What are you watching?

[akira maeda]

I thought AJ Styles vs. Okada was pretty good. I forgot how good AJ could be, he seems to have improved alot. He got the crowd behind him and everything he did looked good. Okada was selling like a mad man during the calf slicer.

[Edwin]

I watched Kana/Sara del Rey from 2011 from CHIKARA and I must say it wasn't as great as I've read it was.

 

First off the ring is missing the bottom rope and it interferes in certain aspects of the match such as breaking submissions and Kana somewhat almost botches a spot due to it.

 

Also the commentary in itself is pretty horrible. They continuously remark how Kana has some background in MMA, yet there's no proof of said fact and I'm guessing they're just basing this on the fact that she wears kicks pads, works a lot of armlocks (which ironically enough they don't even know are) and leglocks and throws a lot of brutal stiff strikes.

 

As hard as they try, they just can't seem to coordinate some of the offense and seemed sort of lost in between some of the strike exchanges and it leads to some awkward spaces.

 

Despite the coordination on some of the strike exchanges being somewhat wonky, they were still really laying in some stiff strikes which somewhat made up for it a bit. Aside from that, the only other things I thoroughly enjoyed was Kana's submission transitions which looked so smooth and not overly goofy and fake.

[donsem43]

I haven't seen the Chikara match, but the one they had in Shimmer (10/1/11) is pretty good. There were a couple awkward moments but nothing that really ruined the flow of the match. A good story of Kana using her matwork to counter the power and striking of Del Ray.

[Edwin]

I need to check that one out. Considering Kana has some of the best strikes in Joshi along with Meiko and Aja, that maybe a weird match structure, but I'll definitely take your word on it and give it a watch if I can find it.

[donsem43]

Well Del Ray has a bit of size advantage, but they don't work the match she's a monster more like her size gives just enough of an advantage in that area. Other than that, it's a Kana match.

[BruiserBrody]

http://culturecrossfire.com/wrestling/the-monday-night-wars-week-15-121195/#.U2jUBFf4w1I

Bret Hart vs. Bob Backlund, A woman has her nose broken, Hogan runs over the Horsemen, and Paul Orndorff suffers a serious injury

[Edwin]

I thought AJ Styles vs. Okada was pretty good. I forgot how good AJ could be, he seems to have improved alot. He got the crowd behind him and everything he did looked good. Okada was selling like a mad man during the calf slicer.

Just skimmed through it and it didn't look that good. Karl Anderson holding onto the referee forever so Yujiro could hit Okada with the Tokyo Pimps and all the interference's aren't things I enjoy that much, so I'm not sure I'd enjoy this match as some others.

 

Ishii/Honma before that from the same card is the match I've enjoyed the most from Japan this year from what I've seen though.

[BruiserBrody]

http://culturecrossfire.com/wrestling/wwe/in-your-house-seasons-beatings/#.U22Tt1f4w1J

Bret vs. Bulldog in a match heralded as a under-appreciated classic - Does it hold up? HHH tumbles with a HOG farmer, King Mabel's WWF career is put to rest, Big Daddy Cool tries to avenge his boyfriend's concussion and Razor gets his hands on the 123 Kid!

[DR Ackermann]

I've been checking out some Faces of Fear matches on the network and they are a surprisingly good team. Their match with the Outsiders was the best match at Starrcade 96 and their match with Benoit and McMichael at Halloween Havoc was good too. Their were some awesome double team spots in that match.

[WrestlingPower]

I attended Omega Championship Wrestling on Friday 5/9 at the Royal Palace Theater in Roanoke Rapids, NC. Attendance estimated at 300.

 

1-Michael Yamaha b Jake Manning

Typical Southern style opening match

 

2-D’Arcy Dixon b Mia Svensson w/ Special Ref Reby Sky

I’ve seen much worse but both seemed rather inexperienced

 

3-CW Anderson (w/Christopher Carmichael) b Adam Page

Decent enough action in between the stalling & playing to the crowd. Carmichael was heavily involved

 

4-Shane Helms b Lodi (w/Deandre Jackson)

Lodi’s bodyguard/trainee/second Jackson attacked after the match but the heels were run off by 2 big dudes from Lizard Lick Towing, whatever that is (low level reality show?)

 

5-Lee Valiant (sub for Xsiris)/Ric Converse b Caprice Coleman/Sweet Dreams (sub for Cedric Alexander who was called on short notice to fly to the ROH show a day early)

Match of the night. Sweet Dreams turned on Caprice after the match, laying him out with a clothesline, because why not?

 

6-PWI International Hv Champ Zane Dawson b Christian York

Part of this was an extended brawl in the crowd, which like in the Helms match, served to excite the crowd without the performers having to actually do a whole lot.

 

7-Matt Hardy b NWA North American Hv Champ Kahagas (w/Christopher Carmichael) in a non-title match with a Twist of Fate while Kahagas was draped from the top rope. Carmichael hit the ring after and chaos ensued. Somewhere in here, he took the Twist of Fate from Matt, Dawson hit the ring, splashed Matt and speared Matt & Helms. York ran in and brawled out with Dawson. It was a fun end to the show.

 

Overall this show can be judged based on 2 criteria. It seemed to entertain and satisfy the masses, the casual family crowd looking for a fun evening out. The hardcore/workrate crowd seemed quite disappointed in the athleticism delivered for the high ticket prices as it was very much a Southern indy show with more playing to the crowd & smoke & mirrors than a lot of highspots, outside of the tag match and moments in the CW/Page match. Given that OMEGA has traditionally been built around high athleticism and coming off their high point of the Hardys/Briscoes show, this is not an essential DVD.

[BruiserBrody]

http://culturecrossfire.com/wrestling/clash-of-the-champions-8-fall-brawl-89/#.U3INlSj4w1I

Sting and Flair battle Muta and....a mystery partner, The Steiners go for the gold vs. The Freebirds, Lex Luger faces cagey vet Tommy Rich, The Road Warriors try and finish the Samoan SWAT Team and Sid shows us all how he got so over!

[BruiserBrody]

http://culturecrossfire.com/wrestling/the-monday-night-wars-weeks-16-and-17-december-18th-and-25th-1995/#.U3TAmij4w1I

A 2 week XMAS Monday night wars special!! Razor battles Yokozuna, Eddy faces Flair, Savage clashes with the Giant, and then Savage and Flair begin the 3rd chapter in their feud!!

[BruiserBrody]

http://culturecrossfire.com/wrestling/clash-of-the-champions-9-new-york-knock-out/#.U3tWwSj4w1I

Funk and Flair settle the score, The Road Warriors collide with The Freebirds, The Steiners battle the massive Sky Scrapers, The Dynamic Duds (spelling intentional) compete with the Midnight Express for Jim Cornette's affection and Lex Luger tries to make Flyin' Brian crash land.

[BruiserBrody]

http://culturecrossfire.com/wrestling/starrcade-95-wcw-vs-new-japan/#.U34q5Cgm-So

 

The Best of New Japan faces off with the Big Boys of WCW plus Luger vs. Flair vs, Sting for the right to face Macho Man

[SomethingSavage]

Went back and watched a couple of matches from WM7 after listening to the Rewind podcast from PTBNation members. REALLY blown away by Duggan on commentary. Here's a guy that you've grown to expect nonstop, goofball babbling from - and he was throwing out legitimate comments about competition and athleticism out there. Loved it. He was still typical high-energy Duggan, but he wasn't the dumb'ed down Hacksaw.

 

Jim added a "real sports feel" with some of his remarks, honestly. And he did a GREAT job in putting over The Rockers, I thought. Never sold Heenan's crew short either. In fact, I think he kind of went above & beyond by placing so much emphasis on Bobby's influence at ringside. The Brain never actually did anything dastardly, but just the way Duggan spoke about him made you want to keep a wary eye on him anyhow.

 

Don't know the specifics of why or how we wound up with Duggan on commentary for that spot, but I honestly wouldn't have called him fitting in there so seamlessly at the booth. Certainly exceeded my expectations, as he's not one you'd normally consider for THAT role.

[khawk20]

WWC Anniversario 1987. I enjoyed the Pogo vs. TNT match a ton.

[BruiserBrody]

http://culturecrossfire.com/wrestling/starrcade-89-future-shock/#.U4ThEigm-So

It's a battle of attrition as the NWA runs single and tag team round robin tournaments to determine who WCW's true Iron Men are. Participating is Sting, Muta, Luger, Flair, The Road Warriors, DOOM, The Samoans and The Steiner Brothers!

[SomethingSavage]

Been checking out some of Booker T's Reality of Wrestling. If anyone has the free time to check it out, the main event Steel Cage Match of this episode is one big truckload of fun. It tells a good story, plays up the personalities of both characters, and wraps up a longstanding rivalry in solid fashion. And then there's the finish. And THEN something extra on top of that... Good stuff.

 

Worth the watch. Be curious to hear other thoughts or impressions, if anyone gets around to scoping it out.

[BruiserBrody]

http://culturecrossfire.com/wrestling/monday-night-wars-week-18-jan-1st-1996/#.U4cpRSgm-So

We enter 1996 with Hogan vs. Flair, Savage vs. Arn Anderson, The RAW BOWL and a huge roster move for the WWF!

[khawk20]

Watching some IWCCW lately. Some of those shows were very diverse, which makes for an interesting watch 25 years later.

 

For example, the disc I popped in a couple of nights ago had the Midnight Rockers vs. The Maxx Brothers from the AWA and Missing Link vs. Kerry Von Erich from Hawaii, with IWCCW promos and matches interspersed throughout. It's fun since you never really know what's coming up next.

[The Chief]

Binge watching some 94-95 ECW TV on the network. I'm really digging how organically a lot of these angles flow together, it's something I don't think ECW gets enough credit for.

 

It also highlights how awful Joey Styles was. For example, I've seen a lot of these matches in isolation on various compilations. I never realized how much backstory a lot of these matches have because Styles is so busy calling the moves he never bothers to tell the story. I've seen a few Cactus vs Sandman matches, but I never knew the fued started because Cactus pissed off Nancy by talking shit about Kevin Sullivan. ECW really benefits by watching the stuff in context, especially since most of the matches are not very good in isolation.

[BruiserBrody]

http://culturecrossfire.com/wrestling/the-monday-night-wars-week-19-january-8th-1996/#.U43BpSgm-So

Hogan and Savage battle the Horsemen, VADER battles Antonio Inoki, The WWF makes a hard push for the Royal Rumble, and the biggest star in WWF history makes his debut

[Indikator]

Binge watching some 94-95 ECW TV on the network. I'm really digging how organically a lot of these angles flow together, it's something I don't think ECW gets enough credit for.

 

It also highlights how awful Joey Styles was. For example, I've seen a lot of these matches in isolation on various compilations. I never realized how much backstory a lot of these matches have because Styles is so busy calling the moves he never bothers to tell the story. I've seen a few Cactus vs Sandman matches, but I never knew the fued started because Cactus pissed off Nancy by talking shit about Kevin Sullivan. ECW really benefits by watching the stuff in context, especially since most of the matches are not very good in isolation.

 

So basically you are saying that it was a good thing for Styles to call matches his way as fans who had to rely on videotapes couldn't and wouldn't know about context and thus it would have diminished their pleasure of watching individual events on VHS.

[SomethingSavage]

Revisited a lot of the Steen/Generico feud from ROH. Good stuff. Their entire series was great, and I forgot how dramatic some of those visuals came across at the time. Really good stuff from both guys, beginning with the breakup & holding strong up until the end with their Final Battle Ladder War.

 

Also gave their PWG Ladder Match another glance. It's the better of the two, to be honest.

 

Up next will probably be Generico's BOLA win. That entire tournament was awesome (they are EVERY year, frankly), and I recall the celebration with the masked kid to be a genuinely neat moment. Here's hoping it all holds up as well on rewatch. I think it will though. The Hero/Mack opener was one of the first times I remember paying extra attention to Willie also.

[SomethingSavage]

Took a slight detour and went for a briefer watch for tonight instead. Caught Eddie vs. Edge - No DQ from SmackDown! 2002.

 

Fun match. Eddie took some BRUTAL bumps to get Edge over in this one. Those last two spots in the finishing sequence are just SICK. Eddie looks like he could have & should have broken his neck on the back body drop in the corner. But then he goes and outshines himself mere moments later with a TREMENDOUS elevated DDT from the top rope. Wow. Just wow.

 

I went into it, thinking I'd come away with the impression that it's another one of those "SmackDown Six" matches that is best left to fond memories. But no way. Definitely worth revisiting again.