September 2004

The Naturals vs AMW vs XXX (TNA tag team title match - 09/01/04) It's really hard to have a good triple threat non-elimination match, much less a real good one. This was a success, thanks to three things : there was no overscripted cutesy spots; there was a storyline of James Storm being badly injured which allowed time for some actual classic tag team action with Naturals taking over for a while; the finish was excellent and played into both Storm's injury and the fact the Naturals are sneaky bastards who steal victories. Plus, the work from most guys, especially Daniels & AMW, was super solid, Primetime (yeah, Skipper is only going by Brian Lee's nickname now) d…

This was a weird bout as there was a lot of great wrestling mixed with house show bullshit and the finish was shit. Cole and Taz are supremely annoying. Angle is a wrestling machine anc could probably wipe the mat with Eddie if he wanted to. I thought this was an Angle vs Eddie match that I liked until the bullshit began.

Not the greatest match between these two but I appreciated how different they worked this in comparison to their usual matchups. Between this and Nishimura/Kawada this card was really quite something impressive. We start off with filler Muto grappling but he also smartly breaks that tradition by nailing Koji with a surprise Shining Wizard for a early advantage when his opponent gets complacent sitting in holds. Koji tries again after recovering and again gets caught out with a surprise mule kick after trying for his leg. Knowing he can't really win on that end he attacks Muto with strikes, which he gets the edge over. The match only really picks up when the two braw…

This was the best of the Forgotten Kawada TC Defenses I watched today and a borderline classic. And the reason for that is, of course, Osamu Nishimura. Nish often gets branded as a novelty worker who just does tribute matches imitating Dory Funk Jr spots, which is simply not true, as he does a bonafide job working a true Kings Road style match against Kawadas strike based style here. Not forcing him to work his trademark style at all, just building a really good match around his signature spots while educating the crowd on the importance of Backslides and Abdominal Stretches, telling a story and all while never losing his composure. The opening sees Nishimura ambushing Ka…

This was such a neat title match. I love Zumbido, and I've enjoyed watching Averno's rise as the next breakthrough talent. It was cool that they given so much time, and were able to work a modern style bout that was fresh and captivating. I kind of regret being dismissive of Averno in the past, but you live and learn. This was a big moment for him and it registered with me having watched him pay his dues for several years prior to this.

CMLL returns from the Olympics break with this banger. This feud has lit a fire under the promotion and they have become the best promotion in the world now that the WWE has cooled off. Park has been a disappointment in CMLL, but his matchup with Ultimo has been excellent and they tear it up here (literally!) Perro vs. Santo didn't even rate an honorable mention in the Observer awards, but there were footage issues, a chunk of it takes place in Monterrery, and it's lucha. It's easily a top three feud for the year.

Hotwired 2004 was the last stop before British Uprising III – the biggest event in the FWA’s history. It kept in play most of the key storyline’s heading into the big show and was another excellent event in a consistent run of quality shows for the company in 2004. Sadly however, rather than the FWA being spring boarded onto greater success, for many, this was the peak of the curve and the company would soon after start it’s downward slide. For Greg Lambert - both a performer with the company and part of the creative at this stage – in his book Holy Grail, September 2004 and this event was the FWA’s highest point. This six man tag was all about the ever escala…

So, there was quite the build up to this match… You have to go all the way back to May 2003 and Frontiers of Honor – the joint FWA/ROH show for the original genesis. Corino had been originally lined up to be part of the ROH team, however this came at a time when in storyline he had formed the imaginatively titled ‘The Group’ that was trying to fight against the company, so as he’s revealed in interviews since he didn’t think it made the most logical sense. Whatever the exact reasons, he didn’t end up appearing on the show which led to Shane going on his wrestling radio show to publically criticise Corino. Eventually the two would bury the hatchet behind the sc…

Here's a bonus for you lucha fans -- another Santo vs Perro match! This was suitably violent and featured some solid brawling. They used the steel steps inside the ring, which I didn't love but was able to overlook in favor of the blood and hatred. The ref was involved in the finish (it's Monterrey, after all), but nobody's getting a decisive win at this stage of the feud. More than anything, it was great to see another singles match between them.

Jeff Jarrett vs Jeff Hardy (NWA title match - TNA 09/08/04) Jeff Hardy being treated like a megastar when he really had not been anything but a stuntman tag champ in WWF was really the first occurence of TNA making themselves look like WWE fetichists (there had been the D-Lo push, but it was more filler). Add the fact Hardy really looked poor in the few matches he had to that point, the last weekly PPV, and you got all the recipe for a wimper of a match. The entire PPV had been quite bad thus far too, easily the worst in months. Begins with an endless brawl involving security during the introduction, because this is so intense, you see, the biggest match of TNA, of Ha…

This was a fairly decent lumberjack match that made good use of the gimmick. Things were going great until the Big Show showed up and destroyed everyone. Even that was handled fairly well, but I'm not hugely thrilled by the prospect of Angle vs. Big Show.

Santo vs. Perro Jr is the best feud in wrestling since Eddie vs. JBL, but I love the fact that they haven't forgotten that it was Casas vs. Perro that started all this beef. They had some fantastic exchanges in this trio, and Casas bust out his kicks. I love it when Casas starts kicking opponents like he's a shooter. Park got in on the act with some stiff sounding strikes and a fiery exchange with Ultimo, who's been his best opponent in CMLL. Kick ass TV match.

Talk about it here.

Talk about it here.

Talk about it here.

Hey it's another first ever 1-on-1 match-up on this show! And much like Aries vs. Punk, it's very good. Shelley's heat segment working on Danielson's neck was very solid; he has a certain charm about his work, and he is also a good little dickhead & he certainly commits well to a strategy. It's good stuff. The absolute highlight of the match is what follows, though. Dragon coming back & going to town on Shelley's banged up arm, wringing & twisting it everywhere viciously, it's so damn awesome. As was Shelley's bumping & selling of it. I do think the match could've easily been trimmed quite a bit though & Bryan could've sold Shelley's neckwork more duri…

This is the first ever 1-on-1 contest between these two according to Cagematch, so it's already kind of notable for that. And it's a very good one. It took a while for it to get cooking, but once it did, I was definitely sucked into the story of Aries' arm vs. Punk's ribs. They sold well & busted out nice dedicated, focused & even creative offense to further that said story. It's awesome. The finish isn't though, as it features lots of fuckery w/ a ref bump followed by all of Generation Next running in as well as Ace Steel & Steve Corino. It's not good, but everything else here is. ***1/2

John Walters defends the ROH Pure Championship under the Pure ruleset. Goddamn this was such a joyful time. It's that signature early 2000s ROH/indy action where both of the competitors come off as so charming, focused & hungry, and it results in an absolute banger of a match. All the technical prowess was beautiful to watch, Walters' work over the neck was awesome & Nigel's all around babyface performance was so damn good. Great use of the Pure ropebreak rules as well. This was an absolute blast. ***3/4

Batista might be the weak link here, but he's better than I remembered. Old Man Flair is very underrated in my eyes. He gets into a chop battle with Benoit and finds himself falling flat on his face. Flair does this multiple times, and it's a testament to his ability that he can do it without it looking hokey. Regal is more intense than usual. Evolution were responsible for taking out of his friend Eugene and he's looking for revenge. Even his stance screams intensity! This is a hard-hitting, physical opener that served it's purpose to pump up the crowd and then some. ★★★¼

Edge is injured and had to relinquish the Intercontinental strap, so this is for the vacated title. This was around the time that most midcard feuds on Raw would culminate in a ladder match. Seriously, I looked it up and between 2002-2007, there was 8 ladder matches from the Raw brand in the for mostly the IC title. Like many of those matches, this one struggles to stick out from the crowd. It's enjoyable, just not overly memorable. One thing I can say is that Jericho isn't afraid to take some sick shots and bumps. There's a scary botch where he falls from a ladder and lands ass first onto the very same ladder. This could of benefited if they sped the pace up and if this …

HBK carries Kane to a satisfying brawl. This was happening right in the middle of that godawful Kane/Lita forced wedding storyline. Thankfully, Snitsky hasn't yet came into the picture. Despite the horrific material Kane has to work with, he's great at being an evil, despicable bastard. I wish that would translate better to his in-ring skills, as this is rather bland when Kane is working over Michaels. This picks up as soon Michaels hits his kip-up. He shoots up to his feet just a few seconds after Kane does his sit-up. Michaels keeps trying to make a comeback, but Kane cuts him off every time. It's common knowledge at this point, but Michaels is fantastic when he's work…

Robert Conway & Sylvan Grenier defend the WWE Tag Team Titles. La Resistance get absolutely nuclear heat for singing the Candian national anthem before the match. Anyways, this is solid. Tajiri is one of the best undercard worker in the company at this time. He has some of the best kicks in the business and both Conway and Grenier sell them wonderfully. The crowd seem worn out by the time the match starts and this does overstay it's welcome a tad. I guess they had to fill time as they do stretch out most of the matches on this card. The finish involves the dastardly French Canadians using their flag to score the win. ★★½

Triple H defends the WWE World Title. Triple H is in full Harley Race cosplay mode here. Not only has he got the facial hair, but works this match is a slow, technical style not too different from Race's. This match walks the thin line between 'slow and methodical' and 'slow and boring', with it leaning slightly towards the latter. Trips takes out Orton with a slick drophold that I wasn't expecting from him. Orton sells the leg well as Triple H tears it apart. The referee gets knocked out and outside hi-jinks ensue as Evolution run down to screw Orton out of the title on his first PPV defence. Orton puts up a good fight, and he hits some of his best RKOs he's ever do…

Trish Stratus defends the WWE Women's Title. Victoria starts the match with some nifty technical wrestling. I can't say I was expecting that from her. She's good here, she hits a flawless version of that sidewalk slam she does that I haven't seen anyone else do. Aside from that, there's not much to say about this. Tyson Tomko accompanies Trish to the ring and he ends up costing Victoria the match. After the match, someone in drag comes to the ring and attacks Tomko, leading us to our next match. ★★

I like the idea of single-branded PPVs, but then I remember they filled them with crap like this. So the 'woman' who attacked Tomko is revealed to be Stevie Richards. The crowd and commentary team hardly react to this. Tomko beats down Richards for a LONG time. He rips the clothes and wig from Richards while berating him. He's not interesting and the crowd soon start chanting 'boring'. Richards gets a quick comeback, before being put away. The only positive things I can say about this is that Richards is quite good at fighting from underneath and I liked the spot where Richards slams Tomko into the turnbuckle by violently throwing him by his testicles. ★