Posted August 29, 201015 yr comment_5455118 Taz v. Scott Taylor Man the opening mat exchange here was a lot of fun as Taz seems annoyed that Taylor can hang with him and just snaps with real ferocity grinding Taylor into the mat. Taylor breaking free and hitting a big dropkick and a nice reverse plancha were really cool spots as well. This was a cool technique v. speed affair and I was surprised to see Taz sort of play dumb jock to Taylor's speedy Gonzalez. Taylor also did a good job selling for Taz's stuff. This went about perfect length for what they were going for, but wasn't quite well developed enough to pass along. Still an interesting match up and worth watching. Chris Chetti v. Little Guido Man Guido is working stiff here with the elbows landing square and just really added a bit of oomph to every blow. Chetti taking over after a blocked crucifix seemed appropriate and looked good but the subsequent enziguri really sucked. They take turn missing big moves off the top and then Guido wins with a quick roll up. This was pretty good but probably the weakest of their single matches so far. Spike Dudley v. Axl Rotten I really loved the opening barrage was really great with Axl countering Spike, Spike countering Axl, and Axl countering Spike again leading to the massive Spike bump and a really sick elbow from the apron to the floor from Rotten. I really thought the Spike heat section was abbreviated here which was a real shame because this was trending toward being a really great match. EVen bigger shame was Bubba coming in and causing the finish. Lenny Lane v. Beef Wellington This is utterly bizarre. They work some relatively complex mat section early, than Wellington throws some stiff strikes, then Lenny unloads with some big highspots. These guys are just running through every spot they can think of but rather than coming across as a wild spotfest it comes across as what it is - one of the most obvious "try out" matches I've ever seen. Taka Minchinoku/Mens Teoh/Dick Togo v. Great Sasuke/Gran Hamada/Gran Naniwa This was pretty blowaway great and absolutely destroys the Barely Legal tag. They start out working a pretty slow pace and Togo ends up taking a tumble bump and it's like they immediately kick it into full gear and just explode with awesome stuff. Everyone looked good in this. Sasuke's moonsault was insane, Togo's windup punches looked great, Naniwa crabwalked, et. I really loved the nearfalls in this as there were sevearl of them but because of how they were done it never felt like overkill at all. Heel segments were good as little tempo breaks. Love the finish with Naniwa kicking out of a Devestation Device variation before falling to Togo's fat man senton. This is one of the best matches I've watched so far. Sandman/Tommy Dreamer v. Raven/Steve Richards This was really just an angle to get over Richards as a guy on par with the others. He lays out everyone with superkicks and leaves after some early brawling. Sabu v. D-Von Dudley A disaster though not on the order of the Bubba v. Sabu match I recently watched. This one did get a little better as time went on and Sabu hit his stuff pretty clean toward the end but I could live without ever seeing another Sabu v. Dudz match. Bobby Duncam Jr. v. Balls Mahoney This was really awesome while it lasted. Duncam blindsides Balls with the bell and cuts him open with it almost immediately. They do a cool spot where Balls literally sees red and freaks but it ends up costing him as Duncam hurls him through a ringside table. They tease another Balls comeback but Duncam finishes him off pretty quick with a bulldog. This was too short to rate, but this is how Duncam should have been presented for his whole run. Tommy Rich v. Tommy Dreamer Loved this, but it was too short to pass through. Rich tries to call time out after Dreamer gets the best of him early and then hides behind Beulah before suckering Tommy. He nails Tommy with some really stiff shots including dropping the spine of a chair right on his face. Tommy makes a comeback and Rich tries to hide behind Beluah again but she kicks him in the nuts. Tommy wins with the DDT. Really fun while it lasted. Louie Spicolli v. Bubba Dudley Bubba blindsides Louie early and realistic this is another angle disguised as a match. Rob Van Dam v. Pitbull 1 This sucked. They did some decent rope running exchanges but these guys should never be paired off in a solo match. Eliminators v. Brian Lee/Chris Candido Really a worthless match that seemed to only exist for the purposes of having Kowalski come out and do some spots with the Elims. In the end everyone ended up looking weaker and none of the spots were well done. Sad.
