MikeCampbell

This sort of match worked for Sabre's match with WALTER in October, but it doesn't come off as well here. Lee isn't anywhere near the wrestler that WALTER is, and it shows. Aside from the finish, Lee isn't able to outwrestle Sabre or use any surprising transitions. He just has to get the ropes or wait for Sabre to let him up from holds, and his offense is mostly him trying to stiff the crap out of Sabre (although I apprecaite Excalibur's comment that Lee isn't stepping into his strikes to protect the leg). Sabre is a blast to watch, especially when he does little things to bait Lee into putting strain on the leg, like his overselling the bodyslam so that Lee will go for the moonsault and be unable to protect himself. Lee's selling is usually spot on, aside from the spot where he countered the hanging triangle into the powerbomb. ***

I'll have to sit down with this again to see where I'd rate it. But, I had a blast watching it when it happened. I wish they hadn't burned through so many good finishes, like the Project Ciampa off the top. But, Johnny was literally fighting for his career, so it makes sense for him to put in a superhuman effort. I initially was disappionted to see Gargano win. I figured Ciampa would win, and Johnny could got to 205 or SD, while super heel Ciampa moves into a feud with Black for the title. I also got a huge kick out of the spot where Ciampa took the bump on the concrete and fans started the 'You Deserve It!" chant. I thought the finish was brilliant with Johnny not wanting to sink down to Ciampa's level, but not being so stupid as to think that Ciampa suddenly wouldn't do it in heartbeat, and it pays off.

I've never thought you were a troll or anything. I haven't been posting much in general, so it's nothing personal.

"So…is Finn trying to say something with his rainbow Balor Club gear and LGBT fanclub as a part of the entrance? I’ve heard others make claims, but I don’t think he’s ever said anything on the record." Wow, so apparently anyone who does something for the LGBT community must be gay.

Looks like Thunder cuts off right around the time I gave up watching WCW. One of the last things I recall seeing was a promo from Benoit on Sid and Steiner saying something like "You want to throw your weight around? Well me and Perry Saturn want to throw your weight around too!"

The Chono incident was the reason why Austin apparently didn't want Owen to do the sitdown tombstone, and wanted him to drop to his knees like UT's version. RE: Eddie/Sami, I don't have anything to add that wasn't already said by other people in the threat. It was a stupid spot to begin with, and Sami looked sloppy as fuck. The chair they used was also rather questionable, which makes me wonder if Don Callis and co. knew what they planned on doing. The thing that drive me crazy though is the defense of "Accidents happen." No shit, nobody thinks Sami clocked him on purpose. But, people are still at fault when an accident happens. And, yes, with the half-assed way the chair was set up, and the swing he took. Sami is at fault.

Seems like they just dumped the On Demand versions to the Network, because there was an edict that came down that Mel Phillips would not be shown. Funny thing about it is that whole segment appeared uncut on another video before that change was made and it is still intact. The Mel Phillips angle is included on the Network's Upload of the "Most Embarrassing Moments" video. But it's joined in progress, so it doesn't where Phillips put on Terry's hat and caused Terry to smack him around.

Of the one listed as being shown in the "most complete form possible" has anyone noticed any glaring omissions from the original CHV release? The only one I've come across so far is on the "Grand Slams" tape, they don't include the clip of Terry Funk smacking around Mel Philips. Honestly, I only even noticed it because of Gene's voiceover for the following segment, a clip of the Funks vs. JYD/Tito WrestleMania 2 match, where he continued talking about Funk.

Roman has been treated predominantly as a babyface by crowds the last two weeks, especially in the Miz match. Agreed. But, last night was a much different story. I'm not sure what you mean? Last night the Roman cheers and the "Let's Go Roman" chants were way louder than the boos and the "Roman Sucks" chants. It sounded to me like Elias got a much bigger reaction, especially during the promo when he was calling Roman out. But, I only caught snippets of the actual match, since I was working. So, I'll take your word for it, if you say the crowd was much more for him.

Roman has been treated predominantly as a babyface by crowds the last two weeks, especially in the Miz match. Agreed. But, last night was a much different story.

If the fans are determined not to accept Roman Reigns, WWE ought to take advantage and use it to potentially elevate Elias. A Roman/Elias title feud, with Shield vs. Elias/Dallas/Axel matches.

At the end, he tells Shamrock that the incest angle wasn't his idea, and that it must have been Vince McMahon or JR who came up with it!

PWG is pretty much the only reason I subscribe to the Highspots streaming service.

We need Lita or Trish Stratus to be the referee for the Women's Title match.

From what I've seen from both of these guys this year, I'd put this at the bottom of both of their lists. The idea of working over Omega's head/neck and Naito's shoulder is completely thrown away. And we're left with a total bomb fest, without of much of anything in the way of engrossing work or storytelling. One of the elements that made me appreciate the Omega/Okada draw, was the idea that their strikes progressed during the match to the point of looking like something that could end the match, but, it didn't seem to dawn on either of them. Compare that to the way the V-Trigger is used here, with Omega hitting at least a dozen of them (I lost count) with a sickening smack. Not only doesn't he even try to pin Naito, but, Naito eventually starts sucking them up and making a comeback. The Destino is the same way, with Naito using it far too often, by the time it's over the message it gave me was that Naito won after hitting his finisher multiple times, after he'd worked over the area that the move targets. The one V-Trigger spot that I liked was when Naito dropped to avoid it, like Omega with the Rainmaker in June, and then him blocking the next one. But, instead of going anywhere with it, Omega just cracks him with another knee. They had some clever spots, like the facebuster counter into the corner that SLB pointed out, and the Destino counter to the One-Winged Angel. But, it didn't matter because they just hit their bombs and then it was onto the next one. The spot with Naito slipping on the top and hitting the post is a perfect example. It could have allowed Omega to take advantage the opening and try to win. But, instead they just got to the top rope powerbomb, countered into the rana, making the post shot mean nothing. God Bless Callis for trying to make it seems like the last Destino would have to be the finish, because Omega landed on the top of his head, but, he'd already been hit with several of them by that point.

The big failing of the June match, to me, was them not making the body part work factor into the match long term. And, boy did they make sure to not repeat that mistake. They establish Okada's neck as the weak spot early on, and stick with it for the whole match. I really liked the idea of using Okada's height against him with Omega doing seemingly basic spots, like the backbreaker, to create the whiplash effect on Okada. I just wish Omega hadn't felt the need to do the reverse rana so often, the first one was perfect, and it felt like the spot was cheapened by him going back to it so often. The Croyt's Wrath near fall was brilliant! Over the course of three matches, we've seen how easily that Okada can escape the One Winged Angel, and Omega finally had something up his sleeve to offset that. I sort of wish that the Croyt's Wrath had gotten the pin, only so as not to completely close the book on the story surrounding Okada and the One Winged Angel. The only thing that match seemed to lack was drama, mostly because Omega's win seemed like a foregone conclusion, with there not being anything at stake this time. But, with the story of Omega mercilessly attacking the neck, and knowing that he's under the gun because of the shortened time limit, it wouldn't exactly jive to have Okada Hulk-Up and start firing back on Omega.

Not sure, but one interesting note on Heat is that several episodes were only shown overseas (the ones done on PPV weekends, US viewers got essentially a ppv preview show). I wonder if we'll get those episodes. That's actually not out of the realm of possibility. They got around the Christ Benoit tribute show, by showing the International version of that night's Raw.

The storyline here is that if Mike can last ten minutes with Flair, then David gets another shot at the NWA Title. This obviously isn't up to the usual standards for Flair, but, this is a nice example of seeing the Flair formula at work. Flair helps lead Mike through some early mat work, and goes out of his way to stooge and sell huge for Mike, when he tries working some offense of his own. Flair has some fun torturing him for a bit with an abdominal stretch and then the figure four. David shows up to cheer on his brother, and Mike makes the comeback and keeps Flair in a sleeper until the time runs out.

I'm with Soup as far as thinking that this was below their January match. But, my big problem was this was that it didn't seem like Naito was using the arm to really try to win. He mostly just used it as filler, by yanking on it, and the armbars were nice, but nothing that seemed like it would get the submission. The one time it seemed like he was trying to use the arm to win, when he attempted the Destino after Tanahashi wiped out on the High Fly Flow, Tanahashi blocked it. I thought Tanahashi's selling was great. and he added some smart touches. The knee wasn't worked over nearly as much as it should have been for being the finish, they made up for that with letting Naito linger in the Cloverleaf for a bit before he gave up.

Holy crow this was awesome! The anger and intensity from both was totally believable, and KUSHIDA acts like he's lost his mind, with things like the dropkick into the stands, and stomping the hell out of Takahashi before trying for the Hoverboard lock. KUSHIDA's attack on the arm was relentless, and Takahashi's selling and reactions were awesome.

Flair's retirement ceremony on RAW, even now when I watch it, I get a little bit misty-eyed.

He did a one-shot appearance in ROH after he left TNA, and before he joined up with NXT, so apparently there isn't any lingering heat from when he left in 2011. GFW is under new management, so there shouldn't be any reason why he can't get a slot in GFW, if he wants to go there. I don't really see a slot for him in NJPW, unless they stick him in Kenny Omega's former role as the junior division rep for the Bullet Club.

Actually, they lost the titles by countout, to Buddy Rose and Doug Somers. For my own pick: David Arquette. Need I say more?

The Hogan/Andre dq was designed to get Hogan out of there without having to beat him. So, if they're going all the way with Ted, who is he beating in the finals? Based off the brackets, the only one who seems to make sense to me is Steamboat.

The consistency is probably attributed to Cornette. He clearly does an insane amount of research to prepare for these shoots, the last coupe of cold openings have been especially great. This series has shown how good of an interviewer he is, with his ability to keeps things moving along, and knowing the right questions to ask. And, now it seems like they're trying to cover some of the areas that aren't really remembered all that well, like Detroit and Houston (NWA Classics notwithstanding).