tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32103854748537382392024-03-16T02:08:08.093-05:00Pro Wrestling Smackdown"The Rock will take you down Know Your Role Boulevard which is on the corner of Jabroni Drive and check you directly into the SMACKDOWN Hotel!"-The Rock<p>Definition of Smackdown<p>
1: the act of knocking down or bringing down an opponent<p>
2: a contest in entertainment wrestling<p>
3: a decisive defeat<p>
4: a confrontation between rivals or competitors</p></p></p></p></p>Tony Keggerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03200168160807262508noreply@blogger.comBlogger271125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3210385474853738239.post-62505390433167122932016-11-26T22:25:00.003-06:002016-11-26T22:29:28.604-06:00Summer of Wrestling 2016 #7 – Alpha-1 Matrats 2I'm back for another Summer of Wrestling 2016 post. This week focuses on the Matrats 2 show from Alpha-1 in Canada.<br />
<a name='more'></a><b><u><br />The Rules:<br /></u></b> <br />
1. I will review at least 5 matches per week for 14 weeks.<br />
2. Every wrestling promotion is eligible for the Summer of Wrestling.<br />
3. Every match I review must be a match I have never seen in its entirety before. If I can’t remember what happened in the match, it is eligible. Matches I’ve seen several times or know very well are not eligible for the Summer of Wrestling.<br />
4. Not every match I watch this summer will be reviewed during the Summer of Wrestling. Matches from any upcoming wrestling show or Pay-Per-View are eligible if I watch them. The matches I review will be picked before I watch them.<br />
<br />
<b><u>The Matches:</u></b><br />
<br />
1. Cheech vs. Young Myles **1/2<br />
2. Scotty O'Shea vs. Josh Alexander & Joey Kings **3/4 <b>(Match had a bad botch. O'Shea looked good.)</b><br />
3. Dominic Garrini vs. Alex Daniels ***1/2 <b>(Daniels was great here.)</b><br />
4. Dick Justice & Swoggle vs. The Black Spades *1/2 <b>(I hate to rip on Dick and Swoggle because I'm sure they are great guys, but this is one of my least favorite matches I've seen this year.)</b><br />
5. Curt Stallion vs. Davey Vega vs. Rickey Shane Page vs. Gavin Quinn *** <b>(Gavin Quinn looked good.)</b><br />
6. A1 Zero Gravity Title: Alessandro Del Bruno vs. Shane Sabre ***1/2 <b>(Del Bruno and Sabre are two of my favorite Alpha-1 wrestlers. I liked this match.)</b><br />
7. A1 Tag Team Title: Theory Of Evolution (Jim Nye & Space Monkey) vs. Team I.O.U. **1/4<br />
8. A1 Alpha Male Title - Last Wrestler Standing: Heidi Lovelace vs. Kobe Durst ****1/4<br />
<b>(Awesome hardcore style match. Maybe the best intergender match I've ever seen.)</b><br />
<br />
<b><u>Top 5 Matches of the Week:</u></b> <br />
<br />
1. A1 Alpha Male Title - Last Wrestler Standing: Heidi Lovelace vs. Kobe Durst ****1/4<br />
2. Dominic Garrini vs. Alex Daniels ***1/2<br />
3. A1 Zero Gravity Title: Alessandro Del Bruno vs. Shane Sabre ***1/2<br />
4. Curt Stallion vs. Davey Vega vs. Rickey Shane Page vs. Gavin Quinn ***<br />
5. Scotty O'Shea vs. Josh Alexander & Joey Kings **3/4<br />
<br />
<b><u>Top 5 Matches of the Summer:</u></b><br />
<br />
1. Pro Wrestling Guerrilla World Tag Team Championship Three-Way Guerrilla Warfare Match - El Generico and Paul London vs. Brandon and Dustin Cutler vs. The Young Bucks (PWG Seven 07/30/10) *****<br />
2. Will Ospreay vs Marty Scurll (RPW High Stakes 01/16/16) ****3/4<br />
3. No Rope Barbed Wire Match: Necro Butcher and Toby Klein vs. Deranged and Brain Damage (IWA-MS Christmas Carnage 12/16/05) ****1/4<br />
4. A1 Alpha Male Title - Last Wrestler Standing: Heidi Lovelace vs. Kobe Durst (A1 Matrats 2 - 09/18/16) ****1/4<br />
5. Kyle O’Reilly vs. Zack Sabre Jr. (PWG Battle of Los Angeles Night Three 08/31/14) ****1/4<br />
<br />Tony Keggerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03200168160807262508noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3210385474853738239.post-57637119219946365262016-09-26T18:50:00.004-05:002016-09-26T18:55:27.592-05:00Summer of Wrestling 2016 #6 – IWA-Mid SouthIt's been a long time, but I'm back. The plan is still to finish this. I have no idea how long it will take me. This post is for an indie promotion called IWA Mid-South. I went to a garage sale recently and I got 2 IWA-MS DVDs. I picked 4 matches from each show and those are the matches I selected for this week.<br />
<a name='more'></a><br />
<b><u>The Rules:</u></b><br />
<br />
1. I will review at least 5 matches per week for 14 weeks.<br />
2. Every wrestling promotion is eligible for the Summer of Wrestling.<br />
3. Every match I review must be a match I have never seen in its entirety before. If I can’t remember what happened in the match, it is eligible. Matches I’ve seen several times or know very well are not eligible for the Summer of Wrestling.<br />
4. Not every match I watch this summer will be reviewed during the Summer of Wrestling. Matches from any upcoming wrestling show or Pay-Per-View are eligible if I watch them. The matches I review will be picked before I watch them.<br />
<br />
<b><u>The Matches:</u></b><br />
<br />
1. Chris Hero vs. Ace Steele (IWA-MS Spirit of '76 - 05/24/03) **1/2<br />
2. CM Punk vs. Chris Hamrick (IWA-MS Spirit of '76 - 05/24/03) ****<br />
3. Bull Pain vs. Mitch Page vs. Corporal Robinson (IWA-MS Spirit of '76 - 05/24/03) ***1/2<br />
4. Bad Boy Hido and Mad Man Pondo vs. Ian and Axel Rotten (IWA-MS Spirit of '76 - 05/24/03) ***1/2<br />
5. "American Dragon" Bryan Danielson vs Jigsaw (IWA-MS Christmas Carnage 12/16/05) ***1/4<br />
6. New Jack vs Jimmy Jacobs (IWA-MS Christmas Carnage 12/16/05) ***<br />
7. Ian Rotten, Matt Sydal & Delirious vs Eddie Kingston, Josh Abercrombie & Brandon Thomaselli (IWA-MS Christmas Carnage 12/16/05) ***<br />
8. No Rope Barbed Wire Match: Necro Butcher and Toby Klein vs. Deranged and Brain Damage (IWA-MS Christmas Carnage 12/16/05) ****1/4<br />
<br />
I don't feel like writing about each match. Why waste words on a match I didn't like and don't want to see again so I'll just mention the matches I enjoyed. I'll start with <b>Bryan</b> <b>Danielson vs. Jigsaw (***1/4)</b>. Daniel Bryan has a good match virtually all the time and this match was no different. I enjoyed Eddie Kingston on commentary and that made me like this match more. Spirt of '76 had 2 Fans Bring the Weapons matches: <b>Bull Pain vs. Mitch Page vs. Corporal Robinson (***1/2)</b> and <b>Bad Boy Hido and Mad Man Pondo vs. Ian and Axel Rotten (***1/2)</b>. Both were entertaining hardcore matches. If I had to pick one I liked more, I think I would go with the triple threat match because it had more spots that I reacted to and I liked the effort from everyone in the match. <b>CM Punk vs. Chris Hamrick (****)</b> was an excellent match. I wouldn't say it's something you MUST SEE, but the story they used was amazing and they executed it perfectly. I never heard of Hamrick, but he was a very good worker. My favorite match this week was <b>Necro Butcher and Toby Klein vs. Deranged and Brain Damage (****1/4)</b>. They did a death match style and it was amazing. I'm surprised how many times I really enjoy a match with Necro Butcher in it. This match had a lot of blood and more than enough "Holy Shit" moments.<br />
<br />
<b><u>Top 5 Matches of the Week:</u></b> <br />
<br />
1. No Rope Barbed Wire Match: Necro Butcher and Toby Klein vs. Deranged and Brain Damage (IWA-MS Christmas Carnage 12/16/05) ****1/4<br />
2. CM Punk vs. Chris Hamrick (IWA-MS Spirit of '76 - 05/24/03) ****<br />
3. Bull Pain vs. Mitch Page vs. Corporal Robinson (IWA-MS Spirit of '76 - 05/24/03) ***1/2<br />
4. BADBOY Hido and Mad Man Pondo vs. Ian and Axel Rotten (IWA-MS Spirit of '76 - 05/24/03) ***1/2<br />
5. "American Dragon" Bryan Danielson vs Jigsaw (IWA-MS Christmas Carnage 12/16/05) ***1/4<br />
<br />
<b><u>Top 5 Matches of the Summer:</u></b><br />
<br />
1. Pro Wrestling Guerrilla World Tag Team Championship Three-Way Guerrilla Warfare Match - El Generico and Paul London vs. Brandon and Dustin Cutler vs. The Young Bucks (PWG Seven 07/30/10) *****<br />
2. Will Ospreay vs Marty Scurll (RPW High Stakes 01/16/16) ****3/4<br />
3. No Rope Barbed Wire Match: Necro Butcher and Toby Klein vs. Deranged and Brain Damage (IWA-MS Christmas Carnage 12/16/05) ****1/4<br />
4. Kyle O’Reilly vs. Zack Sabre Jr. (PWG Battle of Los Angeles Night Three 08/31/14) ****1/4<br />
5. Chris Hero vs. Trevor Lee (AAW Epic 04/09/16) ****1/4Tony Keggerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03200168160807262508noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3210385474853738239.post-17692773364951577882016-09-03T23:51:00.002-05:002016-10-14T22:27:58.624-05:00Summer of Wrestling 2016 #5 – PWG Threemendous IVHere is week 5 of the Summer of Wrestling 2016. I'm going very slow with these posts, but I still want to do 14 weeks of this series even if I don't finish it until 2017. This week is more PWG because I still had my Highspots Wrestling Network subscription. They had PWG Threemendous IV uploaded to the website which is a recent PWG show from July 24, 2015 and I hadn't seen it yet so I wanted to check it out.<br />
<a name='more'></a><br />
<b><u>The Rules:</u></b><br />
<b></b><b><u><br />
</u></b> 1. I will review at least 5 matches per week for 14 weeks.<br />
2. Every wrestling promotion is eligible for the Summer of Wrestling.<br />
3. Every match I review must be a match I have never seen in its entirety before. If I can’t remember what happened in the match, it is eligible. Matches I’ve seen several times or know very well are not eligible for the Summer of Wrestling.<br />
4. Not every match I watch this summer will be reviewed during the Summer of Wrestling. Matches from any upcoming wrestling show or Pay-Per-View are eligible if I watch them. The matches I review will be picked before I watch them.<br />
<br />
<b><u>The Matches:</u></b><br />
<br />
1. Team Tremendous (Bill Carr & Dan Barry) vs. Candice LeRae & Joey Ryan ***1/2<br />
2. Brian Cage vs. Johnny Gargano ***1/4<br />
3. Andrew Everett vs. Rich Swann ***<br />
4. Tommaso Ciampa vs. Trevor Lee ***1/4<br />
5. "Speedball" Mike Bailey vs. Chris Hero ****<br />
6. Ricochet vs. Akira Tozawa ***1/4<br />
7. Young Bucks vs. Jack Evans & Angelico ****<br />
<br />
You probably noticed I didn't write anything after each match. I decided to talk about the matches from PWG Threemendous IV here. The tag team match between Bill Carr and Dan Berry vs. Candice LeRae and Joey Ryan was a great opener. Team Tremendous looked tremendous here (pun intended). Like usual, I felt like Joey Ryan added little to the match. Cage vs. Gargano was a nice match, but I thought it could have been better if given more time. I liked the David (Gargano) vs. Goliath (Cage) story they seemed to be telling. Everett vs. Swann was disappointing. They did some cool moves, but I didn't really notice a story and they wasn't really any near-falls. Ciampa vs. Lee was good, but it didn't feel like they were trying to steal the show. It never really felt like it was going to be a great match. That's disappointing because a match like Ciampa vs. Lee could be a main event in AAW. Bailey vs. Hero was easily the best match I saw. It started a little slow, but it got better and the near-falls were good. I was expecting it to be a little better, but I think it's a four star match. Ricochet vs. Tozawa was disappointing. I thought there would be more near-falls and it didn't feel like the match went into that second gear. I wasn't blown away by it. A good match, but I was expecting more. The main event of the Threemendous IV card was the Young Bucks vs. Jack Evans and Angelico. It was an easy four star match like most Young Buck matches. There were some really good spots by both teams, Overall, there were no bad matches like all PWG shows, but I wanted more four star matches and I was disappointed that none of the matches were amazing.<br />
<br />
<b><u>Top 5 Matches of the Week:</u></b> <br />
<br />
1. "Speedball" Mike Bailey vs. Chris Hero ****<br />
2. Young Bucks vs. Jack Evans & Angelico ****<br />
3. Team Tremendous (Bill Carr & Dan Barry) vs. Candice LeRae & Joey Ryan ***1/2<br />
4. Tommaso Ciampa vs. Trevor Lee ***1/4<br />
5. Ricochet vs. Akira Tozawa ***1/4<br />
<br />
<b><u>Top 5 Matches of the Summer:</u></b><br />
<br />
1. Pro Wrestling Guerrilla World Tag Team Championship Three-Way Guerrilla Warfare Match - El Generico and Paul London vs. Brandon and Dustin Cutler vs. The Young Bucks (PWG Seven 07/30/10) *****<br />
2. Will Ospreay vs Marty Scurll (RPW High Stakes 01/16/16) ****3/4<br />
3. Kyle O’Reilly vs. Zack Sabre Jr. (PWG Battle of Los Angeles Night Three 08/31/14) ****1/4<br />
4. Chris Hero vs. Trevor Lee (AAW Epic 04/09/16) ****1/4<br />
5. Will Ospreay vs. AJ Styles (RPW High Stakes 02/15/15) ****1/4 <b></b><i></i><u></u><sub></sub><sup></sup><strike></strike>Tony Keggerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03200168160807262508noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3210385474853738239.post-59885987956469560582016-08-14T00:32:00.000-05:002016-09-03T17:48:00.817-05:00Summer of Wrestling 2016 #4 – PWG DDT4 2014I'm finally back for week 4 of the 2016 Summer of Wrestling. This post took me a lot longer than I was expecting. I don't want to say my interest level in this series is not where it was last year. I feel like I'm just busier this year than I was at this point last year and I'm finding less time to work on this. I still want to do all of the 14 weeks I said I would do, but I don't know how long it will take me. There's plenty of unwatched wrestling for me to include in this year's Summer of Wrestling. For this post, I watched the entire 2014 PWG DDT4 tournament that happened on January 31, 2014. I started watching it almost a month ago so my memory of each match won't be as good as I would like it to be.<br />
<a name='more'></a><br />
<b><u>The Rules:</u></b><br />
<br />
1. I will review at least 5 matches per week for 14 weeks.<br />
2. Every wrestling promotion is eligible for the Summer of Wrestling.<br />
3. Every match I review must be a match I have never seen in its entirety before. If I can’t remember what happened in the match, it is eligible. Matches I’ve seen several times or know very well are not eligible for the Summer of Wrestling.<br />
4. Not every match I watch this summer will be reviewed during the Summer of Wrestling. Matches from any upcoming wrestling show or Pay-Per-View are eligible if I watch them. The matches I review will be picked before I watch them.<br />
<br />
<b>1. DDT4 First Round Match - Johnny Goodtime & Johnny Yuma vs. Chuck Taylor & Trent? ***</b><br />
<br />
I didn't like this match-up. I like these tag teams, but I don't consider them elite tag teams so I can't imagine getting a show-stealing match out of these two tag teams. The match had some good moments, but it came nowhere close to being the best match of the tournament or even the first round.<b></b><br />
<br />
<b>2. DDT4 First Round Match – “Pretty” Peter Avalon & Ray Rosas vs. Brian Cage & Michael Elgin ***1/4</b><br />
<br />
This match surprised me. Another match-up I didn't like and I was expecting this to be bad. There were several really good spots in this match and it turned out better than I thought it would be. Still not a great match, but it's definitely a match to watch from this show. I enjoyed it.<b></b><br />
<br />
<b>3. DDT4 First Round Match - Adam Cole & Kevin Steen vs. Candice LeRae & Joey Ryan ***1/4</b><br />
<br />
It's hard for me to give a good rating to any match with Joey Ryan in it because I hate him so much. This match wasn't bad, but these two teams didn't come close to giving a show-stealing performance. Some good spots, but nothing really special or memorable.<br />
<br />
<b>4. DDT4 First Round Match - ACH & AR Fox vs. Rich Swann & Ricochet ****<br />
</b><br />
First great match of the show. There were some slow stuff in this match, but it also had the high flying action you would expect from a PWG match featuring these four guys. Fun match.<br />
<br />
<b>5. Tommaso Ciampa vs. Adam Thornstowe ***</b><br />
<br />
This match was supposed to be Ciampa vs. Roderick Strong, but Thornstowe had to replace Roddy because of an injury. Thornstowe wasn't bad, but I think this was his first and only PWG match. I gave this match a high rating after the first view, but I went back to rewatch it and I realized I overrated it. The match is not terrible at all, but nothing really sticks out. Ciampa had a great performance, but I wouldn't call this one of his best matches. Thornstowe did some cool stuff, but not enough stuff to get booked again by PWG. It's nothing more than a three star match despite the interesting story about Thornstowe trying to make an impression in his first match. I think I was enjoying the story more than the actual match.<b></b><br />
<br />
<b>6. DDT4 Semi-Final Round Match - Chuck Taylor & Trent? vs. Adam Cole & Kevin Steen ***1/4</b><br />
<br />
I don't even know what to say about this match. It was good and I liked it, but it isn't a match I can't wait to watch again. Chuck and Trent not getting a clean win kinda hurts this match, but I think I still gave it the rating it deserves.<b></b><br />
<br />
<b>7. DDT4 Semi-Final Round Match - Rich Swann & Ricochet vs. Brian Cage & Michael Elgin **3/4</b><br />
<br />
I probably severely underrated this match, but I'm not surprised by my rating. For whatever reason, I'm not a fan of PWG Michael Elgin. I think Elgin's gimmick and style works in other promotions, but not PWG. Was this a terrible match? No it wasn't, but I thought this match was too long and I have no interest in watching it again. Maybe if the time was cut in half, I would have gave it a better rating.<b></b><br />
<br />
<b>8. Number One Contender Four-Way Match - Chris Hero vs. Johnny Gargano vs. Kyle O'Reilly vs. Drake Younger ****1/4</b><br />
<br />
I was very excited for this match and it did not disappoint me. All of these guys are awesome in my opinion. I liked how competitive this match was and for awhile, it was hard to pick a winner. Very entertaining throughout and an easy pick for my favorite match of the show.<br />
<br />
<b>9. DDT4 Final Round Match - Chuck Taylor & Trent? vs. Rich Swann & Ricochet ***1/2</b><br />
<br />
I enjoyed this match a lot. It had the potential to be a great final round match, but it only got ten minutes. I'm not gonna complain too much because those ten minutes were fun and who knows how much I would have enjoyed the match if it got like 20 minutes.<br />
<br />
<b><u>Top 5 Matches of the Week:</u></b> <br />
<br />
1. Chris Hero vs. Johnny Gargano vs. Kyle O'Reilly vs. Drake Younger ****1/4<br />
2. ACH & AR Fox vs. Rich Swann & Ricochet ****<br />
3. Chuck Taylor & Trent? vs. Rich Swann & Ricochet ***1/2<br />
4. “Pretty” Peter Avalon & Ray Rosas vs. Brian Cage & Michael Elgin ***1/4<br />
5. Chuck Taylor & Trent? vs. Adam Cole & Kevin Steen ***1/4<br />
<br />
<b><u>Top 5 Matches of the Summer:</u></b><br />
<br />
1. Pro Wrestling Guerrilla World Tag Team Championship Three-Way Guerrilla Warfare Match - El Generico and Paul London vs. Brandon and Dustin Cutler vs. The Young Bucks (PWG Seven 07/30/10) *****<br />
2. Will Ospreay vs Marty Scurll (RPW High Stakes 01/16/16) ****3/4<br />
3. Kyle O’Reilly vs. Zack Sabre Jr. (PWG Battle of Los Angeles Night Three 08/31/14) ****1/4<br />
4. Chris Hero vs. Trevor Lee (AAW Epic 04/09/16) ****1/4<br />
5. Will Ospreay vs. AJ Styles (RPW High Stakes 02/15/15) ****1/4 Tony Keggerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03200168160807262508noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3210385474853738239.post-24695855110705432992016-07-17T15:46:00.003-05:002016-09-03T17:48:35.847-05:00Summer of Wrestling 2016 #3 – Highspots Wrestling NetworkThis is week three of the 2016 Summer of Wrestling. I'm sorry for a lengthy gap in-between posts. I had a lot going on and didn't find the time to watch my SOW matches. I'm going to try to get the next week done a lot sooner and I have changed my rules a little bit.<br />
<a name='more'></a><br />
<b><u>The Rules:<br />
<br />
</u></b> 1. I will review at least 5 matches per week for 14 weeks.<br />
2. Every wrestling promotion is eligible for the Summer of Wrestling.<br />
3. Every match I review must be a match I have never seen in its entirety before. If I can’t remember what happened in the match, it is eligible. Matches I’ve seen several times or know very well are not eligible for the Summer of Wrestling.<br />
4. Not every match I watch this summer will be reviewed during the Summer of Wrestling. Matches from any upcoming wrestling show or Pay-Per-View are eligible if I watch them. The matches I review will be picked before I watch them.<br />
<br />
Now, I will review five <u>or more</u> matches per week. Usually it will still be five matches, but next week I'm doing nine because I will review an entire PWG show. That means at the end of the SOW, I will have reviewed more than 70 matches and that's fine because the last two years, I reviewed more than 90 both years. This week focuses the Highspots Wrestling Network. It's a website run by Highspots.com and it's got a lot of great indie wrestling on there. They had a Fourth of July sale so I was able to get my first month for only four dollars. It is usually $9.99 per month. I used my subscription to watch matches I have wanted to see since they happened. The matches for this week are all either 2015 or 2016.<br />
<br />
<b>1. Chris Hero vs. Sami Callihan (AAW Chaos Theory 01/15/16) ***3/4</b><br />
<br />
I have only missed two AAW shows this year. This is one of them. The match I regret not seeing the most was Hero vs. Callihan. I heard good reviews so I was excited to finally watch this match. Hero and Callihan were fighting to be the number one contender for the AAW Championship. I like it when matches have something on the line. This was a great battle between two of the top guys in AAW. It didn't quite feel like a four star match which is why I gave it ***3/4, but I wasn't disappointed at all. This was awesome.<br />
<b></b><br />
<b>2. Will Ospreay vs. AJ Styles (RPW High Stakes 02/15/15) ****1/4</b><br />
<br />
Revolution Pro Wrestling is a European wrestling promotion and the Highspots Wrestling Network has some of their shows. This match I wanted to check out because I love both guys. Styles is doing amazing in WWE right now and Ospreay is one of my favorite independent wrestlers. This was just a regular singles match with nothing on the line other than bragging rights. The story here was simple. It was the veteran wrestler (Styles) versus the rising star (Ospreay). This was a very competitive match and I wasn't sure who was going to win. I assumed the winner would be Styles, but this match did a great job making me think Ospreay had a chance. I enjoyed this match a lot and assuming Ospreay is wrestling for WWE in a few years, this would be a great WWE match in the future.<br />
<b></b><br />
<b>3. Will Ospreay vs Marty Scurll (RPW High Stakes 01/16/16) ****3/4</b><br />
<br />
This is another Revolution Pro Wrestling match and another Ospreay match I wanted to check out. I saw Ospreay vs. Scurll live at the WrestleCon Supershow in Dallas this year and they had my favorite match of the night. That was the first time they faced each other in the United States. They have had a long feud in Europe and I wanted to see one of their matches. This match happened this year and I think it's the best 2016 match I've seen so far. This was very competitive and had plenty of near-falls. There were several times when I thought one guy would win and the match would continue. I eventually had a good idea of who was going to win, but not until the last few minutes. This match was amazing and I really enjoyed it. If this was the main event of a big show with the championship on the line, I could argue it could have been five stars. The chemistry these two have is incredible and I hope to watch many more of their matches. Ospreay has been on fire this year and he should be heavily featured in the top ten matches of the year when 2016 is over. Every 2016 match I have seen him in this year has been awesome.<br />
<br />
<b>4. No Rope Barbed Wire Match for the CZW Heavyweight Title - Masada vs. Matt Tremont (CZW Welcome to the Combat Zone 04/01/16) ***1/2</b><br />
<br />
The reason I wanted to see this match was because it happened in Dallas for WrestleMania weekend while I was in the city. I would have liked to go to this show, but I had a ticket for NXT Takeover Dallas that was happening at the same time so you can imagine why I didn't go to the CZW show. This was the match on the card that interested me the most. If I had gone to this show, it would have been the first time I saw a no rope barbed wire match. I was not disappointed by this match. There was plenty of blood and enough "holy shit" spots. There was some slow parts in this match. It's not really a match I enjoyed non-stop, but it had several good moments. It was tough to give this match a rating. I can see people thinking I overrated it, but there's probably some people who saw this match live and think I underrated it. I do think this is one of those matches that was probably very entertaining to watch live.<br />
<br />
<b>5. PWG World Tag Team Championship match - Monster Mafia vs. The World's Cutest Tag Team (PWG DDT4 05/22/15) ***</b><br />
<br />
Here is some notes about this match before I begin my review. Monster Mafia is "All Ego" Ethan Page and the "Walking Weapon" Josh Alexander. The World's Cutest Tag Team were the tag team champions going into this match and they are Joey Ryan and Candice LeRae. Like all of the matches this week, this is another match I missed that I really wanted to see and that reason is Monster Mafia won the tag team championship in this match. Ethan Page and Josh Alexander are two of my favorite wrestlers and they are both former AAW Champions. I have never talked to Josh, but I have talked to Ethan many times and he is a very cool guy. As for this match, it wasn't anything special. Some entertaining spots with a title change, but nowhere near the four star level. It was awesome to finally watch Monster Mafia get the biggest win of the wrestling career as a tag team. I hope they return to PWG for the 2016 DDT4. <br />
<br />
<b><u>Top 5 Matches of the Week:</u></b> <br />
<br />
1. Will Ospreay vs Marty Scurll (RPW High Stakes 01/16/16) ****3/4<br />
2. Will Ospreay vs. AJ Styles (RPW High Stakes 02/15/15) ****1/4<br />
3. Chris Hero vs. Sami Callihan (AAW Chaos Theory 01/15/16) ***3/4<br />
4. No Rope Barbed Wire Match for the CZW Heavyweight Title - Masada vs. Matt Tremont (CZW Welcome to the Combat Zone 04/01/16) ***1/2<br />
5. PWG World Tag Team Championship match - Monster Mafia vs. The World's Cutest Tag Team (PWG DDT4 05/22/15) ***<br />
<br />
<u><b>Top 5 Matches of the Summer:</b></u><br />
<br />
1. Pro Wrestling Guerrilla World Tag Team Championship Three-Way Guerrilla Warfare Match - El Generico and Paul London vs. Brandon and Dustin Cutler vs. The Young Bucks (PWG Seven 07/30/10) *****<br />
2. Will Ospreay vs Marty Scurll (RPW High Stakes 01/16/16) ****3/4<br />
3. Kyle O’Reilly vs. Zack Sabre Jr. (PWG Battle of Los Angeles Night Three 08/31/14) ****1/4<br />
4. Chris Hero vs. Trevor Lee (AAW Epic 04/09/16) ****1/4<br />
5. Will Ospreay vs. AJ Styles (RPW High Stakes 02/15/15) ****1/4Tony Keggerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03200168160807262508noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3210385474853738239.post-52143894271695180412016-07-04T12:06:00.000-05:002016-09-03T17:48:42.669-05:00Summer of Wrestling 2016 #2 – AAWI'm back with the second week of the 2016 Summer of Wrestling. This week I visited the land of AAW. I started going to AAW shows in Chicago in February 2015 and they have become one of my favorite promotions. My five matches I picked for them consist of four matches from a show I didn't go to this year and a match from 2014 that's free on their YouTube channel. Below are the Summer of Wrestling rules if you need to see them.<br />
<a name='more'></a><u><b><br />
</b></u> <u><b>The Rules:</b></u><br />
<br />
1. I will review 5 matches per week for 14 weeks (June 20 – September 19).<br />
2. Every wrestling promotion is eligible for the Summer of Wrestling.<br />
3. Every match I review must be a match I have never seen in its entirety before. If I can’t remember what happened in the match, it is eligible. Matches I’ve seen several times or know very well are not eligible for the Summer of Wrestling.<br />
4. Not every match I watch this summer will be reviewed during the Summer of Wrestling. Matches from any upcoming wrestling show or Pay-Per-View are eligible if I watch them. The matches I review will be picked before I watch them.<br />
<br />
<b>1. Johnny Gargano vs. Tommaso Ciampa (AAW Defining Moment 09/12/14) ****1/4</b><br />
<br />
This is a match I would have loved to see live. It's the only match from this week that happened at the Berwyn Eagles Club which has become my favorite venue to watch wrestling. I'm a big fan of both Gargano and Ciampa and I loved this match. It was 20 minutes of them going back-and-forth and it was impossible to call a winner until the end of the match. I could easily see either guy winning this match and there were plenty of near-falls. Great match and it ranks up there with Ciampa's AAW classics from 2015 and 2016. <br />
<br />
<b>2. AAW Tag Team Championship Match - The Hooligans vs. Mat Fitchett and Davey Vega (AAW Epic 04/09/16) ***</b><br />
<br />
This was a good match. I think it was only 10 minutes long, but these four guys were able to get some good spots in. I have seen some great matches featuring the Hooligans and this is not one of them, but it was still enjoyable to watch. Fitchett and Vega are two of the most underrated wrestlers in indie wrestling right now. <br />
<b><br />
</b> <b>3. Johnny Gargano vs. Andrew Everett (AAW Epic 04/09/16) ***3/4</b><br />
<br />
I liked this match a lot, but in my opinion it fell just short of four stars. I think part of that was because this was an early match on the Epic card and it was just an exhibition match. If something was on the line or if this was the main event, I would have cared more for this match. It was a great effort by two of my favorite wrestlers. I just felt like it was missing something and it just didn't feel like a four star match. It got very close though. I don't want to say Gargano wasn't giving his best effort, but he did have to go to another show that night so he might have been holding back a little bit which I think is understandable.<br />
<b><br />
</b> <b>4. Chris Hero vs. Trevor Lee (AAW Epic 04/09/16) ****1/4</b><br />
<br />
I've heard many good things about this match. I've already seen most of it on the Epic DVD I purchased, but I wasn't paying attention very closely so I decided to give it another watch. This was a fantastic match. I think if this was a main event match for the world heavyweight championship, it could have been one of the best AAW matches of the year because both men really wanted to win this match. One of the biggest stories in the match was Trevor Lee refusing to quit and there was at least two or three times when I thought Hero had the match won and Lee kicked out at two. Like the Gargano and Ciampa match, I would have loved to see this live. Hero and Lee had an amazing battle and the crowd was loving it.<br />
<b><br />
</b> <b>5. Tommaso Ciampa vs. Zack Sabre Jr. (AAW Epic 04/09/16) ****</b><br />
<br />
This was the main event of the Epic 12th anniversary show. I like Sabre Jr. and I do think he's a great wrestler, but I tend to underrate his matches a little bit. I'm not sure if I underrated this match, but I may have. Ciampa and Sabre Jr. had a great match, but I guess my problem with it was that they did a little too much. This was just under 30 minutes long I think. I have no problem with 30 minute matches if I feel they needed the 30 minutes, but in this match, I don't think 30 minutes was needed. It did seem like they were slowing down the match too much. I'm not saying I want to see them rush through the match, but it seemed like they were aiming for it to go at least 30 minutes. It felt to me that it would have been not difficult to do everything they wanted to do in 20 or 25 minutes. I'm not sure if a shorter match would have made me like this match more but I didn't like how it seemed like they were trying to force a 30 minute main event instead of it happening naturally. That's just what I think. It's still a really good match, but instead of wanting the match to keep going, I got to a point where I was like, "You've given me all I wanted to see. You can get to the finish now." <br />
<br />
<u><b>Top 5 Matches of the Week:</b></u><br />
<br />
1. Chris Hero vs Trevor Lee (AAW Epic 04/09/16) ****1/4<br />
2. Johnny Gargano vs. Tommaso Ciampa (AAW Defining Moment 09/12/14) ****1/4<br />
3. Tommaso Ciampa vs. Zack Sabre Jr. (AAW Epic 04/09/16) ****<br />
4. Johnny Gargano vs. Andrew Everett (AAW Epic 04/09/16) ***3/4<br />
5. AAW Tag Team Championship Match - The Hooligans vs. Mat Fitchett and Davey Vega (AAW Epic 04/09/16) ***<br />
<br />
<u><b>Top 5 Matches of the Summer:</b></u><br />
<br />
1. Pro Wrestling Guerrilla World Tag Team Championship Three-Way Guerrilla Warfare Match - El Generico and Paul London vs. Brandon and Dustin Cutler vs. The Young Bucks (PWG Seven 07/30/10) *****<br />
2. Kyle O’Reilly vs. Zack Sabre Jr. (PWG Battle of Los Angeles Night Three 08/31/14) ****1/4<br />
3. Chris Hero vs. Trevor Lee (AAW Epic 04/09/16) ****1/4<br />
4. Johnny Gargano vs. Tommaso Ciampa (AAW Defining Moment 09/12/14) ****1/4<br />
5. Tommaso Ciampa vs. Zack Sabre Jr. (AAW Epic 04/09/16) ****<br />
<br />
Tony Keggerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03200168160807262508noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3210385474853738239.post-17240728245779624672016-06-25T13:27:00.002-05:002016-09-03T17:48:48.780-05:00Summer of Wrestling 2016 #1 – PWGWelcome to the first week of the Summer of Wrestling 2016. This is my third year doing this, but 2014 and 2015 were exclusively on my YouTube channel. This year, I’m making weekly posts right here at Pro Wrestling Smackdown. I posted this week on a Saturday, but you can expect updates in the beginning of the week like a Monday or Tuesday. Next week’s post might be up in a few days from now. Before I begin, I have included the rules below.<br />
<a name='more'></a><br />
<b><u>The Rules:</u></b><br />
<br />
1. I will review 5 matches per week for 14 weeks (June 20 – September 19).<br />
2. Every wrestling promotion is eligible for the Summer of Wrestling.<br />
3. Every match I review must be a match I have never seen in its entirety before. If I can’t remember what happened in the match, it is eligible. Matches I’ve seen several times or know very well are not eligible for the Summer of Wrestling.<br />
4. Not every match I watch this summer will be reviewed during the Summer of Wrestling. Matches from any upcoming wrestling show or Pay-Per-View are eligible if I watch them. The matches I review will be picked before I watch them.<br />
<br />
My first week of the Summer of Wrestling will focus on PWG. I started watching Pro Wrestling Guerrilla in 2014 and now they are my favorite wrestling promotion. There’s a few matches from the shows I’ve collected that I haven’t seen yet so I’m watching them for the first time here.<br />
<b><br />
</b> <b>1. Pro Wrestling Guerrilla World Tag Team Championship Three-Way Guerrilla Warfare Match - El Generico and Paul London vs. Brandon and Dustin Cutler vs. The Young Bucks (PWG Seven 07/30/10) *****</b><br />
<br />
First match of the Summer of Wrestling and it’s a five star match. If you are a fan of PWG, you have probably heard of this match. Whenever I look at lists for the best PWG matches, this three-way Guerrilla Warfare match usually is on there. For those who do not know, a Guerrilla Warfare match is what PWG calls their no holds barred street fights. This was a crazy match with a lot of spots involving chairs, tables and garbage cans. It felt similar to the Hardy Boyz/Dudley Boyz/E&C TLC matches from the Attitude Era. I couldn’t think of a reason not to give them five stars so that’s why it got that rating. Also, it was the main event of the show. Not often does a tag team championship match headline a company’s anniversary show and this match deserved to go last. It’s one of the greatest spotfests in indie wrestling history.<br />
<br />
<b>2. Kyle O’Reilly vs. Zack Sabre Jr. (PWG Battle of Los Angeles Night Three 08/31/14) ****1/4</b><br />
<br />
I’m not the biggest Zack Sabre Jr. fan but I do enjoy his work. Kyle O’Reilly is someone I enjoy watching very much so I was excited to see this match. I was not disappointed. This was a quarterfinal match in the 2014 Battle of Los Angeles tournament. This was very competitive going back-and-forth. It had great performances by both men. The only thing that prevented this rating from going higher was that these two guys had no rivalry going into the match and it was only a quarterfinal match in the tournament. I wish I could have been a little more emotionally invested in the match, but it’s still a high-end ****1/4 match.<br />
<br />
<b>3. Adam Cole and The Young Bucks vs. ACH, Brian Myers, Chris Sabin (PWG Battle of Los Angeles Night Three 08/31/14) ***1/2</b><br />
<br />
I decided to watch this match because I liked the participants. The Young Bucks and Adam Cole are amazing and I also enjoy watching ACH, Myers (formerly known as Curt Hawkins) and Chris Sabin (from the Motor City Machine Guns). I’m a huge fan of the PWG six-man tag team matches. In my opinion, that is PWG’s signature match type and no other promotion does it better. So I had high hopes for this match and I was disappointed. First of all, this match went only 11 minutes which is not the worst thing because you can have great matches in under 15 minutes, but I think more time would have been better here. The main problem I have with this match is that the comedy got a little too silly and I feel like this match never went into a second gear. What I like about PWG matches is that it feels like everyone is trying to steal the show no matter where they are on the card and I felt like this match wasn’t trying to do that. It’s still an enjoyable match, but I was expecting it to be a little bit better. It's a low-end ***1/2 match.<br />
<br />
<b>4. Cedric Alexander, Biff Busick, Tommaso Ciampa, Bobby Fish, and Drew Gulak vs. Chris Hero, Willie Mack, Joey Ryan, Rich Swann, and Chuck Taylor (PWG Battle of Los Angeles Night Three 08/31/14) ***1/2</b><br />
<b><br />
</b> <b>5. Tommaso Ciampa, Timothy Thatcher, Mark Andrews, Drago, and Andrew Everett vs. Chuck Taylor, Trent?, Drew Galloway, Drew Gulak, and Aerostar (PWG Battle of Los Angeles Final Stage 08/30/15) ***3/4</b><br />
<br />
These next two matches are two of the most famous tag team matches in PWG BOLA recent history. Both of them are known for their slow motion spots. I had not seen either match yet so I thought they would be great editions to this year’s Summer of Wrestling. Unlike other reviewers who won’t grade these matches because of the ridiculousness, I did give a star rating to both matches. Instead of reviewing them individually, I’m doing one review. I enjoy comedy matches but the comedy was a little too much for me. The slow motion sequences were cool, but I felt they were a little bit overrated. I enjoyed the second match a little bit more than the first match because the 2015 match had a little bit more wrestling than the 2014 match. I like Ciampa a lot and although he’s good at the comedy wrestling, I think he’s too talented to be in these matches. I’m not going to complain about Drew Galloway, Aerostar, Drago, Thatcher and Drago being in the second match because even though comedy is not their style, they were great and made the match more enjoyable. There are very few bad matches in PWG so I enjoyed both of them, but probably a little bit less than most people. I’m guessing they were a lot more enjoyable live and I think watching these matches several months after it happened might have made the experience less enjoyable.<br />
<b><br />
</b> <b><u>Top 5 Matches of the Summer:</u></b><br />
<b><br />
</b> 1. Pro Wrestling Guerrilla World Tag Team Championship Three-Way Guerrilla Warfare Match - El Generico and Paul London vs. Brandon and Dustin Cutler vs. The Young Bucks (PWG Seven 07/30/10) *****<br />
2. Kyle O’Reilly vs. Zack Sabre Jr. (PWG Battle of Los Angeles Night Three 08/31/14) ****1/4<br />
3. Tommaso Ciampa, Timothy Thatcher, Mark Andrews, Drago, and Andrew Everett vs. Chuck Taylor, Trent?, Drew Galloway, Drew Gulak, and Aerostar (PWG Battle of Los Angeles Final Stage 08/30/16) ***3/4<br />
4. Adam Cole and The Young Bucks vs. ACH, Brian Myers, Chris Sabin (PWG Battle of Los Angeles Night Three 08/31/14) ***1/2<br />
5. Cedric Alexander, Biff Busick, Tommaso Ciampa, Bobby Fish, and Drew Gulak vs. Chris Hero, Willie Mack, Joey Ryan, Rich Swann, and Chuck Taylor (PWG Battle of Los Angeles Night Three 08/31/14) ***1/2Tony Keggerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03200168160807262508noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3210385474853738239.post-19889620936050162322016-05-28T21:17:00.003-05:002016-05-28T21:17:39.184-05:00PWG Mystery Vortex II ReviewI was supposed to review this show several months ago, but I got lazy and now I forgot most of the show. I got my match ratings saved on my phone so at least I can give you that. PWG Mystery Vortex II is a show I was going to buy on DVD during PWG's 5 for $40 sale, but this DVD was sold out. So instead, I watched it on the Highspots Wrestling Network website.<a name='more'></a> <br />
<b></b><br />
<b>PWG Mystery Vortex II</b><br />
<span class="style1">March 28, 2014<br />
Reseda, CA<br /><b><br /></b>
</span><b>1. Cedric Alexander vs. Andrew Everett vs. Trevor Lee</b><br /><br />This is a great PWG match. It's also a historical match because it is the PWG debuts of Trevor Lee and Andrew Everett. It's awesome to see the crowd not know who Lee and Everett are before the match and love them when the match is over. This is a must-see match.<br />
<b></b><br />
<b>Match Rating:</b> ****1/4 <br />
<br />
<b>2. "Pretty" Peter Avalon & RockNES Monsters (Johnny Goodtime & Johnny Yuma) vs. B-Boy, Willie Mack, & Joey Ryan</b><br /><br />I can't remember anything about this match. It's mostly the local PWG guys and I'm guessing it is an ok match because I gave it more than 3 stars.<br />
<br />
<b>Match Rating:</b> ***1/4<br />
<b></b><br />
<b>3. Anthony Nese vs. Roderick Strong</b><br /><br />I never finished this match so I can't review it.<br />
<br />
<b>Match Rating:</b> N/A<br />
<br />
<b>4. African-American Wolves (ACH & AR Fox) vs. Inner City Machine Guns (Rich Swann & Ricochet) vs. Unbreakable F'N Machines (Brian Cage & Michael Elgin)</b><br />
<br />This was a 30 minute match. Look at the names in this match. Great group of wrestlers and they had an awesome match.<br /><br />
<b>Match Rating:</b> ****1/2 <br />
<br />
<b>5. Tommaso Ciampa vs. Chris Hero</b><br /><br />These 2 had an amazing match for AAW in 2015. Not as great in PWG, but still a good match.<br />
<br />
<b>Match Rating:</b> ***3/4<br />
<br />
<b>6. Johnny Gargano vs. Kyle O'Reilly</b><br /><br />2 of my favorite wrestlers and they didn't disappoint me in the match.<br />
<br />
<b>Match Rating:</b> ****<br />
<br />
<b>7. Pro Wrestling Guerrilla World Tag Team Championship Title Match - The Young Bucks (Matt & Nick Jackson - Champions) vs. Best Friends (Chuck Taylor & Trent? - Challengers)</b><br /><br /> Another 4 star Young Bucks match.<br />
<br />
<b>Match Rating:</b> ****<br />
<b></b><br />
<b>8. Pro Wrestling Guerrilla World Championship Title Match </b><em><b>- </b></em><b>Adam Cole (Champion) vs. Candice LeRae (Challenger)</b><br /><br />Weak main event match. Candice is a huge underdog in this match and it's hard to believe that she had a chance to win. <br />
<b></b><br />
<b>Match Rating:</b> ***1/4<br />
<b></b><br />
<b>Overall Thoughts:</b> Not the best PWG show to start with if you have never seen a PWG show, but if you have a good amount of PWG shows on DVD, this is a nice show to add to your collection. It has the Young Bucks, the PWG debuts of Trevor Lee and Andrew Everett, a ****1/2 match and many of the PWG favorites like Candice LeRae, Adam Cole, Kyle O'Reilly, Chris Hero, Willie Mack, Brian Cage, Ricochet, AR Fox, Roderick Strong, ACH and more. I would go 7.5 out of 10 for this show.Tony Keggerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03200168160807262508noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3210385474853738239.post-2768324768887965452016-01-02T19:02:00.003-06:002016-01-02T19:02:39.671-06:00PWG All Star Weekend X Night 2 ReviewI haven't wrote anything in awhile so I thought I would do a couple PWG reviews. (Update: Change that to one PWG review for now. I'll explain later in this post.) In the last 12 months, I've become a huge indie wrestling fan so if I do write more often in 2016, don't be surprised if I do more indie wrestling posts and less WWE posts. I usually do my PWG reviews on my YouTube channel, but I decided to do some written reviews and see how that goes.<br />
<a name='more'></a><br />
If you never heard of PWG, it's probably because they don't have a TV deal. They are an indie promotion from Reseda, California that puts all their shows on DVD and video downloads. In case you were wondering, PWG stands for Pro Wrestling Guerrilla. If you live near Reseda, Googled PWG, and found out they have a show tonight (which they do, but it's a coincidence that I'm posting this on the same night), don't bother trying to go. Their shows are insanely popular and they sell out in minutes. Don't expect to find full PWG matches on YouTube, but do look for their official YouTube page (here you go...click <a href="https://www.youtube.com/user/PWGWrestling">HERE</a>) and watch their previews of each show because their five minute previews are 1000 times more enjoyable than a three hour episode of WWE RAW. If you find a show you really like after watching one of the previews and you are like, "Fuck, I really want to see that show", you can go to <a href="http://highspots.com/">highspots.com</a> and buy the show there for $15. Now I understand if you don't want to pay $15 which is why people still watch RAW because it's free. The good news is that there's a way to watch some shows for free and it's not even illegal. These two shows I'm going review are shows that I didn't pay a penny for. There's this subscription service similar to the WWE Network called the <a href="https://www.highspotswrestlingnetwork.com/categories/pwg/6127/media">Highspots Wrestling Network</a> and they got over 40 PWG shows on there. It's $9.99 per month, but there's a seven day free trial which is what I did and the shows All Star Weekend X Night 2 and Mystery Vortex II (two shows I thought about paying for before I found out about the Highspots Network) are included on the website. Even though I just saw these shows in the last seven days, I don't remember everything that happened and it's not like I can go back and re-watch some things because my free trial is over. Next time I'll take notes, but I did save my star ratings for each match so at least I did that. I've written a lot so far and I haven't said anything about either show yet so without any more delay, here <strike>are</strike> is my review<strike>s</strike> of PWG All Star Weekend X Night 2 <strike>and Mystery Vortex II</strike>. (Update: It took me forever just to write the All Star Weekend X Night 2 review and I don't want to half-ass the Mystery Vortex II review just to get done faster so I'll review the second show some other time. Hopefully sooner than later.)<br />
<br />
SPOILER WARNING: One last thing before I start, I'll probably be spoiling some stuff in these reviews. I won't put any of the winners in bold if I mention them at all. If you want to see what I thought of each match without seeing any spoilers, just quickly glance at my star ratings and from that, you'll get a good idea if I liked the match or not. Quick star rating guide: 5 stars is amazing, 4 stars is awesome, 3 stars is good, 2 stars is okay and anything lower is bad. Good thing about PWG is that I almost never go below 3 stars.<br />
<br />
<b>PWG All Star Weekend X Night 2</b><br />
December 21, 2013<br />
Reseda, CA<br />
<br />
<b>1. RockNES Monsters (Johnny Goodtime & Johnny Yuma) vs. PPRay ("Pretty" Peter Avalon & Ray Rosas) vs. B-Boy & Willie Mack</b><br />
<br />
Next time I need to review these shows immediately or at least make some notes because already I'm not remembering much about this show. I do remember that I did enjoy this match a lot which is why I almost gave it four stars. I like B-Boy and Willie Mack and they did good here. Very good opening match with a lot of fun spots.<br />
<br />
<b>Match Rating:</b> ***3/4<br />
<br />
<b>2. Tommaso Ciampa vs. Anthony Nese</b><br />
<br />
Okay I'll tell you right now this is not gonna be a great review because this is another match I can't remember shit about. And again, it's not like I can go back and re-watch it because I saw this during a free trial of a subscription that has now expired. I like Ciampa a lot and as for Nese, I don't know much about him, but he has looked okay in his matches that I have seen. I gave this three and a half stars which for me means I thought it was better than good, but not quite a match of the night contender. There's good stuff in this match, but as you can see, nothing was really memorable.<br />
<br />
<b>Match Rating:</b> ***1/2<br />
<br />
<b>3. Best Friends (Chuck Taylor & Trent?) vs. Unbreakable F'N Machines (Brian Cage & Michael Elgin)</b><br />
<br />
This is a match I actually do remember. This was an interesting match-up for me because the Unbreakable F'N Machines and Best Friends are teams I like, but don't really love. Brian Cage is cool, but I don't like Michael Elgin too much. Yeah I know Elgin is one of the best indie wrestlers, but I'm not a big fan and I don't think his style works well in PWG. I don't hate Chuck Taylor or Trent but they don't usually do anything that is really amazing or participate in Match of the Year candidates that don't include the Young Bucks. So I was thinking this match would be underwhelming, but it was actually really good. My interpretation of the story was that the Best Friends were the big underdogs in this match which is not wrong to assume because Cage and Elgin are fucking huge. The Unbreakable F'N Machines were doing really well throughout the match, but somehow the Best Friends stayed in the match and pulled off the upset at the end. Oh and Kevin "Owens" Steen is on commentary so that helps. Not quite a four star match, but I gave it a really high rating for a PWG Michael Elgin match. <br />
<br />
<b>Match Rating:</b> ***3/4<br />
<br />
<b>4. ACH vs. Chris Hero</b><br />
<br />
Another match I can't remember much, but I do remember being disappointed. If you are familiar with ACH and Hero, you would think this match would be good and it is good, but it's nothing more than a good match. I forget why it was underwhelming, but something was off in this match which is unfortunate because Hero and ACH are two wrestlers I enjoy watching.<br />
<br />
<b>Match Rating:</b> ***<br />
<br />
<b>5. DojoBros (Eddie Edwards & Roderick Strong) vs. AR Fox & Rich Swann</b><br />
<br />
I've seen some people give this match a high rating. I gave it three and a half stars and I think part of the reason for not going higher is that there is a confusing botch involving the referee towards the end. The ref counts to two it seemed like to me, but everyone in the match stops like the ref counted to three. And then Roderick Strong tells the guy to restart the match even though I don't think the ref ended it. I watched this sequence a few times and I still don't know what the fuck happened. But that's not the only reason for not going to four stars. It was a really good match, but it never really hit that "This is awesome" level for me. Definitely a match you shouldn't skip, but I didn't think it was a contender for match of the night. The DojosBros brought the chops and the team of Fox and Swann brought the high flying stuff.<br />
<br />
<b>Match Rating:</b> ***1/2<br />
<br />
<b>6. Davey Richards vs. Ricochet</b><br />
<br />
I saw one reviewer call this match underwhelming for Davey Richards' last match in PWG (At the time it was his last PWG match. Davey has returned since then), but my expectations weren't high. Davey Richards vs. Ricochet is a sexy match-up on paper, but one guy is a high flyer and the other guy is a technical wrestler. Using WWE as an example, imagine Neville vs. Daniel Bryan. That match could be great, but I can see it also being a little disappointing because those guys do have different styles. Actually, now that I think of it, I think that match would be awesome. Hopefully WWE brings back Daniel Bryan so they can do Bryan vs. Neville some day. This wasn't bad and I did enjoy it, but it's another match that fell short of being great.<br />
<br />
<b>Match Rating:</b> ***1/2<br />
<br />
<b>7. The Young Bucks (Matt & Nick Jackson) & "Mr. Wrestling" Kevin Steen vs. Candice LeRae, Joey Ryan, & Drake Younger</b><br />
<br />
Here's the first awesome match of the show. PWG six-man tag team matches are the best and this match was not an exception. The Shield was awesome, but I think the Young Bucks and Kevin Steen might have been the best six-man tag team of all-time if ranking the best six-man teams is a thing. As for the rest of the people in this match, I really enjoyed Drake Younger in PWG and Candice LeRae is cool too (if you didn't know, yes Candice is a female and she is way better than most of the females in WWE). As for Joey Ryan, he's my least favorite PWG wrestler and any time he is in an awesome tag team match like this one, I always feel that the match would have been just as good if not better without him. Like most of this show, I can't remember specific spots. I just remember that this match was insane. Next time, I'll take notes and tell you what awesome shit happened. This wasn't the best PWG six-man I have ever seen, but it was really great and it got into the four star level.<br />
<br />
<b>Match Rating:</b> ****1/4<br />
<br />
<b>8. Pro Wrestling Guerrilla World Championship Title Match - Adam Cole (Champion) vs. Johnny Gargano (Challenger)</b><br />
<br />
Main event time and it's two wrestlers I like a lot, Adam Cole and Johnny Gargano. By the way, both of these guys are in my top 5 nicest wrestlers I have ever met (possible future post or YouTube video) so go meet them if you ever get the chance. This is another four star match although not as great as the previous match. It's one of those matches where you're like, "Okay this is good" and then ten minutes later, you're like, "This is getting better" and towards the end of the match, you are chanting, "This is awesome" along with the crowd from the show. That's kinda what this match was except I can't remember if the crowd did a "This is awesome" chant at any point. My rating for it kept going up until I finally decided it was a four star match. If you have seen Gargano and Cole before, then you know they are awesome and it shouldn't surprise you that they delivered a great performance. I wish I could tell you more about this match. I'll take notes during the matches next time, I promise.<br />
<br />
<b>Match Rating:</b> ****<br />
<br />
<b>Overall thoughts: </b>I never reviewed a PWG show that I saw for free before, so it is a little bit hard for me to say if I would recommend this show or not. Looking at my match ratings, I think I wouldn't regret buying this show because nothing was bad, but unfortunately only the Young Bucks/Steen six-man tag team match stood out as being an awesome match to see and as good as that was, it's not one of the best six-man tag matches PWG has ever done. Gargano vs. Cole was great, but PWG has so many four star matches every year and this match wouldn't be anyone's PWG top 10 matches of 2013. If you have seen many PWG shows and haven't seen this one yet, it's a good show to get. It compares nicely to other great PWG shows. If you're a new fan of PWG and have only seen a few shows, I'm not saying you should skip it, but see some other PWG shows first before seeing All Star Weekend X Night 2.<br /><br />This review was probably terrible, but I haven't done many written reviews of shows lately. When did Alberto Del Rio defeat Big Show for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship on SmackDown? I would Google the date, but I'm too lazy to do it at this point. Yes, I'm being very unprofessional right now, but this whole review has been unprofessional and poorly done so why stop now? I think that SmackDown episode was my last written review of a wrestling show. Hopefully, I'll do more in 2016 and get better at them.Tony Keggerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03200168160807262508noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3210385474853738239.post-21034425971383095912015-09-20T11:00:00.000-05:002015-09-20T11:01:33.437-05:00WWE Night of Champions 2015 Predictions<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiPQRd8jcGrcsZ1fovenP999LPTCPRDsZZ5JPgV2jbvmZFeRuNYAx9DlsnlfwF9cwP51RKg9aMq_nJCSC9w8SFZFXhghTFWn_n10MgBQ5Th8YIYMSjpeF0EsMWWbk3Oz1xtonPRSNp1s82/s1600/wwe_night_of_champions_2015_poster_by_subinraj-d983am8.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiPQRd8jcGrcsZ1fovenP999LPTCPRDsZZ5JPgV2jbvmZFeRuNYAx9DlsnlfwF9cwP51RKg9aMq_nJCSC9w8SFZFXhghTFWn_n10MgBQ5Th8YIYMSjpeF0EsMWWbk3Oz1xtonPRSNp1s82/s400/wwe_night_of_champions_2015_poster_by_subinraj-d983am8.png" width="226" /></a></div><br />
Here are my predictions for tonight's PPV. I'll make this quick.<br />
<a name='more'></a><strong><br />
WWE World Heavyweight Title Match</strong><br />
Sting vs. Seth Rollins<br />
<br />
Winner: Seth Rollins<br />
<br />
<strong>WWE United States Title Match</strong><br />
John Cena vs. Seth Rollins<br />
<br />
Winner: John Cena<br />
<br />
<strong>WWE Divas Title Match</strong><br />
Charlotte vs. Nikki Bella<br />
<em>Nikki can lose her title by pinfall, submission, count out or DQ.<br />
</em><br />
Winner: Nikki Bella<br />
<br />
<strong>WWE Tag Team Title Match</strong><br />
The Dudley Boyz vs. The New Day<br />
<br />
Winners: The New Day<br />
<br />
<strong>WWE Intercontinental Title Match</strong><br />
Kevin Owens vs. Ryback<br />
<br />
Winner: Kevin Owens<br />
<br />
Dolph Ziggler vs. Rusev<br />
<br />
Winner: Rusev<br />
<br />
Bray Wyatt, Luke Harper and Braun Strowman vs. Roman Reigns, Dean Ambrose and a mystery partner<br />
<br />
Winner: Wyatt Family<br />
<br />
<strong>Kickoff Pre-show Match</strong><br />
Stardust and The Ascension vs. The Lucha Dragons and Neville<br />
<br />
Winners: Neville TeamTony Keggerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03200168160807262508noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3210385474853738239.post-81438620368188600202015-08-23T16:49:00.001-05:002015-08-23T16:52:58.471-05:00WWE SummerSlam 2015 Predictions<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeqrH5AH5tWoKU4dzqnqdEAeH7N4X1ZXncLKkgX4dMtH_EvFWbqxgnxICjhxIjcBuFwyQ4L8FO8uBNKs8ku7Bupe1v7aO0JPkedyoG5_LbhDaFKhh7gDKx9tR2zoGqXKgAqaR_5HG3Dpli/s1600/summerslam.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeqrH5AH5tWoKU4dzqnqdEAeH7N4X1ZXncLKkgX4dMtH_EvFWbqxgnxICjhxIjcBuFwyQ4L8FO8uBNKs8ku7Bupe1v7aO0JPkedyoG5_LbhDaFKhh7gDKx9tR2zoGqXKgAqaR_5HG3Dpli/s400/summerslam.jpg" width="366" /></a></div><br />
I've been very very busy in the last 5 days and I don't have much time so here is a very quick SummerSlam predictions post.<br />
<a name='more'></a><b><br />
WWE World Heavyweight Championship/WWE United States Championship Match</b><br />
Seth Rollins (c) vs. John Cena (c)<br />
Winner: John Cena (I hope we get a real winner and no disqualification or countout)<br />
<br />
<b>WWE Tag Team Championship Match</b><br />
Prime Time Players (c) vs. New Day vs. Lucha Dragons vs. Los Matadores<br />
Winners: Prime Time Players<br />
<br />
<b>WWE Intercontinental Championship Match</b><br />
Ryback (c) vs. Big Show vs. The Miz<br />
Winner: Ryback<br />
<br />
<b>Divas Elimination Match</b><br />
Team Bella vs. Team PCB vs. Team B.A.D.<br />
Winner: Team Bella<br />
<br />
Brock Lesnar vs. The Undertaker<br />
Winner: Brock Lesnar<br />
<br />
Dean Ambrose and Roman Reigns vs. Bray Wyatt and Luke Harper<br />
Winners: Dean Ambrose and Roman Reigns<br />
<br />
Randy Orton vs. Sheamus<br />
Winner: Randy Orton<br />
<br />
Cesaro vs. Kevin Owens<br />
Winner: Kevin Owens<br />
<br />
Neville and Stephen Amell vs. Stardust and King Barrett<br />
Winner: Neville and Amell<br />
<br />
Dolph Ziggler vs. Rusev<br />
Winner: Rusev<br />
<br />
Tony Keggerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03200168160807262508noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3210385474853738239.post-47484551938516908802015-07-19T10:52:00.001-05:002015-07-19T10:54:04.844-05:00WWE Battleground 2015 Predictions<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcyz5lT4ahJJCxxVIcGFrKUmkKnT-SvmbGP3nJoSXwK1uuLYJeTLO3jdn8RF8erffVyA7tgbwV7K_lP20UqkM9DZFPh0O9PTQutvP3yh3nQncIFWydlFVK923nSBcF5fsJF5jndhfn8i4d/s1600/battleground.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcyz5lT4ahJJCxxVIcGFrKUmkKnT-SvmbGP3nJoSXwK1uuLYJeTLO3jdn8RF8erffVyA7tgbwV7K_lP20UqkM9DZFPh0O9PTQutvP3yh3nQncIFWydlFVK923nSBcF5fsJF5jndhfn8i4d/s400/battleground.png" width="262" /></a></div>
<br />
[WRITER'S NOTE: Poster created by Jeremy M. Guillen at <a href="https://twitter.com/latinmafiaii/">https://twitter.com/latinmafiaii/</a>]<br /><br />
Here are my predictions for tonight's WWE Battleground Pay-Per-View in St. Louis. I'll make this quick.<br />
<a name='more'></a><br />
<b>WWE World Heavyweight Championship Match<br />Seth Rollins (c) vs. Brock Lesnar</b><br />
<br />
Somehow, some way, <b>Seth Rollins</b> will win. Not sure how. Triple H? Reunion of The Shield? Undertaker?<br />
<br />
<b>United States Championship Match<br />John Cena (c) vs. Kevin Owens</b><br />
<br />
I expect <b>Kevin Owens</b> to win this match. That will probably lead to a rematch at SummerSlam.<br />
<br />
<b>Roman Reigns vs. Bray Wyatt</b><br />
<br />
Hard to predict this match. I'm picking <b>Roman Reigns</b>.<br />
<br />
<b>WWE Tag Team Championship Match<br />Prime Time Players (c) vs. New Day</b><br />
<br />
I don't see New Day winning so <b>Prime Time Players</b> are my winners.<br />
<br />
<b>Randy Orton vs. Sheamus</b><br />
<br />
If WWE wants to really push Sheamus, he should get the win here, but I think it will be <b>Randy Orton</b>.<br />
<br />
<b>Pre-Show Kickoff Match<br />R-Truth vs. King Barrett</b><br />
<br />
Last time I picked King Barrett and got it wrong. I'm picking <b>King Barrett</b> again because I can't imagine R-Truth beating him twice.<br />
<br />
A lot of rumors for this PPV. If they are all correct, this could be a fun night.<br />
<br />Tony Keggerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03200168160807262508noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3210385474853738239.post-32351488371655242452015-06-14T18:25:00.000-05:002015-06-14T18:25:41.318-05:00WWE Money in the Bank 2015 Preview<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7AZBHduylA2M0VIVnBkdeL6RJW-1rRnokTh9obcDYrFyv5OxKlXdkeORFzr7OUPb2XbNtY3P_JJBT9_KYYpQ5TiM5QWFKncedYed_djECbF-LvxcHfyzl1W0Qvw4ENUAW-V9r1_0J0dkU/s1600/MITB15.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7AZBHduylA2M0VIVnBkdeL6RJW-1rRnokTh9obcDYrFyv5OxKlXdkeORFzr7OUPb2XbNtY3P_JJBT9_KYYpQ5TiM5QWFKncedYed_djECbF-LvxcHfyzl1W0Qvw4ENUAW-V9r1_0J0dkU/s400/MITB15.png" width="266" /></a></div>
<br />I want to make this really quick so here is a photo of the predictions for tonight's WWE Money in the Bank Pay-Per-View that I tweeted.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoQYpUvGfw7RDbsdBrIsNU5p_uZoY4bKjpfW7oyflzH9YptLqYKx-YlTzpmNC4g6UrSUEmirhNcFT6QihHRT9vQBLzwVIZrZyMihnj_jh-W_1hYbziDk6ecLebGC-alnfjiAp3zXJaRvGv/s1600/twitter.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="242" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoQYpUvGfw7RDbsdBrIsNU5p_uZoY4bKjpfW7oyflzH9YptLqYKx-YlTzpmNC4g6UrSUEmirhNcFT6QihHRT9vQBLzwVIZrZyMihnj_jh-W_1hYbziDk6ecLebGC-alnfjiAp3zXJaRvGv/s400/twitter.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
I wasn't kidding when I said I would make this quick!Tony Keggerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03200168160807262508noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3210385474853738239.post-12434445105171784582015-05-31T18:01:00.003-05:002015-05-31T18:02:24.429-05:00WWE Elimination Chamber 2015 Preview<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEja0LFM28VBNtA2ohC1bD6mrauwFbDXYEKXlsw3pVoY9PG_O_xfBIbATV5jRZ1OOYvOkApCtXaPaXakoqwzcSyTHJFgZ2uFBcVKzO0r2Uf3xJR1JAuhy19q3_dGHatCvI0PtItD991OFv7Z/s1600/Elimination+Chamber+2015.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEja0LFM28VBNtA2ohC1bD6mrauwFbDXYEKXlsw3pVoY9PG_O_xfBIbATV5jRZ1OOYvOkApCtXaPaXakoqwzcSyTHJFgZ2uFBcVKzO0r2Uf3xJR1JAuhy19q3_dGHatCvI0PtItD991OFv7Z/s400/Elimination+Chamber+2015.png" width="257" /></a></div>
<br />
Tonight is WWE Elimination Chamber live on the WWE Network. I just noticed a couple days ago or maybe yesterday that I didn't do a preview for Payback. That ends a long streak of not missing a WWE Pay-Per-View preview. It's time to start a new streak although I'm not sure this one counts because it's technically not a PPV. The show starts soon so I got to make this quick.<br />
<a name='more'></a><br />
<b>Kickoff Pre-show</b><br />
<br />
<div class="copy-paste-block">
<b> Miz TV with Daniel Bryan<br />
</b>I have no idea what Daniel Bryan is going to say on this segment. There's a good chance nothing important will happen and I'll be disappointed.<br />
<br />
<b>Neville vs. Bo Dallas<br />
</b>This used to be a NXT rivalry and it was a rivalry I didn't care much about. It's great to see Neville on another PPV, but this feels like a RAW or Smackdown match-up. This is a free month on the WWE Network so I guess most fans can't complain.<br />
<br />
<b><u>Winner:</u></b> Neville<br />
<b><br />
Elimination Chamber for the WWE Tag Team Titles</b><br />
<b>Los Matadores vs. The Prime Time Players vs. The Ascension vs. The Lucha Dragons vs. Cesaro and Tyson Kidd vs. The New Day</b><br />
<br />
I'm very excited for this match. Why? It's the first ever tag team Elimination Chamber match. I'm guessing both guys will have to fit into each pod. I wonder how awkward that would be for some of these guys. I'm hoping no one gets eliminated until everyone is released from the pods. Seeing 12 wrestlers competing at the same time would look cool.<br />
<br />
<b><u>Winners:</u></b> The New Day<br />
<br />
<b>Triple Threat for the WWE Divas Title</b><br />
<b>Paige vs. Naomi vs. Nikki Bella</b><br />
<br />
This match could be interesting because the women over at NXT just had a great match during the NXT PPV less than 2 weeks ago and I'm sure these 3 Divas want to top that match. I hope we get a new champion in this match. Naomi deserves a title run.<br />
<br />
<b><u>Winner:</u></b> Naomi<br />
<br />
<b>Elimination Chamber for the Vacant WWE Intercontinental Title</b><br />
<b>King Barrett vs. R-Truth vs. Ryback vs. Sheamus vs. <strike>Rusev</strike> vs. Dolph Ziggler</b><br />
<br />
Rusev is no longer in this match. That is a breaking news alert I just got on my phone. I don't know as of this writing who is his replacement, but I think it will be Bray Wyatt. I'm excited to see this match because it's a Chamber match, but I don't really like who is in this match other than Ziggler. I hope Wyatt is added to this match and I would be disappointed if it's someone like Stardust.<br />
<br />
<b><u>Winner:</u></b> Sheamus<br />
<br />
<b>WWE World <span class="IL_AD" id="IL_AD2">Heavyweight Title</span> Match</b><br />
<b>Dean Ambrose vs. Seth Rollins<br />
</b>I love the Ambrose vs. Rollins feud and I hope this is another classic match. My biggest worry is that there will be too much interference and that will hurt the match.<br />
<br />
<b><u>Winner:</u></b> Seth Rollins<br />
<br />
<b>Kevin Owens vs. John Cena<br />
</b><br />
I put this match last because this is the match I'm looking forward to the most. Despite not watching him when he was in Ring of Honor, I've become a huge Kevin Owens fan. I've gone back and watched a lot of his PWG matches and now I've started to watch his Kevin Steen Show interviews and I'm a big fan of his work. Owens is scheduled to be at RAW on July 6 in Chicago and he is the only reason I'm planning to get a ticket for that RAW. I'm very happy for him and I can't wait to watch this match. I'm picking Owens to win this match. I think a win would be great for him and it would be a nice surprise because I think most people are expecting Cena to win this match.<br />
<br />
<u><b>Winner:</b></u><b> </b>Kevin Owens<br />
<br />
This should be a fun night. This is the most excited I've been for a WWE show since this year's WrestleMania in March.<br />
</div>
Tony Keggerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03200168160807262508noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3210385474853738239.post-63124919744363648072015-04-26T15:30:00.002-05:002015-04-26T15:30:10.111-05:00WWE Extreme Rules 2015 Preview<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKcRaycYmVhqe37zdu6gKOZd-NM6EpRzkMDfQZss3g0oDu2_5SChJGE54Xe2HjalCj38I6RQ5W-Eiu8tzIbliNNwrByrlK7JzYD97LXD4d_0zVwe8bCHIoc_W6uLEpJLtVt8RbJvluRY3V/s1600/er2015.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKcRaycYmVhqe37zdu6gKOZd-NM6EpRzkMDfQZss3g0oDu2_5SChJGE54Xe2HjalCj38I6RQ5W-Eiu8tzIbliNNwrByrlK7JzYD97LXD4d_0zVwe8bCHIoc_W6uLEpJLtVt8RbJvluRY3V/s1600/er2015.jpg" height="400" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><br />
Tonight is WWE Extreme Rules live from the Allstate Arena in Chicago, Illinois on Pay-Per-View and the WWE Network! I will be there, but before I go I'm gonna preview each match.<br />
<a name='more'></a><i><br />
[Match card from 411mania.com]</i><br />
<br />
<b>WWE Tag Team Title Kickoff Show Match: Champions Tyson Kidd & Cesaro vs. The New Day</b><br />
<br />
I was hoping for the Lucha Dragons, but The New Day will be facing Tyson Kidd & Cesaro. This could be a good match.<br />
<br />
<b><u>Winners:</u></b> Tyson Kidd & Cesaro<br />
<br />
<b>WWE Intercontinental Title Match: Daniel Bryan vs. Bad News Barrett – TENTATIVE based on Bryan’s condition</b><br />
This match may not happen. The internet rumors say it won't, but WWE is still listing this as one of the scheduled matches. If Daniel Bryan is not in Chicago, I hope Neville replaces him.<br />
<br />
<b><u>Winner:</u></b> Daniel Bryan<br />
<br />
<b>WWE Divas Title Match: Champion Nikki Bella vs. Naomi</b><br />
<br />
If Naomi is heel now, does that mean Nikki is a face again?<br />
<br />
<b><u>Winner:</u></b> Nikki Bella<br />
<br />
<b>Chicago Street Fight: Dean Ambrose vs. Luke Harper</b><br />
<br />
This might be my favorite match of the night. Both Ambrose and Harper have extreme backgrounds working for CZW which is a modern day ECW. Should be the most "extreme" match of the PPV.<br />
<br />
<b><u>Winner:</u></b> Dean Ambrose<br />
<br />
<b>“Kiss Me Arse” Match: Sheamus vs. Dolph Ziggler</b><br />
<br />
Ziggler is one of my favorite wrestlers and I think he can have a great match with Sheamus. I'm curious to see what happens after this match with the "Kiss Me Arse" stipulation.<br />
<br />
<b><u>Winner:</u></b> Sheamus<br />
<br />
<b>Last Man Standing Match: Roman Reigns vs. Big Show</b><br />
<br />
I'm looking forward to this match more than most people I think. It's another opportunity for Roman Reigns to prove to the WWE Universe that he's ready to be in the main event.<br />
<br />
<b><u>Winner:</u></b> Roman Reigns<br />
<br />
<b>WWE United States Title Russian Chain Match: John Cena vs. Rusev</b><br />
<br />
I'm not a big fan of the Cena-Rusev feud, but an interesting gimmick match like a Russian Chain Match could make me enjoy this match. Plus, it's always fun to watch a Cena match in Chicago.<br />
<br />
<b><u>Winner:</u></b> John Cena<br />
<br />
<b>WWE World Heavyweight Title Steel Cage Match (RKO is Banned, Kane is Cage Door Keeper): Seth Rollins vs. Randy Orton</b><br />
<br />
This should be the best match of the night and probably will get the most time. A lot of different possibilities for this match. I feel confident that Rollins will win, but I have no idea how he will win.<br />
<br />
<u><b>Winner:</b></u> Seth Rollins<br />
<br />
If I had to rate my interest level for this show on a scale of 1-5, I'd give Extreme Rules a 4. It might not be the best show of the year, but I think there's too many good matches for it to be a bad show. Having only 2 WrestleMania rematches is one of the reasons why this show will probably be better than people are expecting.<br />
<br />
Tony Keggerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03200168160807262508noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3210385474853738239.post-23812752684126696292015-03-29T17:02:00.002-05:002015-03-29T17:03:36.439-05:00WWE WrestleMania 31 Preview<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgU4bBZ5c8qdHMl9GQ4oHQDwJLuTMEN4cpDZuBvZjDh8n2FBWXySf6UeSWbkleK9QaY9KohdGp8WecKDeYbdqNlINQ0kS__7ZqGf0d7CofheYjnC20owMt13dT4VZhAbEK-YhHYL4ndaoAC/s1600/dZu1c-ls8vL3OECgAqeJPs3f9Dqr1DIPVMpkuYOZScw.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgU4bBZ5c8qdHMl9GQ4oHQDwJLuTMEN4cpDZuBvZjDh8n2FBWXySf6UeSWbkleK9QaY9KohdGp8WecKDeYbdqNlINQ0kS__7ZqGf0d7CofheYjnC20owMt13dT4VZhAbEK-YhHYL4ndaoAC/s1600/dZu1c-ls8vL3OECgAqeJPs3f9Dqr1DIPVMpkuYOZScw.png" /></a></div>
<br />
Here is my WrestleMania 31 preview. I will predict each match.<br />
<a name='more'></a><u><b><br />PRESHOW KICKOFF</b></u><br />
<br />
* <b>Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal:</b> The Miz, Curtis Axel, Ryback, Fandango, Erick Rowan, Adam Rose, Zack Ryder, Jack Swagger, Titus O’Neil, Darren Young, Big Show, Kane, Damien Mizdow, Sin Cara, Goldust, Heath Slater, Mark Henry, Konnor, Viktor, Hideo Itami, Others TBD<br />
<br />
Moving this match to the preshow is bad if WWE still wants fans to think this match is a big deal. I think within 3 years they stop calling it the "Andre the Giant" match. My pick to win is Ryback, but I'm not confident at all because these matches are hard to predict.<br />
<br />
Winner: Ryback<br />
<br />
* <b>Fatal Four-Way Tag Team Championship Kickoff Match:</b> Tyson Kidd & Cesaro vs. The New Day vs. Los Matadores vs. The Usos<br />
<br />
Could be a good match. Not one of my favorite matches of the night, but I think all of these guys are going to try to steal the show. I got Kidd and Cesaro retaining the Tag Team Championship.<br />
<br />
Winners: Tyson Kidd & Cesaro<br />
<br />
<u><b>MAIN SHOW</b></u><br />
<br />
* <b>Intercontinental Championship Ladder Match</b>: Bad News Barrett vs. R-Truth vs. Dean Ambrose vs. Luke Harper vs. Dolph Ziggler vs. Daniel Bryan vs. Stardust<br />
<br />
Winner: Daniel Bryan<br />
<br />
* Paige & AJ Lee vs. The Bella Twins<br />
<br />
I got the Bellas winning this match although I could be wrong. It will be interesting to see if this match gets 10 minutes or more.<br />
<br />
Winners: The Bella Twins<br />
<br />
* Randy Orton vs. Seth Rollins<br />
<br />
Possible match of the night. I'm excited for it.<br />
<br />
Winner: Randy Orton<br />
<br />
* <b>US Championship Match:</b> Rusev vs. John Cena<br />
<br />
I think Cena wins this and does it for America.<br />
<br />
Winner: John Cena<br />
<br />
* Bray Wyatt vs. The Undertaker<br />
<br />
I hope this match happens. I feel bad for Bray. I hope he's okay. I think Undertaker wins but I could be wrong.<br />
<br />
Winner: The Undertaker<br />
<br />
* <b>WWE World Heavyweight Championship Match:</b> Champion Brock Lesnar vs. Roman Reigns<br />
<br />
I don't hate Roman, but I don't think he should win this match. Have Lesnar win the Mania match and have Reigns win the rematch later.<br />
<br />
Winner: Brock Lesnar<br />
<br />
* Sting vs. Triple H<br />
<br />
I can't wait for this match. Should be fun. I can't imagine Sting losing what could be his only WWE match.<br />
<br />
Winner: StingTony Keggerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03200168160807262508noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3210385474853738239.post-32562653408550421682015-02-22T16:45:00.000-06:002015-02-22T16:45:26.502-06:00WWE Fast Lane 2015 Predictions<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHQa9sQRoetw5AfXkwZgfJPBdUkR4xqvlWZ__NRHRHFbGHZ6bpxsa9bP0Iht_woKmep4c8-713SSoaXLWHeg6t8_X_NQKB5Pzk_FrLZQnL6AuJzvWQgt8-O3Rbyd2aAEVQwM5YABib8IuK/s1600/wwe-fast-lane1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHQa9sQRoetw5AfXkwZgfJPBdUkR4xqvlWZ__NRHRHFbGHZ6bpxsa9bP0Iht_woKmep4c8-713SSoaXLWHeg6t8_X_NQKB5Pzk_FrLZQnL6AuJzvWQgt8-O3Rbyd2aAEVQwM5YABib8IuK/s1600/wwe-fast-lane1.jpg" height="225" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
I almost forgot to do my Fast Lane predictions. The WWE Fast Lane Pay-Per-View is tonight. I'm going to keep this very short unfortunately.<br />
<a name='more'></a><br />(Copy & Paste from Lords of Pain) <br />
<br />
<b>#1 Contender's Match</b><br />
<div class="copy-paste-block">
Daniel Bryan vs. Roman Reigns</div>
<div class="copy-paste-block">
</div>
<div class="copy-paste-block">
</div>
<div class="copy-paste-block">
<br />
<u><b>Winner:</b></u> Roman Reigns<br />
<br />
<b>WWE United <span class="IL_AD" id="IL_AD4">States</span> Title Match</b><br />
John Cena vs. Rusev<br />
<br />
<b><u>Winner:</u></b> John Cena (by DQ or countout)<br />
<br />
<b>WWE Intercontinental Title Match</b><br />
Dean Ambrose vs. Bad News Barrett<br />
<br />
<b><u>Winner:</u></b> Bad News Barrett<br />
<br />
<b>WWE Tag Team Title Match</b><br />
Cesaro and Tyson Kidd vs. The Usos<br />
<br />
<b><u>Winners:</u></b> The Usos<br />
<br />
<b>WWE Divas Title Match</b><br />
Paige vs. Nikki Bella<br />
<br />
<b><u>Winner:</u></b> Nikki Bella<br />
<br />
Stardust vs. Goldust<br />
<b><u><br />
Winner:</u></b> Goldust (Stardust gets his rematch at WrestleMania as Cody Rhodes)<br />
<br />
<span class="IL_AD" id="IL_AD3">Seth</span> Rollins, Kane and Big Show vs. Dolph Ziggler, Erick Rowan and Ryback<br />
<br />
<b><u>Winners:</u></b> ZigRoBack (Orton makes his return)<br />
<br />Sting and Triple H meet face-to-face in the ring<br />
<div class="copy-paste-block">
<br />
<b><u>Winner:</u></b> Triple H hits Sting with the pedigree<br />
</div>
<br />
</div>
Tony Keggerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03200168160807262508noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3210385474853738239.post-72188950723841706542015-01-28T21:43:00.000-06:002015-01-28T21:58:42.330-06:00My Thoughts on Roman Reigns Winning at the Royal Rumble PPV<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhq0JVzM4nFwGbh5goXI6gb32GM4eB_HcwXzY2Pzq5za6pL8MSzBgIKQKgFXeGR0DrTaMPdNl-E9u1ny1ySC6tAuiZx1r1NjS5WDW1EK8rRhSdHxfmfhTTUx53TVqr-7fJpAq9KvESS0ogh/s1600/RR15_Photo_235-1905021467.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhq0JVzM4nFwGbh5goXI6gb32GM4eB_HcwXzY2Pzq5za6pL8MSzBgIKQKgFXeGR0DrTaMPdNl-E9u1ny1ySC6tAuiZx1r1NjS5WDW1EK8rRhSdHxfmfhTTUx53TVqr-7fJpAq9KvESS0ogh/s1600/RR15_Photo_235-1905021467.jpg" height="223" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
I wanted to write a cool title for this, but I couldn't think of anything I liked so I made a simple title. What I'm going to write about here is exactly what the title says. Roman Reigns winning the 2015 Royal Rumble got a huge reaction from WWE fans and I decided this was something I wanted to write about. Wrestling Rambles, the website I usually write at, is still inactive at the moment so I'm writing this exclusively for my blog.<br />
<a name='more'></a><blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>I made this argument, I was like "When you look at the [WWE] roster, how many active members of the roster have been in a WrestleMania main event? How do you expect anybody to get fucking better?" AHL hockey players have to play with NHL hockey players in order to get better. I needed the experience of a main event at WrestleMania with somebody who is equal or better than me so I could learn so I could further become an asset to the fucking product. So I could draw more instead of always being told "Well, you're not a draw." How do you know? Why don't you give me a fucking shot?</i></blockquote>
- CM Punk on Colt Cabana's Art of Wrestling podcast episode 226<br />
<br />
Art of Wrestling #226 is my favorite podcast episode I have ever listened to. CM Punk talked to Colt Cabana for almost two hours and explained in great detail why he left WWE on the night after the 2014 Royal Rumble. During that interview, Punk said the above quote and that quote is for not only himself, but every WWE superstar who has never gotten the opportunity to be a main eventer at WrestleMania. That includes the 2015 Royal Rumble winner Roman Reigns. I was active on Twitter last Sunday night when Reigns won the 30-man Royal Rumble and booked his ticket for a WWE World Heavyweight Championship match at WrestleMania 31. Almost all of the people I follow on Twitter had the same reaction. They were pissed off that Reigns won the match. Many of them were mad because they thought Daniel Bryan should have won. They also thought that Reigns does not deserve to face Brock Lesnar at WrestleMania. They said Reigns can't wrestle, he has no mic skills and he is not ready to be in the main event of WrestleMania. I feel like I'm one of the few who isn't mad that Reigns won the Royal Rumble. I'm very indifferent towards Reigns. I don't hate him, but I'm not really a fan either. Did I want Reigns to win? No. Did I cancel my WWE Network subscription after Reigns won? No. I would have liked to see Bryan or Dolph Ziggler win, but I'm not mad that it was Reigns who won the Royal Rumble. I honestly don't really understand why Reigns is getting so much hate. Maybe it's because the ending of the Royal Rumble was predictable and that's true, but people aren't really complaining about how predictable the ending was. They are complaining that Reigns should not be wrestling in a main event match at WrestleMania. I want to know how these people know a Reigns vs. Lesnar match at WrestleMania is going to be terrible. It's not like Reigns has a track record of bad Pay-Per-View singles matches. Correct me if I'm wrong, Reigns has had only one PPV singles match in his WWE career. That was at SummerSlam last year when he faced Randy Orton and I remember it being a very good match. Was it better than Lesnar vs. John Cena or Seth Rollins vs. Dean Ambrose? I don't think so, but it definitely was one of the best matches of the night.<br />
<br />
The people who don't want Reigns in the main event of WrestleMania should re-read the Punk quote above. How do you know that Reigns can't draw? How do you know Reigns can't be one of the top superstars in WWE? Like Punk said, how are we ever going to know if Reigns is ready to be a main eventer if he's not competing in main event matches against top superstars? I'm never going to criticize WWE for pushing young talent unless I'm absolutely sure it is not going to work. I was a lot more critical of WWE for having Batista win the Royal Rumble last year than Reigns winning this year. Batista was 45 years old. Why did WWE think that he needed to main event WrestleMania? How is that going to make WWE better in the future? Something I have noticed is that for the last three years, there has not been a first-time WWE World Champion. The last one was Daniel Bryan when he won the World Heavyweight Championship on December 18, 2011. That's too long. WWE is not getting ready for the future if they keep giving title reigns to Cena, Randy Orton, Lesnar and The Rock. There will be a time when those guys won't be in WWE anymore. One of my predictions for this year is that will we see a first-time WWE World Champion in 2015. If it's not Reigns, it could be Seth Rollins who still has his Money in the Bank briefcase. Creating new stars should be one of WWE's top priorities in 2015. Many fans may agree, but think that Reigns is the wrong young superstar to push. WWE is always going to try to push superstars who look like Reigns. Look at the biggest stars in WWE history. You got Bruno Sammartino. Hulk Hogan. Stone Cold Steve Austin. The Rock. Triple H. John Cena. Smaller guys like Shawn Michaels and Bret Hart got strong pushes too, but the top star in WWE will usually be someone who looks like Reigns and if you look at it that way, there's really no alternate to Reigns. Guys like Ziggler, Rollins, Ambrose and Bryan will get title opportunities and title victories, but it's Reigns who is the most likely to be the next John Cena. It's very possible that Reigns is not the right guy to replace Cena and I think WWE knows that too, but no one will know for sure if Reigns doesn't get main event opportunities. If Reigns fails in the next several months, then WWE will know that Reigns isn't the next top star and they will look for someone else. Reigns needs this opportunity to prove whether or not he is capable of being the face of the company.<br />
<br />
I also want to write about the other side of the coin. It's not just people thinking Reigns was the wrong person to win the Royal Rumble. It's also people thinking Daniel Bryan should have won. Now that CM Punk has left wrestling, Bryan is by far my favorite wrestler. If I was in charge of WWE, Bryan would be the top guy for the next ten years. That said, I can see why WWE decided that Bryan was not the right guy to win the Rumble this year. The biggest reason is Brock Lesnar. I was talking about the Royal Rumble with a co-worker and he mentioned that there's no way WWE could have Bryan defeat Lesnar at WrestleMania. He's right. After seeing how strong Lesnar was booked at the Royal Rumble, how would anyone believe that Bryan could defeat Lesnar. It's unrealistic. There's a lot of casual wrestling fans who would hate seeing someone like Bryan beat Lesnar because it would not be believable. I think that's a big reason why Lesnar ended Undertaker's WrestleMania streak and not CM Punk. The only way Bryan could defeat Lesnar is if someone helped him or if Lesnar botched the shooting star press again. It wouldn't be a clean win for Bryan and I don't think people want to see that. Why does Bryan have to compete for the title at WrestleMania? His rumored WrestleMania opponents are Sheamus or Dolph Ziggler. In my opinion, those two superstars might be Bryan's best opponents to work with. Go watch the Bryan vs. Ziggler Bragging Rights 2010 match or the Bryan vs. Sheamus Extreme Rules 2012 match if you haven't. Both are amazing matches. I have no doubt that either WrestleMania match would be capable of stealing the show. After WrestleMania, Bryan can get a title shot sometime and win the WWE World Heavyweight Championship. I would love to see him get a title win at this year's SummerSlam. Another thing to consider about Bryan winning the Rumble is that it would put him in a rare group that WWE may not want to put him in. Let's assume that the WWE World Heavyweight Championship match will be the main event of WrestleMania 31. I did some research and here are the names of the WWE superstars who appeared in two consecutive WrestleMania main events: Hulk Hogan, Randy Savage, Bret Hart, Stone Cold Steve Austin, The Rock, Triple H, John Cena and the Undertaker. You can add Shawn Michaels if you want to focus on two consecutive WWE World Championship matches at WrestleMania. That is an exclusive group and if WWE doesn't want Bryan in that group, I understand even if I personally feel that Bryan deserves to be in that group. And the last thing I want to say about Bryan is that he just came back from an injury that caused him to miss almost an entire year. It's not a bad decision for WWE to wait a few months before deciding that Bryan is ready to be a world champion again. Like I said, Bryan winning the WWE World Heavyweight Championship at SummerSlam would be awesome and it would make a SummerSlam a must-see event.<br />
<br />
I have been critical of WWE a lot in the last several months. I would absolutely cancel my WWE Network subscription if I was very angry at WWE. I almost did it in November when I heard how WWE treated CM Punk. As much as I want to find a reason to be mad at WWE, Roman Reigns winning the Royal Rumble isn't a good enough reason for me. I don't hate Reigns and I'm not going to boo him. I'm very interested in seeing Reigns' Road to WrestleMania and seeing how he performs during the biggest event of the year. I'm hoping Reigns is the first of many young superstars WWE gives a strong push to in the near future.<br />
<br />
<br />Tony Keggerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03200168160807262508noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3210385474853738239.post-68794516002347323292015-01-25T17:10:00.000-06:002015-01-25T17:10:14.749-06:00WWE Royal Rumble 2015 Preview<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUU6hO0R8mw24bIiXVYidGm8Czrq3abnh-hwY2diOdHBogDDexTbRbRHEVtnMJbVsN8a7nNR_VCeeywXx9b5MbLSEAiq2W92IdNrI-PaWSGy4f-Jgi8PdJuvNTPwQHhNM1gMFM98MjgzAo/s1600/royalrumble.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUU6hO0R8mw24bIiXVYidGm8Czrq3abnh-hwY2diOdHBogDDexTbRbRHEVtnMJbVsN8a7nNR_VCeeywXx9b5MbLSEAiq2W92IdNrI-PaWSGy4f-Jgi8PdJuvNTPwQHhNM1gMFM98MjgzAo/s1600/royalrumble.jpg" height="358" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
Here are my predictions for tonight's Royal Rumble Pay-Per-View.<br />
<a name='more'></a><br />
<i>(Match card from 411mania)</i><br />
<br />
* <b>WWE World Heavyweight Title Match:</b> Champion Brock Lesnar vs. John Cena vs. Seth Rollins<br />
<br />
Winner: Brock Lesnar<br />
<br />
* <b>Royal Rumble Match</b><br />
<br />
Winner: Roman Reigns<br />
<br />
* <b>WWE Tag Team Title Match:</b> Champions The Uso Brothers vs. The Miz and Mizdow<br />
<br />
Winners: The Usos <br />
<br />
* The New Age Outlaws vs. The Ascension<br />
<br />
Winners: The Ascension <br />
<br />
* The Bella Twins vs. Paige and Natalya<br />
<br />
Winners: The Bella Twins <br />
<br />
* <b>Elimination Kick-Off Show Match:</b> Adam Rose, Tyson Kidd & Cesaro vs. The New Day<br />
<br />
Winners: The New Day<br />
Tony Keggerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03200168160807262508noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3210385474853738239.post-38679430612018435912015-01-03T11:43:00.002-06:002016-01-02T16:10:20.207-06:00WWE 2015 PredictionsClick <a href="http://prowrestlingsmackdown.blogspot.com/2014/01/2014-wwe-predictions.html">HERE</a> for the 2014 predictions.<br />
<br />
Like last year, I'm going to make five WWE predictions for 2015. I will try to make them not so obvious, but I won't be too bold because I was 0 for 5 last year. I need to get at least one right this year.<br />
<a name='more'></a><br />
<u><b>Five WWE Predictions:</b></u><br />
<br />
<b>1. Brock Lesnar will leave WWE after WrestleMania 31</b><br />
<br />
This is one of those predictions that is not very bold. It's been rumored that Lesnar will leave WWE and go back to UFC. I'm expecting it to happen so that will be my prediction.<br />
<b><br />
2. There will be a FIRST-TIME WWE World Champion</b><br />
<br />
When was the last time WWE had a new World Champion who had never been World Champion before? It might have been late 2011 when Daniel Bryan cashed in his briefcase. I'm not joking...it's been THAT long. 2012, it was CM Punk for the WWE Championship and for the World Heavyweight Championship, guys like Sheamus, Bryan, Big Show and Alberto Del Rio were holding it. 2013 was The Rock, John Cena, Randy Orton, Daniel Bryan, Dolph Ziggler and Alberto Del Rio. 2014 was Randy Orton, Daniel Bryan, John Cena and Brock Lesnar. None of them were first time champions. The only wrestler that really came close during those years was Ryback in 2012. That should change in 2015. If Roman Reigns doesn't get the WWE World Heavyweight Championship first, I would definitely expect Seth Rollins to successfully cash-in his Money in the Bank briefcase. Dean Ambrose and Bray Wyatt are probably long shots, but they are also possible contenders for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship.<br />
<b><br />
3. Undertaker will wrestle at WrestleMania 31</b><br />
<br />
This is the second year in a row (maybe the third) that people weren't sure Undertaker would compete at WrestleMania. The guy only wrestles once a year now. I'm confident he can get ready for one match in 2015.<br />
<b><u><br />
</u></b> <b>4. Bray Wyatt will compete in 2015's WWE Match Of The Year</b><br />
<br />
Bray killed it in 2014 and was in many of the top 10 matches. This is somewhat of a bold prediction, but if he gets the right opponent like Dolph Ziggler or Daniel Bryan or Seth Rollins, he can easily be in the best match of 2015.<br />
<b><br />
</b> <b>5. Seth Rollins will be Superstar of the Year</b><br />
<br />
Another bold prediction I think, but Rollins is getting better every week it seems. CM Punk and Daniel Bryan have shown that size doesn't matter when deciding who is the Superstar of the Year. I think Rollins does successfully cash-in his briefcase and has a few very good title defenses. A Rollins vs. Bryan feud in 2015 would be awesome.Tony Keggerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03200168160807262508noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3210385474853738239.post-58075407297255448782014-12-14T11:32:00.001-06:002014-12-14T11:33:00.413-06:00WWE TLC 2014 Pay-Per-View Preview<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjU-rcKxx5Eu3GbYgn2H9XmBl4qa4Mbo9UKdxyMw0q2xeuAxF9MG8pTtDP4v7L1oBDvKWUcqIrCEHaQfOC8FxZFFqA-rionESPkitqvifwHB4rUNuYfbrSq5W15CHxGSo9dSzpGSB2hoHCJ/s1600/TLC.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjU-rcKxx5Eu3GbYgn2H9XmBl4qa4Mbo9UKdxyMw0q2xeuAxF9MG8pTtDP4v7L1oBDvKWUcqIrCEHaQfOC8FxZFFqA-rionESPkitqvifwHB4rUNuYfbrSq5W15CHxGSo9dSzpGSB2hoHCJ/s1600/TLC.jpg" height="151" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
This will be a very quick WWE Tables, Ladders and Chairs (and Stairs) Pay-Per-View preview. Keeping my PPV streak alive.<br />
<a name='more'></a><br />
<i>(Thanks to Lords of Pain. I copied and pasted their final match card)</i><br />
<div class="copy-paste-block">
<br />
<b>Tables Match</b><br />
John Cena vs. Seth Rollins<br />
<i>If Cena loses, he will no longer be #1 contender.</i><br />
<br />
<b><span class="IL_AD" id="IL_AD2">Tables</span>, Ladders & Chairs Match</b><br />
Bray Wyatt vs. Dean Ambrose<br />
<br />
<b>Ladder Match for the WWE Intercontinental Title</b><br />
Dolph Ziggler vs. Luke Harper<br />
<br />
<b>WWE Tag Team Title Match</b><br />
The Usos vs. Damien Sandow and The Miz<br />
<br />
<b>WWE United States Title Match</b><br />
Jack Swagger vs. Rusev<br />
<br />
<b>WWE Divas Title Match</b><br />
AJ Lee vs. Nikki Bella<br />
<br />
<b>Chairs Match</b><br />
Kane vs. Ryback<br />
<br />
<b><span class="IL_AD" id="IL_AD3">Steel Stairs</span> Match</b><br />
Erick Rowan vs. Big Show<br />
<br />
<b>Kickoff Pre-show Match</b><br />
Stardust and Goldust vs. The New Day<br />
<br />
<u><b>Winners:</b></u></div>
<div class="copy-paste-block">
<br /></div>
<div class="copy-paste-block">
- Cena<br />
- Wyatt<br />
- Harper</div>
<div class="copy-paste-block">
- Mizdow</div>
<div class="copy-paste-block">
- Rusev<br />
- Nikki<br />
- Ryback<br />
- Rowan<br />
- The New Day</div>
<br />Tony Keggerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03200168160807262508noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3210385474853738239.post-39106240116416859002014-11-23T14:47:00.003-06:002014-11-23T14:49:35.151-06:00WWE Survivor Series 2014 Pay- Per-View Preview<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHu-J5nZrWwjet7qzJEA18XAEo-z5LaCQ_tNX_03IUxhQA_XrTDKI3dUKr5BTLQhZ5UrZQ5pqlmrp20ytCpDQnYENWIY_DZECj7sBxsDdkp01htdvzt7jGNxXAzmPqdKqJXdPqD2o5En9J/s1600/WWESurvivorSeries2014Poster.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHu-J5nZrWwjet7qzJEA18XAEo-z5LaCQ_tNX_03IUxhQA_XrTDKI3dUKr5BTLQhZ5UrZQ5pqlmrp20ytCpDQnYENWIY_DZECj7sBxsDdkp01htdvzt7jGNxXAzmPqdKqJXdPqD2o5En9J/s1600/WWESurvivorSeries2014Poster.jpg" height="343" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
This is going to be a very short preview...sorry.<br />
<a name='more'></a><br />
Thanks to 411mania for the match card:<br />
<br />
<b>* Survivor Series Match:</b> <b>Team Cena (John Cena, Dolph Ziggler, Big Show, Erick Rowan and Ryback) vs. Team Authority (Seth Rollins, Kane, Mark Henry, Rusev and Luke Harper)</b><br />
<b><br /></b>
<b>–If Team Authority loses, Triple H and Stephanie McMahon will lose control of Monday Night RAW. If Team Cena loses, everyone but Cena on that team is fired.</b><br />
<br />
Winners: Team Authority<br />
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<b>* WWE Divas Title Match: AJ Lee vs. Nikki Bella</b><br />
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Winner: AJ Lee<br />
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* <b>Survivor Series Match: Alicia Fox, Natalya, Naomi, and Emma will take on Paige, Cameron, Summer Rae, and Layla</b><br />
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Winners: Team Paige<br />
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*<b> WWE Fatal 4-Way Tag Team Title Match: Goldust & Stardust vs. Usos vs. Los Matadores vs. Miz and Mizdow</b><br />
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Winners: Miz and Mizdow (New Tag Team Champion!)<br />
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* <b>Dean Ambrose vs. Bray Wyatt</b><br />
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Winner: Bray WyattTony Keggerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03200168160807262508noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3210385474853738239.post-79817396671094589962014-10-26T16:42:00.000-05:002014-10-26T16:42:01.071-05:00WWE Hell in a Cell 2014 Preview<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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I don't feel like writing this, but my Pay-Per-View Preview streak MUST CONTINUE! This is my preview for tonight's WWE Hell in a Cell PPV. The PPV is in Dallas (they also hosted HIAC 2010) and I hope nobody gets Ebola. There are eight matches on the card and I will give quick predictions for each match.<br />
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<b><i>(Match card taken from Lords of Pain)</i></b><br />
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<b>Hell In a Cell Match</b><br />
<b>John Cena vs. Randy Orton</b><br />
<i>Winner gets future WWE <span class="IL_AD" id="IL_AD3">World Heavyweight</span> Title shot.</i><br />
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Another Cena vs. Brock Lesnar match is rumored so I like Cena here.<br />
<br />
<b><u>Winner:</u></b> John Cena<br />
<br />
<b>Hell In a Cell Match</b><br />
<b>Seth Rollins vs. Dean Ambrose</b><br />
<br />
This is a tough match to predict. Ambrose is going to have to win at some point during this feud so why not tonight at Hell in a Cell?<br />
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<u><b>Winner:</b></u> Dean Ambrose<br />
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<b>2 of 3 Falls Match for the WWE Intercontinental Title</b><br />
<b>Cesaro vs. <span class="IL_AD" id="IL_AD1">Dolph Ziggler</span></b></div>
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I can see Ziggler holding onto the title for the rest of 2014 so I'm picking Ziggler to retain here.<br />
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<b><u>Winner:</u></b> Dolph Ziggler<br />
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<b>WWE Tag Team Title Match</b><br />
<b>The Usos vs. Stardust and Goldust</b><br />
<br />
It's unlikely The Usos win back the titles so quickly.<br />
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<b><u>Winners:</u></b> Stardust and Goldust<br />
<br />
<b>WWE Divas Title Match</b><br />
<b>Paige vs. AJ Lee</b><br />
<br />Every time AJ has defended the Divas Championship against Paige, she has lost. I think that ends tonight.<br />
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<b><u>Winner:</u></b> AJ Lee<br />
<br />
<b>WWE United States Title Match</b><br />
<b>The Miz vs. Sheamus</b><br />
<br />
UPSET ALERT! Sheamus has been boring and the team of The Miz and Damien <strike>Sandow</strike> Mizdow is getting more over every week. I'm predicting that Damien helps Miz become the new United States Champion. Hopefully, both of them show up on RAW tomorrow night with a United States Championship belt on their shoulders.<br />
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<b><u>Winner:</u></b> The Miz<br />
<b><br />
Nikki Bella vs. Brie Bella</b><br />
<i>Loser must be "assistant" to winner for 30 days.</i><br />
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I think it's more likely we'll see Brie be the assistant than Nikki so that means Nikki gets the win.<br />
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<u><b>Winner:</b></u> Nikki Bella<br />
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<b>Big Show vs. Rusev</b><br />
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Big Show should not be the person who finally pins Rusev.<br />
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<u><b>Winner:</b></u> Rusev<br />
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<br />Tony Keggerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03200168160807262508noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3210385474853738239.post-32606436168441767202014-09-27T13:54:00.003-05:002014-09-27T13:57:14.628-05:00The Wrestling Match Review: Mick Foley vs. Ric Flair (TNA Impact – October 7, 2010)<i>[The Wrestling Match Review was originally posted at Wrestling Rambles. This review is from July 31st, 2013<time datetime="2013-01-30T06:17:06+00:00"></time>]</i><br />
<br />
Last week, I wrote on Twitter that I would review my favorite TNA match. Mick Foley vs. Ric Flair from TNA’s “Before the Glory” Impact show is my favorite TNA match. That may be somewhat of a surprise because it is not one of the greatest TNA matches. I haven’t seen many of the classic TNA matches, but even if I did, I think this match would still be my favorite TNA match. I love this match because I got to see two legends have one last great match. Foley is one of my favorite wrestlers of all-time. He is number two behind The Rock. Many people might say Foley’s last great match is his WrestleMania 22 match against Edge. Many people might say Foley’s last great match is the “I Quit” match he had with Flair at SummerSlam 2006. I say this match that I’m going to review is Foley’s last great match.<br />
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<b>The Facts:</b><br />
<ul><li>This was a last man standing match and it happened at “Before the Glory” three days before the TNA Bound for Glory Pay-Per-View.</li>
<li>According to The Internet Wrestling Database, this was Mick Foley’s final singles match.</li>
<li>When this match happened, Foley was 45 years old and Flair was 61 years old.</li>
<li>Foley said he experienced concussion-like symptoms following this match.</li>
<li>Foley talked about this match during an interview with <a href="http://www.drop-d.ie/interview-mick-foley/11801">Drop-d.ie</a>. Foley said, “It was a really cool match, it was really intense, it was way more than the sum of its parts, I might add, some people might look at it and say ‘he used the barbed-wire bat, he used a table, he used a barbed-wire board’, but when you saw the intensity and that we wrestled the entire four and a half minute break we were off TV, and that’s unheard of, there was really something about that match. You can’t just put something down on paper and say ‘let’s go out and do that’, there needs to be a special atmosphere for something like that to happen.”</li>
<li>In an interview with <a href="http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/sport/wrestling/3810022/Mick-Foley-I-was-TNA-flop.html">The Sun</a>, Foley said, “I was really happy with that last match I had with Ric Flair. If that turns out to be my last match ever that would be a really good way to go.”</li>
<li>Foley talked to <a href="http://www.iyhwrestling.com/viewnews.php?autoid=4143">In Your Head! Wrestling</a> in 2011 and said his TNA highlight was this match. Foley talked about this match being on TV and not the Bound for Glory PPV. Foley said, “I was glad it wasn’t on the Pay-Per-View. . . .The people are not in the habit of ordering [TNA’s] Pay-Per-Views. . . . A couple million saw it as opposed to tens of thousands. If I have one regret, it’s that they didn’t build that match up to be a bigger deal on TV. They had a video package all ready that they didn’t run because they were going long and one of the frustrating things was knowing that there was a lot of filler on that show and just saying why didn’t someone make the call to put the package in there, make that match as big a deal as it could be and just forget some of that stuff that you can see on any other week on TV.”</li>
<li>Ric Flair called Foley a “glorified stuntman” in his book, <i>Ric Flair: To Be the Man</i>. Flair wrote, “When I first started on the booking committee (in WCW), Foley was working as Cactus Jack and doing an angle where he was living in a homeless shelter. I admit it – I didn’t know what to do with a three hundred-pound guy living in a homeless shelter. It took P.T. Barnum, in the form of Vince McMahon, to take a guy whose claim to fame was his willingness to get thrown off a cage, turn him into Mankind, and make him into a champion. Foley has a cult following because of his contribution to hardcore wrestling. But hardcore is such a small part of the history of this business. When I was training, falling off a ladder was not a prerequisite to making it as a professional wrestler. Being fundamentally sound was. . . . I don’t care how many thumbtacks Mick Foley has fallen on, how many ladders he’s fallen off, how many continents he’s supposedly bled on, he’ll always be known as a glorified stuntman. Verne Gagne didn’t fall off a ladder. Dory Funk Jr. didn’t fall off a ladder. Neither did Wahoo, Steamboat, or Steve Austin. Terry Funk was a great worker before he started doing that. Kurt Angle, Shawn Michaels, and Chris Jericho can do it and maintain their reputations because they’re already respected as athletes. . . . I’m not saying that Mick Foley wasn’t a star, that he wasn’t a great attraction. But in my estimation, Mick Foley was not a great worker. He couldn’t punch. He couldn’t kick. . . . There’s a difference between being a great performer and being a guy – like Brutus Beefcake or the Ultimate Warrior – who became famous because he happened to be working for Vince. It’s the same with Foley. When he hasn’t been working for Vince, there’s been no demand for him whatsoever. He’s just another guy.” Flair’s comments were in response to Foley blaming Flair for not recognizing Foley’s full potential and writing in <i>Have a Nice Day</i>, “Ric Flair was every bit as bad on the booking side of things as he was great on the wrestling side of it.”</li>
<li>This match is on the TNA Mick Foley: Hardcore Legend DVD.</li>
<li>The announcers during the match were Mike Tenay and Taz.</li>
<li>The time length of the match shown on TV was 9:52.</li>
<li>This match can be watched at <a href="http://youtu.be/fjloY4ZR6F0">http://youtu.be/fjloY4ZR6F0</a>.</li>
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<b>The Match:</b><br />
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Ric Flair attacked Mick Foley in the corner and ripped off the tape on Foley’s head. Foley’s wound was uncovered and Foley started bleeding around his eye. Flair threw Foley out of the ring. Flair was attacking Foley by the guardrails and Foley hit Flair with a low blow. Foley grabbed his <i>Countdown to Lockdown </i>book from a fan at ringside and tossed the book into the ring. Foley threw Flair into the ring and then grabbed a barbed wire baseball bat that was hiding under the ring steps. Foley entered the ring and attacked Flair with the bat. Flair was busted open and he left the ring. Flair walked to the entrance stage and Foley followed him. Foley slammed Flair’s head onto the broadcast table. Foley pressed the barbed wire bat against Flair’s face. Flair poked Foley in the eye and then threw Foley off the entrance stage! Foley crashed through a table below! The TNA crowd chanted “Holy Shit”! TNA went to a commercial break.<br />
<br />
After the break, Foley and Flair were back in the ring. TNA showed the TV viewers what they missed and it was Foley getting attacked by Flair with his book. I have seen wrestlers getting attacked by their own weapon, but I don’t remember seeing anyone getting attacked by their book! Back to the live action, Flair was in control of the match. Flair brought a bag of thumbtacks into the ring and emptied the bag onto the ring mat. Flair was attacking Foley in the corner and Foley blocked one of Flair’s attacks. Foley backdropped Flair onto the thumbtacks! Some of the tacks were sticking to Flair’s body. Foley brought a barbed wire board into the ring. A barbed wire bat, thumbtacks and now a barbed wire board? I can’t remember any other time those weapons were used during a free TV match. Foley got Flair into the corner. Foley grabbed the board and ran into the corner with the board in front of him! The barbed wire made contact with Flair’s body! Both Foley and Flair had a lot of blood on their face at this point. The referee started to count because this was a last man standing match and Flair got up at five. Flair and Foley were hitting each other with chops and punches! Foley bought a table into the ring. Flair hit Foley with a low blow! Flair put Foley on the table and then picked up the barbed wire board. Flair swung the board like it was a steel chair and hit Foley! Flair went to the top rope and jumped onto Foley! The table broke and both men were down. The crowd chanted “TNA”. The referee started counting both men. Flair got up first and then did his famous flop. Flair fell face first onto the tacks! The referee didn’t see that Flair was up so he continued to count both Foley and Flair. The referee’s count reached ten and he ended the match. Foley was barely standing in the corner and the referee gave the victory to Foley.<br />
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<b>Winner: Mick Foley</b><br />
<b>Rating: ****</b><br />
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A week after this match, I attended a Mick Foley book signing in suburban Chicago. When Foley signed my copy of <i>Countdown to Lockdown</i>, I should have told him that I really enjoyed watching this match. This match isn’t one of TNA’s greatest matches, but it should be one of TNA’s most important matches. TNA can say something that WWE can’t. TNA can say that Mick Foley and Ric Flair’s final great match happened in a TNA ring. I stopped watching wrestling from 2003 to 2007 so this match was the first great Foley match I watched on live TV since the Attitude Era. It was awesome to see one of my favorite wrestlers of all-time have one last great match. I was also very impressed by Flair’s performance. Flair doesn’t appreciate hardcore wrestling as much as technical wrestling, but he should be very proud of this match because that was an amazing performance by someone who was 61 years old. This match was special because Foley and Flair were able to perform at a high level way past their prime. To see Foley and Flair do this match in 2010 was amazing and they used weapons that will probably never be used during a match in TNA or WWE on free TV ever again. I was amazed that Foley and Flair were getting hit with barbed wire in a match that wasn’t on PPV. Wrestling Rambles writer Bryan Rose recently wrote a column called “Is TNA on its deathbed?” and wrote, “Bound for Glory is supposed to be TNA’s answer to Wrestlemania. Name me one match in the entire history of Bound for Glory that, just once, felt like an actual Wrestlemania match.” If this match happened at Bound for Glory instead of three days before it, Foley vs. Flair would have been that one match.Tony Keggerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03200168160807262508noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3210385474853738239.post-46370536841810971562014-09-27T13:52:00.003-05:002014-09-27T14:00:17.165-05:00The Wrestling Match Review: CM Punk vs. Chris Hero (IWA-Mid South – February 7, 2003)<i>[The Wrestling Match Review was originally posted at Wrestling Rambles. This review is from <time datetime="2013-05-08T05:31:50+00:00">May 8th, 2013</time><time datetime="2013-04-03T12:59:27+00:00"></time><time datetime="2013-01-30T06:17:06+00:00"></time>]</i><br />
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Before I saw CM Punk’s WWE documentary, I thought Ring of Honor, TNA and WWE were the only wrestling promotions Punk wrestled for. I found out during the documentary that Punk once wrestled for an independent promotion called Independent Wrestling Association Mid-South (IWA-MS).<span id="more-12433"></span> Highlights of a CM Punk vs. Chris Hero ladder match were shown and the spots in that match amazed me. I later brought a DVD set that had that ladder match. The match is now one of my favorite CM Punk matches, but that is not the Punk vs. Hero match I am reviewing. The ladder match was one of the main reasons I bought the DVD set, but there was another match on that set that I wanted to see. I found out that CM Punk and Chris Hero had a match that went 92 minutes. That is more than one hour and a half! The match happened ten years ago and the first time I heard of the match was last year. I couldn’t believe it took me so long to find out about this match and I realized there are probably many wrestling fans who don’t know this match exists so I decided to review it. I’m not going to do a full play-by-play review of this match because it would be too long. I’m going to re-watch the entire match and write about the important things that happened.<br />
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<b>The Facts:</b><br />
<ul><li>This match happened in Clarksville, Indiana. The show was called When Hero Met Punk.</li>
<li>Dave Prazak and Jim Fannin were the announcers during this match.</li>
<li>IWA Mid-South was founded in 1996 by former ECW wrestler Ian Rotten. IWA-MS alumni includes Eddie Guerrero, A.J. Styles, Rey Mysterio Jr., Samoa Joe, Claudio Castagnoli (Antonio Cesaro), Tyler Black (Seth Rollins) and Colt Cabana.</li>
<li>This was a two out of three falls match with a 90 minute time limit. CM Punk’s IWA Mid-South Heavyweight Championship was on the line.</li>
<li>Chris Hero is known as Kassius Ohno in WWE. He is currently on the WWE NXT roster.</li>
<li>When this match happened, Chris Hero was 23 years old and CM Punk was 24 years old.</li>
<li>On December 21, 2002, Punk and Hero had a match that ended in 60 minute time limit draw. According to CM Punk, the match happened at a show that was not as big as the show that would happen one week later and Punk knew fans would save their money for the bigger IWA-MS show. Punk told IWA-MS founder Ian Rotten that he wanted to do a one hour match. Punk said to Rotten, “There’s not going to be a whole lot of people here and whether I wrestle for two minutes or an hour, I’m still going to get paid the same and I might as well have fun.” The next IWA-MS Punk vs. Hero match was the 92 minute match.</li>
<li>According to The Internet Wrestling Database, the longest WWE match was Bruno Sammartino vs. Waldo Von Erich. The match happened at a MSG show on August 22, 1964 and the time length was 81 minutes.</li>
<li>The Guinness World Record for the longest pro wrestling match is 12 hours. Six wrestlers rotated into and out of the match on November 6, 2010 in Sidney, Ohio. The wrestler with the most accumulated pin falls and submissions after 12 hours was the winner of the match. The match was promoted by Shockwave Impact Wrestling.</li>
<li>On February 8, 2013, Dave Prazak <a href="https://twitter.com/DavePrazak/status/300071118813933569">tweeted</a> the handwritten notes by Hero for commentary during the 92 minute match. The notes can be seen at <a href="http://twitpic.com/c20qy7">http://twitpic.com/c20qy7</a>.</li>
<li>Former Ring of Honor commentator Joe Dombrowski wrote a column about the Punk and Hero rivalry and among the people he interviewed were Jim Fannin and Brent Blades. Fannin, one of the announcers during the 92 minute match, said, “I don’t think I will ever see anything like that again. It is very hard to hold the attention of a fan for 90 minutes. The fact that everyone in the building was standing for the last 15 minutes of this match made for an incredible atmosphere and everyone was pulling for Hero to get that first victory over Punk. By this point, the hatred had left the rivalry. They had been apart for about a year and the mutual respect they had after the tables and ladders made it a friendly contest to see who the better man was.” Former IWA-MS referee Blades said, “90 minutes? Nobody could do that… Could they? Well, Hero and Punk sure did and for the last 15-20 minutes of the match the entire crowd was all on their feet to see the end. There was not a minute of this whole match that the whole crowd wasn’t into it, 90 minutes. Do people really realize how long 90 minutes is? Think about it, that’s longer [than] some movies you go see. This crowd was in it and loved it. This is one of their matches that most will never forget, not because of the craziness like the Tables and Ladders, but just at how good it was and the fact that it could be so good for so long. It wasn’t like 65 minutes was good and they could have done away with the other 25, the whole 90 minutes was truly classic.”</li>
<li>The time length of this match was 92:15.</li>
<li>The full match can be seen at <a href="http://www.tudou.com/programs/view/QeNKiaf5pr8/">http://www.tudou.com/programs/view/QeNKiaf5pr8/</a>.</li>
</ul><br />
<b>The Match:</b><br />
<br />
The match started at a slow pace with a lot of exchanging holds on the mat. Play-by-play announcer Dave Prazak acknowledged that and said going fast pace early in the match could cost someone a fall. There were some pin attempts after the first five minutes, but none of them were near-falls. Announcer Jim Fannin mentioned that CM Punk wrestled a combined 110 minutes in one weekend and said you have to watch RAW and Smackdown for two or three months to get 110 minutes of actual wrestling. After ten minutes, this looked like an even match-up and it was too early to predict who would win. I like two out of three falls matches because it is very hard to predict when the first fall will happen and who will win the first fall. Fannin said he gets sickened when people say Hero doesn’t look like a wrestler because the steroid freaks in WWE couldn’t carry a match for three minutes. Punk and Hero continued to exchange holds after 20 minutes, but they were able to keep the match entertaining despite the slow pace. The submission holds in this match were very good. It’s not like they were doing headlocks for 20 minutes. Punk left the ring after Hero hit him with forearms to the back and that was the first time someone in the match had an advantage. At the 30 minute mark, there were no falls yet and not many near-falls. The first 30 minutes could have been very hard to watch because the slow pace, but it felt like a quick 30 minutes. It was hard to believe that this match was already longer than most WWE matches. The pace got faster after 35 minutes. They did less submission holds and more forearms, chops, punches and kicks. After 40 minutes, it felt they were far away from the first fall and neither man had control of the match for more than a few minutes. I had no idea who was going to win that first fall which is surprising because 40 minutes should be long enough to be able to make that prediction. Hero had Punk in a submission hold right before the 45 minute mark and it looked like Punk might submit, but Punk escaped the hold.<br />
<br />
Punk got Hero down in the corner and kicked him in the face. Punk covered Hero and got a near-fall. 45 minutes and no falls yet. Punk knocked Hero down with a clothesline and got another near-fall. The pin attempts were starting to get closer to a three count. Hero got Punk out of the ring and did a tornado dive to the floor. Hero proved that he had a lot of energy left after 45 minutes. Russian Leg Sweep by Punk got a two count. Punk hit Hero with a suplex at the 50 minute mark. Hero got a near-fall after he repeatedly kicked Punk’s face. The first 40 minutes were mostly mat wrestling and now there has been many near-falls. Punk went for the Shining Wizard and Hero avoided it. Punk spun around and kicked Hero in the head. Punk pinned Hero and got the three count. Punk led one fall to zero at 53:56. The fall was unexpected. I have seen this match before and I didn’t think Punk would get the three count there. Hero hit Punk with a backbreaker and Punk got his foot on the rope before the three count. Hero knocked down Punk with a clothesline, but Punk kicked out again. At 60 minutes, both men looked tired. A front flip neckbreaker by Hero got a near-fall. Hero got Punk in a submission hold, but Punk got his foot on the bottom ring rope. Hero hit Punk with the Hero’s Welcome and Punk kicked out! That was a great near-fall because Hero’s Welcome was one of Hero’s finishers. The move looked a little bit like Cody Rhodes’s Cross Rhodes finisher. Punk did a flying head scissors which was amazing because it happened right before the 65 minute mark. They had wrestled for over an hour and still had a lot of energy left. Hero left the ring and Punk jumped off the ring apron and did a flying head scissors outside of the ring! That was awesome! The flying head scissors in the ring was cool, but the flying head scissors outside the ring looked amazing. Punk went back in the ring and did a suicide dive to the outside onto Hero! Punk did not look like someone who had been wrestling for over 65 minutes. Punk tossed Hero back into the ring. Punk and Hero were on the top turnbuckle and Hero hit Punk with the Pepsi Plunge! That was Punk’s finisher! Hero got the three count! The match was tied one fall to one fall at 68:16.<br />
<br />
The referee gave water to Punk and Hero after the second fall. The next fall would win the match. Hero hit Punk with a suplex and Punk kicked at two. 70 minutes were gone and 20 minutes remained before the time limit. Punk hit Hero with the Shining Wizard and Hero kicked out at two! Punk hit a move called the Blockbuster and Hero kicked out at two! Punk kicked out of a pin attempt at the 75 minute mark. Hero Hip Dislocator by Hero got a two count. Dropkick to the back of the head springboard by Punk and Hero avoided the three count by putting his hand on the bottom ring rope. Punk applied the Hangman’s Clutch submission hold on Hero (Hero’s finishing submission hold) and then hit Hero with the Hero’s Welcome (Hero’s finishing move). Hero kicked out at two! Punk put Hero in a sleeper hold after 80 minutes. Hero tried to get out of the hold many times, but Punk continued to keep the sleeper hold on Hero. Prazak mentioned that Bruno Sammartino and Pedro Morales had a 90 minute draw in 1973 at Shea Stadium. I did some quick research and I found information about a Sammartino vs. Morales match at Shea in 1972 that was announced as a 75 minute draw so that means Prazak was wrong. Hero finally got out of the sleeper hold by hitting Punk with a suplex. Hero took Punk down and went for the pin, but Punk got his foot on the bottom ring rope! 85 minutes were gone and 5 minutes remained. Hero hit Punk with two Hero’s Welcomes and Punk kicked out at two! Punk hit Hero with the Hero’s Welcome! Hero kicked out at two! Fannin explained that they were able to kick out of the finishers because after 86 minutes, it is hard to fully execute the finishing moves. 87 minutes were gone and 3 minutes remained. Hero went for a pin attempt and Punk kicked out. Two minutes left. Both men were down. 90 seconds left. Punk attempted a pin, but couldn’t get the three count. One minute left. Punk went to the top rope. Hero climbed to the top. REVERSE POWERBOMB BY HERO! DOUBLE PIN FALL! Both men’s shoulders were down. 90 minutes expired! Two falls to two falls. The match went to sudden death. Punk hit Hero with the Shining Wizard! Hero kicked out! Punk put Hero in a submission hold. Punk released the hold and Hero put Punk in the Hangman’s Clutch. Punk tapped out and after 92 minutes, Hero became the new IWA-Mid South World Heavyweight Champion.<br />
<br />
<b>Winner: Chris Hero</b><br />
<b>Rating: *****</b><br />
<br />
The reason I gave this match five stars was because Punk and Hero were able to keep me entertained for over 92 minutes. Doing a 92 minute match is difficult, but doing an entertaining 92 minute match is more difficult. I thought for sure I would not be able to watch this entire match. I expected it to get boring and hard to watch after 30 minutes. I was wrong. This match got better as the match got longer. Hero impressed me a lot and when he reaches the main WWE roster, I hope he is as good as he was ten years ago. The wrestling that Punk and Hero did was amazing and they used a lot of different moves during the match. I was amazed by how much energy Punk and Hero had at the end of the match. The announcers were talking about old wrestling matches that went more than an hour and one of them said that none of those matches had guys doing jumps off the top rope, flips and dives to the outside like Punk and Hero did in this match. The commentary from Prazak and Fannin was great and they helped make the match more enjoyable. In my opinion, this match has to be in the top five of CM Punk’s greatest matches.Tony Keggerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03200168160807262508noreply@blogger.com2