Superstar Sleeze

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! Ricky Martel blows Ricky Steamboat out of the water in terms of looking like a fineeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee muthafucka. smh. French Tickler >>> Hawaiian Punch.

Arn Anderson w/Paul E. Dangerously vs Dustin Rhodes - WCW Saturday Night 01/04/92 I'll never ever get tired of Beautiful Bobby flying randomly into the screen to drop the leg on an unsuspecting babyface covering an opponent. I have actually seen this match twice before and I loved it. I remember the double bodypart psychology and each men's selling being the hooks of the match. For the life of me, I couldnt remember the finish and then JR says we will show the finish tomorrow I was like "Fuck, the reason I dont remember it is because I never saw it". Then fuckin Eaton flies out of nowhere to nail Dustin with the Alabama Jam. I love pro wrestling. The fundamentals and selling really carry this match into instant classic status. There are really few highspots in the match, but the entirety of the match is absolutely riveting because how each men is struggling to gain the edge on the other, the organic transitions and their selling made every little thing mean so much more. Early on, Dustin seems to be outwrestling Anderson slightly establishing a hammerlock/armbar base, but Anderson never really lets the match get away from him. When Dustin hits a flying lariat (the only early highspot), Anderson rolls out and kills Dustin's momentum. He goes to throw Dustin to the outside, his domain, but Dustin turns the tables on him by scooping his leg and wrapping it around the post. Thus the awesomeness begins. It is not because how well Dustin worked the leg. It is because Arn never stopped struggling. He did not let the moves happen to him. He was still eye-raking, but Dustin was persistence with the back heel trip into the figure-4. "Break his leg" the crowd chants, we need crowds like this now! Everytime Arn is trying to cutoff he continues to sell the knee and how hard it is just to stand. He fights through it and nails a spinebuster, but cant capitalize immediately. He throws him outside to buy himself some time and Paul E. is able to inflict some damage with his brick cell phone. In an arm for a leg moment, Arn rams Dustin shoulder into the post thus begins Dustin's awesome selling of the arm. An Anderson dissecting an arm and a Rhodes selling it for all its worth is pro wrestling. Dustin making one arm comebacks was friggin bitchin. Paul E. gets another cell phone shot and the kid kicks out and a woman nearly throws her baby into the ring throwing a fit. WE NEED CROWDS LIKE THIS! Dustin fights through the pain to let it flip, flop and FLY! JR says TV time is running out. BULLDOG! Paul E on the apron! Cover! All the way from Huntsville, Alabama, Bobby Eaton flies in and nails Dustin with the leg drop. Steamboat is in to rectify the situation with the ref and we go off the air. This is meat and potatoes wrestling but if only all wrestling could be this good. When you sell like this everything is better. Your opponent looks better. The moves mean more. The match means more. Your heat skyrockets. Vulnerability sells. The transitions were all hard-fought and logical. No one every stopped fighting. Dustin and Arn were always struggling. Sometimes, I will see wrestlers content just to let the person on offense do moves to him and sure they will sell, but where's the struggle! Dustin proved to be wise beyond his years. Arn is the master of the fundamentals. Overall a great showcase of why I love pro wrestling. ****

I actually really liked the Ultimate Warrior/Road Warriors vs Demolition matches. I thought SNME match was pretty tight. The Smash & Crush vs LOD match from November I thought was pretty decent. They could have gotten another two years out of Smash & Crush as a decent heel team in my opinion. I guess yeah it was underwhelming if you went in with the expectations "MY FACE IS GOING TO BE MELTED BY THE SHEER BITCHINESS OF DEMOLITION/LOD", but if you went in with none I thought it was a solid feud.

Bobby Eaton w/Mad USA vs. Ricky Steamboat - WCW Saturday Night 12/14/91 Seeing Madusa in her father's suit, makes me want more Missy Hyatt on my screen. O wait, I always want more prime Missy on the screen (I feel like one of the few who does not mind her commentating/interviewing). Enough about Missy because this match totally rules the school. From the outset, Beautiful Bobby establishes himself he is one mean sumbitch. He chokes Steamboat with his own bandanna and is relentless on top of him. This match is a perfect example of how you can mix things up. They brawl into crowd and Eaton hits a chair shot on Steamboat. It is not a hardcore match. It is just a match between two dudes that just don't like each other. WWE seems content in having everything in their nice, neat little boxes and this match showcases how you can blend genres. On the outside, Steamboat is able to send Eaton into the post and here comes a barrage of armdrags and armwork, which affords the Dragon the opportunity to tell the "Witch" at ringside to shut up. After the aforementioned chairshot, Eaton sends The Dragon's shoulder into the ringpost, nice tit for tat. He gets a nearfall on a suplex attempt and busts out a short arm scissors (a favorite of mine). Eaton and Steamboat's selling has really been top notch. In a moment that made me laugh out loud, Eaton goes to hit a move off the top and JR exclaims he is from Huntsville! I guess most natives of Huntsville, AL are landlubbers. Eaton eats feet and Steamboat unloads his onslaught of pinning predicaments. Eaton counters the skin the cat with a belly to back suplex and busts out a Billy Robinson style backbreaker. I like how Steamboat gets his nearfalls on flash pins and Eaton is using suplexes. It makes for good complements. Steamboat catches Eaton in a crucifix pin for the win. Austin crashes the party, but not before Barry Windham cast and all is back to make the save. Great way to build towards Steamboat/Austin next week and a badass match overall. Eaton really showed off his mean streak in this match while still putting over Steamboat's challenge. They really used everything to their advantage. All the outside work was used to set up what was to happen in the ring before they hit the frenetic finish. ***3/4

Dangerous Alliance (Bobby Eaton & The Enforcers) vs All Gold Everything (Brian Pillman, Ricky Steamboat, Dustin Rhodes) - WCW Pro 12/21/91 The first of many Dangerous Alliance six mans is a solid match, but I did not think it was exceptional. Cool that everyone on the babyface team is a champion, Steamboat & Rhodes lifted the titles from the Enforcers and Pillman is the Champion of the ill-fated Light Heavyweight division. The shine lacked panache felt like the faces were going through the motions. The heels were excellent especially Arn in selling how smart he was for stopping short of the turnbuckles only get rammed into them by Dustin. Things picked up for once Dustin crashed and burned to outside. He is such a great face in peril and the heels were just kicking ass in being assholes and taking it to Dustin. I wished Pillman got more of an opportunity to work with DA, but he was stuck being the cornerstone of the DOA Light Heavyweight Division. Pillman was a good hot tag, but the finish stretch was a little rushed. Pillman has the pin after a cross body, but the ref is distracted by all the surrounding chaos and Eaton hits a perfect Alabama Jam from the heavens to break it up. Arn gets the duke and I just love that finish. More of a harbinger of the great things to come then a great match in its own right. Post-match is the best part as Barry Windham is back to exact revenge from the Dangerous Alliance and cleans house on the three members with his cast.

"Stunning" Steve Austin w/Paul E. Dangerously vs Big Josh - WCW Pro 12/21/91 Poor Matt Bourne getting saddled with Big Josh and Doink The Clown. While Doink was far superior to Big Josh (just terrible), it did have a ceiling. What is remarkable is that he wrestled in two totally different styles. Doink was presented in the ring and by Vince as a technical wrestling wizard whereas Big Josh was an untrained lumberjack brute (because all people from Oregon are lumberjacks, duh). He did a great job given the limitations of each character. The match is pretty standard, but Josh had two nice spots: airplane spin and standing on top of Austin and stepping him, which was pretty cool. Austin looked like a pretty generic heel in this one and just survived using some Paul E distraction and feet on the ropes. Big Josh was also wearing denim floodwaters. Yep, he was going nowhere.

Zbyszko is a great pure heel. He is detestable, loathsome, and obnoxious. We need more like him. He was not afraid to bump and show ass and great at verbal selling. More Larry Legend is needed in this world. Where in the world was he from 1981-1985? Larry Zbyszko vs Barry Windham - WCW Main Event 11/24/91 The wacky WCW TV taping/airing schedule strikes again as this was taped prior to Larry earning the "Cruncher" moniker by crushing Big Barry hand in a car door at Halloween Havoc. We never really did a get a blowoff for that, for shame. Larry is just excellent in this short match. As good as Barry is, Zbyszko could have been in there with anybody and this would have been great. I enjoyed his infamous stalling tactics this go around especially when he went over to the chicks with the "I LOVE BARRY" sign and tears it up. What a saucy boss! Zbyszko does every stalling tactic in the book and once gets trapped, he is not afraid to let the audience know his frustration ad they are loving it. On the flip side, when he gets his opening he is right on Windham on the outside and in the ring. You get the real sense of his desperation to control the bigger and better Windham. Thats what a heel should be hiding behind his bravado but actually wicked insecure in high pressure situations like this. Windham ends up scoring the victory with a flash pin. The Enforcers looks to put the boots to him, but Ron Simmons was in to make the save. Great Larry performance and worth seeing for a classic heel performance.

Dustin Rhodes & Bobby Eaton vs Arn Anderson & Steve Austin - WCW Worldwide 11/23/91 Again WCW impresses by pulling off a match that is the WWF's bread and butter using a match as a backdrop for an angle. Dustin really stood out in this match as really strong performer. Calls of nepotism be damned, he earned his position and this is just further proof. Just little things like coming in hot and chest bumping Arn just reminds the audience "Yeah he fucking hates this dude because he crushed Windham's hand". The beginning of the match he just stays the course and keeps wriggling free from all the cheating/head games tactics and going back to arm, but Eaton wont stay in the ring for more than 10 seconds so it is effectively a handicap match as Tony points out. Bobby had already been unveiled as the second member of the Dangerous Alliance on TV thus Tony focused on Bobby's odd behavior. Dustin did such a fantastic job selling fatigue. He was not hitting things at crisply and that leads to him getting hotshotted. Anderson and Austin are just great old school heels always taking shortcuts before hitting their moves. Bobby is great at distracting the ref and missing tags, Bobby actually does fire off some punches when he is tagged and that can be explained away as AA and Austin are not yet in the Dangerous Alliance. The Enforcer rammed Dustin's arm into the post thus he missed a tag so Beautiful Bobby gets pissed and gives him a shoulderbreaker costing them the match. It was a tight, efficient match that got everyone over in their role and moved Eaton into the burgeoning Dangerous Alliance. Even though I dug it, the crowd was dead, but on paper it does like a lethal lottery style tag match, but does a great job laying the foundation.

This blog looks at the miscellaneous hyped heavyweight matches from 2003-2004 that did not involve Kobashi or happen in New Japan. The result was my first reviews of shoot-style (I have watched UWFi before), which I found hard to rate/breakdown even though I enjoyed both matches. In addition, looked at other two big heavyweight NOAH matches in a really efficient and enjoyable Taue/Nagata match, definitely my favorite Nagata match so far. I did not like the Misawa/Ogawa tag match as much as most, but it was a solidly good match, but I am not seeing why anybody would say that overwrought match constitutes Match of the Decade consideration. The meat of the review focuses on the AJ/Z1 feud which produced a badass, chaotic slobberknocker between Kawada/Ogawa and the Kawada/Hashimoto dream match. Kawada may not have been producing on a night in/night out basis anymore, but he proved he can still go. Also as a bonus I posted my review of the amazingly energetic workout/spiritual guru hypeman that The Knife had open their show in Boston. It was tres bitchin as the French would say. New additions have their star ratings 1. Mitsuharu Misawa vs Jun Akiyama - Budokan 02/27/00 2. GHC Heavyweight Champion Mitsuharu Misawa vs Kenta Kobashi - Budokan 03/01/03 3. GHC Heavyweight Champion Kenta Kobashi vs Yoshihiro Takayama - Budokan 04/25/04 4. All Japan Triple Crown Champion Kenta Kobashi vs Yoshihiro Takayama - All Japan 05/26/00 5. All Japan Triple Crown Champion Genichiro Tenryu vs Keiji Mutoh - Budokan 6/8/01 6. Toshiaki Kawada & Masa Fuchi vs Yuji Nagata & Takashi Iizuka - NJ PPV 12/14/00 7. GHC Heavyweight Champion Kenta Kobashi vs Jun Akiyama - Tokyo Dome 07/10/04 8. GHC Heavyweight Champion Kenta Kobashi vs Yoshinari Ogawa – Budokan 11/01/03 9. Kenta Kobashi vs Jun Akiyama - Budokan 12/23/00 10. IWGP Jr Hvywt Tag Champs Ohtani & Takaiwa vs Kanemoto & Minoru - NJPW 6/25/00 14. Toshiaki Kawada vs Naoya Ogawa - Zero-One 12/14/03 ****1/4 20. Akira Taue vs Yuji Nagata - NOAH 6/6/03 **** 21. Triple Crown Champion Toshiaki Kawada vs Shinya Hashimoto - AJPW 02/22/04 **** 30. Kiyoshi Tamura vs. Hiroyuki Ito - U-Style 08/18/04 **** 41. Kiyoshi Tamura vs Tsuyoshi Kohsaka - U-Style 02/04/04 ***3/4 58. GHC Tag Champs Misawa & Ogawa vs Saito & Inoue - NOAH 9/10/04 ***1/4 http://ridingspacemountain.blogspot.com/2014/04/space-tornado-ogawa-vs-dangerous-kawada.html

What a terribly laid out battle royale. Could have been a star making performance for Ambrose trying to outlast the others instead he was an afterthought until the final fiver where the obvious story kicked in. Why waste time on other people's spots when battle royale was constructed to get him over. Alas. Sheamus winning was awesome. I tend to fantasy book in order to help me fall asleep and the idea I have just wanted to happen is Sheamus joining the Authority. I think he would be a perfect fit as the Enforcer of the group. Hopefully this is the first step in making that come to fruition.

These are a couple oldies that I never threw up here because I kept forgetting that chronicle ten matches from Kobashi's most excellent reign. Really there is not much to add as an intro. It is Kobashi's reign. It is fuckin awesome. The only match that took me by surprise was the Ogawa match. It was such a great dynamic. Sleazy dick heel way over his head cheats and claws at Kobashi. Then Kobashi finally EXPLODES~! It is not the best match of the decade, but it is my favorite. Four new additions to the top ten and seven new additions to top twenty. Not a bad title reign at all. 1. Mitsuharu Misawa vs Jun Akiyama - Budokan 02/27/00 2. GHC Heavyweight Champion Mitsuharu Misawa vs Kenta Kobashi - Budokan 03/01/03********* 3. GHC Heavyweight Champion Kenta Kobashi vs Yoshihiro Takayama - Budokan 04/25/04*********** 4. All Japan Triple Crown Champion Kenta Kobashi vs Yoshihiro Takayama - All Japan 05/26/00 5. All Japan Triple Crown Champion Genichiro Tenryu vs Keiji Mutoh - Budokan 6/8/01 6. Toshiaki Kawada & Masa Fuchi vs Yuji Nagata & Takashi Iizuka - NJ PPV 12/14/00 7. GHC Heavyweight Champion Kenta Kobashi vs Jun Akiyama - Tokyo Dome 07/10/04 *************** 8. GHC Heavyweight Champion Kenta Kobashi vs Yoshinari Ogawa – Budokan 11/01/03 ********* 9. Kenta Kobashi vs Jun Akiyama - Budokan 12/23/00 10. IWGP Jr Hvywt Tag Champs Ohtani & Takaiwa vs Kanemoto & Minoru - NJPW 6/25/00 13. GHC Heavyweight Champion Kenta Kobashi vs Akira Taue - NOAH 09/10/04 16. GHC Heavyweight Champion Kenta Kobashi vs Tamon Honda - NOAH 04/13/03 19. GHC Tag Team Champions Sterness (Akiyama & Saito) vs Burning (Kobashi & Honda) - Budokan 6/6/03 21. GHC Heavyweight Champion Kenta Kobashi vs Yuji Nagata - Budokan 9/12/03 27. GHC Heavyweight Champion Kenta Kobashi vs Minoru Suzuki - Budokan 01/08/05 47. Sterness vs. Burning 8-Man Tag - NOAH 08/03 http://ridingspacemountain.blogspot.com/2014/03/the-burning-champion-vol-1-kenta.html http://ridingspacemountain.blogspot.com/2014/04/burning-champion-vol-2-kenta-kobashi.html

Wow that St. Louis crowd absolutely sucked. It was like pulling teeth to get a reaction out of the, Daniel Bryan was over, but even his reaction was more tepid than most weeks. I hate to judge anything based on that shit crowd, but RVD the second most over babyface??? Time has really caught up with him as he is just so slow and his spots look even worse in slow-mo. Still he was over enough to get Cesaro booed. Did you hear that for the first time in history, Swagger got a pop!!! It was because he was saving RVD. Holy shit, Swagger got a positive reaction. That RVD/Colter segement was brutally bad. This whole triple threat thing is a clusterfuck, but it is in New York so they will be hot for Cesaro & RVD. I have always loved Barrett in the ring. Outside the catchphrase, I think he is a boring promo, but guess what I don't care because other people love it, which means PUSH CITY BABY! So as glad as he keeps delivering in the ring. What the fuck Cena? You are going to get Bray Wyatt a donkey just so you can put your foot in it. What the fuck was going on with the donkey there was no conclusion to the story. It was like tonight, the writing team threw its hands up in the air and said everyone write your own promo because usually the backstage segments are boring as fuck, but they are at least coherent. I love Cena in the ring and think he has a dynamic character, but he can blow chunks on the mic sometimes. The children in lamb masks was pretty badass. They sure are bringing out all the bells and whistles. Also can someone explain to me the booking of last week. Why the fuck did Cena hit the FU on Bray? This was supposed to be the big "Hey Cena, the crowd really does hate you moment", but instead we get Cena overcoming the odds again. It is not that big of a deal that we was put in on a 3-on-1 handicap match when it is not even that much of a disadvantage. If he got mauled, then he can be like what the fuck dude. Instead, it is just like your boss giving you a little extra work before the weekend. It is like well that kinda sucks, but Ill get it done. Before I forget, Del Rio was fuckin on! My God, why does he not wrestle with the sense of urgency all the time. Great performance by him. He is totally fucked and heatless, but awesome performance. Maybe they can rebrand him. I hate to sound so negative because I think the talent and characters are all there, but the angles just have not caught up to the talent level at all.

Shit, I have been slacking again and updating this. Since I did puroresu last time on here, here's a plug for the second half of the Shield in 2013. Nothing got to the heights of the TLC 2012 debut, but the feud with Goldust/Cody delivered three badass matches, bionic elbows on Ambrose and a superplex to teh floor. I loved the layout of the handicap match. Then at the end of the year, Ambrose and Rollins proved their mettle against the top two babyfaces (Punk and Cena) in singles matches not filled with spots, but smartly worked, fundamentals-based matches. http://ridingspacemountain.blogspot.com/2014/04/the-shield-part-two.html

Kiyoshi Tamura vs Tsuyoshi Kohsaka - U-Style 02/04/04 Tamura piqued my interest in his match with Ito. I always put delving more into Shoot Style off so I thought I take advantage of another Tamura match among the nominated matches. As a shoot-style novice, I do not know if I really could appreciate the beginning of this match. The work was really smooth and they were always moving, but it felt a little too showy like they were putting on an exhibition. I got the sense that Kohsaka was outworking on Tamura on the ground as he was chaining his moves together better and forced the first rope break at around the 10 minute mark with the guillotine choke. As good 'ol JR would say business is about to pick up as they fired off a thrilling a finish sequence. I liked Tamura responding to the first point loss with a stand up barrage to secure a knockdown and loved the knee that caught Tamura in the midsection in the fracas to put Kohsaka up 4-3. They sequence felt really organic. This is where my shoot style naivete maybe rearing its ugly head, but how come Kohsaka did sell Tamura's deep half crab after the hold. He was screaming and selling in the hold and the nothing. I get the "real" sports argument you dont show weakness but just a little limp or favoring of that knee would have added. Also are closed fists allowed because Tamura used them liberally to break up submissions late? With Tamura down 2-1, Kohsaka goes for the home run, rolling heel hook, that Tamura counters into a cross-armbreaker in the center of the ring. I thought there were better submission sequences earlier that could have been used as the finish. I will probably appreciate this more once i watch more RINGS. Still I love great matwork and this was very well-executed. ***3/4

John Cena w/Mark Henry & Big E. vs Seth Rollins w/The Shield - Smackdown! 12/27/13 Sorry Ambrose, but your position as top Shield singles match did not last long as Rollins delivers an even better measured and mature performance. What I love about the Shield is they understand that the crowd pops for moves so they are very limited in the highspots they dish out. Their heat segments are filled with well-worked punches, strikes and trash talk. Especially in this match, all of the highspots are sudden cutoffs of a Cena comeback. Thus Rollins is sucking out the hope out of an audience rather than performing an exhibition for the crowd's amusement thus not popping the crowd and turning himself babyface. Of course, it also helps that Rollins is the bumping machine of the Shield and I am a mark for big bumping heels. So huge ups to Rollins. He seems wise beyond his years. Cena absolutely rocks this match selling like a million bucks and totally making Rollins look like a credible threat. Cena reminded me of a more mobile '87 Hogan. He hits the heat quickly and just sells. I prefer a little more transition area from the shine to the heat, but hey Cena was working his ass off. It does annoy me that they have tried to typecast Rollins as a high-flyer when he is so much more well-rounded. He has some of the best worked punches in the game right now, but Cena ain't far behind. The theme of this match is Rollins jumps out to an early advantage and never really lets the match get away from him. Cena will get a hope spot and Rollins immediately has an answer. I have been digging the Cena extended comeback since I noticed it in the Punk RAW match (it may have been going on longer than that). I thought Rollins was great and letting Cena get a little more and more on each, but always having either a DDT, the headdrop on turnbuckle or a Buff Blockbuster to reestablish command. I cant believe Cena decided to add a new move to his arsenal and he steals Kenta Kobashi's worst move (awful modified Ace Crusher, surprised I have not seen Kojima use it). I thought AA was his agent not Johnny Ace. The reactions from ringside during the finish stretch are awesome. Mark Henry cant believe Cena cant put the kid away. The highspot of the match is the Cena powerbomb where Rollins goes for the Misawa-rana, it looks like they are going to Ganso Bomb and then Cena lifts him up and nails the sitout powerbomb for 2. Mark Henry is in shock and so am I! For as great as the four at ringside have been, this crowd has kinda sucked because this match rocks. Rollins hits an enziguiri (transition hard to explain, but totally bitchin) and a flying knee to the head, but still cant negotiate the fall. Reigns has the awesome expression of concern for his buddy. Cena traps Rollins in the STFU. Langston bulldozes Ambrose, Reigns takes out Langston, Mark Henry chucks big Roman Reigns onto Ambrose. Cena hits the FU from rolling through a cross body and I love that finish. This was a badass match that weaved a great story of how to have a give and take match with really smart transitions. Cena gave the ball to Rollins in this and setup him up for success. Rollins punched it into the endzone with a mature, smart performance. Plus they delivered unique spots like the powerbomb and the enziguiri and the finish was pitch perfect. For my money, second best free TV match of the year. ****1/4

CM Punk vs Dean Ambrose - RAW 12/09/13 I cannot remember the last time I missed a RAW, but I honestly had no recollection of this match. Given how I watch RAW, this is the exact type of match I would totally miss. Pretty much, my brother and I just talk straight through action (hell thats why I don even really notice the commentary other than the odd silence in our own conversation). Usually, we are talking about wrestling, but I am not straining myself to watch a match with a discerning eye. Amid all of the high-energy Daniel Bryan matches, this was an excellent, lo-fi match that hearkened back to simpler times where high spots did not come cheap and men were of course men. Up until recently, I thought all the hype for Ambrose was overblown. Reigns is such a badass, athletic powerhouse and Rollins is a bumping machine that knows how to engage the crowd. Ambrose is just kinda weird, not weird in an interesting way just kinda weird. Some of his recent promos and performances against the Wyatts have begun to change my thinking on him, but I was shocked that he has so far had the best singles match of any of the Shield members in my book with this tremendous performance (as of this writing I have never seen Cena/Rollins, but that is on deck). From the outset, CM Punk looks to take Ambrose's arm home with him (thanks Titans of Wrestling) never wavering and to Ambrose's credit he is always struggling. However each attempt to get it started on offense is met with Punk goign right back to that right shoulder. Ok, so I know that in America they work left, but I have always thought that was bit overblown and could swear I had seen matches were they work right. Does it actually depend more on the opponent's dominant side more than the country you are working in? Punk goes for a reverse cross body, but Ambrose catches him in a gutbuster. Of course, Punk has bruised ribs from a Reigns spear making all the sweeter. I am a mark for transitions and this was such a friggin great transition into the heat segment. The Shield is great at working solid heat segments that wont pop the crowd in their favor. There are no cool moves. It is just trash talk and working that body part. Ambrose hits a series of shoulders into the midsection only to ram his right shoulder (PSYCHOLOGY~!) into the post. We get the first highspot of the match, a diving elbow by Punk onto the floor as we roll into commercial. When we come back, Ambrose is stretching Punk, but Punk is always keeping it moving, struggling, working hope spots. Ambrose for his part never relent from working the ribs. Punk hits a swinging neckbreaker and then because they understand wrestling. Punk still has to win a slugfest before he truly regains control. Punk runs through his usual (knee, short-arm clothesline, elbow) and goes for GTS, but Ambrose punches his ribs repeatedly. This is the point where I thought to myself I need to pay attention to Raw more often because this is fuckin awesome. Ambrose hits a butterfly suplex and floats over. I love the butterfly suplex. Are these two wrestling this match specifically for me? How sweet and I did not even get them anything! Punk gets a series of nearfalls off a top rope cross body and a roundhouse kick. The Seattle crowd knows what's up and chants "This is Awesome!". I am glad someone was paying attention to this match when it was happening because I sure was not. Ambrose pushes off on GTS attempt and big knee to midsection and throws him to floor. This is during time when they were teasing the Shield breakup before they smartened up and realized there is more value in them as a unit. So Ambrose says he can do this himself so Reigns and Rollins walk away. DISSENSION~! They tease each other's finishes before the GTS puts Ambrose away. In addition, Punk has to face all three members of the Shield at the PPV so this also adds a layer to that match because if Punk can divide and conquer maybe he can pull this one out. My one quibble with this match is that finish seems sort of tacked on to the match rather being an organic part of the match. It would have been nice to weave a thread of Shield dissension through the match and then culminate in the finish. However, right up until the finish/angle, I thought this was a bitchin' throwback match. It just oozed great psychology that built and built leading to some really great exchanges. The transitions were great from Ambrose catching Punk in the gutbuster to Punk having to work to get back on offense. There was a real sense of struggle and competition in this match. It proves that highspots are not the end all be all. Two compelling characters working hard and telling a great story is all you need. In the year, that has Punk/Cena on RAW, it would take a Herculean effort to win Free TV MOTY so this falls short, but it is definitely in the running for second place. ****

Antonio Cesaro vs William Regal - NXT 12/25/14 This has to be one of the better Christmas presents anyone has ever given me. To think I did not get anything with Regal and Cesaro in turn! We get the big build to the match with Fink on ring announcing duty and Tensai sounding like my cousins from Dorchester on commentary. There is some announcer who is all in huff because Cesaro kicked his skinny fat ass and Regal is out avenge him. Regal basically gave this match to Cesaro as a platform to showcase himself and what he brings to the table. Don't get me wrong, it was Regal's selling during the leg work and his constant struggling that keeps them from becoming an exhibition and there is plenty Regal brings to the table. However, the match is clearly structured to make Cesaro look like the next big thing and some might say the heir apparent to Regal. The important thing to note is when I say heir apparent to Regal I don't mean carbon copy as Cesaro brings a strongman's aspect to the ring, but rather the gritty and intricate nature of how he grapples. This is demonstrated early on when he suplexes Regal while Regal is on his knees. He is just so impressive. My favorite Regal spot is he knocks Cesaro down in the corner with forearms and then distracts the ref while he mule kicks him as he is down, classic Regal. The ref continues to admonish him and Cesaro takes the advantage to clip the knee. This is where regal kicks into overdrive in order to do his part to make Cesaro. He sells that knee like he may never walk again and Cesaro is just relentless. The struggle over getting the knee brace off so Cesaro can inflict more damage is why I am a pro wrestling fan. It is all about working for every inch. Regal would usually win a battle of European Uppercuts, but it does not look good against the younger Cesaro, who puts him in the Giant Swing. I will say that move will be great when he is a babyface, but I think it is too much of a babyface move for a heel to do. Cesaro looks to polish Regal off with the Neutralizer, but Regal back drops out and in a moment of desperation drops a knee on the bicep. Now it is Cesaro turn to sell like he will never use that arm again. Regal goes after both arms and attempts to submit Cesaro via the Regal Stretch, but Cesaro escapes. Cesaro puts over how debilitated he is as he does a dropkick but with his arms wrapped around himself. Awesome! In a nasty, nasty spot, Cesaro double stomps Regal's head and Regal is just rendered motionless. At this point, the match goes off the rails in my opinion and gets way too cinematic for me. Cesaro all of sudden does not think he has it in him to finish off his "hero" and Regal does the crawl up Cesaro stop ala HBK/Taker WM 26. Cesaro hits a monster Neutralizer. To complete the cinematic experience they shale hands on the ramp. I don't necessarily have a problem with the cinematics of recent Wrestlemania matches (I liked the HBK/Flair finish), why I didn't like this one is because it felt so out of place in this match. Cesaro is a bully and Regal is going to smarten him up through a beatdown. They have a hard-fought, sporting-like contest and I wanted to see sporting-like finish then all of sudden it goes from an gritty 80s feel to the overproduced 21st century feel and it is just too jarring. Then add the handshake of respect how does that add heat to Cesaro. Unless in NXT Cesaro is a babyface, if that is the case then the finish makes more sense and I would have enjoyed the match more. Overall, the first 95% of this match is great and is a master's class in selling, working holds, meaningful spots and taking wrestling from an exhibition to a contest by struggling for everything. Great match for Regal to end his career on! ****1/4

WWE World Tag Team Champions Goldust & Cody Rhodes vs Big Show & Rey Mysterio vs Real Americans vs Ryback & Curtis Axel - WWE TLC Fatal 4-Way Much like Gaul, this match was divided into three neat parts: Rybaxel Phase, Real American Phase, Show&Mysterio Phase. The middle segment starring Goldust is really what carried the drama of the match with the other segments being serviceable, but not nearly as entertaining. As much as I love Ryback, his work in this was pretty blase and by the numbers. The only real highlight of the first segment was how over Big Show was. The crowd was going bonkers for his Shhhhh! Chop!. I think he was genuinely surprised and happy at how over he was. Goldust pins Ryback after floating over on a suplex attempt and rolling up The Big Guy. The Big Guy aint happy and blasts Goldust with a clothesline as a parting gift. Swagger is right on Goldust to start. As much as I love Cesaro (and I like Swagger too actually), this segment was not about him. It was all about Goldust and his tremendous face in peril performance. He totally focused on making the hot tag to Cody. Every move he made was with the intention of getting to Cody. Honestly, the heel offense was pretty mundane, but Goldust's commitment to the tag made it one of the more compelling face in peril peril segments in recent history. It was just great high drama. Credit where credit is due, Cesaro did have some cool spots like when Goldust tried to dive between his legs to get to Cody he wrangled him into the gutwrench suplex. I also loved the Giant Swing cutoff which turned into a catapult into a Swagger slam. Also, I have always dug the Swaggerbomb -> Double Stomp combo. Goldust was timing his hope spots beautifully with moves like his sunset flip powerbomb and a hurricanrana. Also of note is how much better cheerleader Big Show is than Cody. C'mon Cody you are still working when on the apron. Endgame sees Swagger pull Cody off the apron, but Show tosses Swagger into barricade. Cesaro hits a Yakuza Kick on Rey Rey, but walks into a snap powerslam. Finally, Goldust makes the tag into extremely over Big Show, who levels Swagger and knocks Cesaro out in mid-air to eliminate the Real Americans. If the match ended right there, I would say it is a definite MOTYC with a great build to the hot tag and Show just cleaning house. The next segment is not bad. It is good and fun, but it is not as satisfying once we get down to the two babyface teams. Goldust is clearly sapped of strength, but Big Show helps him up. Cole claims sportsmanship. JBL claims it is so Cody does not start the fall. JBL can be pretty good. Big Show shoulderblocks Goldust who tumbles to the outside and Cody checks on Goldust. Show palms Goldust's head and pulls him up to apron. Rey is friggin's amazed. His face made that spot. Goldust downs the Giant with a DDT and tags Cody. They double suplex Show for two. Show swats Cody out of the air and tags Rey. Rey runs through his standard offense and they tease hitting their finishes. Goldust takes 619. Cody is able to ram Show into the steel post to take him out. Cody looking for a springboard dropkick, but takes a powerbomb from little Rey. Cody catches Rey in 619 and goes for the Alabama Slamma, but nothing doing. Finally he wrangles Rey and hits the Cross-Rhodes. There is a lot of moves from Cody and Rey, but all the drama was with Goldust and Show so it just felt there. The middle portion of the match is a perfect showcase for why Goldust is a top 5 WWE worker right now. It is a tremendous face in peril performance that is dramatic because of his selling and his determination to get to Cody. The Big Show hot tag is such a satisfying payoff. The rest of the match is middling RAW level stuff. ***1/2 Having since seen the three tag at Hell In A Cell, I can see why this match gets a bit more praise because the middle segment hits a high that is higher than any point in the triple threat match, but I thought triple threat was more consistent in how great it was.

I lived in Ann Arbor and now live in the college suburbs outside of Boston so while I would say a beard is more en vogue (I know, I know the WWE is actually with it. I am shocked too.). The more "extreme" hipsters are rocking the mustache. If you are not living in Collegetown, USA then perhaps this does not affect you and consider yourself fortunate! Cody just needs some panache. He is bland as all hell in terms of his aesthetics. Even if he got a faded hair cut (Cena is finally back in style!) that would help rather than his short all around haircut. Cody definitely had a slight frame early on, but you only really grow into your body at around 25. He was just debuted so friggin early. I would say he has filled out, but still his body is just not that big. As a pretty boy babyface that takes a lickin, but keeps on tickin' he has some value. If they could find him a long-term tag team prospect as a babyface for 3-4 years it would probably be best, but what tag team even lasts more than a year or two nowadays. To the moonsault point, I just don't like the moonsault onto a standing opponent. It looks pretty as all hell, but I rather it be down to an opponent on the mat.

Cody Rhodes is from the generation of inoffensive wrestlers. You know when everyone kinda just looked and wrestled like Randy Orton. I never hated Cody and never liked him. He always just elicited apathy from me. The "Dashing" Cody Rhodes bit and subsequent mask stuff at least gave him a hook, but in the ring I always found him overly mechanical and just someone who thinks too much in the ring about what he is doing. Even on first pass when he united with his brother, I was totally focused on the rejuvenation of Goldust. I thought Cody was his usual adequate self. Goldust was just overshadowing him. Watching the matches back (and watching the PPV matches for the first time), my eyes were opened to how good Cody had gotten in the ring. He was showing way more fire. He seemed more natural. He was engaging the crowd. I was really impressed. Hopefully, they utilize the revitalization to build future stars like they did with Daniel Bryan to give them time to shine in the hot tag. The hot tag is such a great way to take a young, energetic babyface and get him over with crowd because it is all offense. Cody is not even saddled with the load that is Kane. He has his brother to actually build drama as a great face in peril. Now, I know the Brothers Rhodes push has cooled significantly, but does anyone else think that if they had let it continue they could have used the Cody hot tag to parlay it into a bigger singles run ala Daniel Bryan? There is one quibble I still have with Cody that I think is a big hindrance. He looks so freaking normal. He looks like all my friends. He looks like everyone I work with. He is a man with brown hair (not too dark, not too light, not too short, not too long) with no unique visual features. One of the biggest lines of bullshit, they love to feed to us is that Austin got over despite not having a look. Bullshit. Austin had the shaven head and goatee. The black trunks, black vest fit the badass character We called our Elementary School janitor Stone Cold because that was the Stone Cold look. You need a look. Looking like every nine to fiver, aint gonna cut it. Even though, I am not crazy about the mustache craze sweeping the nation, it was at least something. Am I alone in thinking Cody looks too damn boring to be a true main event player?

WWE World Tag Champs Brothers Rhodes vs The Shield vs. The Usos - Hell In A Cell 2013 Holy Shit! Holy Shit! Holy Shit! That's all I have to say after the Cody/Rollins superplex to the floor through the other participants. Outside one other instance (I feel like it involved Sasuke or Ohtani), I have never seen a superplex to the floor and that just a BATSHIT insane spot. I am surprised it was not talked about a lot more. I know this match was liked, but I actually think it was a bit underrated. I would not say a WWE MOTYC, but just below that level. Every segment was really well done and highlighted everyone really well. I really dug the Rhodeses vs Usos opening segment. Face vs face is never easy, but these guys were just rocking it. They kept real up tempo with lots of pinfall attempts and high energy spots. Goldust looks 25 in there. The make-up works out so well for him besides the old man catcalls from Reigns and Rollins you would never know he is 45. Reigns blinds tags in and trips up Goldust from the outside and goes to work. The Shield slowed things down, but Goldust is so good at selling and timing his hope spots that it was never boring. Plus the Reigns/Rollins smack talk is always a welcomed occurrence. In terms of hope spots, I am a mark for the crawl through the legs spot, but Reigns was able to hold onto his foot. I also loved that Shield wiped out all three possible tag options just to keep Goldie in there. However, a snap Goldust powerslam, finally brings Cody in. I have been underrating Cody as a hot tag. He has really been bringing it in these matches. Goldies working the FIP to highlight Cody on offense may have been a way to elevate Cody like they did with Daniel Bryan's hot tag sequences. Working with his brother, Cody does not seem to think as much and is feeling the action. I will say I will never like the moonsault on a standing opponent (except for the Kid/Razor match). It looks too much like the opponent is catching him. Cody does have a pretty moonsault, just saying I would like it better on a horizontal opponent. When Cody goes for the Disaster Kick, Usos blind tag and you know bodies are going to start flying. The huge top rope cross body was a great false finish that crowd bit on big. Reigns and Goldust over the top and an Uso goes flying out after them. Huge Samoan Drop for another great nearfall. Cody tags back in and this when that badass superplex to floor spot happens. Could have milked it a little more, my only compliant. USO dives onto Cody pinning Rollins. SPEAR TO USO! Superkick to Reigns! They tease Rollins corner powerbomb, but instead walks into a Goldust right and ricochets into a CROSSRHODES~! Badass finish stretch to a great, great match. This was one of the better popcorn matches WWE has produced in a while. Rollins was in his element bumping like a madman for the faces. Reigns came off as a star during the heat segment. Usos are so much fun. Goldust rocked the FIP and actually had even better FIP in December. Rewatching this, if they kept the Brothers Rhodes on pace they could have used the hot tag portion to really cement Cody as an upper midcard threat. It is just a high-octane, fun opener. ****1/4

Austin's "Demise of the Rake" promo at the beginning of Heyman Pt. 2 is his best promo on this show and I think would rank in top 5 Austin promos of all time. My brother and I were laughing so hard. The "PED-Addled Rats" went a little long, but it was also pretty amusing. Forget Colbert, Austin should replace Letterman!

Ogawa reminds me of early Shield. There is such a chaotic feel when he wrestles He is such a unique beast in pro wrestling. It is almost like he was not totally trained thus he gives these really raw performances. I have been tough (but fair) on my favorite Japanese worker of all time, Kawada and he really delivered the goods in this match. The double KO finish much like the time limit draw in the NJPW '00 tag match was a great finish for such a war.

I agree this crowd really loves them some Tenzan and based on that and their options pushing Tenzan to win this G-1 Climax was a no-brainer. I don't understand his IWGP Title situation. Did they get cold feet? Why did he have so many short reigns? Was the idea to make him more like Chono as someone who wins the G-1, but not the championship? Tenzan just does not do a whole lot for me. He did seem more fired up in the Tenryu match, I will give him that. I am glad you noticed Akiyama's selling, just totally badass.

The Shield vs Team GOAT - RAW 09/23/13 Given how common the acronym GOAT is, I cant believe WWE does not use it as Daniel Bryan's nickname. The Authority in an effort to prove they are fair and balanced and in reaction to the previous week's locker room clearing brawl between the midcard babyfaces and the Shield, booked an inverse handicap match where the heels were at a disadvantage 11 on 3. When I first saw this live, I was in awe of how well booked and entertaining this was. It seems so opposite of what makes wrestling work, but this was really good. Upon rewatch, I think holds up as one of the best matches of 2013 and one of the most unique of all time. WWE has gotten a lot better in the past year of using the beginning of matches to establish the context and story of the match and build from there. The babyfaces have the numbers game, but if the Shield can keep everything in their corner they have effectively created a 3-on-1 handicap match. That is why this match works so well it is actually a normal wrestling match disguised as a something contrary to wrestling logic. The Shield works this beautifully conscientiously working to always keep their body in between their opponent and the corner. From there, The Shield just picks off the babyfaces one by one. Earlier in the night, RVD was injured by Del Rio and Kingston by a temper tantrum throwing Randy Orton (could be the other way around) and were easy pickins for the Shield. The US Champion Ambrose gets the pin on both with his finish. "Big Deal" Titus O'Neil and his badass bark are in to staredown Reigns. You heard it here first, future Wrestlemania Main Event. This is the match that got Reigns and the Spear over. He was having kickass performances before this, but this is when people took notice. He went on a tear and eliminated Titus, Gabriel and Ryder with the spear. Until young Daniel enters the ring and is a house a fire. With a little help from the Usos, Reigns is eliminated by an Uso splash. The Shield, which was riding high, has been taken down a couple notches. This was perfect timing get rid of some deadweight, get Reigns over and then BOOM you are reminded of the disadvantage the Shield faces. Darren Young gets a nice little sequence before a flying Rollins knee to the head takes him out. The Shield start to get cocky again as Rollins drops Ziggler headfirst into the middle turnbuckle only for Ziggler to hit the Zig Zag on Ambrose (they really should have ran that as a program). Rollins is fucking fantastic here taking time to isolate Ziggler and then count that he is 5 on 1 and give that "O fuck" face. Even Rollins gets some love here, as he curb stomps Truth to eliminate him. At this point, D-Bry directs traffic to have Ziggler and the Usos surround the ring and pounce ala the Shield. Reigns and Ambrose come in to save, but the Usos superkick Reigns off the apron. The Usos take out the rest of the Shield. Daniel Bryan hits the diving headbutt and running knee for the emphatic victory. I dare say the best laid out match of the last year. The Shield got theirs by running through the fodder and looked smart and tough in the match. The babyfaces all got a bit of shine before being eliminated. Each Shield elimination was well done to bring the audience up and down. The final home stretch was such a feel good moment with the Usos flying all over the place and Daniel Bryan standing tall. It was a unique format that was successful because of old school principles. ****