Opinion
Top 5 Matches: Week Ending 2/24/2019
With a week filled with a lot of Japanese events, what makes Andrew’s Top 5 Matches of the week?
With a week filled with a lot of Japanese events, what makes Andrew’s Top 5 Matches of the week?
Now last week was dominated by WWE matches, and that just added to a month that already had two NXT matches. So our last week’s winner was, WWE Championship Men’s Elimination Chamber Match.
Finally, just as a way to potentially mix up the monthly vote, we have a week filled with Japanese matches. One sneaky American match made it’s way into the Top 5, but let’s see how this plays out.
5. Giant Baba Memorial Show: Hiroshi Tanahashi & Yoshitatsu vs Kento Miyahara & Daisuke Sekimoto
From My Review:
Kento comes out with the current and original Triple Crown Championship belts. Very nice tribute for Baba’s memorial show. Surprisingly the crowd is a Kento crowd. The Kento chants drown out the Tanahashi chants, so Yoshi and Tana play heel for most of the match. This was exactly what you’d expect from an All Star match. EVEN Yoshitatsu held his own. Sekimoto looked great and hit his I’m Helping Double German Suplex – at least that’s what I call it. When Kento did his against the post spot to Yoshitatsu, the referee saw Tanahashi coming over, called him faster and instructed him to pull Kento’s hair to break up the hold. Slingblades and Blackouts aplenty, this was a fun match and definitely worth being the main event. Kento playfully chided Tanahashi after the match, but the crowd started chanting for Tanahashi to join the Triple Crown Champion, and they both pose while saying a combination of one another’s catch phrases. Very nice moment.
Winner: Kento via Shutdown German Suplex Hold
Rating: **** 1/4
4. AJPW: Jr Battle of Glory: Hikaru Sato vs Seiki Yoshioka
This was a huge match for the Junior league. The previous match had Black Tiger VII upset Atsushi Aoki. Which means, this match was winner take all. Yet because Seiki came in with 6 points and Sato with 4, Seiki had a slightly easier path at win or draw.
Sato is one of those wrestlers that can either take bumps and get destroyed (see his Giant Baba Memorial match) or actually be technically impressive. We saw flurries of strikes, armbar submissions and suplexes. Both men were doing everything they could think of to try and finish the match, and Seiki was just trying not to lose. This was entertaining as hell, and one of the best matches of the tournament.
If you enjoy Junior Heavyweight/Cruiserweight style wrestling, this tournament had a good mix of things.
Winner: TIME LIMIT DRAW
Rating: **** 1/4
3. NXT: North American Championship Match: Johnny Gargano (c) vs Velveteen Dream
From Demarco’s Review:
Dream, of course, earned a championship opportunity by winning the World’s Collide Tournament at Axxess in Phoenix. He selected the North American Championship for his shot. Tommaso Ciampa watching from the rafters works for me, because we all know this is continuing. That was a SHOT from Velveteen Dream to Johnny Gargano’s mouth.
Dream doesn’t need to show off the technical skill, especially when he doesn’t have a ton of it. That’s not what he has, and that’s not why he’s over. Long term, Dream’s career isn’t going to be about championships. It’s about being an iconic character. But he will have some accolades, and this is one. I actually hated Dream winning with the Purple Rainmaker. In this case, it makes more sense for him to pull out a win with something else, really giving fans that shocking high.
Winner: Dream via Purple Rainmaker Elbow
Rating: **** 1/4
Honorable Mentions:
AJPW Excite Series: World Heavyweight Tag Titles: Yuji Okabayashi & Daisuke Sekimoto (c) vs Jake Lee & Ryouji Sai
Winner: Okabayashi via Golem Splash
Rating: ****
Honor Rising: ROH World Championship: Jay Lethal (c) vs TK O’Ryan
Winner: Lethal via Lethal Injection
Rating: *** 3/4
Impact: Impact Tag Team Titles: LAX vs Lucha Bros (c)
Winner: Lucha Bros via Spike Fear Factor
Rating: *** 3/4
Giant Baba Memorial Show: Naomichi Marufuji & Jinsei Shinzaki vs Masaaki Mochizuki & Shun Skywalker
Winner: Marufuji via Perfect Inside Cradle
Rating: *** 3/4
Honor Rising: ROH TV Championship: Hirooki Goto vs Jeff Cobb (c)
Winner: Cobb via Tour of the Islands
Rating: *** 3/4
AJPW Excite Series: Finals Jr Battle of Glory: Seiki Yoshioka vs Koji Iwamoto
Winner: Iwamoto via Koko no Geijustsu
Rating: *** 1/2
Honor Rising: Jay Lethal, Hiroshi Tanahashi & Kazuchika Okada vs The Kingdom
Winner: Lethal via Lethal Injection
Rating: *** 1/2
NXT: Aleister Black vs Roderick Strong
Winner: Black via Black Mass
Rating: *** 1/2
Honor Rising: Zack Sabre Jr vs Shota Umino
Winner: Sabre via Half Crab
Rating: *** 1/2
WWE Raw: DIY vs The Revival
Winner: DIY via Meeting in the Middle
Rating: *** 1/2
Honor Rising: NEVER Openweight Title: Will Ospreay (c) vs Dalton Castle
Winner: Ospreay via Stormbreaker
Rating: *** 1/2
Honor Rising: Hirooki Goto & Will Ospreay vs Jeff Cobb & Dalton Castle
Winner: Ospreay via Stormbreaker
Rating: *** 1/2
Honor Rising: Matt Taven & Vinny Marseglia vs Shingo Takagi & Tetsuya Naito
Winner: Naito via Destino
Rating: *** 1/2
AJPW Jr Battle of Glory: Black Tiger VII vs Atsushi Aoki
Winner: Tiger via Super High-School La Magistral
Rating: *** 1/4
Honor Rising: ROH Tag Team Championship Juice Robinson & David Finlay vs The Briscoes (c)
Winner: Briscoes via Froggy Bow
Rating: *** 1/4
WWE SmackDown Live: DIY vs The Bar
Winner: DIY via Cradle
Rating: *** 1/4
Honor Rising: Toa Henare & Jonathan Gresham vs Zack Sabre Jr & TAKA Michinoku
Winner: Gresham via Octopus Hold
Rating: *** 1/4
Impact: Eli Drake vs Eddie Edwards
Winner: Edwards via Jacknife Cradle
Rating: ***
WWE Raw: Ricochet & Finn Balor vs Lio Rush & Bobby Lashley
Winner: Ricochet via 630 Senton
Rating: ***
Honor Rising: David Finlay, Juice Robinson,Toa Henare & Tomoaki Honma vs Guerrillas of Destiny & The Briscoes
Winner: Juice via Roll-up
Rating: ***
Impact: Desi Hit Squad vs Trey & Dez
Winner: Trey via Meteora
Rating: ***
Giant Baba Memorial Show: SANADA & BUSHI vs Jake Lee & Koji Iwamoto vs Shota Umino & Ayato Yoshida
Winner: SANADA via Moonsault
Rating: ***
NXT UK: UK Women’s Championship: Toni Storm (c) vs Rhea Ripley
Winner: Storm via Storm Zero
Rating: ***
Honor Rising: Robbie Eagles vs Marty Scurll
Winner: Scurll via Crossface Chicken Wing
Rating: ***
2. NJPW-ROH Honor Rising: IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team Title Match: Guerrillas of Destiny vs EVIL & SANADA (c)
From My Review:
EVIL and SANADA tend to have G.o.D.’s number in big matches. But damn, this match took a little bit of time to pick up, but when it did, it was great. EVIL and SANADA kept trying to go for Magic Killer, but Tama countered it twice. Guerrilla Tactics took out EVIL and then they finish SANADA with the Super Powerbomb that was given to them by Gedo and Jado. Great tag match. Ain’t nobody ready for Guerrillas.
Winner: G.o.D. via Super Powerbomb
Rating: **** 1/2
1. AJPW Excite Series: Triple Crown Championship Match: Kento Miyahara (c) vs Suwama
Well Suwama is effectively in the Tanahashi position of AJPW. He was the Ace for so long, and now he’s a bit older, still a hell of a force, but the face of All Japan is Kento.
This match started off as a trade off. Kento dominated Suwama, took him to the ramp and dropped him with a Brainbuster. The referee came out to admonish Kento and force him back to the ring, and when he got around to checking on Suwama, Suwama was slowly staggering to the ring. Kento got cocky and went for an Apron Running Knee, but missed and crashed into the railing. Then this match turned into Suwama’s show. Crazy spot had Kento in a Tree of Woe, with Suwama on the outside pulling his neck back and basically Bow and Arrowing him with the turnbuckles.
Eventually Kento got his bearings back and we saw a hell of a fight. Blackout knee strikes from Kento, Double Chops and Powerbombs from Suwama. Both men kicked out of one another’s BIG finisher. Those being Suwama’s Giant Slam and Kento’s Shutdown German Suplex Hold.
No matter how hard Suwama fought, he couldn’t escape Kento’s second attempt at the Shutdown, and that was all.
Winner: Kento via Shutdown German Suplex Hold
Rating: **** 3/4
Thoughts:
So to make this short and sweet, I’m picking, Guerrillas of Destiny vs EVIL & SANADA. Even though I thought Kento and Suwama was a slightly better match, I was really just impressed with Honor Rising. G.o.D. brought it hard, put on a fantastic match, a few story wrinkles played out as well…so I’m just tickled by how much I liked the match and the show.
I harp on it, because ROH shows tend to really just disappoint me or seem to fail a bit. I’m aware that both teams in this match were New Japan teams, but given the fact that last year’s Honor Rising was painful no matter who was involved, I went in with criminally low expectations.
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Opinion
Chris King: Was Randy Orton Simply Repeating History At WrestleMania 42?
Could the WWE WrestleMania 42 results for Randy Orton lead to repeated history at Backlash?
Could the WWE WrestleMania 42 results for Randy Orton lead to repeated history at Backlash?
WrestleMania 42 Night One is in the rear view, as Cody Rhodes retained his WWE Undisputed Championship. While Pat McAfee tried to involve himself in the title match, Jelly Roll took his ass out. Randy Orton utilized every single move in his arsenal and even the champion’s to win his fifteenth championship. Unfortunately, due to Pat’s shenanigans, Orton was unable to get the job done, and Rhodes secured the victory.
There have been rumors about Orton and Pat vs. Rhodes and Jelly Roll in a tag team match at this year’s Backlash PLE. It wasn’t until after last night that got me thinking, what if they repeat history when Orton won the championship in 2009? Orton, along with Legacy (Randy Orton, Cody Rhodes, and Ted DiBiase Jr.), made it his life’s goal to destroy HHH and the McMahon family all the way up to WrestleMania 25. Orton punted both Vince and Shane and even hit a DDT on HHH’s wife. Stephanie. The psychological games weren’t enough though, as Orton didn’t win the title then either at Mania.
The next night on Monday Night Raw, Batista made his long-awaited return to the ring to help HHH against Legacy. In the weeks leading up to the event, Rhodes, Orton, and DiBiase Jr. would get the upper hand, destroying everyone. HHH would put his title on the line in a massive six-man tag team match alongside Shane and Batista versus Legacy. If Orton’s team won the match, then he would win the championship.
What if this huge stipulation were placed on the rumored tag team match, and Orton found a way to win the WWE Championship at Backlash? The WWE Universe might not be happy about the way Orton wins the title, but as long as Orton gets his fifteenth title, does it really matter? Maybe punting Rhodes was just the start of Orton listening to the voices and doing whatever he has to do to win the championship?
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Opinion
Chris King Looks Back: WWE WrestleMania 36
Chris King takes a look back at one of the most surreal wrestling events of all time, 2020’s WWE WrestleMania 36!
Chris King takes a look back at one of the most surreal wrestling events of all time, 2020’s WWE WrestleMania 36!
As we get geared up for WrestleMania 42, one of my favorite things to do is go back and watch previous Manias and find that special magic again. Six years ago, we were living in a worldwide pandemic and nothing felt the same. WrestleMania 36 was supposed to be held in Tampa Bay but, unfortunately it took place inside of the Performance Center.
For the first time in WWE history, WrestleMania was split into two nights, which would become a constant going forward. Each night would feature a plethora of matches including Goldberg vs. Braun Strowman for the Universal Championship, Seth Rollins vs. Kevin Owens, AJ Styles vs. The Undertaker in a Boneyard Match, and Brock Lesnar vs. Drew McIntyre for the WWE Championship.
On Night one, one of the greatest bouts with an incredible build would be ‘The Messiah’ Seth Rollins vs. Kevin Owens. Rollins had been fighting for the greater good flanked by The Authors of Pain and Buddy Matthews and blatantly destroying Owens on multiple occasions. Rollins portrayed the perfect manipulating heel here.
The resilient ‘Prizefighter’ was so sick of Rollins’ crap that he challenged him to a match at Mania. What started as a simple match, quickly turned into an all out brawl with no disqualifications. Both superstars fought all over the ringside area, and KO would climb off the huge WrestleMania sign and hit a massive elbow drop! Owens would pick up the huge victory over The Messiah.
Braun Strowman would challenge Goldberg for the Universal Championship in what was relatively a squash match. Roman Reigns was supposed to challenge Goldberg, butdue to health concerns, he took a hiatus from WWE. ‘The Monster Among Men’ would take four massive Spears from the veteran and retaliate with four running power slams to win his first Universal Championship!
The main event of night one saw The Undertaker battle AJ Styles in a really fun and chaotic boneyard match. This dream match was supposed to take place in front of 75,000 screaming fans but, this was truly the perfect ending to Taker’s illustrious career. Styles had some massive balls calling out his opponent by calling him by his official name and disrespecting his family. ‘The Phenomenal One’ just kept poking the bear all the way into their match. Watching Styles arrive in Undertaker fashion inside of a coffin and give a maniacal laugh was hilarious. All the games were over after Taker rode in on his motorcycle to beat his ass!
The Deadman would have to face off against The OC, and even his druids to shut his opponent up once and for all. Taker delivering a massive chokeslam and tombstone piledriver on the roof was a sight to see. Taker kicked Styles right into his own grave and rode off into the darkness, as usual! The Undertaker cross symbol blaring through the fire while Metallica plays was iconic! Taker would be so satisfied with the cinematic match that he would formally retire later that year!
Night Two of WrestleMania 36 was awesome and electric, as Edge faced off with his greatest former friend now rival Randy Orton in a last man standing match, John Cena faced off with ‘The Fiend’ Bray Wyatt inside the Firefly Funhouse, and Drew McIntyre looks to win his first-every WWE championship from ‘The Beast Incarnate’ Brock Lesnar!
Edge made his shocking return at the 2020 Royal Rumble, after a career-ending neck injury. Randy Orton was excited to see his former Rated-RKO partner but he quickly put a stop to a reunion in a disgusting manner. Orton delivering a vicious Concerto to Edge and hitting an RKO on Beth Phoenix brought back flashbacks to ‘09 Orton and his feud with Triple H!
‘The Viper’ came out of nowhere disguised as a cameraman to hit an RKO to start the match. Orton was a mastermind here playing the sinister antagonist to Edge’s comeback story. Both superstars went to war throughout the performance center in a hard-hitting performance. Orton choking out Edge while saying “I’ll always love you, man” was just vile and really fun to watch. Edge finally got the advantage in the gym area using the machines to gain some revenge.
They fought through the backstage areas, a boardroom all the way to the top of an NXT production truck. Orton hitting his signature draping DDT on the bed of a pickup truck was nasty. The Viper tried to Punt Edge’s lights out but, got hit with a massive spear. Edge got the final shot hitting Orton with a devastating Concerto to win the match!
John Cena entered The Firefly Funhouse for one of most spectacular cinematic masterpieces of all time. This match was a cinematic journey of John Cena’s history within the company, and looking back at his greatest failures. It was so interesting to see how his future could have been way different had he turned heel, instead of maintaining being a babyface who was shoved down our throats for years! Bray Wyatt as ‘The Fiend’ finally got his comeuppance after Cena refused to put him over at Mania 30.
Wyatt was red-hot at that time but, Cena gave him his greatest defeat of his career. The Fiend may not have been created if it wasn’t for this loss on the grandest stage of them all. Wyatt would defeat Cena and go on to become the Universal Champion months later.
The final match of the grand event was Drew McIntyre defeating Brock Lesnar to win his first WWE Championship. After Lesnar’s impressive performance at the Royal Rumble, McIntyre humiliated him by eliminating him and punching his ticket to the biggest match of his career. The way WWE hyped McIntyre is very similar to how they are hyping Oba Femi right now. They made him look like an unstoppable beast.
The match started with a free trip to Suplex City followed by a F5 for a kickout at one! Lesnar’s eyes grew wide as his opponent kept coming back. ‘The Scottish Warrior’ would not stay down and, The Beast was getting pissed. McIntyre would ultimately slay the beast hitting four massive Claymore kicks to win his first WWE Championship! Paul Heyman has a look of shock and disappointment as McIntyre poses with his title. What a way to end WrestleMania 36!
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