cactus

This match-up was banned in Puerto Rico according to the commentary, which isn't true as these two were regular foes there. There's not much to talk about here, but what were you really expecting? Abdullah straight away pulls a weapon out of his pants and this turns into a bloody garbage brawl. The referee gets taken out and Colon starts to take charge. He has Abdullah in the Figure Four, but Hugo Savinovich comes down and costs Colon the match. Blood can sometimes help a good match become great, but that wasn't the case here. Some of the blood splattering shots to the head might of been disgusting, but the match itself was a dull affair. ¼★

Decent main event. It went on a touch too long, but both guys brought their A game. There was no way Bryan was winning the title, but they made me second guess myself a few times. I'm assuming we get a triple threat at Mania. Pretty blah PPV overall.

I was expecting shite with that Bliss/Orton match and I got served shite. Bryan looks like he's been hanging with Richard Spencer with that new haircut. Reigns looks like a total hunk since he's turned heel.

The state of that match. No wonder wrestling fans get bullied.

This video package has been the highlight of the night so far. I genuinely think Sheamus would of been a big star if they didn't make him look like a walking caricature.

Even forgetting about Riddle's sexual assault accusations, his handling on the main roster has been atrocious. It's like RVD joining WWE and becoming a one-dimensional stoner x 10.

You could say the say the same for Strowman tbh. I take back what I said about Strowman looking good after reading this thread. The guy does look like a MAGA chud.

I was wondering who that was. That guy was way too small to be Abyss. Strowman looks the business.

I'm used to gray haired Shane, but he's looked like he's aged a decade since I've last seen him on WWE TV. Meh, that was a weak finish. I imagine that the rematch will be on the pre-show of Wrestlemania.

First sign point of the evening! That match left me cold. Everyone played their role well, but I'm well over wrestlers trying to tell a story by having a full-on conversation in the ring. Shane looks as old as Vince as did when I started watching wrestling. Christ, I feel old.

Being a UK pleb, I'm still enjoying the Network without having to deal with Peacock. I'll try and stay up for this. I'm expecting Bryan vs Reigns to kick all kind of ass.

Claudio felt very polished here, and he was more than ready of joining the big leagues at this point. Every hold he locks on is kept interesting and his strikes look as good as ever. He works over Fish's back until Fish is able to use his strikes to turn the tide of the bout. Fish reminded me of a more competent Davey Richards. He got that faux-MMA style down, but he's nowhere near as offensive as Richards. After Fish nearly gets a victory after knocking Claudio down for the count, Claudio fights back with a barrage of uppercuts to wrap this one up. ★★★¼

They open with some neat mat-wrestling exchanges. The strike-offs in this match felt much more organic than they did during the main event. They had some oomph behind them and Sawa looked quite charismatic dishing out some stiff shots to TJP. This was a good example of what to expect out of EVOLVE. It's didn't go on too long, and it made Sawa look like a threat. ★★★

Ibushi was something of a cult favourite among the hardcore fans during this period. Clips of him hitting his signature spots set the early wrestling Youtube scene on fire and I'm sure seeing him make a rare US appearance would of been a blast for the fans in attendance. I get why this blew people away in 2010, but this has aged like milk. Ibushi's arm is worked over, but he forgets about it so he can hit his big moves. It's brought back into the finish once Davey goes for the Kimura, but you can hardly call that consistent selling. Richards does a fine job at emulating Dynamite Kid's style and pace, but his ability to back up the action with sound psychology holds him back severely. This had every indie wrestling 'dream match' trope you can think of. It's two extremely athletic lads getting to live out a 90's AJPW cosplay. I wasn't bored by this as the action was quick enough and some of the spots are still impressive now, but this did have me rolling my eyes multiple times and I wouldn't exactly call it a good match. Thankfully they wrap this up in a fairly brisk 18 minutes, just as my attention was starting to slip because of the hollow action. If they went 30+ minutes, I would of found this completely unbearable. ★★½

Whilst it's not completely ruined by it's ending, the Kensuke vs Nagata Dome match from Wrestling World 2004 might of been one of my favourite matches if it's finish didn't come out of nowhere. For those who haven't seen it, it's a hate filled brawl that felt like a gritty lucha bloodbath with the strikes you can come to expect out of NJPW. Both men bleeds buckets and just when you think things are going to start to build up to the finish, Nagata locks on a hold and keeps Kensuke down for literal minutes before he taps out. Super flat ending.

Race moves with grace for such a surly heavyweight. Kevin continues to impress me with his almost ballet-like athleticism, landing his twisting body press for an early near-fall. Kevin's made to look dominate during the first part of this match. Throwing your opponent over the top rope is legal here, and both guys take advantage of the rule. Race chucks Kevin out onto the table and it's damages his arm, which Race starts working over. Kevin is excellent at selling his injury. David Von Erich runs down to check on his brother, but Race kicks him and it causes David to run in and cost his brother the match. Those Von Erich are made to look pretty dumb, but the crowd eat up everything they do. ★★★½

The opening exchanges see the bare-footed Von Erich dominate Flair with a tight head scissors. Flair sells the move by loudly groaning. Once Flair is free, both guys get a chance to show off their athletic chops with Flair doing a leapfrog and Kevin hitting a beautiful dropkick. Kevin isn't as beloved as Kerry, but he makes up for it by being incredibly athletic. Flair's heel work is on full display, with him backing off like a coward whenever Kevin starts building up some steam. The referee drama made sense, with both guys resorting to rule breaking when the referee is knocked down. Kevin scores a pinfall on Flair after a twisting body press, but the decision is reversed once the original referee comes too. Good TV defence which saw both men put the effort in. ★★★½

Man, you could tell Kerry Von Erich wasn't the brightest just by his promo. We've got a shirtless Michael Hayes as a second referee and he's brought out Terry Gordy to watch the cage door. He initially plays it straight down the middle, breaking up grapples when they refused to let go. Kerry gets a sleeper locked in early, but Flair is able to counter with a back suplex. To the surprise of no-one, Flair gets juice as Kerry slams him headfirst into the cage multiple times. After an excellent punch sequence, Von Erich teases the Iron Claw. Flair goes for a Figure Four, but eats steel once again for his trouble as the crowd cheers on. Seriously, Kerry Von Erich was Beatles at Shea Stadium levels of beloved here. Kerry's assault continues until he misses a knee drop and displays some brilliantly convincing selling that leads to Flair successfully locking on the Figure Four. Flair gets a chance to show off his selling chops when Kerry turns over the submission. Hayes shows his true colours once Kerry argues with him about a call and it ends up with Gordy slamming the cage door into Kerry's brain, making him even stupider in the process. Kerry lands a discuss punch on Flair once the Freebirds are out of the ringside area, but Kerry collapses because of his injuries and the referee awards this to Flair. This dragged in places and Kerry did look like a diva constantly complaining, but this had nuclear heat and it made the Freebirds the most hated men in Texas. ★★★★

This is my first time seeing any WCCW and Kerry Von Erich is treated like an absolute rockstar by the Texas crowd. Kerry dominates the opening trading of holds as he works over Naitch with a head scissors and a headlock as Flair slowly gets more hot-headed. Flair's heel work here is sublime. He starts out as just cocky, but his frustration builds and he starts disregarding the rules as things stop going his way. After Flair throws Kerry out of the ring, fists start flying. Kerry accidently hits the ref and gets disqualified once the ref comes too, just as Kevin had Flair out in the sleeper hold. The heat continues to build as Flair gets busted open and put in the Iron Claw, which eventually costs him the second fall. Kerry's leg is worked over and he displays some excellent selling. The third fall sees them tee off on each other, the referee eventually loses control and he decides to throw this out. The double disqualification feels like a cop-out after such a long match, but I understand the logic behind it. ★★★★¼

JYD is ripped to shreds here and he puts in one of his best performances ever, although it's the fantastic heel work of DiBiase and Borne that stood out for me. They were both phenomenal at bumping and selling. Borne's Bomb Away finish looked absolutely brutal This is No DQ, but don't go into this expecting weapon shot galore. The No DQ aspect of this match is mainly here to allow them to throw the tag rules out the window and make saves and hit double-team moves freely without the risk of disqualification. The camera cuts to a crowd shot and we see a guy dance in a gorilla suit at the start of the match, and it's revealed to be Jim Duggan when he costs JYD the match by running in and attacking him. ★★★¼

I've learnt a lot from this thread. Thanks for posting! I have finally written up everything I have seen so far. Even with some of the weaker shows I've had to watch, I'm still enjoying this, but those five plus hour shows are going to test me!

I'm not sure if that's completely accurate. The streak was first mentioned as a throwaway line when he faced Bundy, but it featured heavily in video package when he faced Orton.

As I'm making my through all the Wrestlemanias, one of the things shocked me was how bad some of the early streak matches were. His matches with Bundy, Gonzales and Bossman are some of the worst matches put on PPV. He wouldn't have a match that wasn't the drizzling shits until his one with Diesel at 12. The first one that's a potential MOTYC is with Orton at 21, his 12th Wrestlemania match!

This was exactly what you can expect from Goldberg in this day and age. Two minutes of finishing spamming and then McInyre retains. Although Goldberg screwed his Jackhammer up, this is the best we are going to get from him. I'm glad McIntyre won and it shows that WWE still have a lot of faith in him. I understand why WWE insist on using Goldberg as he brings the casuals in, but I'm past the point of caring about his matches now. ★★

Yeah, it's clear that it took them a few years to find their feet. I guess that a Santana/Valentine match might end up overshadowing the marquee matches of 1. Update: That's the first seven 'Manias written up. I've watched and reviewed up to 21, so there's still plenty of work to be done!