cactus
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Everything posted by cactus
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Yeah, I can't fault Humberto's in ring skills. He looked solid enough. He just didn't give me much reason to care. R-Truth is great. He makes everything he's given work. -
I'm a bit worried that this show is going to suffer because of crowd burnout. They sound bored already. I remember Styles/Bryan had a great technical match last year to utter silence because of the fatigue of having to see two Rumble matches. Humberto looks like right jobber. Not seen him before but he's not winning me over.
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The Rey/Andrade ladder match looks like it was great. Feels like we should of gotten that on the main card instead of this tucked away on the pre-show.
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Maybe they would of cared if he wasn't called Shorty G... There's ways to do an underdog gimmick. That ain't it.
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I haven't followed any WWE in a few months, so the idea of Drew winning seems crazy. I'm all for it. Hoping Baszler wins the Women's Rumble. Sheamus and Gable was a lot of fun. Forgotten how great Sheamus is. A total hoss.
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Fresh off his jump to WCW after a failed 2 year run in the WWF, Luger takes on Hogan. It's crazy to think how big of a deal this match would of been in 1995 as these two have never crossed paths before this. This was a compact version of your typical Hogan match until the DOD runs in to cause the DQ just as Hulk had the match won.There's not much here and the DOD were unbearably cheesy and camp, but I did enjoy the spots where both Luger and Hogan no-sold each other's slam at the start of the match. ★½
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Sid does a kip-up in this. That was not a sentence that I thought I'd ever type. Michaels' bumping was a tad over the top, but he has the crowd in the palm of his hand. After getting his ass beat for a majority of the match, Michaels puts away Sid with a barrage of superkicks. Decent enough TV bout, although I could of done without Shawn stripping off after the match. ★★½
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This was a lot of fun despite it's short length. Everything is done and dusted within ten minutes as it closes off a very memorable Raw completely rehabbing and refreshing DX after WM 14. Seeing the blue cage on the Raw Is War ring feels out of place. Funk and Foley get little offence in and eat plenty of brutal chairshots. Funk hung on the cage made for a great visual. It's not long until the returning X-Pac, Triple H & Chyna head on out to assist The Outlaws and to firmly establish this new edition of DX as a threat. ★★½
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This is neither man's best match, but they both put in a good performance and churn out a enjoyable match given the circumstances. The crowd is fully invested in Austin's rise to the top the Tyson stuff adds a lot of drama. They work around Shawn's hurt back by starting the match off with some stalling before having a brawl around the arena. Shawn even eats a back body drop from the ring to the floor, an insane move to take when your back is literally broken! The match quality takes a dip once they get back in the ring as it's becomes apparent that HBK can't wrestle the pace that he's used to. After a ref bump, the enforcer Mike Tyson to count Austin's pin. This is a the moment the Attitude Era truly begun. Just imagine how good this could of been if neither man was injured! ★★★
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Much better than any other big man match Undertaker had at this point in his career, but it's obviously not a technical masterclass or anything. Kane's character being over certainly helps matters. He's perfected his Michael Myers influenced act. There's a lot of sub-par brawling, broken up with some decent spots. There's enough big moments like the table bump, cinematic entrances and the barrage of Tombstones to keep you distracted from the fact that there's not a whole lot of worthwhile wrestling in this. The ending worked well as it gave Undertaker a win, while keeping Kane strong and giving them a reason to continue their feud. ★★½
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A fun Attitude Era brawl with a hot crowd and plenty of things for me to nitpick. From Savio Vega's infamously flat reveal as DX's mystery partner, Steve Austin's limited involvement, and the illogical uses of tags in this supposed 'unsanctioned' match, but there's still fun to be had with this one. Terry Funk bumping around for the heels and Billy Gunn getting a trashcan lobbed at him were two particular highlights. ★★★¼
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When this started I had minimal desire to see Naito become Tetsutya Two Belts. When Naito attempted a Stardust Press (the move that cost him during his last IWGP match with Okada), I didn't want anything more than Naito to get his moment. Okada works as a heel here as he tears about Naito's knee after violently dropping him on the announce table. This damn near gave me an anxiety attack. That's when you know you've created great wrestling. ★★★★½
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I saw someone saw this is carried by both men's charisma and I couldn't agree with them more. The workrate is nowhere near as heavy as you can come to expect from a big NJPW match in this era, but they keep you engaged by building up to their big signature moves at a methodical pace and making everything count. Jericho's character work is sublime as flips off the crowd and mocks Gino Gambino. I had little desire to watch this as I was burnt out by all the wrestling I had consumed over the past two days, but these guys brought me back with a well-crafted match. ★★★★¼
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The once-disgraced shooter takes on the golden boy in an effort to finally complete his redemption. I was worried this wouldn't hold up as a lot of the NJPW main events struggle to stay engaging on rewatches as you are just waiting for them to get to the good stuff. Shibata is clearly fucking with Okada as he dominates him during the opening matwork and this keeps the first 15 minutes engaging and is essential to the story they telling. The finishing stretch is more typical for your usual Okada IWGP bout, but with added legitimacy as some of the strikes are mortifyingly stiff. This is a match you can show someone who scoffs at wrestling for being fake and they would walk away with some newfound respect for this crazy art form we all love. I'm struggling to think of a better 2010's NJPW match and I can comfortably say this is both guy's best match. If this is Shibata's last ever match, what a note to go out on. ★★★★★
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Eh I found the first show to be underwhelming. I loved the main event, but I couldn't get invested in the other matches. White/Naito was decent, it just went way too long which is a common complaint I have with a lot of NJPW's big matches. I'm still looking forward to tomorrow's main event though.
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This technically only goes two minutes, but Lesnar pummels Show with a chair before the match starts. Lesnar does a sublime job of getting over the fact that he's scared of Show. Show hits his finish as soon the bell rings and this gets a huge pop, although he's too hurt to capitalise. Lesnar takes a few body shots before sneaking in a F5 to wrap this one up quickly. The highlight of this is Lesnar's selling of Show's body shots. Lesnar's fantastic when he has to show signs of vulnerability. This is fine for what it is. ★★¾
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Maffew from Botchamania had this match as one of his three matches that he would take on a desert island and I'm glad this is finally getting some love. This features a well executed double turn plus career performances from both men. Ziggler's kayfabe head injury stops him from flopping all over the place when he sells and he's actually great as a face in peril. Del Rio had spent the past year doing a disastrous babyface run and you can tell he's loving every second when the crowd start to turn on him. They seem indifferent once he enters the arena, but the Chicago crowd are out for blood after he kicks in Ziggler's head in a few times. He isn't afraid to show some personality here and it does him wonders. He has great facial expressions, and he looks like the smuggest prick ever. I love the spot where he kicks away AJ Lee's recently won Diva's title. I don't usually like Del Rio because he can lack charisma and feel very dry nor do I usually like Ziggler as he tries too hard to make every match feel like the main event of Wrestlemania by over-selling and relying on 2.9 counts to create drama, but thankfully none of these gripes are in this match. ★★★★½
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An old-fashioned tag team match with finish that leave you with a smile from ear to ear. The Rhodes brothers are classic babyfaces and they work two hot tags into this. The Shield get a loud pop when they enter, but when there's no dual chanting when the match is going on. Goldust has to bust out new tricks to keep up with youngsters. Dusty, in attempt to stop Dean Ambrose from interfering, takes of his belt and starts wailing. All this happens whilst Cody hits the Cross Rhodes to a monster pop. The ending is especially poignant when you know that Dusty wasn't long for the world. ★★★¾
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More of the same from Summerslam with a few added bells and whistles. Each team has an interfering wrestler/valet to help them out and the spots are more crazier than those saw in the Summerslam match. They perfected the car crash spotfest formula and they would never come close to this brilliance again. Despite WWE having a PPV named after this match for a decade, I can't name a single excellent TLC or ladder match that wowed me anywhere close to the level of this. ★★★★★
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Upon watching this and the sequel back to back, I think I prefer this one more. The match length flies by, there's no downtime nor is there any moment where the action stagnates. All the big spots look organic, with only Bubba's big table spot having a contrived set-up as he clearly moves the ladder into potion before he takes the plunge. Matt Hardy's backwards ladder bump will never not freak me out. Probably one of WWE's best ever spotfest. ★★★★¾
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This felt similar to the Cena/Punk match from MITB as the story is the same. It's the WWE guy versus the indy guy, but this is a much better match due to Bryan being a much slicker worker. The crowd chanting 'You can't wrestle' at Cena is laughable, as he can more than hold his own when grappling with Bryan. Cena works well as a quasi-heel. He over powers Bryan and takes just a little bit longer to do his signature taunts, which really rile up the crowd. I have to give credit for Triple H being a great special referee too, you completely forget he's there, which makes the swerve more unpredictable. This is a technical classic with a story that's easy to get sucked into. A five star classic that's not even either guy's best match! ★★★★★