May 2009

In the early stages Claudio overwhelmes Bryan, which leads to Bryan taking his time on the apron, waiting for a good time to come back in & strike w/ a sneak attack. After that it's Bryan in control doing great work over Claudio - Claudio makes some absolutely terrific comebacks, LOVED him constantly going back to that Boston Crab, too. Such good storytelling. As the match goes, it becomes more 50/50 with both guys delivering big strikes & bombs to each other. Claudio got a couple of very nice nearfalls there. The finishing stretch & the finish = excellent. This was a beautifully paced & structured 40-minute epic - Claudio was a WONDERFUL babyface, all of …

Match has the backstory coming in of them being former Generation Next stablemates, and tag team champion partners. They had feuded in the past as part of ROH's rather ill-fated 'stable wars' period, but that felt pretty underwhelming from my memory. At that stage it was Aries who was the face and Strong as the heel, but that's reversed here. On commentary they say Strong is returning from a tour of NOAH and he feels a bit directionless in comparison to Aries who was being pushed back into the ROH Title picture. There's lots of cautiousness and feeling out early on, which makes sense given their history and knowing each other so well. Unfortunately, the match then ne…

- This is one of my favourite performances in Bryan’s career. Now I have nothing against Absolute Andy, I quite like the guy, but I think Bryan could’ve had the match of this same quality against literally anyone else if it had the combination of Bryan’s journey in wXw + the relationship he had built with the crowd there. His work over Andy was absolutely tremendous - he basically busted out all the greatest hits he had built over as big weapons in wXw over the years. The atmosphere was terrific & the climax of the match w/ Andy kicking out of the kick to the balls -> small package sequence was amazing. There couldn’t have been a more perfect way to end Danielson’s…

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Talk about it here. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iZr59pBHPHw

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Two weeks previously they had wrestled to a time limit draw, so this is the rematch, but with higher stakes as it's a No. 1 contenders match for the ROH Title. As with the previous bout, they start with grappling and Danielson is really snug and tight in everything he does, making sure that Black has to earn his way out of every hold. Dragon is lazeer focused and serious early on, with the implication he'd potentially underestimated Black first time round, whereas now he knows he's a threat he's making sure to not give up any cheap openings. Both men are cautious early on, not wanting to make a mistake given the increased stakes of a title shot being on the line. Wh…

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CM Punk vs Umaga - Judgment Day 2009 Great choice for an opener because we are in Chicago. So even during restholds, the crowd is still wicked hot for CM Punk. CM Punk is a great traditional pro wrestler. He does a great job telling a simple, but effective story. I have been signing the praises of Umaga since rewatching him. That dude knew what it meant to be a monster. What we get here is a solid David vs Goliath match. It is not going to change your world, but it is entertaining. It is elegant pro wrestling. CM Punk uses speed early to evade the Samoan Bulldozer who headbutts the canvas. Eventually, Umaga swallows his prey and sends him flying with his crazy slam. L…

World Heavyweight Champion Edge vs Jeff Hardy - Judgment Day 2009 Amazing Jeff Hardy babyface performance here. I have said in the past that the Hardyz were just a updated version of the Rock N Roll Express. I think here Jeff Hardy shows what a white meat babyface in 2009 could do. He does not look like a Steamboat or Morton but sure can wrestle like one. I loved the early armdrags keeping Edge off balance. Nice climax on his shine with the dive over the top. He goes for too much too soon with the Whisper In The Wind as he crashes and burns. Edge shouldertackles him in the back off the apron. I don't say this a lot, but Jeff Hardy carried Edge's boring ass to a da…

WWE intercontinental Champion Rey Mysterio vs Chris Jericho - Judgment Day 2009 My post got eaten, grrrrrrr. - Jericho got drafted to Smackdown. Good move, fresh matchups. - Rey beat JBL for IC title at Mania, sent him packing. Rey hard time staying healthy after 2006, looking to get back on the right track - Built around 619 attempts, smart. made the crowd invested late - Rey immediately goes for the 619 as the first move. Jericho bails. Sets the tone - Nobody knows how to work beginning of matches anymore. Terrible, meandering shine - Jericho actually works really well on top. Don't usually think of him like that. - Shoves him off top rope to beg…

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more detailed diving here??? This lasted 25 minutes (! ) thankfully the action made it seem much less than that when watching. Keita is in his young boy phase yet (only 2 years wrestling btw) still had a lot of the great qualities that would continue on with him; namely his authentic aggression and incredibly nerdy technical work. Both of those come best to light when he's in there with GENTARO for obvious reasons, with the two having some really awesome tricked out Iiave-lite exchanges between each other with counters to things I've never even thought of before. Such a shame that this is the only "big" taping (bar a singles match in the same promotion that rest ass…

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These two have lots of history, having a great feud in CZW prior to this, and that chemistry is on show here, even though this is a short TV match. That history between the two is hinted at here, or implied without ever being made explicit on commentary, but helps the atmosphere for the match given we are in the 2300 Arena in Philadelphia and many in the crowd probably knew it. This is a hard hitting sprint, and given their previous rivalry they go straight at it from the opening bell. Early on Hero strikes just the right balance in backing away from Kingston's onslaught but not being a full on cowardly heel. Both guys lay in their strikes and in their brawling on t…

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https://youtu.be/ak1LX4XE2S4 Really hot interactions between all 6-men involved, a fantastic Steen FIP segment, a terrific KENTA hot tag, great psychology w/ Generico's knee + an awesome finishing stretch. Great match. ****1/4