angles well. Tessa once again comes across as such a star right now. I didn't see the two LA shows, which sounded solid if unspectacular, with them mixing in a lot of the Championship Wrestling from Hollywood regulars to fill out the cards. What with his two victories over Tessa, Callihan is now the No. 1 contender and you wonder if they will pull the trigger on him becoming world champ. Given his role as the catalyst in a lot of the best feuds and matches over the last two years, he probably deserves the chance to see if he can be the top man in the company. Lastly, as others have pointed out, great pick up from Impact to get Tenille Dashwood in. With Tessa now seemingly competing with the men now, Tenille vs Taya should be their Knockouts Title match at Bound For Glory. Considering she's never got to hold the title in either NXT, WWE or even bloody Women of Honor where she was the top name they had, Tenille's another one that's probably due a run with a title.

While not as strong as the previous weeks, think I enjoyed this show a lot more than you El-P!! Although admit is was a bit lacklustre after I've really liked the past few weeks. The opener between Mance and Bestia 666 was mindless fun, although nothing we haven't seen 1000 times before. Feel like MLW needs to move away from some of these prop heavy matches - I was much more of a fan of the sort of brawl we got a few weeks back in the Contra vs Lawlor/Von Erich's 6 man, which I really enjoyed. Speaking of which, this week's main was no where near that, but I found it solid enough and I've enjoyed the Von Erich's so far. They are far from polished and fairly basic in what they can do, but I kinda appreciate that and they have an honest, old school babyface charm to them. I think MLW as so far managed to get across a realistic/chaotic vibe in a lot of what they do, but definitely agree that the 'riot squad' was way too campy and over the top. They looked really low rent, and I actually thought took away from what was a good post match brawl. They reminded me of Shane Douglas' security guards from ECW back in the day and was half expecting one of them to reveal themselves as Rick Rude at any point. I'm still digging what MLW are putting on, although if it's a week where you don't have any of the Hart Foundation/Dynasty/top luchadores in action it does show how thin their roster is.

This far exceeded my expectations going in and ended up being a terrific balls to the wall bomb fest. I wouldn't say that I'm the world's biggest fan of either guy, but since coming to Impact Elgin has had a series of really strong TV matches, and he carried that into the match with Cage here. Right from the beginning they went at it, showing great fire and the two just seemed to bring out the best in each other. I know they were a tag team in PWG which probably helped with the chemistry, and I really liked Cage's intensity here. Often I feel he's just doing 'moves' with no emotion, but here I really bought into the fire he was bringing, not only in the sense of getting back at a guy that had put him in hospital, but that sense of putting everything on the line to make sure that having worked so hard to get the title he didn't lose it in his first defence. There were lots of big moves and kick outs, and yet the way they worked the match, those kick outs didn't feel unrealistic or over the top. Great work from them both. (****)