Matt D

Punk vs Garcia: I'd liken this a bit to Bret vs Savage from 87, with the heavy limb control but don't take that too seriously, as I haven't seen it for a while. Very full match that never wore out its welcome. Both guys looked great. The early grappling maybe needed 10% more tricked out stuff but it was gritty and close and compelling without being cooperative. Transition worked really well as you bought Punk was closing in on the GTS at that point and then they went another ten minutes around the leg. I love watching a wrestler try to work with a major limitation and have it shape everything he can and can't do and Punk really leaned hard into it. It changed his game completely and some of it, like the staggered duck into a neckbreaker reversal looked great. That timing isn't just savvy; it's athleticism too and Punk deserves credit for it. The pepsi twist also looked great. Sharpshooter was protected because Garcia was so worried about positioning that he couldn't lean back. I bought Punk being so full of adrenaline that he could hit the springboard clothesline after the dive. I don't always buy that but I bought it here in this situation. Piledriver felt like a big moment. I like how he didn't even try to go for the GTS after that. Really liked this one. Acclaimed vs Lucha Bros: theoretically I was going to like this more when it settled down to heat but it stayed a sprint after that. Acclaimed looked lost moving Penta around and there was basically no heat even after the boom box spot before Fenix came in. All of Fenix' stuff looks great as always (well, not the double cutter) but if they didn't have time for this, they should have kept it off the show and done another Danielson interview or something. Or a feature on the MMA guys so that people know them more if they're not fans. It's ok to have an empty spotfest but don't waste the Acclaimed on it. This match helped no one. I've got no use for this noise and I can't imagine watching another Lucha Bros match anytime soon unless they're up against FTR or Bear Country or Comoroto or someone who can really base for them and slow down the match. Jade vs Skye: This is what it should have been. Skye got an A for effort as almost everything Jade ended up doing was a counter to something Skye tried, so she drove the action. But of course it made Jade look like a worldbeater. Cage vs Starks: I liked the pool shot to the head and how hard Starks had to work for a lot of his offense. It's nice to have an annoying heel that you kind of have to begrudgingly give it to. I haven't seen Cage since Lucha Underground and he does know how to work big against a smaller, weaker opponent. I really don't know about that fall away slam onto the trash can lid as a hope spot though. It looked brutal because it was a little sloppy. I do like Starks playing to the crowd's clapping for the babyface. It's good to acknowledge what they're doing. I didn't realize that they actually DID Send Hook. Jericho being into that and trying to strategize with Taz was really enjoyable. Taz was channeling Rumble 92 Heenan on commentary. "There's your gamangiri (or however you spell that) right to the nuts" was such a good line. Past that fall away slam hope spot, this basically worked for me.

The most important thing is that it's just one segment on a show full of segments. It's not dominating the show. If you aren't into it, wait ten minutes. I'd worry a little if they had them come in and crush everyone because MMA is obviously superior than pro wrestling since it's real and pro wrestling is not, or some such. I'd almost rather they face guys like the Bucks and their impossible physics to counteract that sort of idea, but old man Jericho wrestling them even works too.

It doesn't need the belt but it probably should be an Ironman match or some such at that point. Traditionally, Ironman matches on PPV are a little frowned on since they take up a lot of time but with AEW a big draw match that takes up a lot of time means that other matches can be saved for TV.

I've really enjoyed reading you going through this stuff and can't wait until you get to rudo Atlantis in the Mistico era and the Bucanero turn and all of those trios or Hector Garza being amazing in 2010 or Old Man Casas and the Ingobernables feud sometime ten years from now.

What I watched: Darby vs Comoroto: Two losses in two days for Comoroto, even against well-pushed guys like Cassidy and Darby is a bit of a shame. He feels like the sort of wrestler that Hogan would beat on a SNME. They should protect him a little more maybe? Match itself was fine, though it's rough to lose the heat of so many of these matches in the PIP. Best part of this whole thing was probably JR explaining Sting's no-sell of the Diamond Cutter by saying QT had terrible technique. Deeb vs Shida: Liked this a lot. I thought Deeb's control segment (really a heat, I'd say, even though she didn't go full heel until the end) was very good. She kept things moving, kept them focused, kept them interesting, interacted with the crowd, felt very organic in what she was doing. The opening exchanges were good but had a little weird feel to them chemistry-wise. I'm not sure if that has something to do with Shida's almost lackadaisical way of moving at times or just the way the camera was catching things. It made the counters feel less smooth but also somehow less than spots. I'm not sure it fully made it over the line of being more effective for it though. The big moment at the end where Deeb started targeting the leg while Shida was stuck in the ropes on the apron was interesting because it was very novel and I'm not sure Shida exactly knew how to sell her leg until she made it back into the ring. After that, the finishing stretch was good, especially so because the match had stakes. Shida was protected well enough and there was a sense that Deeb had to go to some dark places to defeat her. I'm curious where they go with this. Shida almost has to get her 50th over Deeb now so they're going to be married for a bit.

If you came on with Punk and Danielson, he’s a brand new debut.

Keep watching Fuerza. You're doing important work there. I'm not sure of the necessary variation inherent in Tully matches. It's worth seeing oddities certainly.

Does anyone else? No. Do you? Yes. You know the drill: timing, selling, hope spots and cut offs, strikes and other offense, build to payoff in comedy spots, use of repetition. Start with the Rougeaus and Beverly Brothers matches.

When’s the last time you’ve really given the Bushwhackers a serious look?

Dark 10/5/21 Pinnacle 8 man: This was very much by the books. Spears, again, maybe looked a bit like a goof letting himself get clowned as he was giving the finger to the other side and losing the offense for his team, but since he took the pin, I guess it's ok. They did that multiple tag that 2.0/Garcia do at the end, which I appreciated. The Wardlow bit was good as he teased going up and giving up maybe too much but then floated out of it and hit the slam. That was well done. Abadon vs Rossi: Abadon currently feels like a foil for whoever her opponent is, which isn't so great in enhancement matches. The best part of this was when she adjusted her own head, but she still comes off as far more "Bizarre" than scary. Acclaimed vs Martinez/Morales: I liked the pacing of this more than the Cheech/Delaney match. The rap was better too. I'm working off of just a few data points still but Bowens seems more confident and reactive with more genuine reactions in there, his selling, his forearm and superkick, his taunt, etc. Sonny Kiss vs Kal Herro: Best I've seen Kiss look, though it was by toning down parts of the act. Just came out there like a killer though which fits the current storyline. All of the kicks looked good and the presence was pretty badass actually. Just demolished Herro after the first minute. Good squash. Statlander vs Zhang: Statlander knows what she is and she leans hard into it, and it's maybe not multifaceted but has a couple of facets at least (alien + strength + best friend) so it gives her a lot to work with in a match. Here, the boop was early, and she got to show off some of the strength stuff as well. Zhang followed up the idea she'd be putting Stalander to sleep with two snap suplexes, which was a choice. Comeback transition was timed perfectly as it was right when the fans were coming up with their clapping. The finish felt sufficiently nasty. Blue vs Wrenkowski: My first look at Wrenkowski I think and I liked her. I liked the whacks during the dragon sleeper. I loved the little stutter step change of pace when she started jaw jacking with a fan which gave Blue a hope spot. It was probably planned but she made it seem completely organic and like a deviation. I'm not sure about her staggered selling but it's probably better than just waiting around for a flying body press? Blue had a little repositioning snafu to sent up the axe kick, which is the stuff you notice. I'm not sure how I feel about the way she works in her little snaps. I think when she was firing back from underneath she could have let that sit in a bit more and milked it instead of rushing through it. If she's going to use the fisherman's suplex as a finish (which I don't love as I feel like a lot of people on the roster use it just as a middle move) she definitely needs to lock the arms together. Kingston vs Henry: Think this is my first look at Henry/Hale. Obviously this was really good. The spots where Henry took over (with the figure four dragon screw in the corner and then that huge spin kick on the outside) were really good and then it became an Eddie selling seminar. I liked Eddie pushing away the camera on the floor and the ref in the ring. That's just a presence thing that a lot of other people might not do. Henry's leg-related cutoffs worked for me. I liked how he'd switch gears, starting with one sort of move and then realizing and dropping back down to the leg. Henry had to deal with the fact that he could only keep Eddie down if he stayed with the leg but he's not the guy to get him to quit so he had to switch to other things. That meant he made one major mistake (after almost making a couple) and it was all over. Full worldwide point. Gunn Club vs Knott/Grillo/Stewart: Austin is still full on Brian Christopher. It generally works. I'm glad he got some comeuppance after mocking the tag. Billy's great as guy whose fist people run into. That punch after the fakeout on the crotch cross was great. All I remember from Colton is the manic stomps in the corner and I wonder if he should be more of a contrast of Austin, since he can't outdo him. I liked the blocked finish into a roll up ending by Austin and had to watch it back a few times. Diamante vs Garrett: Yeah, I kind of like all of the little flourishes Diamante do, like the gun shots during the entrance or leaning on the ref at the end. Shame Santana didn't get an entrance and Taz's Wonder Woman singing was pretty silly. It would have been a good moment to go into her background/story instead. Everything looked pretty good here. I liked Diamante's shift when she had the nerve hold, though the crowd wanted to clap Garrett up (and needed some instruction with leg stomping or something as half were clapping and half were chanting). I liked how the handspring didn't work and loved that a dropdown trip DID work. Seeing that stuff now and again makes normal occurrences mean more. The finish did not feel cooperative and that made it look especially painful. Blonds vs Wingmen: As we learned from the last match, the crowd needed some leading in their cheers. Thankfully, they got it. Liked the transition to heat because it had an extra wrinkle where Griff survived Drake's distraction but then got tripped a moment later. Nemeth chaining three amateur moves together and then taunting was solid stuff but then what the heck was Pillman doing using that moment to come in the ring as if he was going to break it a pin? Don't have faith that griff can survive a fireman's carry and a go behind take down and the flossing, Brian? I did really like the discus twist on the corner clothesline. No way that should have looked good given the sheer physics involved, but it did. Taz and Excalibur making fun of him for not getting out of the ring well to set up the finish (which was otherwise very good) wasn't nice though. Garcia vs Lockhart: Yeah, Garcia is a lot of fun to watch in this setting. He's just right in your face all the time and everything snaps. He reminds me of 1980 Dynamite Kid. Yeah, I said it. Not Benoit because the intensity was different and Benoit never quite had that same chip on the shoulder; he was always just glad to be there deep down. But watch some Dynamite in 1980 New Japan when he was heeling it up there. I want to see Garcia against almost everyone on the roster. Serpentico vs Marko: Yeesh, this wasn't great. What Worked: The stage dive spot by Serpentico. Missing the Flying Snake. Serpentico losing the offense due to his own (or Luther's) mistakes. The fact that whenever Serpentico did catch Marko, it had real impact. The celebratory feel of Serpentico winning. What Didn't Work: Flyweight Bully Marko Stunt taking so much of the first part of this. Quick shots are good. Tossing his own body at Serpentico is good. Tossing Serpentico into the guardrail far less so. My guess is that Marko took so much of this since he was losing. I would have been ok with Marko getting 1/3rd of the offense and having a big comeback after one of the missed moves before getting cut off. Blech. OC vs Comoroto: I was entertained by this one. Comoroto cracked the Cassidy code just by being so big and so strong. He powered his way through it literally, and then he got to do the poses back. That put him over as much as any power move he managed in the match. Again, OC can show that largess since he was winning. I wish they had played up Statlander's knee brace in her match if it was going to come into play here but that's probably asking too much for the YouTube show.

Will get to rec's at some point (Monday morning is a good time for me on some of these since I usually have the Catch watched over the weekend, NFF isn't worked out for another day or two, and I don't have Elevation/Dark yet). Thanks. Elevation 10/4/21 Emi vs Skye: Tony immediately regretting asking Eddie to talk is great. Eddie was great as within ten seconds he declares that he only likes Lulu, who is dope, and that Skye has to get over in another territory. Then Tony got the great line that no matter who wins or loses, he gets paid. Again, these aren't what you want for your A show but it's like Dusty being hilarious on WCW Prime. Match itself worked. It wasn't pretty but it worked. There's a line on smoothnness where if you straddle it right, the lack of such can feel like competitiveness. What helped was that the match played into it. Skye took Emi down and started wailing on her and she paid for it in a big way. I loved Lulu's stomps on the floor because they were so overwrought 80s pro wrestling. Big and ridiculous. If she was punching, she'd be doing the big Bret Hart stomping as she did. Emi going twice for the body press in the corner was a nice arrogant bit of transition. Skye's high cross body was as high as you get and worked as a near-fall even though it shouldn't have. The tilt-a-whirl was a perfect cut off moment and the Queen's Gambit looked great (that has to be a tough move to take and make look good). I'm not entirely sure what to think of this one. Skye looked good in the loss from a kayfabe level but I think, as a wrestler, she'd maybe get more out of doing a house show loop with Emi, than she did from this one match alone? 2.0 + Garcia vs Corino, Stetson, Thrillride: I love that we're in a world where Daniel Garcia gets an enhancement match. The intensity he showed at the start rushing Stetson probably wouldn't get to happen against most other opponents and it's a great looking at him. The triple tag thing they do where they make sure to tag both guys each time so they can triple team is really novel (to me at least). Corino had a nice idea of rolling out of the ring to eat the Matt Lee clothesline on the floor, but he was moving in slow motion getting down to do it. Garcia is quite good at milking the moment on his lean back on the Sharpshooter. Onemanthrillride really wasted his moment in the sun here. You have people's attention with the name and the look. Do something! Spears/Wardlow vs Stunt/Fuego: Hey, Fuego went for the French Catch up and over. He did it as part of an exchange instead of a counter to a top wristlock and because the motion of it was different and the basing of it was different, he didn't quite get it. Good thought though. Spears coming out with the Brodie shirt was his right and if he's going to do it, Elevation's a great place for it, but I think it disrupted his heel reaction a bit. When he did his "10!" thing it wasn't heelish enough and that hurt Fuego doing it in response. He's basically Borne Again but as a bunch of WWE lower-card acts instead. It works but boy does it have a ceiling. People really complain about Marko Stunt? He was used perfectly here, as a foil for guys like Wardlow to have bounce off them. Even when Marko started to get some momentum on him, it was only enough to get a quick hot tag and then work with Fuego. His big offensive move on Spears was just rolling away from him repeatedly. Maybe it was worse a year ago, but everyone in that ring understood who he was and what he was and how he should fit into the match. I was especially impressed with Wardlow's reactions to him. The double death valley driver was set up well (as in it didn't feel contrived) and Wardlow's finish looked a million times better than when he does it out of the corner. Archer vs Bruno: Glad to see Jake up and about but he has the presence of my 70 year old uncle out there. Archer definitely wasn't running (or power-walking) to the ring for this one. It's ok because Bruno was so big they could play it differently. Archer's a big guy who can do a lot of stuff and that, from what I've seen, generally holds it back to instead do a bunch of things he should be doing but at very high intensity. Here, he got to do some of the stuff because of Bruno's size and it worked and it didn't wear out its welcome. I think the value in Jake would be in taped package promos getting Archer or one of this feuds over more so than being at ringside. Abaddon vs Davienne: First look at Abaddon. Davienne sold the intimidation/fear at the start, but the scariest part of the match was Eddie almost dropping the F word. She comes off as more alien/outlandish than terrifying in the ring. A bunch of weird offense (that looks pretty good) and expressions. She definitely needs a handler of some sort. I'm not sure I loved Davienne taking so much of the start of this without more blatant no-selling? I don't know what to make of it with one data point, I guess. Santana/Ortiz vs Two Guys in Facepaint: I don't know about Santana and Ortiz. I think they're just not for me. Look at how creative and interesting the use of tags was in the 2.0 trios and then look at the four minutes of dull noise of doubleteams this was. They were fine, creative even, but I just wasn't feeling it. Henry was fine on commentary though. Good for him to get his laps in. Statlander vs Becca: Completely a Statlander match, with Becca's main contribution actively avoiding the boop, up until she didn't. I'd be curious to see what more of a Becca match looks like since she's obviously put a lot of care into her gear/personality. Lots of strength spots out of Statlander. I'm a sucker for interesting entry points into a goardbuster so long as they're not overly contrived and hers was good. I like how the boop's inevitability led to the inevitability of the finish. Statlander is someone who, moving forward, you can put against almost anyone on the roster and it'll be interesting, because she's so committed to her act and very consistent in what she does. Acclaimed vs Delaney/Cheech: I'd say more a case of missed opportunities than anything else. You want to see Delaney up against a guy like Archer right? that would have been true ten years ago at least. He had a good flurry but a guy on his level shouldn't be doing jumping springboard cutters. Cheech is another guy you'd probably like to see get mauled (I mean 15 years ago, right?). Caster could have done more with the rap considering who was in there. Kingston had some matches with Cheech in 05-06 and you kind of wish he'd been on commentary for this. It was obvious Tony had no idea who they were but that's ok. I like the Acclaimed in theory but you still get the sense they're putting it together. Both of them have around 200 matches on Cagematch despite being wrestling since 2015-6 and they'd just really benefit from House Shows. FTR vs Nystrom/Dean: First time hearing the new theme and it's pretty perfect. I kind of wish someone could convince Dax Harwood to watch some Blousons Noirs match because he reminds me so much of Marcel Manneveau in all the best ways. I get the sense that Wheeler might be more of the footage guy/historian. Wheeler's tackle off the apron was really good. If you're only going to get to do a few things, making them all like that really helps. Kiss vs KM: Fans were definitely behind Kiss. KM looked good out there for the most part. The immediate face drop out of the lock up and then later out of the wheelbarrow, the back targeting. Why the heck was he going up top so much though? Kiss' strikes looked good, including the handspring into a kick where I didn't think the distance would work out. The fans really wanted the fireman's carry to work out so I'm glad they got what they wanted. I'd see more KM. Gunn Club promo: This worked. They were frustrated about inconsequential stuff and Billy was patient until he wasn't. Gunn's head in the opening always freaks me out with the texturing. Scarier than Abadon.

Pretty sure you have to be able to do both to make my top 10. The competition is just too hard and they can do it blindfolded. I want to see that a wrestler can master multiple situations so I can best understand how good they are. You can probably (probably) make my top 20 by being the very best at one or the other, but without evidence positive or negative in the other role, that’s your possible peak.

Sounds good. I'm happy to do these. It's been decades since we've really had a sort of Superstars/Wrestling Challenge/WCW Syndicated Show (Or mid-late 90s WCW Saturday Night) with this formula of enhancement matches with some mid-card clashes. The closest was probably early NXT but even that was more of a core show and there's a lot we can learn about pretty much everyone involved by watching these and commenting even loosely. While I like doing it, it's even better if someone's interacting with what I'm saying.

Presuming we're talking about the 2-27-86 MSG match and I'm looking at the right one, I thought it was excellent. The crowd was hot. Monsoon said Stu was in attendance so Bret and Neidhart both had plenty of reason to be at their best. It's got the sort of structure I love, with a couple of minutes of very specific heel posturing to start (this being Neidhart's strength and reactions which no one else could do quite the same way), leading to a few minutes of babyface speed/technical advantage of a shine, where they use tags to control, right into extended heat. I didn't love the transition to the heat, with Bret intervening with a cheapshot legdrop as Blair went for a figure four, but it worked ok. It was just a little too blatant, even if that meant it was ok when the Bees just ran in to break up a pin after the backbreaker elbow drop combo later (and good! Protect those big moves). There was a hot tag a couple of minutes into the heat on Bret missing a second rope elbow drop (almost comedically really) but here the heat was really extended as they immediately cut off Brunzell with a knee from the outside. After that was much longer second heat (really a continuation of the first with that hot tag being a hope spot) which built a ton of sympathy for Brunzell with a few small bits of hope that were cut off hard, until he hit the dropkick out of nowhere for a great hope spot, but not actually a transition. It took another two minutes or so before the Harts overreached and went for their second assisted charge into the corner for the hot tag. They hit the dropkick again to tease a pin right at the time limit draw. I loved the little set ups and payoffs. Bret missed the elbow drop but hit the backbreaker/elbow drop combo later. Bret hit his own dropkick right before Brunzell hit his big hope spot one. They successfully hit the charge only to fail when they went back to the well. I ran the timecodes on this one: 2:20 Bell; start of Anvil's feature strength bit. 4:20 Drop down trip to start the (legwork) Shine 6:40 Transition (Hitman legdrop) to Heat. 9:20 Missed Elbow Drop by Bret; hot tag to Brunzel. 10:00 Cut off knee from outside by Bret, start/extension of second heat. 16:35 Brunzell dropkick hope spot 18:30 missed charge to hot tag. 21:04 Dropkick and bell. I would have been ok with a couple more minutes of shine and paring off a minute or two of that (second) heat on Brunzell or even separating things to allow some more comeback by Brunzell after the first hot tag before the start of the second heat segment (though the match did benefit from both the first hot tag and the first dropkick serving as hope spots and not transitions). At 30 seconds or so before the hope spot dropkick, I was thinking to myself that I was just about ready for the hot tag, but in general, it was a very effective formula. Not every tag match can be run by a stopwatch, but this got a ton of real heat and plenty of elation when the faces fired back, or even when Blair went after the Harts on the floor during the heat on Brunzell. Everyone played their part well, with Brunzell getting a ton of sympathy, Blair playing fiery and pissed off and working the apron well, Jimmy being great out there trying to tamp down the clapping and what not, Anvil mugging and reacting and being a force, and Bret directing traffic.

I need to watch some non-Bulldogs Hart Foundation matches. Bulldogs are the worst offenders of heel in peril and those probably poisoned me towards other HF matches. Though I love Summerslam 88 vs Demos.

Piper has been as helped by footage over the last five years as almost any of his contemporaries. For NFF alone we covered: Greg Valentine vs. Roddy Piper NWA 7/9/83 Roddy Piper/Cowboy Bob Orton vs. King Tonga/Superfly Afi WWF early 1986 Kuwait Roddy Piper vs. Randy Savage WWF 12/13/86 The 77 NJPW footage Roddy Piper vs. Rick Rude WWF 11/1/89 Roddy Piper/Tim Brooks vs. Adrian Adonis/Ron Starr PNW 3/31/79 And what we had of the 92 Fundraiser Mountie match.

This is a strong generalization but I see Bret as someone who tried to have matches that made sense, that felt legitimate relative to what that meant for a 1980s-90s audience, that had emotional beats that moved people, whereas Shawn was more focused on trying to have the best match on the show and wow people and to be the showstopper. It's a chicken/egg thing but in a world where the point is no longer to see the babyface triumph over the heel but instead be part of an experience and witness greatness, Shawn's way resonates more. Now that wrestling's risen out of the ashes of whatever kayfabe once was, it's all about sensation as opposed to sense so Shawn's influence is both stronger and is probably more effective for people to embrace. Whether or not that's a good thing for the sake of this exercise, especially in how Shawn's existence might have led to this world existing in the first place is a personal decision for everyone voting.

Crossposting what I saw this week: Orange Cassidy vs Jack Evans: Nice pop for Cassidy considering how tired the crowd probably was. Taz telling Starks never to gamble on pro wrestling was funny. Good stuff early with Evans going for the roll up and Cassidy just being Cassidy, but then he snuck in an early backslide and pull the hair around. Hardy still has a good right hand. He was also funny counting quicker than the ref after the 450 on the floor. Evans was definitely living in the moment, interacting with "Mr. Hardy," reacting to the crowd, trying to get the win at all points given the stakes. Right up until the point he wasn't as match lost a little steam and urgency during the heat until the missed top rope move. In general I like the house style of two tries for every big move and it helps with them switching up just which move can't get hit for each wrestler in each match, but maybe it shouldn't be in EVERY match. The idea with HFO and BF/DO coming out was good but I'm not sure I liked how it was shot. Maybe they should have went around once more in the ring before the punch? Bunny's face as Hardy told them to leave was great since she never shows any expression like that. Post match was probably more important so good they gave it time.

I think I got pissy about kikuchi no selling something on the floor. That was my big takeaway. I’m better now.

I feel like that pop was less about Shane and more about the total surprise. There are almost no surprises in the last fifteen years that weren’t at least rumored to prep fans. Something like Cena returning at the MSG Rumble would count for that since it was thought to be impossible. But I can’t think of too many others.

Crossposting my thoughts of what I saw: Nightmare Family vs Sydal/Martin: Cody rushing in worked for me. There was a neat moment during the early exchanges where Martin and Johnson were going at it and the ref was obviously in the way of the corner so that almost opened things up for a switch. Pretty sure it was planned but it didn't feel it which is what matters with these elaborate spots. Punk balking at the "Lightning Spiral" name was funny. The sequence where Cody hit the Disaster Kick to Sydal on the apron and then hit the Vertebreaker was really good but no one should be kicking out of that move without something extra. That shouldn't just be some random midmatch move for Cody. I got the impression Cody was glad to be in there with Martin and based well for him. Post match promo worked. Arn's shaky these days which is weird because he's really clear on the podcast but it still worked. Greene/Bears vs Darby/Mox/Eddie: Glad Boulder's ok after seeming hurt on Dark. Excalibur called La Casita La Magistral again. Come on, Excalibur. I like how Greene somehow bumped on his face off a shoulder black. He was obviously glad to be there. The Hurricane vs Rock and Austin moment at the end with him was great. Eddie's German on Bronson was pretty awesome too. OC/DO vs HFO: I like how this shifted gears once everyone came down midway. All of the signature stuff was after that. At first it felt a little empty for such a big match but that's because they saved it all for when the switch flipped. In retrospect, pretty perfect. Tay/Anna vs Bunny/Ford: Tay should probably work hulking up into her act because she's got a memorable pissed off face. She also took the knee first corner bump to the floor huge. The backstabber combo onto Anna didn't look pretty. We lost the heat and the hot tag in the PiP. The Dangerous J kick looked great. I had wondered about putting the Dark Order stuff back to back but probably best to highlight it like this in the middle of the show. Miro vs Sammy: I don't think I've ever actually seen Sammy before. I was wondering if they were going to put him over during Hispanic Heritage Month since they did a promo for that and seem a lot better than WWE about this stuff. Miro is a once in a generation talent (which given this generation is saying something) with his balance between offensive presence and engaged selling. He just gets it and is exceptional at making everything he does mean something and resonate. I'm not sure I see quite enough differentiation between Sammy and a lot of the other young guys. If I had to say I'd say that Sammy tosses himself at people forward and Darby does it backwards and more fatalism. The story of the match with Sammy throwing himself at Miro as the only way to hurt him and Miro catching him again and again worked for me. The transition where Miro let the crowd get into his head and feed his own ego was excellent. I only saw half the matches on this show and there was just way too many cutters and stunners. Also too many superkicks. Almost every match had at least one. You have to love the effort and weight behind Sammy actually getting the GTH on Miro (too many drop onto knee moves too though). I was interested to hear Punk's reaction but he stayed in the moment and shouted "Pin him!" instead. They covered a lot of ground in ten minutes. Great moment for a crowd that deserved a great moment in the memory of someone who inspired a great moment. I did see Cole vs Jungle Boy on youtube later on too, just the last few minutes. I don't like someone kicking out of the panama sunrise already (I'd rather it didn't exist, but if it does, protect it) but he didn't hook the leg, as Punk noted. Jungle Boy pulling him back to the center of the ring maybe before he needed to was a nice youthful exuberance/risktaking moment to build to the finish.

He seems to be really enjoying himself right now though.

If the doll was as big a merch seller as she indicates, she’ll be coming back with a Lily now wearing a Santa hat for X-Mas.

Christian, Punk, Danielson.

LA Park can go to malls too.