Superstar Sleeze

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. Lots of holds from Umaga early but the crowd loves Punk so it is ok. Umaga gets some great heavyweight offense. That sitdown splash on Punk during a sunset flip attempt was excellent. Punk going for the bodyslam and then Umaga crashing down with his weight was great. What I love about Umaga is that he is the king of the missed move. By missing moves, he gives his opponents opening to make comebacks. Umaga misses a headbutt, goes flying over the top rope and also hits his head on post. This allows Punk to hit his big kicks, which looked great how he was able to get his leg up so high. I liked Umaga throwing Punk off the bulldog so Punk goes to the second rope to hit the bulldog and finally get the big man off his feet. Punk should have really hit a bodyslam then to really pop the crowd. Nice springboard clothesline. Again Punk has to go aerial to get him off his feet. Really sound psychology throughout. Punk is committed to the Go 2 Sleep, but Umaga is jus too big. Samoan Drop, WICKED SUPERKICK, Ass Splash and Samoan Spike is all she wrote for the Chicago Made Punk. Perfect midcard wrestling. ***3/4

World Heavyweight Champion CM Punk vs Undertaker - Hell In A Cell 2009 Hell In A Cell After another iteration of the Montreal Screwjob in Montreal, they reprise Undertaker hijacking a limo but instead of Stephanie in the back, it is Teddy Long, "Buckle Up, Teddy". The whole Teddy Long screwing the Undertaker made no sense, but that was a good angle. Then Undertaker delivered Teddy in a casket to CM Punk to let him know that he would be defending his championship against the Undertaker in Hell In A Cell. Damn good build. These two have great chemistry together. I shouldn't be surprised I was live for their awesome WrestleMania match. I thought this was a better version of the Breaking Point match because it had a much better finish. I loved Taker inviting CM Punk to punch him and just no selling it. CM Punk's face turns from determined to frightened. CM Punk bails, but eventually the Deadman catches his prey and drives him into the unforgiving steel. Taker is the king of stalking his prey. Punk dropkicks the steps into Taker's knees. Taker does a great job selling and this really gives Punk an opening. Punk takes an awesome bump off the apron into cage when he goes for the bulldog. For a not bloody cage match, Punk is making up for it by at least taking some nutty bumps into the cage. Great suicide dive by Punk into Taker driving him into the cage. Dean Ambrose take notes. They hit the finish stretch. I liked Punk clipping the leg to set up Go 2 Sleep, but doesn't hit it. Punk's big nearfall is off a charishot. I was not too enamored with Punk hitting his knee in the corner and then eating the Last Ride. A Block and Last Ride would have been much better. The Last Ride out of the corner looked great, didn't love the setup. Punk actually gets another nearfall off knocking him off Old School before Chokeslam and Tombstone Piledriver. Very enjoyable match. A little too short to be considered great, but a solid contest. ***1/2

World Heavyweight Champion CM Punk vs Undertaker - Breaking Point 2009 CM Punk had some serious heel heat up in Montreal. This main evented over Cena/Orton. Punk was the first superstar to break into the main event scene since Edge in 2006. His 2009-2010 run as the Straight Edge Savior was his best work in WWE. He is more famous for the Pipebomb stuff and all that, but this stuff was just heel gold. I like most of the Internet thought CM Punk was a deadman walking into this match. Instead they went the Montreal Screwjob route. Teddy tells Taker after Punk tapped to Hells Gate that Hells Gate was still banned and restarts the match. Punk grabs the Anaconda Vice before even has it all the way locked into Scott Armstrong calls for the bell because we are in Montreal after all. The body of the match was really strong. I thought Punk stooged and bumped for Taker great. Stooging is not a word I get to use a lot in modern reviews so it was nice to see Punk with traditional heel stooging here. I thought Punk was a great heel throughout the match. Punk strategy was consistent relentlessly attack the head. What I loved was Undertaker's response which was to fight through this offense and kick Punk's ass. This was an amazing ass whupping by Undertaker. Really enjoyable. Taker fed Punk some spots so that Punk could get his licks in like crotching himself on the barricade. Punk using his knees, elbows and a chairs to attack the head of Taker. Taker was wicked motivated and looked great. The strike exchange came off awesome because both were wicked over and over as a face and a true heel. I really dug the body of the match even if the finish left a sour taste in my mouth. ***

World Heavyweight Champion Undertaker vs Batista - TLC 2009 Chairs Match Wow! Was Matt Striker always this insufferable on commentary? Batista's protein intake is clearly more than the Undertaker's thus he is less vulnerable to chair shots. Are you shitting me, bro? In some ways, I like the booking capitalizing on Batista's heat from turning on Rey and then putting him out of action. I think Batista should have won here to keep the momentum rolling. Doing the whole Dusty finish with Batista using the low blow (not legal) and the chair (legal) to win the match, but Teddy restarting the match due to the low blow. Taker immediately getting a chair shot and then Tombstone to win. I see what they were doing trying to protect Batista but I don't think it helped much. These have had some stellar matches together and some duds. I would say this was in between. They cut a good pace throughout the match. I wanted to see more heelishness from Batista. I felt they worked this much like they did when it was face vs face. That was disappointing. Nothing too memorable. They did a good job avoiding chair shots early. The first chair shot Batista to the back of Taker didn't come off great due to awkward positioning. After that it was run through their stock spots, but there was no resting and they kept it coming. I thought the best spot was Snake Eyes->run ropes->SPEAR! Great spear! Batista got some good spots in before Taker rammed his head into a chair that Batista set up. Taker got the chokeslam for two. Goes for Tombstone but shoved off into the ref, then low blow. Good match. Nothing that will blow you away, but nothing bad either. *** P.S. There was a guy with a sigh that said "My wife is in labor and I came to TLC instead". Having seen the big three main events of this PPV, I bet he got divorced.

Batista vs Rey Mysterio - Survivor Series 2009 Batista turned heel on his BFF Rey Rey over the World Heavyweight Championship. A pretty shocking heel turn at the time. Batista had been positioned as 1A to John Cena and Rey Mysterio is the bastion of babyface. It was definitely an effective storyline. It all makes given Dave's departure after the Cena's series in mid-2010. Watching the video package the build to this was great. It really felt like a Smackdown explodes match because these were the number 1 & 2 babyfaces of the mid-00s of my teen years. Sometimes, I wont give a way a finish in my reviews because I think not knowing the finish is part of the charm of a match. I am going to do the reverse here. Batista wins via knockout at about 6 and half minutes with the three Batistabombs. Batista, a big main event babyface, turns heels against Rey and is going to be positioned to face Cena at Mania. We all knew Batista would win and would win decisively. How they get to the finish is special. It is completely unexpected. Watch the match. It showcases both of these men at their best. ****

Unified World Tag Team Champions Chris Jericho & Big Show vs D-X - TLC 2009 TLC Match Turgid. Long, plodding, no energy, congested. I actually like all four guys individually yes even HHH, but this was boring as hell. Lots of random brawling. Jericho/Shawn really didn't have anything special. I thought Big Show was the best part of the match about halfway through he just lit up with tons of punches. The one spot where he punches the chair out of HHH's hand was nuts. My mom & I popped for that. The heat segment on HHH was decent. The finish was pretty tame and lame. Avoid.

Unified World Tag Team Champions Chris Jericho & The Big Show vs Rey Mysterio & Batista - Hell in A Cell 2009 It is amazing three quarters of this match in 2009 got their major US start in WCW. I was a WCW fan through and through in the 90s and honestly seeing Benoit, Eddy, Jericho in the WWF made it easier to switch. Even after all these years, I don't like to consider the WWE my home promotion. It is the truth that it clearly is. I literally watched zero wrestling outside of WWE in 2017 and I went to six WWE events this year in the New England. There is just something about WWE. I like WWE, but I will always love WCW. There was something special for me watching this yesterday on Christmas morning and see Jericho, The Giant and Rey Misterio Jr all in the same ring together. Just a lot of childhood nostalgia. Trying to divorce the childhood nostalgia and be objective, I still thought this was a great match and maybe the best tag team match in WWE between lets say 2008-2011. The booking of Jericho after finishing up with Rey was genius by putting him down into the tag team division first with Edge and then with Big Show because it didn't make him feel less than but made the tag division feel more important. The 2008-2010 run is definitely Jericho's best in terms of booking, main event credibility and work. I will always be partial to his WCW Conspiracy Victim character for sheer entertainment value. Very solid babyface shine with Rey flying around and Jericho eating his offense. Rey/Batista show good continuity and Batista manhandles Jericho. I would liked a little more energy but still good. Great climax to the shine with Rey leaping off of Batista's shoulders onto Jericho for a nearfall. Jericho freaks out and tags in Big Show. Big Show vs Rey Rey is always fun. He smacks him off the top rope. Then palms his head and plucks him from the floor back into the ring. Always impressive! Big Show gets his big spots in and then tags out for Jericho. Now Jericho can exact revenge. Great strategy here. Jericho is nasty on offense here with the fishhook and going after the match. Love that series they had earlier in the year. Batista tags in and cleans house. He definitely could make a comeback now and be the hot tag of a tag team no problem. Batista loses control when he gets hit with the Codebreaker for two and then kicks out of a chokeslam for two. Drama is building. Lionsault misses and then hot tag to Rey Rey. Amazing finish stretch. Rey Rey proves he can get offense in on Big Show even a nearfall off a tornado DDT. Then Rey kicks some Jericho ass. 619 to Big Show even though Big Show was intended target. Jericho ends up in the Big Show's arms and Batista spears him. AWESOME SEQUENCE! Rey looks to dive onto Big Show but he swats him out of the air with his "carcinogenic" right hand. Does Rey need chemo? Surgery? Four professionals just going out there and having a kickass tag team match with all the fixins. The finish stretch was ultra-hot. ****

WWE Intercontinental Champion Rey Mysterio vs Chris Jericho - Smackdown 7/10/09 I was going to make the case this was the perfect use of a TV match to blowoff a great three PPV match series by being a Greatest Hits Match. The nice shine early, the use of the Tilt-A-Whirl Backbreaker, signature Mysterio bumps and the Jericho spinning Argentine Backbreaker (JR namedrops Atlantis!) all showcase what has made this series great. That is a commitment of Jericho to play a heavyweight heel against Mysterio and Mysterio's ability to bump 'n' run. It felt old school like back in the old days when Hogan would have a house show loop against a heel and then once they got all the money out of the program they throw it on SNME and do a greatest hits match. I thought this was a great idea for Jericho vs Mysterio, which is probably the feud of 2009. Then Jericho holds the ropes open for Mysterio on 619 attempt and Mysterio takes a crazy bump to the floor. Then they go out and just have a crazy gangbusters finish run that is totally novel. This ended up being their second best together and something that should be more heralded. I loved the pop-up powerbomb from Jericho and then the spinning Musclebuster was sick. Mysterio had great selling of the ribs. I liked Mysterio peppering in more kicks than in previous matches. Mysterio busted out new aerial offense for this match. The splash into the Codebreaker is a great spot. You know what Jericho is really damn good and doesn't get enough credit for is showing frustration over not getting a three count. So many people look fake as fuck doing that spot, but Jericho is perfect at looking like a whiner and frustrated. He is the king of the temper tantrum and loved his punts to Mysterio. Really good way to take out his frustration. I thought Mysterio's rana and then dropkick combo was a good way to set up into 619. Great TV match. Liked I said all the trimmings of a great Jericho vs Mysterio match but throwing in some really cool novels spots in this match make it fresh and a match worth watching. ****

Rewatched this match because I forgot everything about it. The Codebreaker spot got me again (lol!). I love when I forget a spot and get to mark out all over again. I agree with myself that is the best split-legged moonsault I have ever seen and I still hate the split-legged moonsault. Things I noticed this time around was that the Rey senton splash to the outside was awesome and a great transition to the mini-Rey comeback. I don't think this was as Rey driven as I said in my previous review. I think Jericho continued to use his weight late into the match. Great catch and powerslam late into the match. I loved the counter to the spinning Argentine Backbreaker which was a great payoff to the previous match. All the Boston Crab counters were money and the crowd was super into them. I loved the powerbomb from the top by Jericho and following up with the feet on the ropes. Really terrific finish stretch. Still a classic. ****1/2

I have totally fallen off in my watching. A real shame. Work & real life getting in the way. I hope the fire burns anew so that I can cram some more in before the end of the year. I will definitely be down to the wire. My last day of work is tomorrow, which will help.

TESTIFY MY BRUTHA!!!

I agree Jinder worked really hard and stuck to the script with laser focus. Someone on twitter said AJ could have had that match with Shelton Benjamin totally disagree I don't think Benjamin would have been that focused.

I will say I went to this show with three cousins, my brother, my mom and my Dad, and none of them liked this match as much as me. There were a good amount of AJ Styles chants, but I agree overall there was not much heat on this match. It is twofold: 1. Jinder is not over in the slightest and 2. traditional wrestling is only over if both men are wicked over. However, the structure of this match was beautiful for a traditional pro wrestling fan. I was very happy throughout this match.

At the show live in Boston, OH MY FUCKING GOD! AJ STYLES IS THE MAN! He is the King of Traditional pro wrestling. Jinder established power game so AJ goes for legs. Then AJ gets hung out to dry on the ropes in a great transition to heat. EVERYTHING is directed at the midsection. AJ puts on a selling clinic and takes like 8 million belly flop bumps! Could have peppered in some more hope spots but best Jinder heat segment ever! great extended comeback. AJ's offense is so good. The Colossal was a nail biter for me. I'm such an AJ fan and being live total mark transformation for me wanting AJ to kick out. I popped huge. Loved the submission finish! Great call! AJ is a miracle maker getting a fucking great match out of Jinder Mahal. Pope Francis canonize this man! ****1/4

WWE Intercontinental Champion Rey Mysterio vs Chris Jericho - Extreme Rules 2010 No Holds Barred I loved that angle where Jericho disguised himself as a Rey Mysterio fan in the crowd and then headbutted him and hopped the rail and attacked him. My brother and I marked out for that angle. Great promo by Jericho before the match really laying into Rey's commercialism and the deception of the mask. I loved how he said he sat among the Damned. Great line. Much better than at Judgment Day, but now there is more on the line. Rey is pissed and takes it out on Jericho. Jericho does a good job bumping for Rey Rey, not amazing but it is solid. Rey comes outta the gates hot. Throughout the match, I thought Mysetro gave a more inspired performance than the previous match. I liked that Rey got a lot more offense in this one as each Jericho's heat segments were not as long and they weren't as good as the previous match. I liked him hanging Rey out to dry on the top rope. When Jericho goes for the springboard dropkick, Rey has seen this before and dropkick him on the apron outta the air. Nice spot. Again, Rey goes on a hot little run, 619 using the post, bodyblock from the apron and then Dropping the Dime. Like I said really good Rey offense. Jericho's offense left a lto to be desired. He finally goes for the mask and Rey is pissed and DIVES out after him outside the ring. Great spot! Lots of electricity. Now they go back to building around finishers but they have a lot more heat built up from Rey just kicking ass so the finish run feels extra hot. 619 attempt and this leads to the Lucha Style spinning backbreaker. I am glad they went back to that spot because it is great. Jericho powerbombs Rey on a Rana attempt, I liked the one from Judgment Day better, it is like reverse Misawa spot. Lionsault misses and Jericho falls backwards into the ropes. 619 to the back of the head->Rey springboard ->CODEBREAKER. The whole finish run is very late 2000s workrate. No selling just crazy moves out of nowhere, but I will admit I popped for the Codebreaker. Jericho is shocked. He gets a chair, which is a good idea given this is no DQ. This leads to Rey dropkicking the chair into Jericho, but then Jericho gets the Walls, Rey cracks him in the skull (so unprotected head shots were still a thing in 2009) with the chair while in the move. Rey goes for 619, but Jericho unmasks and then rolls up. Lots of 2000s workrate with tons of spots but no selling in between. Like Jericho gets hit with 619 but hits the Codebreaker or Jericho eats the chair shot and still umasks him. Just kills the move before it. I did think the finish was excellent and played into the story. Better than last month, a much more inspired Rey performance but some glaring errors down the stretch makes this fall short of greatness. ***3.4

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 begin heat segment proper - Cool moves like springboard dropkick to back of head and lucha style spinning backbreaker - But also good temper tantrums and trash talk - Liked the enziguiri->619 attempt->hip check block as a hope spot-cutoff - Jericho goes for the mask and this starts the Rey comeback - Felt a little lukewarm. I wish Rey was more pissed. - Finish stretch is built around Boston Crab and 619 attempts which really gets Chicago into this. - Boston crab out of a 619 attempt was awesome, crowd totally into it - Drop toehold when Jericho charges and 619, splash wins it for Rey. Good, solid match but nothing really memorable. Working around finishers is smart and I always appreciate it, but it was basic and there was nothing extra to really hook me, but they did get Chicago into it. I do think it is bumped up a little by Jericho's very good performance. ***1/4

Oh, I didn't know about the Akiyama/No Fear alliance, that sounds badass. Plus Akiyama does have possibly not only the MOTD but maybe the greatest match ever against Misawa in 2000. Yeah the more I think about it, the more I want to put Kawada at number one, but I don't think Akiyama can be denied.

I thought the first two nights of NOAH is some of the best puro booking of all time with Akiyama running through Misawa & Taue, turning on Kobashi and then choking him out the next night. What came in between that and the December match? Six-mans?

I'll be surprised if Kawada is not your number one puro worker. Akiyama and Kobashi do have solid cases, but Kawada was fantastic in the NJPW vs All Japan stuff. Looking forward to what you think about Kawada vs Tenryu. It will go down to the wire as Kobashi, Akiyama and Kawada all have big MOTYCs in December.

I don't buy that Brock Lesnar does not love wrestling. I think he really does. I think he hates travel and he hates the bullshit that comes with being a pro wrestler or really any job. I see a man who really enjoys himself in the ring. Someone who has better a grasp on pro wrestling psychology than 99% of pro wrestler I have ever seen. He is not just a monster. You can see in 2002 he is a big bumping heel. You can see from the Goldberg match that he can sell nuanced psychology better than the entire roster. You can see from the Punk and AJ matches how he can make things work with a smaller wrestler. Yes, Brock will never be the greatest wrestler ever because he doesn't wrestle enough, but he is one of the best pro wrestlers ever from a understanding of psychology standpoint. I think that comes from a true love of the actual wrestling part.

Wait. Is that really true? Did Inoki create his own civil war? Because that's fucking genius. I have never heard this before.

Titus vs Samoa Joe was an AWESOME 5 minute hard hitting match. Why did they give up on Titus?

My friend told me about the Cena/Toyota ad that's awesome! Delivery's time is up! Pick-up time is now!

They have a cream form of Viagara? Does it act as lube too?

I don't know I always thought Newbury Comics was more music-driven and "funny" catchphrase on a shirt driven than comic driven by the time I went to one in 2004 and even more so now in 2017 to point where I feel like the name of the store is a misnomer.