The Two Sheds Review

ROH Final Battle 2012 - DVD Review

2013-05-19T23:00:00.001+01:00

We’re heading into Ring of Honor territory once again, and this time around we’re going back to the Hammerstein Ballroom in New York City last December for Final Battle.

The show began with the fall of the House of Truth as Michael Elgin took on Roderick Strong.

When the match began Truth Martini was nowhere to be seen, and it was only a few minutes later, when Elgin was taking Strong apart, that he finally made an appearance, looking rather less flamboyant than usual. As the match went on Martini favoured both sides. When Elgin was in control Martini cheered for him, but when Strong took the upper hand he cheered for him.

It looked like it was going to be a difficult encounter for Strong as the action went on. No matter what he hit him with Elgin kept coming back time and time again. Moves that normally put others away had very little effect on the Unbreakable one.

Then Martini jumped onto the ring apron, and as he distracted the referee he kicked his book into the ring. At first Elgin stopped Strong from using it, but when he picked him up for a powerbomb Strong grabbed the book and clobbered him in the head. With the big man stunned Strong lifted Elgin up into a suplex and brought him down into a backbreaker to gain the winning pin.

Afterwards Martini grabbed the microphone and praised Strong until the former World Champion reminded him that he’d quit the House. He then tried it on with Elgin, telling him he loved him while giving him a big hug. He then gave him a few home truths. Elgin’s response was to take his former manager down with a buckle bomb before sending him flying out of the ring.

Then it was on to the battle between Jay Lethal and Rhino.

This was a very entertaining power versus speed battle. Both guys put in good performances, especially Lethal, who was still looking for this “killer instinct” of his. However, if you want to talk about killer instinct then look no further than Rhino, another now-ex House of Truth member. I swear the guy looks as good as the first time I saw him in ECW all those years ago.

The end saw Lethal spring boarding off the ropes to take the man beast down with the Lethal Injection for the three count and win.

After the match had ended Steve Corino, who had been doing a spot of commentary at ringside, jumped up onto the ring apron as he ordered Lethal to stay out of the main event. But when Lethal dared Corino to step into the ring Jimmy Jacobs attacked him from behind, and after the S.C.U.M. members doubled up on Lethal Rhino announced himself as their new hired gun when he took the former Black Machismo out with a gore.

Next came the battle of the managers as former Embassy buddies R.D. Evans, accompanied by Q.T. Marshall, went up against Prince Nana.

Normally when you have a match between two managers it can be quite poor, but not this one. Mind you, considering that these two trained as wrestlers it’s not surprising that this wasn’t that bad. It may not have lasted that long but they certainly packed a lot in. It was pretty enjoyable to watch the sequences they put together.

At one point it looked like Nana was going to take the win after taking Evans down with an Ace Crusher after Evans spring boarded off the top rope. But as the referee made his count Marshall pulled the official out of the ring.

It was then that Ernesto Osiris made a brief appearance as he brawled with Marshall at ringside before Evans took Nana down with an inverted Styles Clash for the winning pin. Tommaso Ciampa then appeared in the front row as he sent Marshall and Evans running for cover.

The New York City Street Fight saw Wrestling’s Greatest Tag Team, Charlie Haas and Shelton Benjamin, going up against Rhett Titus and B.J. Whitmer.

If you were expecting this to be a technical classic than you’d be sorely disappointed. But if you were expecting a brawl with people hitting each other with Christmas-related items than you’d be highly delighted.

This one began when Titus and Whitmer attacked their foes as they made their entrance, and it wasn’t long before Titus pulled a massive Christmas stocking from underneath the ring. A few moments later Haas and Benjamin were getting clobbered with giant candy canes and a Christmas tree. No, you didn’t read that wrong. I mentioned candy canes and a Christmas tree while reviewing a street fight. It made me think that perhaps they should have held this match in that special room in Mick Foley’s house.

From there they proceeded to beat the proverbial out of each other with chairs, crutches, leather belts and a piece of the guardrail before Benjamin put Titus through a table at ringside.

This left Haas and Whitmer to battle it out. Whitmer introduced a second table into the match. He put Haas on top of it before climbing to the top rope, but before he could do anything Haas sprang to his feet and joined Whitmer up top. They struggled against each other for a few moments until Haas took Whitmer over with a superplex. Bu the looks of things Whitmer took a sick bump when he went through the table head first. Haas quickly went for the cover, and a three count later he had the winning pin.

It was back to singles action for the next match as Mike Bennett, accompanied by Maria Kanellis and Bob Evans, took on Jerry Lynn in his final ROH match.

The veritable battle of the generations was one of those short and sweet encounters packed with great action. Despite being just shy of his half century Lynn looked a sprightly as ever, He certainly hadn’t slowed down as he took Bennett down with his trademark moves.

Of course, Brutal Bob and the lovely Maria played their part as the Prodigy took control, but when Maris jumped up onto the ring apron to distract the referee Evans threw a chair into the ring. But when Lynn countered Bennett’s Ace Crusher on to the chair attempt with one of his own it looked like the former champion was going to have a fond farewell until Bennett kicked out of the pin.

Then it was Evan’s turn to distract the referee while Maria went to distract Lynn. Lynn looked like he was going to hit her until she grabbed his head and dropped him down over the top rope. Bennett then connected with the Box Office Smash for the winning pin.

Bennett then lifted Lynn off his feet, intent on doing further damage. Lynn quickly recovered though, shoving Bennett into Evans before Maria tried to slap him in the face. Lynn countered this particular move by taking her down with a DDT before finishing Bennett off with the cradle piledriver.

Afterwards Lynn took to the microphone to pay tribute to all things ROH before Nigel McGuinness gave him an award for his contribution to the company.

Jay Lethal then returned to the ring and demanded that he be part of the title match instead of Generico. It was a request that head honcho McGuinness refused to grant, although he did tell Lethal that he’d get a shot at the title if Generico won.

This wasn’t enough for Lethal as he reminded McGuinness that Kevin Steen had spat on his mother before spitting on him. The enforcer then went after Lethal until security pulled then apart and threw Lethal out of the building.

After an in-ring segment in which Kyle O’Reilly and Bobby Fish attacked the injured Mike Mondo it was on to the tag team grudge match as Fish and O’Reilly faced the men who made the save, Davey Richards and Eddie Edwards, the re-united American Wolves.

Before the match began Fish “revealed” that Edwards was a no show, suggesting that Mondo took his place. This led to the aforementioned attack in which Richards and then Edwards made the save. At one point it looked like Edwards was going to attack Richards while Fish and O’Reilly held him until Fish ended up on the receiving end of a Superkick.

The Wolves proceeded to take their former protégés to the proverbial woodshed, but it wasn’t long before the young upstarts came back into the match, focusing their attack on Edwards, using many Wolves-like double team moves to take him down.

Eventually we got the all hell breaking loose segment, and that was where the fun really began. We finally got to see Richards and O’Reilly going at it in a hard hitting away as all the big guns came out, and after the Wolves took O’Reilly out with a powerbomb into a backbreaker Edwards applied his trademark Achilles lock with boots to the head combination. When O’Reilly passed out the referee stopped the match to give the Wolves the win.

The special challenge match saw Matt Hardy facing TV Champion Adam Cole in a non-title match.

Hardly wasn’t exactly the most welcome person at the ballroom that night, which meant that for once the faithful were firmly behind just one of the participants. This match was okay. Hardy certainly put in a better effort than he did during his brief TNA career. It was a well executed encounter, even though it didn’t really have that ROH vibe about it.

Even though Hardy used a few underhanded tactics Cole was than able to hand with his more illustrious opponent, even taking him down with a Twist of Fate at one point. It also looked like he was going to get the win after dumping Hardy with his Florida Key finisher on the floor, with Hardly barely kicking out of the ensuing pin attempt.

A few moments later Cole went for the move in the ring, but in a move that reeked of desperation Hardy pulled the referee’s shirt over his head, blinding the official while he kicked Cole south of the equator. When the referee eventually sorted out his wardrobe problems the first thing he saw was Hardy pinning Cole with a small package, A three count later and the former sensei of Mattitude had the win.

The penultimate match saw the Cedric Alexander and Caprice Coleman joining Jay and Mark Briscoe in challenging Steve Corino and Jimmy Jacobs for the Tag Team titles. This one was contested under sudden death rules, and the only way that either of the challengers could win the titles was if they pinned one of the champions.

These stipulations led to some quite interesting confrontations throughout this encounter. While both sets of challengers team up at first as they tried to take the champions down it wasn’t long before they went their separate ways as they began to break up each other’s pins.

So while the challengers were going at it Corino and Jacobs tried to head for the hills. They soon found their paths blocked though as they were led back into the match. This led to our esteemed champions taking the underhanded route, particularly when Corino hit Alexander with a roll of coins in his hand. Needless to say that the veteran was shocked when Alexander kicked out of the ensuing pin.

Moments later it was all over when the Briscoes singled out Jacobs and took him down with the Doomsday Device for the title winning pin. Jay then took to the microphone to issue an open challenge to any team in the world before giving Coleman and Alexander the first shot at the title.

The main event saw El Generico challenging Kevin Steen for the World title in a Ladder War match.

Well, this may not have been as fast paced as some of the other ladder matches I’ve seen over the years but it certainly had it’s fair share of drama and sick bumps. The brawling began as soon as the bell sounded, and it wasn’t long before the ladders came into play, courtesy of our champion.

The first big bump of the night came when Steen back dropped Generico onto one of the ladders. The impact from the falling Luchadore almost destroyed the ladder, and many, well, the announcers, wondered if the match would end there and then.

It didn’t. Time and time again Generico kept coming back into the match, foiling a few of Steen’s attempts before he sent his former partner crashing through a table that was perched on a ladder between the ring and the guardrail. Further carnage soon followed when Generico went through the timekeeper’s table. But once again he recovered as he introduced a massive ladder into the equation.

This led to the biggest bump of the night. After perching two ladders between two rungs of the bigger ladders Steen took Generico down with the Package Piledriver. The masked man went crashing through two ladders before he crashed to the floor.

It was all over moments later. His man down on the mat Steen climbed up the biggest of the ladders and claimed the newly-minted title belt for the win.

No extras on this DVD release, so let’s get straight down to business.

In conclusion - Ring of Honor’s last big show of 2012 proved to be another quality outing. Although there were some moments which didn’t exactly get my pulse racing, most notably Matt Hardy’s performance, overall I was satisfied by what I saw.

As for my match of the night there were quite a few options, but this time around the no-prize goes to the Steen/Generico Ladder War. If anything that Package Piledriver onto the stack of ladders should get move of the night.

So with all of that out of the way let’s wrap this thing up by giving Final Battle 2012 the thumbs up.

With thanks to the powers that be for supplying a copy of this release. Final Battle 2012 can be purchased online by visiting www.rohwrestling.com.

UCMMA 29 - DVD Review

2013-05-15T00:27:00.001+01:00

It’s time for another of those déjà vu reviews again, a DVD review of a TV show I’ve already reviewed, and this time around we’re heading into the world of British MMA as we head back to The Troxy in London last August for UCMMA 29.

The show began with action from the light heavyweight division as Max Nunes faced Iain Martell.

This battle of undefeated fighters proved to be a very interesting affair. Martell sought to take the fight to the ground early on. He quickly achieved his aim, and even though Nunes managed to get back to his feet Martell took him down again.

A few moments later the referee threatened to stand them up due to inactivity. This spurred Nunes into action as he reversed the positions and finished the round with a spot of ground and pound.

Martell began the second round with another takedown, but within seconds Nunes locked in a triangle choke as Martell tapped out after just 46 seconds to give Nunes the submission win.

Then it was down to the lightweight division as the debuting Ben McConigle faced Ian Peters.

For someone making his debut young McConigle looked like a very composed fighter. He began to take control early on after the initial feeling out period, and even when Peters scored with a big slam McConigle quickly got back to his feet.

As the first round progressed McConigle’s striking got better and better as he bloodied his man’s nose, and even though Peters got off some good strikes of his own McConigle always looked like he had the upper hand.

And that was it. The doctors checked out Peters after the round ended and decided that he couldn’t go on, giving McConigle the stoppage win.

The lightweight action continued with Sean Carter facing Dom Clark.

These two didn’t bother with the feeling out period, they began swinging for the fences as soon as the fight began, and it wasn’t long before blood saw drawn when Carter sustained a cut under his eye.

It certainly was a frantic back and forth battle. One fight would get rocked, then he’d come back into the right and rock the other guy. Eventually something had to give, and after a knee to the chest and another to the head Clark slumped to the ground. Carter went for the kill with some ground and pound before the referee stopped the action to give Carter the TKO win.

Even more lightweight action followed as Andy Cona went up against Fadi Jameel.

Our esteemed announcers billed this one as the striker versus the grappler, and after the opening exchanges it was the grappler who took control when Jameel scored with the takedown.

Cona briefly went for a guillotine, but Jameel’s control was such that he was able to transition at will. It wasn’t long before he took the mount and went to work with the ground and pound, and when Jameel connected with the blow that knocked Cona out for a brief moment he ceased his attack as the referee stepped in to give Jameel the TKO win.

It was down to bantamweight for the next fight as Paul Kingdon faced Nathan Greyson.

These two began by exchanging kicks, but when Kingdon slipped Greyson immediately went into his guard. He postured up well, delivering a few choice shots, and when he transitioned away from the guard he began to rain down a torrent of blows. Kingdon curled up, and that was enough for the referee as he stepped in to give Greyson the TKO win.

The bantamweight action continued with Steve Brazier taking on Jody Collins.

Collins began his night’s work with a big right straight down the middle, followed up by a quick takedown into side control. Form there he delivered a series of knees to the body before moving so he could apply an arm triangle, and with Brazier passing out the referee stopped the action to give Collins the submission win after just 63 seconds.

Then it was up to the middleweight division as Tautvydas Lileikis took on Ben Callum.

Callum began swinging for the fences as soon as the bell sounded, and when he dropped his man with a big left and went for the ground and pound it looked all over until Lileikis managed to escape.

But like a red rag to a bull Callum continued his onslaught, and when Lileikis slumped to the mat the referee stopped the fight to give Callum the knockout win after just 33 seconds.

The only UK1 kickboxing fight on the show saw Jefferson George taking on Michael Page for the Welterweight Superfight title.

If you’ve never seen Page fighting I think the best way to describe is showboat artist. As is his custom Page moved around the cage and used an array of flashy kicks to attack George from all angles. But as good as this spectacle was he didn’t seem to connect with too many of them.

George looked a game fighter as he tried to take the fight to his man, and by the time the second round started Page seemed to take things a little bit more seriously. Although the flashy kicks were still there he introduced a few punches into the mix as well. It soon did the trick when a left/right combination sent George crashing. The referee quickly stopped the fight to give Page the knockout win.

The penultimate fight saw Spencer Hewitt challenging Giorgio Andrews for the Flyweight title.

The only fight on the show to go the distance proved to be a quite cagey affair at times as each round followed a similar pattern. From the moment the fight started Hewitt seemed intent on taking the fight to the ground. However, his efforts came to nothing as Andrews foiled him time and time again.

Andrews, on the other hand, had more success in that particular department. He was certainly the busier of the two in that respect, and although his ground work wasn’t overly flashy it was solid enough.

But with the fight going the distance the judges were called into action. Everyone was in agreement as Andrews took the unanimous decision.

The main event saw Nick Chapman challenging Linton Vassell for the Light Heavyweight title.

This one was very enjoyable. Although Vassell connected with the first blow of the fight it wasn’t long before Chapman took control. He may not have been the most graceful fighter but he was certainly effective. His big blows had Vassell in danger quite a few times, but as the first round neared it’s conclusion it was evident that the tank was nearly empty.

When the second round began Vassell took control with a takedown. Seconds later he took Chapman’s back and synched in a rear naked choke for the submission win.

In conclusion - as with my other UCMMA DVD reviews I must say that it’s great to see these shows in full because the television broadcasts really don’t do them justice. It’s also nice not having to fast forward through the commercial breaks!

The ethos that the fight should never be left in the hands of the judges was certainly adhered to here, because from top to bottom this show was filled with great finishes. All the fights delivered to varying degrees.

As for the fight of the night no-prize originally I went for the Max Nunes/Iain Martell fight. I’m going to change that decision now and plump for the Nick Chapman/Linton Vassell fight instead.

So with all of that out of the way there’s only one more thing to do, and that’s to give UCMMA 29 the thumbs up once again.

With thanks to the powers that be for supplying a copy of this release. For more information on how to purchase this or any other UCMMA DVD then visit www.ucmma.tv.

How Not to Behave at a Job Interview: A Guide for Employers

2013-05-14T23:40:00.000+01:00

As a member of the long-term unemployed club I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve been told how to act at job interviews. I’ve read countless guides and have been given countless tips on how I should try and sell myself to companies.

But what a lot of people ten to forget is that the selling should be a two-way thing, that the company interviewing should be trying to sell themselves to you as well.

So with that in mind I’m now going to offer some tips on how companies should prepare themselves for interview.

1) Timekeeping: Always turn up on time. First impressions are everything, and it doesn’t look good if someone turns up for a job interview and finds that you’re not that and the premises are locked up!

2) Dress accordingly: By all means dress smartly, although smart/casual is sometimes acceptable, but don’t wear a tatty tee-shirt that still has a grease stain from the pizza you ate three days ago!

3) The greeting: Greet all of your candidates with a smile and a firm handshake. Never approach your candidate looking miserable, because if you look like you don’t want to be there then the candidate won’t want to be there with you!

And never approach your candidate scratching either your anus or your testicles!

4) Note taking: By all means take notes about the candidate in front of you, but please use a notepad! Don’t scribble all over the CV they’ve taken the trouble to prepare for you!

5) The setting: Make the candidate comfortable by holding the interview in your office. A slightly less formal setting, such as the company lounge is also acceptable. Don’t take them to the backyard of your premises where you’ve dumped all of your broken furniture!

These are just a few of the things you should do when trying to find your ideal candidate. Remember that while the person talking to you may be trying to secure their future it’s the future of your company that is at stake as well!

TNA One Night Only: Joker's Wild on Challenge - TV Review

2013-05-12T23:23:00.001+01:00

It’s time to head over to the Impact Zone once again as we take a look at the latest of TNA’s One Night Only shows, Joker’s Wild, shown this past Wednesday night on Challenge here in Britain.

The format of this show borrowed a little from something WCW did many years ago, a tournament format featuring six tag team matches, with the teams drawn at random, with the winners going on to a Royal Rumble-like gauntlet battle royal thing.

Match one saw James Storm and Christian York taking on Gunner and Crimson.

This was a pretty decent opener. Storm and York looked good early on before the bad guys took control and centred their attack on York. As a team Crimson and Gunner looked decent, and it left me wondering what had happened to Crimson’s career, considering the way he was pushed for over a year.

Anyway, I digress. York eventually made it back to his corner, and although Gunner almost got the in after Crimson took his man down with a spear the Cowboy took the win after York pushed Gunner into a Last Call Superkick.

Match two saw Jessie Godderz and Mr. Anderson facing Doug Williams and Kid Kash.

We certainly had an interesting story in this one with Godderz, the least experience man in this match, wanting to prove himself against his more illustrious opponents and his more illustrious partner.

Things went well for their team when Anderson was in the ring, not so though when Godderz was. Kash and Williams looked like they’d been teaming for years as they took Godderz apart, but when the youngster had the chance to tag out he chose to stay in the ring. It didn’t do him much good as he ended up taking even more punishment.

Eventually Anderson tagged himself in, but even then Godderz wanted to take the glory for himself. Anderson soon had enough of his partner, taking him out with the Mic Check before countering Kash’s roll-up with an inside cradle for the pin.

Match three saw Christopher Daniels and Samoa Joe going up against Chavo Guerrero and Rob Van Dam.

This was definitely the most star-studded of the tag matches. With these four as our protagonists you just knew you were going to get a quality match. Both teams put together some nice sequences early on, but when Guerrero began to take the brunt of the punishment Daniels and Joe looked pretty decent as a unit, a sort of X Division dream team if you will.

Guerrero soon got the hot tag to RVD after taking Daniels down with a body block, and after much high impact action Joe took RVD down with his Muscle Buster for the winning pin.

Match four saw Robbie E and Zema Ion taking on Bobby Roode and Joseph Park.

Before the match began Park suggested a new name for his new venture with Roode. Needless to say that the former World Champion was having none of it. He was also reluctant to let Park have any involvement in the match, but after the initial exchanges Roode eventually let him in.

Park went on to become the night’s biggest punching bag as E and Ion double up on him to good effect. The big man had one comeback moment, but it wasn’t long before they took Park out again.

Then, as the boys began to pose in the middle of the ring, Park saw his own blood and invoked the spirit of his missing brother as he took Ion out with a choke slam and E down with a Black Hole Slam.

Park then snapped back into it, and as he began to wonder what had happened Roode took the blind tag and pinned E for the three count.

Match five saw Hernandez and Alex Silva taking on Devon and Doc.

Hey, wasn’t it lucky that two of the Aces & Eights guys got picked as partners? Anyway, back to the matter at hand. This one was okay, but it wasn’t the best match on the card. Silva looked pretty good, and Hernandez did his usual thing early on, but it wasn’t long before the guys in leather took control so they could pound on Silva for a while.

Silva eventually made it back to his corner so Hernandez could come back in and do some more of his stuff. That didn’t last long though as Silva tagged himself back in so he could take Doc down with a top rope dropkick while big Super Mex flew over the ropes and took out Devon.

It didn’t give Silva much of an advantage though as Doc quickly got to his feet and took him down with a choke slam for the winning pin.

Match six saw Rob Terry and Matt Morgan going up against Joey Ryan and Al Snow.

This was definitely the least enjoyable of the tag matches. Before the match began Ryan reminded Morgan of some plan they’d come up with. A few moments later he argued with Snow before he tried to head for the hills. Snow followed him up the ramp, grabbed hold of him and threw him back into the ring.

A few moments later the two big men began to target Snow, and once again Terry looked quite limited in the ring. Snow looked okay, but he also looked like someone who shouldn’t give up his day job.

Then came the segment in which Ryan and Morgan tried to implement their plan. Whatever it was they just didn’t want to face each other, but with Snow and Terry reluctant to help out their partners the two cohorts had no choice but to face each other.

Lots of stalling followed as they tried to get their partners to tag back into the match, but with neither man having any success Ryan attacked Morgan with some of the weakest shots I’ve seen outside of a U.K. Pitbulls match.

Seconds later Morgan apologised to his friend before taking him down with the Carbon Footprint for the winning pin.

Then it was on to the Joker’s Wild gauntlet battle royal thing, with the winner getting a big cardboard cheque.

Beginning with James Storm and Bobby Roode this mini Royal Rumble proved to be quite entertaining. All twelve men acquitted themselves well as the alliances made earlier on quickly became rivalries.

The main sights in this one featured a brief Beer Money reunion as they eliminated Doc, as well as Rob Terry and Matt Morgan doing their best Terminator impressions as they eliminated almost everyone in sight.

The last two in the ring were the first two men who had entered the match. Roode thought he’d eliminated Storm until the Cowboy skinned the cat and pulled himself back into the ring. A few moments later, having taken Roode over the top rope, he knocked him down to the floor with the Last Call Superkick to win the big cardboard cheque. Personally I think they should have given him a title shot.

In conclusion - so how did TNA’s One Night Only rate second time around?

I really enjoyed this show. Although the basic concept had been done before it worked out pretty well. The majority of the tag matches were well played out and well executed, and the gauntlet proved to be the icing on the proverbial cake.

However, the illustrious commentary team of Mike Tenay and Taz annoyed the hell out of me again. They were just so off-putting for the entire show I just felt turning the sound down at times.

As for my match of the night this time around the no-prize goes to the Guerrero/RVD versus Daniels/Joe encounter. That’s something I’d like to see again sometime. I doubt if I will though.

So with all of that being said there’s only one more thing left to do, and that’s to give this show the thumbs up. Although Tenay and Taz get the big thumbs down.

NCW Femmes Fatales IX - DVD Review

2013-05-10T15:47:00.001+01:00

It’s time to step into the realm of Canada’s Northern Championship Wrestling once again, and having taken a look at two episodes of their Full Blast series we’re now going to take a first look at their all-women’s show. So join me now as we head back to last July for Femmes Fatales IX.

The show began with Leah von Dutch taking on Angie Skye, who had Kath von Goth in her corner.

For me this rather short encounter was somewhat lacking. It began with Sky going to work with an arm wringer, but once LVW brought out her moves things went a little downhill. LVD’s performance just seemed a little too forced and lacking in fluidity. Things got better when Skye took control with the help of her gothic friend, but when LVD made her comeback once again the action still looked forced, especially when she went for a moonsault.

The moonsault almost led her to victory, but as the referee made his count Goth pulled him out of the ring. A brief admonishment followed before Skye took her opponent down with her version of the Killswitch Engage for the winning pin.

The singles action continued with Missy taking on Deziree.

This one was even shorter, but it was also a lot better. Missy, who seems to have modelled herself on Raven, looked pretty decent, especially when she was executing Raven-like moves. As for Deziree she looked okay, but in such a short match it was a little hard to get what she was all about.

Missy came out on top here after taking her woman down with a DDT. Or should that be the Evenflow DDT?

Next up was Veda Scott against Mary Lee Rose, who was accompanied here by Mademoiselle Rochelle.

These two were give a little more time than their predecessors, but that didn’t mean the action was any better. Scott looked okay, but if I’m to be completely honest Rose looked quite poor. She certainly didn’t impress me. A good example of her work was when Scott connected with a clothesline and Rose went down in stages, rather like a footballer trying to convince a referee he was fouled when he wasn’t.

The end came when Rachelle tripped her own client as she ran the ropes, with Scott sealing the deal with an Ace Crusher.

Rachelle then stepped into the ring with her now-former charge, but their little confrontation was interrupted by the arrival of the Midwest Militia. After they introduced themselves to their new surroundings it looked like they were going to attack Rose until Courtney Rush appeared on the scene with a chair in hand. Some verbal sparring followed before Rose agreed to be in Rush’s corner for her big match later than night.

Tag team action followed as the Canadian Ninjaz, Portia Perez and Nicole Matthews, faced the Cherries, Sweet Cherry and Cherry Bomb, with the winners getting a shot at the Shimmer Tag titles.

Now this was a lot better. It began with the two Cherries frustrating the Ninjaz early on, but after Sweet Cherry missed an avalanche in the corner the Ninjaz took control. Perez and Matthews doubled up on Cherry to good effect, but it wasn’t long before she got the tag to Bomb to begin the all hell breaking loose segment of the match. There were a couple of moments of miscommunication when Perez accidentally clobbered Matthews and Perez pushed Bomb into Cherry, knocking her off the ring apron, before Perez rolled Bomb up for the three count and the win.

As the Ninjaz celebrated on their way backstage Cherrie raised her partners arm. Miss Bomb was none too pleased though and clobbered Cherrie in the back, leaving her laying in the ring.

It was back to singles action for the next match as Mercedes Martinez faced LuFisto.

Now this was a lot better times two. It began with Martinez attacked Fisto as she made her entrance. This saw that start of a brawl all around ringside before they eventually made it to the ring. Once they got there they continued the good work, but it wasn’t long before they were brawling at ringside once again, with the two ladies taking it in turns to roll back into the ring to break up the referee’s count.

The highlight of the match soon followed when Fisto took Martinez out with a moonsault to the floor, and when they’d recovered from their exertions they began brawling once again, this time making it into the front row.

That was enough for the frustrated official as he threw the match out. That didn’t matter to our ladies though as they continued fighting until the pink-shirted security team separated them.

After the esteemed Stephane Bruyere announced a few appearances for the next show before getting involved in the on-going brawl between Martinez and Fisto it was on to the next match as the masked Pink Flash Kira went up against She Nay Nay.

Before the match began Nay complained about having to wrestler a “super-hero”. This resulted in Kira chasing her around ringside and into the ring. Kira had her moments early on, but it wasn’t long before Nay took control. Those sequences were pretty good, especially Nay’s kerb stomp.

Kira soon made her comeback though, and although Nay tried to take her to the ground so she could apply an arm and shoulder submission Kira countered with a roll-up for the winning pin.

As Kira celebrated her win the Canadian Ninjaz returned to the ring for a sneak attack, using a chair as a choking aid. Portia Perez then grabbed the microphone and demanded that they get their shot at the Shimmer Tag Team titles there and then.

The champion, Courtney Rush and Sara Del Ray, made an appearance, and after Del Rey tried to give the challengers her title belt Rush accepted the challenge.

This one didn’t last that long. Rush got the punching bag treatment early on, but when she went to make the tag Del Rey did the old Mega Powers trick and jumped down from the apron, leaving Rush to fight on alone.

This she did, but there was only so much she could do, and after Matthews hit her in the ribs with a chair Perez took her out with a Superkick for the title winning pin.

Next up was the encounter between Cheerleader Melissa and K.C. Spinelli.

We had lots of stalling at the beginning, mainly because Spinelli tried to get the fans to join her in a cheerleader-like chant. When the action eventually began it was quite entertaining. Spinelli attacked as soon as the bell sounded, but it wasn’t long before Melissa was taking her to the proverbial woodshed. This only lasted for a few moments until Spinelli took the upper hand once more.

But despite her best efforts Spinelli couldn’t get the win, and when Melisa took her down with her version of White Noise it was all over. A three count later and Melisa had the win.

Then it was back to tag team action, this time of the six women variety as the Midwest Militia team of Jessica Havok, Sassy Stephie and Allysin Kay, accompanied by Mademoiselle Rachelle, faced the Rush Revolution team of Courtney Rush, Xandra Bale and Cat Power, accompanied by Mary Lee Rose.

This was another one that had lots of stalling at the beginning, mainly because of the Militia’s reluctance to get into the ring. When they eventually made their move it signalled the start of a mass brawl. The referee soon brought normality to the proceedings as the Militia used Rush’s injured ribs for target practice, and when she made it back to her corner it signalled the start of the second mass brawl, which involved a spot of high flying and an in-ring brawl between the ringside supporters.

It was then that Havok got back into the ring, and one by one she rook Rush’s team down. Her final move saw her countering Bale’s top rope hurricanrana attempt with a sit-down powerbomb for the winning pin.

The main event saw Sara Del Rey challenging Kalamity for the Femmes Fatales International title.

For me this was an example of how Del Rey is being completely underutilised by her current employers. She put in a performance that any of her male counterparts would be proud of. Everything she did looked so good, especially her hard hitting chops and kicks. It really was a top notch performance, the likes of which you’d never see from a Knockout or a Diva. Kalamity wasn’t far behind her performance-wise. Her work was solid and a lot more entertaining than many on the undercard.

Despite her best efforts Del Rey came up short. After she missed a cannonball in the corner Kalamity came across the ring and connecting with a flying forearm as she was slumped in the corner. She then took her out with the Kalamity Driver for the winning pin.

In conclusion - I have to admit that I kind of have mixed feelings about this particular release.

Some of the performances early on where somewhat lacking, but as the show went on the match quality definitely improved, with the final three matches proving to be a great example of what women’s wrestling should be about.

As for my match of the night that particular no-prize is going to the main event title match between Sara Del Rey and Kalamity. Nice work from all concerned in that one.

So with all of that out of the way it’s time to deliver my final verdict as Femmes Fatales IX gets the thumbs up. A good show let down by it’s early matches.

With thanks to the powers that be for supplying a copy of this release. NCW Femmes Fatales IX is available to buy online at www.ncw.qc.ca.

WWE Hell in a Cell 2012 - DVD Review

2013-05-07T00:43:00.001+01:00

It’s time for another of those déjà vu reviews where we take a look at a DVD release of a television show I’ve already seen, and this time around we’re looking at a show that introduced a new player to the main event scene. The DVD in question is WWE Hell in a Cell 2012.

The show began with everyone’s favourite Mexican moneybags Alberto Del Rio taking on the Viper Randy Orton.

As show openers go this was pretty decent. The performances of both men were sound, as was the storyline. Del Rio, as is his custom, dominated much of the early going as he worked over Orton’s left arm in preparation for the cross arm breaker. Orton had his moments, but they were somewhat fleeting.

As the match progressed Orton found himself frustrated time and time again until he eventually came back into the match with his trademark moves. It didn’t last long though as Del Rio managed to synch in his arm breaker for the second time, only for Orton to counter with a roll-up, with Del Rio having to release the hold or be pinned.

Moments later it was all over. As the Mexican went for his running enziguri Orton countered with an RKO for the winning pin.

The first title match of the show saw Team Hell No, Daniel Bryan and Kane, defending the Tag Team titles against Team Rhodes Scholars, Cody Rhodes and Damian Sandow.

As the match began our esteemed announcers speculated about whether Kane and Bryan could get along. Well, they did, to start off with, as they doubled up on Rhodes to good effect. However, it wasn’t long before Rhodes and Sandow began to use Kane’s legs for target practice.

Although Kane managed to get back to his corner so Bryan could dish out some punishment it wasn’t long before the challengers began to use Bryan as their crash test dummy. If anything he took more punishment than his partner, and for quite a while it looked like the titles could change hands.

Then Bryan managed to get the tag to Kane, and the Big Red Machine began to take the opposition apart. But just when he was about to take Rhodes down with the choke slam Bryan tagged himself back into the match and took Rhodes out with a diving head butt.

It looked all over as Bryan made the cover, until Kane pulled Bryan away as the referee was about to finish the count. Thus began the arguing part of the contest, which got even worse when Bryan clobbered Kane with an inadvertent flying knee at ringside.

Back in the ring Rhodes took Bryan out with the Cross Rhodes, only for Kane to break up what looked like a title-winning pin. The masked man then went ape as he tore into Rhodes and Sandow, and when the referee couldn’t control him he called for the disqualification. This led to even more arguing and shoving between the champions before Bryan grabbed his title belt and stormed off in a huff.

The championship action continued with Kofi Kingston defending the Intercontinental title against the Miz.

Now this was a pretty decent encounter. Both guys went for their respective finishers early on before Miz took control. The action moved along nicely as Kingston made his comeback, but when Miz draped his man’s leg over his shoulder and dropped down to the mat the intensity was taken up a notch of two.

Miz began to work over Kingston’s bad wheel, stripping away the padding so he could do even greater damage, and when he went for a half Boston Kingston’s title reign looked in jeopardy.

But once again Kingston came back, and after a fast exchange of moves and pin attempts Kingston took Miz down with the Trouble in Paradise kick for the winning pin.

Yet more title action followed as Antonio Cesaro defended the United States title against Justin Gabriel.

In many ways this had similarities with the previous match, mainly with the heel going up against a high-flying opponent. It was also another decent encounter. Cesaro put in another fine performance, showing that he’s one of WWE’s best recruits from the Ring of Honor proving ground. Everything he did just looked so good. Mind you, you could say the same about Gabriel, one of the most talented guys on the roster, but one of the most under utilised as well.

So the two good performances here made for a very good match, and when Cesaro took Gabriel out with an uppercut as he flew over the top rope it was all over. Cesaro effortlessly lifted his man back into the ring so he could seal the deal with the Neutralizer.

Then it was back to non-title action as Rey Mysterio and Sin Cara took on the Prime Time Players, Darren Young and Titus O’Neil.

As tag team matches go this was a pretty enjoyable encounter, one that certainly ticked all the right boxes. The masked men looked pretty decent, as did the Players, and even though I’m not really a big fan of theirs I have to admit they put in a good stint here. They did a good job of controlling the action, especially when they used Cara as their crash test dummy.

Eventually Cara managed to shake off the cobwebs so he could get the tag to Mysterio, and after sending big O’Neil flying over the top rope, where he was neatly dispatched by Cara, Mysterio took Young out with his 619/top rope splash combination for the winning pin.

The Smackdown main event followed as Sheamus defended the World title against the Big Show.

What we had here was one of the simplest ways of telling a story you could get. It’s something that’s been done for decades, not just in the wrestling business but in films and television as well, and as simple as it may be it was also very effective.

You had the fighting champion in Sheamus going up against a seemingly unbeatable challenger in the Big Show, and even though it won’t go down in history as a technical classic it will be remembered as a great match.

This was a fight, pure and simple, with Sheamus throwing all of his powerful weapons at Show. But no matter what he did he just couldn’t put the big guy away. Show went on to dominate the proceedings. At times he threw the Irishman around like a stuffed toy, and at other times he beat the proverbial out of him. The champion, however, wouldn’t stay down, and as the match went on Show became frustrated with his inability to put Sheamus away.

Sheamus’ comebacks were somewhat fleeting, but when Show countered the Brogue Kick attempt with his big knockout punch it looked all over bar the shouting, but to the surprise of everyone Sheamus kicked out of the pin.

Moments later Sheamus finally managed to take show down with the Brogue Kick, and when the big man kicked out of the pin Sheamus was left to wonder what he had to do to put his challenger away.

Sheamus went for the kick again a few moments later, only for Show to connect with another knockout blow as he came running in. A three count later and Show had finally put Sheamus away to win the World title.

The ladies were up next as Eve Torres defended the Divas title against Layla and Kaitlyn.

The filler material wasn’t too bad this time around. It began with Layla and Kaitlyn doubling up on Eve, but that little alliance only lasted a couple of minutes until Layla tried to roll Kaitlyn up for the pin. The action moved along nicely as the two challengers put together a sequence which saw numerous pin attempts until Eve broke up the action.

In the end Kaitlyn put Layla away with a Powerslam, but when she went for the cover Eve came down from the top rope and broke up the pin with a senton. She then pushed Kaitlyn out of the way to take the title retaining pin.

The main event saw C.M. Punk, accompanied by Paul Heyman, defending the WWE title against Ryback in a Hell in a Cell match.

As for as storytelling goes this was perfect. You had the cowardly heel champion, scared out of his wits after trying to get out of the match all night, going up against the seemingly unstoppable and undefeated challenger, and everything they did made perfect sense.

It began with Punk heading to the proverbial hills as he tried to avoid Ryback at all costs. Eventually physical contact was made as Ryback tried to teat Punk apart. At first Punk seemed powerless against his challenger, but after a little help from a fire extinguisher the champion began to take control.

He couldn’t keep the big man down for long though as Ryback came back into the match. But just when he was about to put Punk away with his Shell Shocked finisher the referee stopped him before delivering a low blow. Punk then rolled Ryback up, and one very fast count later he had retained his title.

Needless to say that our challenger was none too pleased with the way things turned out. Punk, Heyman and the referee screamed at the outside official to unlock the cage, but it wasn’t long before the big man managed to get hold of the ref, taking him down with his meat hook clothesline before press slamming him from the ring and into the side of the cage.

With the cage door finally unlocked Ryback went after Punk, and as Heyman ran for cover Punk climbed the cage with Ryback in hot pursuit. The monster soon caught up with the champion as he finally took him out with the Shell Shock on top of the cage.

Only one extra on this release, with Matt Striker interviewing Sheamus backstage.

In conclusion - when I first reviewed this show last October I enjoyed it greatly, and my opinion hasn’t changed after this second viewing.

Hell in a Cell was another quality outing. There were quite a few good matches here, and even though there was only one cell match the action we saw in that particular encounter more than made up for that slight disappointment.

As for my match of the night I originally gave the no-prize to the Sheamus/Big Show encounter, and I see no reason to change that opinion. As for my overall conclusion I’m going to give this the big thumbs up once again.

With thanks to Fremantle Media for supplying a copy of this release. WWE Hell in a Cell 2012 is available to buy online at www.wwedvd.co.uk.

UFC 159 Jones vs Sonnen on ESPN - TV Review

2013-04-30T22:30:00.004+01:00

It was the battle of the Ultimate Fighter coaches as the Ultimate Fighting Championship presented UFC 159, shown live in the early hours of this past Sunday morning on ESPN here in Britain.

The show began with the prelims and the bantamweight encounter between Bryan Caraway and Johny Bedford.

This was a pretty good fight. Caraway, who took the fight on six day’s notice, found a chink in his man’s defensive armour early on, and with Bedford looking a little vulnerable against Caraway’s left it became his go to punch. Bedford also got in some good shots, although it wasn’t long before he began to display the scars of battle.

As far as the ground game goes Caraway ruled that particular domain. He easily controlled the action in the first round when he took Bedford’s back and score with a late takedown.

It was the same story in the other rounds as well, and although Bedford had a brief moment of success with an armbar attempt Caraway survived that scare, and as the fight neared it’s conclusion Caraway managed to lock in a guillotine choke, with Bedford tapping out to give Caraway the submission win.

Action from the women’s bantamweight division followed as Sara McMann faced Sheila Gaff.

When Gaff began her stint by running across the cage you knew that it could end in one of two ways. Unfortunately for Gaff she quickly found herself on the receiving end of a McMann takedown. McMann did a good job of controlling the action on the ground, and although this tactic wasn’t to everyone’s liking it kept her on top until the referee stood them up.

Once they were back on their feet Gaff connected with a series of knees to the mid-section, but when McMann took the fight to the ground again it was all over bar the shouting. McMann soon moved into the crucifix position so she could deliver a spot of ground and pound, and with the German unable to defend herself the referee stepped in to give McMann the TKO win.

Then it was on to the light heavyweight division and the fight between Gian Villante and Ovince Saint-Preux.

Now this was an interesting one, and it will be remembered for it’s poor refereeing decision. They began the fight by exchanging kicks, and as the first round went on it became a nice little battle with OSP stuffing Villante’s takedown attempts and getting in some good shots.

As round one became round two OSP began to slow down quite a bit. He looked a different fighter to the one that had some success a few minutes before, and that’s when Villante began to easily defend his takedown and striking attempts.

Then, just a few seconds into the final round, OSP inadvertently poked Villante in the left eye, and when Villante said he couldn’t see the referee immediately called the fight instead of giving him time to recover. Both fighters were clearly mystified by this decision.

Which meant that the judges came into play as OSP took the majority technical decision.

The final preliminary fight featured lightweight action as Rustam Khabilov went up against Yancy Medeiros.

They say that history repeats itself. Well, the history that this fight repeated happened just a few minutes before. It started out as a promising encounter, with Medeiros getting in some good blows before Khabilov’s grappling came into play.

But when Khabilov scored with a takedown Medeiros’ left hand smashed into the mat, breaking his finger. He only realised the extent of his injury a few seconds later. The referee immediately called the fight, giving Khabilov the TKO win.

After a second showing of the Gaff/McMann encounter it was on to the main show and more lightweight action as Jim Miller faced Pat Healy.

This proved to be a very enjoyable encounter, especially if you’re quite partial to a bit of ground fighting. Although there were a few good striking exchanges the majority of the action was on the mat, and in the first round it was Miller who took control. He managed to survive Healy’s armbar attempt early on, and as the round came to an end he looked like he was going to get the win after a sustained period of ground and pound.

Healy began round two with a damaged right eye, but that didn’t stop him from taking control of the fight when the action went back down to the ground. It looked almost effortless as he transitioned.

His best work came in the third round, By this time Miller looked exhausted as he took in big gulps of air, and as the fight neared it’s conclusion Healy took his man’s back and synched in a rear naked choke, and with Miller passing out the referee called the fight to give Healy the submission win.

Then it was back to light heavyweight as Phil Davis took on Vinny Magalhaes.

This certainly proved to be an interesting encounter. For nearly 15 minutes Davis showed how much his striking game has improved, while Magalhaes probably left quite a few people scratching their heads.

Davis’ performance was top notch throughout. From the moment he connected with a head kick that rocked his man he did a good job of controlling the action. Mind you, that may be because Magalhaes’ performance was somewhat lacking.

The Brazilian’s only real good moment came in the first during the only moment of ground fighting when he took Davis’ back. Davis managed to escape though, and whenever he tried to take the fight to the ground again Davis either defended or declined the invitation to enter his guard.

As for Davis he kept up his performance levels throughout the fight, and there were times when Magalhaes became a static target as Davis reeled off a succession of jabs.

So with the fight going the distance the judges were called upon again as Davis took the unanimous decision.

Heavyweight action followed as Roy Nelson went up against Cheick Kongo.

The shortest fight on the card proved to be a showcase for the somewhat ordinary looking guy. After a brief feeling out period Nelson instigated a clinch against the cage, and even though Kongo tried to move his way out of it Nelson kept the upper hand until the referee separated them.

Some though that separation was a bit premature. In reality it was the beginning of the end. Seconds later Nelson connected with a big right that sent Kongo crashing. The referee quickly stepped in to give Nelson the knockout win.

The co-main event featured middleweight action as Michael Bisping took on Alan Belcher.

This was another of those fights where history repeated itself. For almost three rounds entire rounds Bisping put on a sound display of striking. It was a top notch performance, although in truth Belcher’s chosen styles was more or less inviting the Brit to attack.

As Bisping rolled off combination after combination Belcher fought most of the fight with his hands down, and as the fight went on and Belcher began to slow down Bisping began to use him for target practice.

When the fight was just 30 seconds from the end and it looked like it was going the distance Bisping inadvertently poked Belcher in the eye. Belcher fell to the mat, and as the blood came out the doctors and the referee brought the proceedings to an end.

Which meant that the judges had to render another technical decision as all three scored in favour of Bisping.

The main event saw Chael Sonnen challenging Jon Jones for the Light Heavyweight title.

So after all the hype and all the insults it was finally down to the matter and hand, and these two didn’t bother with a feeling out period. When Jones scored with the early takedown it was a sign of things to come. They didn’t stay down there long, and it was during a brief clinch against the cage that Sonnen had his best moments.

But when Jones took the fight to the ground again he regained control. Sonnen seemed unable to do anything of note, and as the round entered it’s final stages Jones went to work with the ground and pound, and it wasn’t long before the referee stepped in to give Jones the title retaining TKO win. Not bad for a guy who had a broken foot and didn’t even know about it!

With plenty of time left on the clock it was on to filler material in the form of the featherweight encounter between Steven Siler and Kurt Holobaugh.

I’m glad they showed this one because it was a pretty entertaining three round affair.

Siler put in a good performance in the first, especially with his ground work. It looked like he was going to get the win when he took Holobaugh’s back and locked in a rear naked choke. Holobaugh managed to survive this scare, and when the second round began it was his turn to take control. He went for a couple of guillotines but couldn’t quite get in the right position to lock them in properly.

Holobaugh continued his good work into the early stages of the third until Siler came back and regained control. It wasn’t long before Siler took his man’s back again, and although he went looking for a rear naked choke again Holobaugh survived, making it to the end of the fight.

Which meant that the judges came into play with all three in agreement as Siler took the unanimous decision.

In conclusion - despite two of the fights ending after accidental eye pokes UFC 159 proved to be another great outing for Dana White and his band of merry men.

The performance of Jon Jones as he outplayed Chael Sonnen at his own game once again proved just how good that guy is, and you have to wonder if there is anyone in the division with a chance of taking him out.

As for the rest of the card it was packed with great performances. Naturally I’m going to praise the efforts of my fellow countryman Michael Bisping, but I’m going to praise the work of Jim Miller and Pat Healy, who take the no-prize for fight of the night this time around.

So with all of that business out of the way there’s just one more thing to do, and that’s to give UFC 159 the thumbs up. Thankfully that thumb has never been broken though!

A.J. Styles: Styles Clash - DVD Review

2013-04-28T01:11:00.001+01:00

We’re taking a trip into Ring of Honor territory once again, and this time around we’re looking at another DVD tribute to a former employee. The man in question is A.J. Styles, and the two disc set is entitled Styles Clash.

And as is the custom with these things let’s start at the beginning with….

Disc One
April 27th, 2002
The collection begins with our man facing Low Ki at A Night of Appreciation.

There’s an old saying - start as you mean to go on - and after seeing this match I hope this collection is like this throughout.

These two went at it full tilt for nearly 20 minutes, and if Styles was looking to make a lasting impression on his ROH debut then he certainly achieved what he set out to do. They held nothing back as they beat the proverbial out of each other. It really was that good, and they even had the fans giving them a standing ovation before the match had even ended.

Sadly only one man could go over, and the end saw Styles countering the Ki Crusher before falling to a small package as Ki took the win.

June 22nd, 2002
Our man goes up against Jerry Lynn at Road to the Title.

There was a lot on the line in this one, with the winner facing Christopher Daniels for a spot in the match to determine the first ever ROH Champion.

While the opener may have been a hard hitting affair this was a highly technical one. Lynn is the kind of wrestler who can have a good match with anyone, even with his eyes closed. But against the likes of Styles he had a great one.

These two were perfect for each other. Everything they did looked so effortless and smooth. It was the sort of match you could watch time and time again. It was also one of those matches you didn’t want to end, but because of the tournament format it had to, and that end saw Styles countering Lynn’s cradle piledriver attempt with the Styles Clash for the winning pin.

Later in the show Styles faced Christopher Daniels for that spot in the ROH title match.

If you’ve only seen these two against each other in TNA then this match will definitely push all your buttons. With Simply Luscious watching from ringside they put together a worthy instalment in their storied rivalry. It was so good and so intense you actually forgot that they’d already had some hard matches on this show.

All of the big moves and sequences were there, and if anything I actually found this more enjoyable than their TNA encounters. Maybe that’s different bosses want different things from their workers.

It was the Fallen Angel who emerged victorious here. When Styles came off the ropes and went to take Daniels down with his reverse DDT Daniels blocked the move and took our man down with his Last Rites neck breaker for the win.

August 24th, 2002
Our man faces Low Ki once again, and this time around he’s challenging him for the World title at Honor Invades Boston.

In many ways this was quite similar to their previous encounter, but it had just enough differences to keep it interesting. It wasn’t quite as frantic as the first match, but it still featured a ton of great action. The hard hitting exchanges were as brutal as before, and the technical transitions, particularly on the ground where they countered each other’s submission attempts were great as always.

Despite Styles’ best attempts Ki ended his first title defence with a victory, taking the winning pin after his KI Crusher finisher.

January 11th, 2003
This time Styles teams with Ki as they face World Champion Xavier and co-holder of the Tag Team titles Christopher Daniels in a no holds barred match at Revenge on the Prophecy. Although when I say no holds barred there isn’t a no DQ rule in effect.

Now this was a heated battle. With the Prophecy’s newest member Allison Danger watching on from ringside the two teams gave us a hard hitting 30 minute encounter.

It began with a mass brawl around ringside before it settled down into a regular match, and with the wrestlers allowed to use the ropes to aid their submissions this meant there were some very inventive moves on display.

Both Ki and Styles took the punching bag treatment before the big brawl resumed, with Ki getting a measure of revenge on Xavier for the way he lost the title when he put a concrete block on his chest and clobbered it with a chair.

Then we saw the move of the match. After Daniels took Styles down with the Angels Wings he looked to do the same move on the ring apron. Styles managed to block the move, and a few seconds later he took Daniels apart with a Styles Clash through the very table that Daniels himself had set up at ringside.

Xavier, now recovered, then went to see what had happened to his partner as he held his injured ribs. As he looked on from the ring Ki came up from behind and locked in a rope-assisted Dragon Sleeper. Xavier had no choice but to tap out.

March 15th, 2003
Our man teams with the Amazing Red as they challenge Daniels and Xavier for the Tag Team titles at Expect the Unexpected.

This may not have been as heated as the big grudge match but it was still jam packed with action and a nice little storyline throughout.

When Xavier took a shot to the head early on it looked like he’d suffered a concussion, and although he joined Daniels in doubling up on Styles when they controlled the match his situation would come into play later in the match.

As for the rest of this encounter I think fast and furious would be the best way to describe this. Both teams did extremely well in an encounter that had everything, from exciting double team moves to some nice sequences and a brawl between ringside Allison Danger and Alexis Laree, the future Mickie James.

As for the aforementioned concussion, as the match went on Xavier began to look the worse for wear, and he became a passenger as Daniels tried to take Styles down with his trademark moves, the Angels Wings and the BME.

Styles managed to fight back though, and it wasn’t long before he took Daniels out with the Styles Clash for the winning pin.

June 14th, 2003
Our man goes back to singles action as he faces Paul London at Night of the Grudges.

This one had a bit of back story to it. London was originally meant to be Styles’ partner, but emergency surgery meant that he had to pull out of their title match against Daniels and Xavier. Styles chose Red as his replacement, and the rest is history.

Oh, and this was also for the number one contender’s trophy.

When I saw the first match of this collection I thought that it couldn’t get much better than that. Then I saw this one, and it was even better.

It was twenty minutes of flawless action between two evenly-matched wrestlers. It began as a friendly rivalry with a few mind games before they settled down to give us a tremendous encounter.

For me this was a reminder of just how good London is. In fact I would even go as far as saying that London was the better wrestler in this match.

They hit each other with everything they had. The early exchanges were good, the exchanges at ringside were great, and everything after that was even better.

London did a good job of working over his man’s legs, and even though Styles managed a few comebacks London always looked in control as he set up the figure four leglock.

As the action moved on Styles came back again, but he was clearly hampered by his injured wheel. The best example of this was when he took London down with the Styles Clash. The pain in his leg meant that he didn’t go for the immediate cover, and when he did London kicked out, having had time to recover.

With so much great action it seemed fitting that this match ended in the way it did. When Styles took his man down with a bridging back suplex the referee counted with both hands, and after a brief chat with the ring announcer it was revealed that the match had been declared a draw because both men had been pinned.

July 19th, 2003
Our man teams with Red once more as they defend the Tag Team Championship against the Briscoes at Death Before Dishonor.

This was the third match in their series, and with a no rematch clause that affected all parties it meant that there was a lot more than a couple of title belts on the line.

Red came into this one hampered by a knee injury, and although he was able to pull off a few moves early on it wasn’t long before the Briscoes used his injured limb for target practice.

It was during these sequences that Jay and Mark began to use heel-like tactics, at one point they even went as far as spitting at Styles as he watched from the ring apron. Red eventually made it back to his corner for the tag, and as the bodies began to fly around the ring both teams came close to getting the final pin.

In the end though it was the champions who came out on top. As Jay was about to take Styles down with the Jay Driller Red came back and took him out with a Shining Wizard. One Styles Clash later and our man had the winning pin.

October 16th, 2003
The final match on this disc sees our man going up against C.M. Punk at Tradition Continues.

This would be considered a dream match if it was held today. Mind you, it was a pretty high profile match back then.

Stripped of the Tag Team titles because of Red’s knee injury Styles was trying to get into the top five rankings so he could get a shot at the World title, and with Punk sharing those aspirations it made this a more interesting encounter.

The early stages reminded me of the Low Ki encounters. As with those matches they spent the first few moments on the ground exchanging various holds, and at times it seemed more like an MMA fight than a wrestling match. The action then moved along nicely. These two were well suited to each other, and that’s what made this encounter so enjoyable.

The best sequences came towards the end. With Both men having defended against the other’s finisher Punk went for a Shining Wizard, only for Styles to catch him in mid-flight before taking him down with the Styles Clash.

Disc Two
November 1st, 2003
Our man goes up against another future WWE superstar as he faces Bryan Danielson at Main Event Spectacles, with the winner getting a shot at the World title.

If I recall correctly this one was also on the first Danielson compilation that ROH released a while back. What reminded me of that was when the announcers decided to leave the commentary table because they thought a match of this calibre could speak for itself.

They were right, and I’m glad I got to see this again because what we had here was a technical classic, and in a way it was completely unlike any of the stuff Styles had been doing anywhere else.

The storyline was simple, Danielson worked over Styles’ arm, Styles worked over Danielson’s leg, and they traded advantageous positions as they worked towards the finish. It was as simple as that, and that’s what made this match so good, because it was wrestlers just wrestling, with a few hard hitting exchanges and hardly any high spots thrown into the mix.

In the end it was Styles who came out on top. Having survived Dragon’s cross arm breaker attempt he finally managed to finish his man with the Styles Clash for the winning pin.

November 29th, 2003
Our man, having won the number one contenders trophy, now challenges Samoa Joe for the World title at War of the Wire.

This was the perfect follow-up to the technical master class with Danielson, a hard hitting encounter that ticked all the right boxes.

This was the Samoa Joe we rarely get to see these days, a virtual war machine who dominates his opponents, mixing technical mastery with hard hitting blows and a touch of high flying finesse.

There were times when these two were beating the proverbial out of each other, and it made for great viewing as Styles came extremely close to winning the title. But when Joe kicked out of the pin after the Styles Clash the challenger knew he’d need something special to get the job done. It never came, and when Joe locked in what could only be described as a cross between a rear naked choke and a Camel Clutch Styles passed out to give the champion the win.

January 10th, 2004
Our man takes on Homicide at The Battle Lines are Drawn.

As the match began our esteemed announcers described this as an encounter between the two MVPs of 2003. As I didn’t watch much ROH back then that’s something I can’t corroborate, but I can sat that this was a very good match.

Once again Styles was up against a man who could match him move for move and hold for hold. In that respect they were quite equal. There was one particularly scary moment when Homicide took to the air as he took Styles out with a suicide dive that sent him into the front row. Several officials came out to check on his condition before he stood up favouring his right shoulder and announcing that he would continue.

Despite the injury he still managed to keep up with Styles, and although he put in a great effort it wasn’t enough to stop his man from getting the win after the Styles Clash.

February 14th, 2004
Our man faces C.M. Punk once more, this time in the final of the Pure title tournament at the Second Anniversary show.

You might recall that I reviewed this match a few weeks ago. I enjoyed it then, and I enjoyed it once again. It was a fine example of why I enjoyed watching these Pure division matches, no brawling, no weapon shots, just great wrestling.

Styles came out on top in this one, taking Punk down with a Super Styles Clash from the second rope to win his only singles title in ROH.

February 25th, 2005
Our man returns to ROH after an extended absence to face Prince Nana’s crown jewel Jimmy Rave at Third Anniversary Celebrations Part 2.

The back story behind this one was simple. Styles had mentored Rave before he left the company, and since than Rave had disrespected him, joining The Embassy and using the Styles Clash as his finisher, renaming it the Rave Clash.

This was touted as a one night only return for Styles, and this extremely heated affair was a great way for him to make his return. It had all the elements that a big grudge match should have, the stare down at the beginning, the brawl at ringside and through the crowd, and the manager jumping around like a headless chicken whenever his man was in trouble.

Although this was a grudge match the best parts were the technical exchanges between the two, with Rave showing that he was more than capable of hanging with his former mentor. As for the finish, Nana played his role perfectly. He jumped onto the apron when his man looked in trouble, and with the referee distracted Rave sprayed an aerosol into Styles’ eyes. The referee then turned his attention back to the matter at hand, counting the pin as Rave rolled Styles up for the winning pin.

July 16th, 2005
Turns out it wasn’t for one night only as our man faces Roderick Strong at Fate of an Angel.

This was touted as a dream match by our esteemed announcers, and even though I may not have agreed with that sentiment at the time I probably would agree with it now.

Why? Because this was an excellent encounter, a 15 minute hard hitting affair with tones of great sequences. It began as a friendly enough rivalry, but it wasn’t long before Strong took control with the first of his many back breaker variations, this time slamming his man onto the ring apron. Then, as Styles tried to recover on the floor Strong kicked him in the back, sending him crashing into the ringside barrier.

From there Strong showed what a great technician he is as he worked over Styles’ back. Our man made a brief comeback but soon found himself in the Stronghold, barely making it to the ropes to survive.

Strong then went to take Styles out with a half nelson suplex, but our man quickly countered as he took Strong down with the Styles Clash for the winning pin.

July 23rd, 2005
Our man faces Jimmy Rave once again, this time in a street fight at The Homecoming.

Dressed in tee shirts and jeans, and with their hands taped up, these two came to fight, and this they did, in the ring, around ringside, through the crowd and back again. It certainly was a very heated battle, and at one point Styles busted Rave open after a succession of head butts. In fact there were so many of these they everyone lost count.

Prince Nana and his thugs tried to interfere until Styles took them all out at the same time with a dive over the top rope, but just when it looked like he was about to put Rave away Alex Shelley stormed the ring and took Styles out with his Shell Shocked move. A now-recovered Rave then sealed the win after taking Styles down with the Rave Clash.

August 27th, 2005
Our man faces international opposition in the form of CIMA at Dragon Gate Invasion.

This was probably the most unique match style-wise on this collection, and it made for great viewing. CIMA put in a really impressive performance here as he matched Styles move for move early on, and as the match progressed both guys began to introduce their A-games into the equation. The most impressive move of the match saw CIMA going coast to coast to dropkick Styles while he was hanging upside down.

In the end the foreign visitor came out on top. Styles went to put his man away with the Styles Clash, only for CIMA to counter with a cradle and a roll-up for the pin.

September 17th, 2005
It’s the final match of the collection, and our man, with Mick Foley in his corner, faces Jimmy Rave for a third time in a clash versus clash match at Glory by Honor IV.

The rules for this one were simple - no time limit, no pins, no submissions, no count outs, no disqualifications, with the winner the first man to use their particular version of the Clash move declared the winner. Oh, and the loser was banned from ever using that move again.

So with no referee needed and the list of things they couldn’t do greatly diminished these two put on a worthy feud-ending encounter. It wasn’t as heated as the street fight but it was still pretty good.

With Foley making sure that Prince Nana and his boys kept away Styles and Rave put together a match that was part-brawl part-technical. It started off in the normal way, well, normal without a referee that is, before the action was taken up a notch of two as they brought out the wood.

The holy you know what moment came when Styles suplexed Rave through a ringside table. Mind you, the moment he took Rave down with a brain buster on a chair wasn’t that far behind.

Towards the end a group of Nana’s flunkies came running in. Foley soon sent them running for cover before Styles finally reclaimed his move and took Rave out with a Super Styles Clash through a table.

In conclusion - remember, way back when, when I said how much I enjoyed the first match of this collection?

Well, that’s how I feel about this entire set. Styles Clash is the perfect chronicle of our man’s ROH career. It shows that he’s capable of putting on great matches no matter what the style or stipulation.

But what’s also great about this is that like other ROH collections it contains a veritable who’s who of stars who either graced the main stages before or after their ROH tenures. If you include Styles himself there’s six former and future World Champions here.

So with all of that being said there’s just one more thing to do, and that’s to give this collection the big thumbs up.

With thanks to the powers that be for supplying a copy of this release. A.J. Styles: Styles Clash is available to buy online at www.rohwrestling.com.

UFC Henderson vs Melendez on ESPN - TV Review

2013-04-22T23:39:00.003+01:00

It’s time to step into the Octagon once again as we take a look at the UFC’s latest show on America’s Fox network, shown live in the early hours of this past Sunday morning on ESPN here in Britain.

The broadcast began in the welterweight division with Matt Brown taking on Jordan Mein.

This was a great way to start the show, a back and forth battle that had you on the edge of your seat, or sitting up in bed in my case. These two began exchanging from the start. One would hurt the other, only for the other to come back a few seconds later and hurt the one.

But when Mein delivered a blow to the body Browne went down, and it looked like Mein was going for the ground and pound. When he got there though he soon found himself in Brown’s triangle attempt. He managed to survive this particular submission attempt as they barely made it to the end of the round.

When the second round began Brown was all over his man like a cheap suit. A big right broke Mein’s nose, and it wasn’t long before he slumped to the ground. Brown continued his assault until the referee stopped the fight to give Brown the TKO win.

Lightweight action followed as Nate Diaz went up against Josh Thomson.

The great action that began in the previous fight continued into this encounter. It began with Diaz stalking his man around the cage, backing him up against the cage. This didn’t put Thomson off though as he connected with a series of kicks, one of which connected to the side of Diaz’s head.

As the round went on Thomson began to add a few punches into the mix, and with Diaz upping his game this was turning into a great bout. When the second round began the swelling on Diaz’s right knee was apparent for all to see. It didn’t hamper him as they engaged in a few clinches against the cage, one of which involved an inadvertent south of the border knee from Diaz.

Diaz took the fight to the ground briefly, and when they got back to their feet It wasn’t long before a kick to the head from Thomson staggered Diaz. Thomson followed up with some more mores as Diaz went down, and it wasn’t long before the referee stepped in to give Thomson the TKO win.

Then it was on to the heavyweight division as Frank Mir faced Daniel Cormier.

This may not have been the most spectacular fight I’ve seen but it certainly was one of the most interesting. Cormier was able to impose his will on the fight for the entire three rounds. His tactics were simple, get Mir up against the fence and grind him down. He did this perfectly, occasionally breaking away so he could deliver some hard shots to the body. It may not have looked pretty, and it may not have played well with those in attendance, but it was highly effective way of shutting Mir down.

The former champion had his moments, mainly in the third round when he managed to get off a few good strikes, but it wasn’t long before Cormier shut him down again.

With the fight going the distance it was put in the hands of the judges. No disagreements here as they gave everything to Cormier.

The main event saw Gilbert Melendez challenging Benson Henderson for the Lightweight title.

This proved to be an intriguing five round affair, one of those fights that looked like it could go either way. Melendez began strongly. His striking looked crisp, and whenever Henderson went for a body kick Melendez caught it, putting his man on his backside at one point.

Everything he did just looked so good, but as the fight progressed Henderson began to catch up to his challenger, asserting his authority on the proceedings. It really was a joy to watch as two of the best in the world went at it, and even though we didn’t see much ground work that didn’t matter, because as the old saying goes these two were leaving everything in the cage.

By the time the fifth round started it looked like it could go either way, and although Melendez was slowing down he was still able to get in a few good shots, as did Henderson.

But with the fight going the distance the judges were called upon once again. This time around they couldn’t agree on the outcome as Henderson took the split decision.

In conclusion - the UFC’s latest foray into Fox’s territory proved to be a very good show.

All of the fights delivered entertainment-wise, although I’m sure there will be some who won’t say that about the Mir/Cormier encounter, and given the way the Henderson/Melendez encounter turned out I wouldn’t be surprised if we see a re-match somewhere down the line, perhaps later this year.

As for my fight of the night no-prize I’m going to plump for the aforementioned Henderson/Melendez fight. It was everything a UFC main event should be.

So with all of that out of the way there’s only one more thing left to do, and that’s to give this show the thumbs up.

The Best of the Dynamite Kid Volumes 1 & 2 - DVD Review

2013-04-17T23:25:00.000+01:00

He is the greatest wrestler the United Kingdom has ever produced, and my second favourite wrestler of all time. He’s inspired countless others over the past 30 years or so, and now he’s getting The Two Sheds Review treatment.

The man in question is Tommy Billington, the Dynamite Kid, and courtesy of my good friends at the British Wrestling DVDs website we’re now going to take a look at some of his matches with the first two volumes of The Best of the Dynamite Kid series.

The majority of these matches are from what has become known as the World of Sport era, when wrestling had a regular slot every Saturday afternoon at 4pm. There’s also some fan-cam footage in there as well. Sadly I don’t have the exact dates of these matches, but I can tell you that they’re all from Joint Promotions shows and range from his early career in the 70’s through to the latter stages of his tenure on the early 90’s. Also, most of them were contested over the rounds system.

So let’s get this review underway with our hero’s opening match, a non-title affair against British Light Heavyweight Champion Marty Jones.

This was around the time that Dynamite had returned to Britain after his first sting across the pond, and our esteemed commentator Kent Walton seemed very surprised at the muscle mass he’d gained since his debut as a lightweight.

This was a great contest. Dynamite frustrated Jones early on, but as the bout progressed Jones managed to stage a few comebacks. The action got a little heated at times, which just added to the tension.

Jones took the first fall in round four, taking Dynamite down with a folding press as he came off the ropes. Dynamite equalled the score in the next round, taking Jones down with a Tombstone-like piledriver for the pin.

The final fall never happened. After a frantic exchange of moves Dynamite executed a suplex that sent both men over the top rope and crashing to the floor. The referee began his count, but as neither man made it back into the ring in time the bout was declared a draw.

It’s a much younger version of the Dynamite Kid next as the 17 year old faces Tally Ho Kaye.

For those of you who don’t know Kaye’s gimmick was that of a sportsman. He normally came to the ring wearing a fox hunter’s outfit and blowing a brass horn. Thankfully that particular instrument was missing on this occasion.

This certainly proved to be an interesting battle between youth and experience. Dynamite was just one year into his career at this point, while Kaye had a decade’s experience in his favour. Kaye was also well adept at bending the rules, and at complaining whenever Dynamite took the upper hand.

Kaye took the first fall in round four. With the referee growing increasingly frustrated with his tactics he took Dynamite down with a series of body slams, the last of which saw the Kid’s legs smash into the top rope. One half-Boston Crab later and Kaye had the first fall.

The Kid equalised in the next round. Having frustrated and somewhat mocked Kaye he scored with a Sunset Flip out of the corner for the three count.

As with the previous bout the third fall never happened. Both men fought tooth and nail in the final round, with aye always looking like he could get disqualified. Dynamite regained control in the final seconds, but by then it was too late and the bout was declared a draw.

The young Dynamite then goes up against another veteran in the form of Yorkshire strongman Alan Dennison in what was Dynamite’s first ever televised bout.

This one fall contest proved to be a good natured affair, and another nice battle between rookie and veteran. Dennison tried to use his size and weight advantage early on as he tried to take Dynamite down with a series of throws. However, Dynamite ended up flipping over and landing on his feet every time, and it was the same when Dennison went for a monkey flip.

Although he was frustrated by Dynamite’s tactics it was obvious that Dennison was impressed, and he even tried a somersault himself between rounds, although he lacked his opponent’s grace.

Dennison did have some success with his throws later on, but when Dynamite missed with a flying attack and landed throat first on the top rope the referee called a halt to the contest. Dennison then took to the microphone, paying tribute to his young opponent before asking the official to make this a no contest because he didn’t want to take the stoppage win. It was a request that the referee was more than happy to grant.

The next match saw Dynamite, now the British Lightweight Champion, taking on another veteran, Tony Scarlo.

Dynamite’s London debut proved to be a very good encounter. These two were equally matched skill-wise, which made for some great technical exchanges, with a few high flying moves from Dynamite thrown in for good measure.

The only fall needed came in the third round where, after a fast exchange of moves, Dynamite rolled Scarlo up for the pin.

Then it was on to a second encounter with Tally Ho Kaye.

This was the first match of a tournament pitting two teams of three against each other, with three singles matches and a six man tag at the end (more on that later).

This was a particularly heated battle. Kaye pulled out all the stops against his younger opponent. The only problem was that the stops were all illegal moves. In reality it was the perfect display of heel wrestling which got the crowd baying for his blood.

Dynamite put in his usual solid performance, mixing technical mastery with a few high flying moves, and although he looked like he was going to lose his temper he kept his emotions in check as he took the only fall needed in the third round with a roll-up.

As for that six man tag, that particular match saw Dynamite teaming with Bert Royal and Vic Faulkner against Kaye, Blackjack Mulligan (the British one, not Barry Windham’s dad) and Ken Hogan.

Six man tags weren’t the norm over here back then, and unlike the ones you’re probably to used to seeing to get the win the winning team had to get three falls.

For those of you raised on matches full of double team moves this one may come as a surprised, mainly because there weren’t any of these moves. But that didn’t detract from the overall entertainment value. Once again the heels played their part perfectly when Dynamite took the punching bag treatment. Our man was also involved in some nice exchanges with Hogan, which were impressed considering Hogan outweighed him by over 40 pounds.

The first fall came in the very first minute when Faulkner slammed Mulligan. Dynamite took the second fall for his team, rolling Hogan up with a folding press for the win.

Kaye then pulled one back, finishing off what his buddies had started when Dynamite submitted to a Boston Crab. The bad guys continued to work over Dynamite until he managed to tag Royal. Royal and Faulkner then took it in turns to take Kaye down with Various moves until Royal body slammed him for the pin, giving his team the 3-1 win.

The final match on Volume One saw the slightly older Dynamite, about to embark on a trip to Japan, taking on World Heavy Middleweight Champion Rollerball Rocco in a non-title affair.

Some of you may know Rocco from his appearance on TNA’s British Boot Camp show. If you don’t then the best way to describe him is legend. He was also a master at getting heat from the crowd. He came into this match with over 30 stitches in his head and knee, courtesy of wounds he’d suffered in recent bouts.

Rocco tried to get under Dynamite’s skin before the bout began, and it wasn’t long before they were beating the proverbial out of each other. The public warnings were soon flying about, mainly because of Rocco’s underhanded tactics and because Dynamite was using American-style moves that were prohibited under British rules back then.

The heat got turned up to 11 later on when Dynamite opened up the stitches in Rocco’s head after a diving head butt from the top rope, and by then both wrestlers were in danger of getting disqualified because they’d both earned two public warnings.

As for the falls Rocco took the first fall in round two. After dropping Dynamite stomach first onto the top rope he then took him over with a suplex to get the first pin. Dynamite equalised in the following round. After spinning out of Rocco’s clutches he took his man down with a back suplex for the equalising pin.

The final fall came in the fourth when Dynamite took Rocco over with a belly to back suplex as he came off the ropes. Dynamite then challenged Rocco to a title match. The irate champion refused as he lambasted his challenger for busting him open.

Volume Two begins with Dynamite, now World Junior Heavyweight Champion, facing Rocco once again.

This proved to be just as heated as the previous encounter. All of the ingredients were here, and once again Rocco showed off his abilities as a heat magnet.

The referee was somewhat lax as far as enforcing the rules was concerned. Rocco used quite a few dirty tactics, and when Dynamite retaliated in kind the official let it slide, up to a point.

The turning point in this one was when Dynamite sustained a cut to his head after a head butt from Rocco. The referee allowed him to continue, but it was an injury that would place a crucial role in this encounter.

The first fall came in round three when Dynamite took Rocco down with a series of moves, finishing up with a belly to back suplex for the pin.

That proved to be the end of the bout. The referee checked the cut on Dynamite’s head and ruled that he was unable to continue, and even though Rocco claimed the stoppage win the referee ruled that Dynamite as the winner because of the pin.

Our man faces another opponent for the second time next as he goes up against World Mid-Heavyweight Champion Marty Jones once more.

Remember what I said about Rollerball Rocco getting heat? Dynamite showed that he was just as adept in this contest.

It began in quite a friendly manner, but when Dynamite gave Jones a good old fashioned slap it was obvious that this wasn’t the fan friendly version of the Kid. His style was even more aggressive than usual as he used some of the tactics he’d learned in Calgary, tactics that weren’t allowed under British rules.

All of this meant that the tension level between these two went all the way up to eleven, and it went even further when Dynamite got in some sneaky blows between rounds, often claiming that he hadn’t heard the bell.

Jones took the first fall in round three, countering Dynamite’s body slam attempt with a small package. Dynamite equalised three rounds later. Having already drawn the ire of the referee following a flying head butt from the top rope he took Jones down with a body slam for the pin.

The final fall came in round seven. The heat was taken up a couple of notches in this round, and after some hard postings from Jones he finally put Dynamite away with a folding press for the winning pin.

It’s a young Mr. Billington in the next match as he goes up against another legendary villain in the form of Jim Breaks. It’s also a battle of the champions, with Dynamite holding the British Lightweight title and Breaks holding the British Welterweight title. There’s also a bit of history between these two because Dynamite had beaten Breaks for the Lightweight title.

For me this was a timely reminder of how good Breaks was. I never liked him when I was a kid, which means that as a villain he was doing his job perfectly, and as a wrestler he wasn’t that far behind in that respect.

All of the old tricks were there, as well as a few tantrums, as he worked over Dynamite’s arm to set up for his Breaks’ Special submission hold.

With only one fall needed in this contest Breaks went for his hold in round three. Dynamite managed to work his way out of the hold, taking the pin a few moments later with a folding press.

Championship action followed as our man faced Rollerball Rocco again, this time with Rocco’s World Heavy Middleweight title on the line.

Scheduled for 15 rounds this one featured a ton of great action. Dynamite looked in top form early on, and his Ricky Steamboat-like arm drags looked tremendous as he took Rocco down time and time again.

As was his custom Rocco used a few underhanded tactics, but as they reached the fifth round and Dynamite made one of his comebacks he suplexed Rocco over the top rope, his momentum carrying him over to the floor as well, and with both men barely moving it wasn’t long before the referee called for a no contest.

We then move forward a few years to the fan-cam segment of this volume. It’s now 1993 (that’s what it says on the date stamp in the corner of the screen) as Dynamite defends the World Light Heavyweight title against Fit Finlay’s former tag team partner Skull Murphy.

If I’m to be perfectly honest this wasn’t the best match I’ve seen Dynamite in. Murphy controlled the majority of the action with his usual underhanded ways, and most of Dynamite’s offence came in the form of forearm smashes and a few baseball slide dropkicks when Murphy was at ringside.

The only fall needed came in round five when Dynamite took Murphy down with a flying body press for the winning pin.

Dynamite then takes on another guy who started his professional career at a young age in the form of Danny Collins.

This bout was much more in the American style, and as with the Murphy bout it was Dynamite’s opponent who controlled the majority of the action. Once again Dynamite used mainly striking tactics, which probably explains the extended period of brawling around the darkened hall.

Dynamite took the pin here, rolling over after Collins came down from the top rope with a cross body block.

The penultimate match on this disc saw Dynamite teaming with the Legend of Doom against Ritchie Brooks and Tarzan Boy Darren. Before you ask, the Legend of Doom was a one man tribute to Hawk and Animal, and there were two or three of them doing the rounds at one point.

This was a relatively short encounter. Dynamite looked okay. He was more of a wrestler than a brawler in this one. His moves when he took Brooks down early on were quite good.

For me this was slightly let down by poor ring psychology, simple things such as whipping a man into his own corner, as well as releasing one of the corner pads to expose the bolts underneath but never using that corner for the remainder of the match.

After a brief brawl at ringside Dynamite took the win for his team, pinning Brooks with a bridging Fisherman’s suplex.

The final match of the volume saw Dynamite and Doom teaming up again, this time against the Liverpool Lads team of Robbie Brookside and Doc Dean.

Any match putting Dynamite against Brookside and/or Dean would be considered a dream match by British fans of a certain age, but sadly they were in different stages of their respective careers when this match took place.

Once again Dynamite put on a nice performance wrestling-wise, but he kept himself to only a few moments in the ring as Doom took on the punching bag duties.

The match itself was another one that fitted into the okay category. The performances and sequences can’t be faulted, it just didn’t hit the spot as it were.

The end saw Doom throwing Brookside over the top rope, with Brookside coming back into the ring with a Sunset Flip for the winning pin.

In conclusion - so, where to begin with my summing up of this collection?

This is a very good chronicle of Dynamite’s career in his homeland. Watching these matches again brought back a lot of fond memories, confirming for me that I was right to put the man in such a high position in my all-time list.

The footage is okay, although the quality varies at times because it was garnered from various sources, including some VHS recordings from the 80’s. It can be a bit patchy at times but that’s to be expected. Apart from that I can’t find anything else to complain about, and that’s why I’m giving this collection the big thumbs up.

And before you ask, there are more volumes in this series that we’ll be taking a look at later.

With thanks to Carl Smith for supplying a copy of this release. The Best of the Dynamite Kid Volumes One & Two can be purchased online at www.britishwrestlingdvds.vze.com.

UFC The Ultimate Fighter Finale 17 on ESPN - TV Review

2013-04-16T00:05:00.005+01:00

It’s time to head off into the Octagon to find out just who became the top dog in the 17th finale of the UFC’s Ultimate Fighter, shown live in the early hours of this past Sunday morning on ESPN here in Britain.

The broadcast began with middleweight action as Bubba McDaniel faced Gilbert Smith.

This proved to be a very enjoyable show opener. Although there were some good striking exchanges the best moments came on the ground. Both guys put in good performances there as they jockeyed for position.

While the grappling in the first round looked very even Smith upped his game a little in the second when he went for a guillotine. McDaniel managed to defend against this, and as the second round became the third round it was his turn to stamp his authority on the proceedings.

McDaniel looked like he was searching for a rear naked choke when he took Smith’s back, and after some successful defensive moves Smith managed to reverse the positions, but as soon as he landed in the guard position McDaniel locked in a triangle choke to take the submission win.

It was up to heavyweight for the next fight as Travis Browne took on Gabriel Gonzaga.

Browne began his night’s work with a high kick that almost cost him dearly when Gonzaga caught it and took him down to the mat. Browne managed to get straight back to his feet though.

But with the Brazilian intent on taking the fight to the ground he went for another takedown against the cage. Browne resisted these attempts, and when he connected with a series of elbows to the side of his man’s head. Gonzaga slumped to the ground as the referee stopped the action to give Brown the knockout win.

Action from the women’s bantamweight division followed as Miesha Tate faced Cat Zingano. This one had two prizes on offer, the chance to challenge Ronda Rousey for the title, and the change to oppose her as coach on the next season of The Ultimate Fighter.

This was a really good fight, and another great advertisement for women’s MMA. It began with Tate rushing across the cage so she could take the fight to the ground, and from that moment on we were treated to three rounds of frantic action.

Tate did incredibly well in the first two rounds, and although Zingano had her moments Tate controlled the majority of the action. Her best work came in the second when she simply overwhelmed Zingano, going for a number of submissions as she stamped her authority on the proceedings.

The tide turned completely by the time the third round began. This time around it was Zingano who scored with the takedown, and even though Tate managed to get back to her feet of series of knees and elbows to the head was enough for the referee to stop the action as Zingano took the TKO win.

Then it was back to the middleweight division as Uriah Hall took on Kelvin Gastelum in the Ultimate Fighter final.

The only fight of the show to go the distance proved to be an exciting affair full of great back and forth action. Both fighters went all out as they looked to claim the big prize.

Gastelum put on some tremendous work on the ground as he controlled the action. There were times when Hall seemed powerless against him. His striking wasn’t that bad either.

As for Hall what we saw from his striking greatly impressed me, but having been told that he was a better striker than a grappler I was even more impressed with his ground work, particularly his reversals, as well as the moment when he took Gastelum down with a suplex.

As for the judges they couldn’t agree as they gave Gastelum the split decision.

The main event featured bantamweight action as Urijah Faber went up against Scott Jorgensen.

This was the perfect way to end the show, with two of the best in the division putting on a great encounter. Faber put on a tremendous performance in the first two rounds. His striking looked good and his ground game looked even better. There were times when he made Jorgensen look ordinary, and I can’t believe I just said that about Scott Jorgensen.

Jorgensen began his comeback in the third. His striking and in particular his jab looked first rate as he out-fought Faber for the first time. He continued this great work into the early stages of the fourth, but when Faber scored with the takedown he quickly took Jorgensen’s back so he could synch in a rear naked choke for the submission win.

In conclusion - I think you can guess how I’m going to end this, can’t you?

This may well be the best UFC show I’ve seen this year. From top to bottom it was jam packed with tremendous action, beginning with the opening between McDaniel and Smith right up to the main event. Everything about this show was just so good.

As for my fight of the night no-prize those in the know gave their accolade to Cat Zingano and Miesha Tate, and that’s a decision I’m more than happy to agree with.

So with all of that taken care of there’s just one more piece of business to attend to, and that’s to give The Ultimate Fighter Finale 17 the big thumbs up.

TNA One Night Only: X-Travaganza on Challenge - TV Review

2013-04-14T00:39:00.000+01:00

It’s time to head into the Impact Zone as we take a look at TNA’s first One Night Only show, a showcase of the X Division with X-Travaganza, shown this past Wednesday night on Challenge here in Britain.

The show began with the steel cage Xscape match, featuring Matt Bentley, Alex Silva, Lince Dorado, Sam Shaw, Puma, Jimmy Rave and Christian York. This was contested under elimination rules, with pins and submissions the order of the day until the last two remained. Then the winner was the first man to leave the cage.

Back in the day multi-man X Division matches were all the rage, and it was a rare occurrence when a pay per view didn’t feature one of these, so in a way it made sense to kick this thing off with this match.

The action was as expected, fast and furious throughout. The rules borrowed a little from the Lucha Libre style, with one man coming into the match without a tag when another one rolled out of the ring. This little tweak kept the action flowing nicely and was one of the many things that made this an enjoyable encounter.

As for the eliminations Dorado was the first to go, taken out with York’s swinging neck breaker. Puma was next when Shaw pinned him after his backbreaker/neck breaker combination. A few moments later Shaw took Silva down with the same combination, but when he went for the cover Bentley pushed him off so he could take the pin himself.

Shaw was the next man to leave after Rave took him down with a spinning slam thing. He then joined Bentley as they doubled up on York for a few moments until York mounted a comeback and took Bentley down with his neck breaker.

This left York and Rave as the final two, and after much ramming of heads into the fence York took Rave down with a neck breaker off the top rope. York went to climb the fence, and although Rave tried to stop him for a brief moment York kicked him off before dropping to the floor to get the win.

Then it was on to tag team action as Kid Kash and Doug Williams faced Anthony Nese and Rashad Cameron.

Firstly, let’s get it out of the way. It was great to see Williams back on the main stage again. Who knows, maybe Dixie Carter will grant me my wish for Doug to work a high profile series with Kurt Angle soon.

Now, back to the matter at hand. This was good. I really enjoyed everything about this one, from the performances of both teams to the high flying moves of the youngster to everything else that happened. I was even rooting for Nese and Cameron at one point, even though Williams was on the other team.

Speaking of Williams it was the former Anarchist who took the pin for his team after he took Nese down with the Chaos Theory suplex.

The first singles match of the show saw Robbie E taking on Chavo Guerrero, with everyone’s favourite lawyer Joseph Park as the special referee.

This impromptu match came about when E came down to the ring to brag about how he was the greatest X Division wrestler ever. Guerrero then appeared on the scene explaining how had spawned from the cruiserweight and Lucha Libre styles. He then challenged E to a match, revealing Park as the guest referee.

This wasn’t too bad. It was a relatively short encounter with some good exchanges, although for me it was spoiled a little by the refusal of our esteemed commentators to actually commentate on the match. They spent more time arguing with each other than calling the match.

Apart from that gripe it was okay, with Guerrero getting the win after taking E down with the Three Amigos before applying the finishing touches with a Frog Splash.

The Ultimate X match followed, with Zema Ion, Rubix, Kenny King and Mason Andrews.

If you like a match with plenty of high spots then you’ll love this one, but then again that’s what then Ultimate X match is all about. There certainly were a lot of big moves in this one. All four me put in a pretty good effort here, especially with their high flying moves.

We had the obligatory all four men flying sequence, with Rubix taking it up a notch when he came down from one of the support posts. There were also quite a few inventive moves, but surprisingly the tree of woe never happened. I always thought that particular move was used in every match of this kind.

As for the end Rubix did his best Spider-Man impressed as he shimmied along the wires to grab the big X until King appeared to grab the big letter for himself before taking the masked man down with an Electric Chair to win the match.

It was back to tag team action for the next match as the Bad Influence team of Christopher Daniels and Frankie Kazarian went up against Sonjay Dutt and Petey Williams.

Have I used my now this was good line yet? No matter, because that’s just what this match was.

It was great to see Dutt and Williams back in a TNA ring, and they looked pretty good early on, both individually and as a unit. However, it wasn’t long before the more experienced took control as Daniels and Kazarian put on another good showing. Their double team moves looked as great as ever when they controlled the action, using Williams as their personal punching bag.

Williams eventually got the hot tag to Dutt to signal the start of the all hell breaking loose segment. The babyfaces came close to getting the win on numerous occasions until Kazarian took Dutt down with the Fade to Black, with Daniels following up with the BME to seal the win.

That wasn’t the end of the action though. Daniels and Kazarian wanted to inflict further damage on Dutt, but when the man from Mumbai ducked and Kazarian accidentally clobbered his partner Williams came back in to take Kazarian down with the move everyone wanted to see, the Canadian Destroyer.

The penultimate match was the renewal of the old rivalry with a disqualification match between Jerry Lynn and Rob Van Dam.

These two certainly rolled back the years and brought back a lot of good memories in the process. From start to finish these two put on a match worthy of their large body of work together, and as many have said before they were made for each other.

All of the big sequences and moves were there. They could have just gone through the motions, but that was probably the farthest thing from their minds.

There were plenty of chair shots in this one, and both men went through tables when Lynn speared RVD through one in the corner before RVD returned the compliment by kicking Lynn off the top rope and through one at ringside.

The match ended the only way it could have, with RVD flying more than halfway across the ring to connect with a Five Star Frog Splash for the winning pin.

Afterwards RVD helped Lynn to his feet and raised his hand as the roster filled the stage to pay tribute to the man on his retirement tour.

The main event saw Austin Aries taking on Samoa Joe.

Like Lynn and RVD before them these two have had a great rivalry over the past few years, and while it hasn’t been as storied as those two this was still a great addition to that rivalry.

In an en evening dedicated to the X Division this one didn’t really feel like an X Division encounter, and it was only when our esteemed announcer Mike Tenay mentioned their Ring of Honor rivalry that I realised this could have come right off an old ROH DVD.

It was a great piece of storytelling with plenty of back and forth action as Aries worked over Joe’s leg, with Joe basically beating the hell out of Aries in reply.

All of the big moves were they as they tried to put each other away, but in the end it was a counter move that brought an end to the proceedings when Aries countered Joe’s Muscle Buster attempt with a schoolboy roll-up for the winning pin.

In conclusion - so what are my feelings about the first of TNA’s One Night Only shows?

Well, it’s simple. I really enjoyed this one. It was great to see some of the stars of the past and present come together to pay tribute to TNA’s greatest creation. There were fine performances all round, but despite all of this I couldn’t help but think that there was one thing missing, and that was the division’s first ever champion, A.J. Styles. Okay, I know he was featured in a talking head segment, but it would have been a lot better seeing him in the ring.

Also, am I the only one who found Taz’s commentary really annoying? Where’s Don West when you need him? Hang on, did I just wish Don West on a wrestling show?

Apart from those two gripes I must say that X-Travaganza was a great show, and that’s why I’m giving this the big thumbs up.

As for today’s plug The Two Sheds Review is bow being seen on the website of my local newspaper. Head over to www.edp24.co.uk and click on the Columnists link.

WWE Wrestlemania 29 on Sky Box Office - TV Review

2013-04-10T14:57:00.001+01:00

It was the grand-daddy of them all, the showcase of the immortals as WWE presented Wrestlemania 29, shown live in the early hours of this past Monday morning on Sky Box Office here in Britain.

The show began with six man action as Sheamus, Randy Orton and the Big Show faced the Shield’s Dean Ambrose, Seth Rollins and Roman Reigns.

This was a nice little opener, and it also gave us an interesting sideline storyline-wise. It started off in the normal way, which was a little surprising because I thought they’d kick things off with a mass brawl.

Anyway, Orton and Sheamus put together some good sequences early on. However, as they tagged each other into and out of the match Show became increasingly frustrated that they weren’t tagging him.

The big guy eventually tagged himself in. It didn’t do him any good though when the Shield boys used him for target practice as they put that pack mentality of theirs to good use once again.

Show eventually managed to tag Sheamus. The Irishman proceeded to clean house before the numbers game got too much for him. Show managed to save his hide when the Shield were about to take him down with their triple powerbomb.

Sheamus managed to make it back to his corner, but as Show extended his hand Orton took the blind tag and proceeded to clean house. But once again the numbers game came into play, and after Reigns connected with a spear Ambrose covered Orton for the winning pin, and while all of this happened Show stood on the ring apron and did nothing.

Afterwards Show got into the ring and began to argue before laying both of his partners out with his knockout punch.

The singles action began with the battle of the powerhouses as Mark Henry faced Ryback.

I wasn’t expecting this one to be a technical classic. What I was expecting was a match between two big guys beating the hell out of each other, so in that respect I wasn’t disappointed.

It was okay in it’s own way, with both men adopting the slow methodical approach. Henry dominated the majority of the action as he tried to squeeze the life out of Ryback with a variety of bear hugs before the smaller big man came back and took Henry down with his meat hook clothesline.

He then made his fatal error when he lifted Henry onto his shoulders in an attempt to take him down with his shellshock finisher. He struggled for a few moments as Henry grabbed the top rope before the bigger man came crashing down on top of him. This left Henry with the simple tasking of rolling Ryback over for the winning pin.

As Henry left the ring the doctors began to check on the fallen Ryback. Henry then got back into the ring, intent on inflicting further damage until Ryback sprang back into life and took him down with a spine buster, sealing the deal when he finally took Henry down with the Shell Shock.

The first title match of the main show saw Dolph Ziggler and Big. E. Langston, accompanied by A.J. Lee, challenging Team Hell No, Kane and Daniel Bryan, for the Tag Team titles.

This wasn’t too bad. It was one of those short and sweet encounters that ticked all of the boxes for this particular writer.

It began with a nice twist as Ziggler demanded a kiss from his lady, and when he was finished with that Bryan connected with a kick to the head that almost led to the winning pin.

A few moments later we saw some nice exchanges between big men Kane and Langston, which were a lot better than the big men exchanges in the previous match.

The almost underhanded moment came when A.J. threw the Money in the Bank case to Ziggler while she distracted the referee. But after the attack failed Kane put Ziggler away with a choke slam. He then tagged Bryan, who applied the finishing touches with a head butt off the top rope for the title retaining pin.

Then it was the turn of the newcomer Fandango (did I say that right?) as he went up against Chris Jericho.

Fandango arrived on the scene with an elaborate ballroom dancing set-up. Len Goodman would probably have given him and his partner a score of seven.

This certainly proved to be an interesting encounter. Jericho began his night’s work by taking Fandango to the proverbial woodshed early on, but when he went for his springboard dropkick Fandango countered with a kick to the head.

The newcomer had very few moments of offence after that as Jericho’s dominance continued, although he came very close to getting the win after a great looking leg drop from the top rope.

A few moments later Fandango went to the top rope again, but this time around he crashed and burned when he went for another leg drop. Jericho came back, but when he went for the Walls of Jericho Fandango countered with a small package for the winning pin.

Then it was on to the Smackdown main event as Jack Swagger, accompanied by Zeb Colter, challenged Alberto Del Rio, accompanied by Ricardo Rodriguez, for the World title.

This was another of those matches that fits into the not too bad file. After we had old Uncle Zeb’s anti-immigration rhetoric the boys put together some nice exchanges. The best of these was when Swagger went for the ankle lock, and when he dropped down to the mat and grapevined Del Rio’s leg the champion countered with the cross arm breaker, a submission attempt that the challenger managed to survive.

We then had a brief altercation between the ringside flunkies and a blindside attack by Swagger before it was back into the ring where, from out of nowhere, Del Rio applied the cross arm breaker, getting the submission win at the second time of asking.

Two questions now present themselves. Does this mean that Swagger will now serve a suspension for his recent misdemeanours? And if Zeb needs someone new to challenge for the title will he go looking for Stan Hansen again?

With Living Colour providing the entertainment C.M. Punk, accompanied by Paul Heyman, went up against the Undertaker.

For a guy who only wrestles once a year the Undertaker looked in pretty good shape. As for the match I have to admit I had my doubts early on, but as it progressed it turned into a riveting encounter.

It may not have been as dramatic as last year’s effort from the Dead Man but it certainly told a good story. Punk started the proceedings with a good old fashioned slap, a sure sign that he was playing his part perfectly. They then moved along to some great moments, such as when Punk went old school, and as the big guns came into play it began to get even more dramatic.

We also had plenty of false finishes, and when the Dead Man hit the trusty old Tombstone it looked all over. Except it wasn’t.

Eventually they countered each other as they looked to hit the finish until the Undertaker hit the Tombstone for the second time. A three count later and the streak was kept alive.

Afterwards the Undertaker reclaimed his sacred urn after it had been left on the ring steps. Well I say sacred. It’s as sacred as the other ones kept in WWE’s storage facility.

Paul Heyman made a quick return to action as Brock Lesnar faced Triple H, who had Shawn Michaels in his corner. This was the no holds barred match with the stipulation that if the Game lost he’d have to retire.

Now this I liked. They easily picked up where they’d left off last year, making this a very enjoyable encounter. Lesnar looked like an absolute beast as he dominated much of the early going. His power was on display for all to see as he threw Triple H around like a stuffed toy, first at ringside, then through the Spanish announcers table, and then back in the ring.

Every time the Game tried to fight back Lesnar cut him off after just a few seconds. It was a brutal performance from the monster, and a very good one as well. Everything Lesnar did, every weapon he used, was the set up for the kimura, and when he finally applied the hold it looked like it could be game over, especially when he sat on the top rope to gain extra leverage.

Then, remarkably, Triple H came back again, lifting Lesnar off the top rope and taking him down with a spine buster. He then delivered a low blow to signal that his time had come.

The Game then took a page out of his opponent’s playbook when he went for a kimura of his own. Lesnar now looked like he was going to tap until he slammed his man into the ring steps that he’d brought into the ring moments earlier.

But like a dog with a bone Triple H didn’t give up as he went for the kimura again. Lesnar barely survived as he slammed Triple H on the steps again, but once again the Game went back to the kimura.

Lesnar was now close to losing as he tried to slam the Game on the steps yet again, but this time around Triple H anticipated the move and took him down with a DDT.

Moments later it was all over. Triple H finally slayed the beast when he used his trusty old sledgehammer, following up with a Pedigree on the ring steps to take the winning pin.

The main event saw John Cena challenging the Rock for the WWE title.

So how was the once in a lifetime moment second time around? Last year’s moment was a little disappointing, which meant that they could only improve on their efforts.

They just about did it. Although this won’t go down as the greatest main event in Wrestlemania history they did achieve what they set out to do, even if they didn’t really give us that much that was new.

There weren’t really any big surprises here. It was an intriguing back and forth affair in which both men put on their usual array of moves. It was entertaining in it’s own way, but only just.

We had plenty of false finishes here as both men went for their big moves time and time again, with Cena even using the Rock Bottom at one point, and after numerous Rock Bottom and Attitude Adjuster attempts Cena finally took the movie star down with the AA for the title winning pin.

Afterwards the two shook hands before Cena left the ring as the Rock paid his respects to the fans before he joined Cena on the stage and raised his hand.

In conclusion - so how did the biggest show of the year fare?

Well, even though I didn’t read any online reviews I heard that the opinions of those in the know were divided. Me, I thought it was an enjoyable show. Not the best Wrestlemania I’ve seen in my near four decades as a wrestling fan but still enjoyable nonetheless.

The majority of the matches were well executed, with the performances of those involved ranging from okay to very good.

As for my match of the night no-prize this time around it’s going to the Brock Lesnar/Triple H encounter, although C.M. Punk and the Undertaker came a very close second.

So with all of that out of the way it’s time to deliver the final verdict by giving Wrestlemania 29 the thumbs up.

UFC Mousasi vs Latifi on ESPN - TV Review

2013-04-08T18:21:00.002+01:00

It was a changed main event for the Ultimate Fighting Championship as they returned to Sweden for their latest Fuel TV offering, shown this past Saturday night on ESPN here in Britain.

The broadcast began in the featherweight division as Akira Corassani went up against Robbie Peralta.

This was a pretty good three rounder. The first round featured some nice striking exchanges as both fighters got some good blows in, the best of which came from Corassani when an overhand right sent Peralta back a few steps.

The best action came in the second. Peralta connected with a big left that staggered his man. He then moved in for the kill, although Corassani survived the onslaught as he came back with another overhand right that rocked Peralta again.

Peralta took the upper hand in the third round striking exchanges, which meant a change of tactics for Corassani when he took the fight to the ground, and even though Peralta managed to get back to his feet Corassani put in some good work as he controlled the action.

With no finish in sight the judges came into play for the first time. No disagreements here as Corassani took the unanimous decision.

The featherweight action continued with Diego Brandao and Pablo Garza.

Garza came into this fight with a big height and reach advantage, and although these natural gifts kept Brandao at bay early on it wasn’t long before the former Ultimate Fighter came forward and scored with the big slam.

From there Brandao was able to transition at will, and as the first round entered it’s final two minutes Brandao locked in an arm triangle for the submission win.

Further featherweight action featured in the filler material as Marcus Brimage faced Conor McGregor.

I was hoping they’d show this one, mainly because I’d seen a great deal of McGregor during his Cage Warriors days. It was an impressive debut from the Irishman. They began trading straight away with Brimage getting the upper hand for a few seconds. But as the fight got past the minute mark McGregor connected with a left uppercut that rocked his man. He followed Brimage down to the mat before the referee stepped in to give McGregor the TKI win after just 67 seconds.

It was down to bantamweight for the next fight as Brad Pickett took on Mike Easton.

This proved to be a very enjoyable back and forth encounter as they kept up a tremendous pace for the entire 15 minutes. Both guys put in good performances. The striking was top notch throughout. As for the grappling for the first two rounds a pattern developed where one would take the other down only for the other to get back to their feet in seconds.

It was only in the third where we saw some sort of ground dominance when Pickett scored with a takedown, moving to Easton’s back as he got back to his feet. Pickett went on to score with another big takedown as the fight came to an end.

The judges were called into action once again, and this time they couldn’t agree as Pickett took the split decision.

Heavyweight action followed as Matt Mitrione took on Phil De Fries.

This was the blink and you’ll miss it affair of the evening. After the opening exchanges De Fries failed with his takedown attempt. Mitrione more or less barged into him then, and as De Fries went down Mitrione connected with a few blows before the referee stepped in after just 19 seconds to give Mitrione the knockout win.

More filler material followed in the form of the lightweight encounter between Reza Madadi and Michael Johnson.

Now this was good. It was a bout filled with great action. After the initial feeling out period the fight went to the ground, and it wasn’t long before Madadi went looking for a couple of leg submissions, attempts which Johnson managed to survive. The action then progressed nicely, and as the first round neared it’s end Johnson connected with a kick to the head that sent Madadi crashing. Johnson followed up with a spot of ground and pound but found that time was against him as the round came to an end.

That proved to be Johnson’s last piece of dominance in this fight. As soon as Madadi scored with a takedown in the second he controlled the action. Johnson seemed almost powerless as Madadi put on an excellent display of ground fighting.

It was the same story in the third, but this time around Madadi upped his game even further when he moved into position so he could apply a d’arce choke for the submission win.

More lightweight action followed as Ross Pearson faced Ryan Couture.

This rather intriguing encounter saw Couture put on a very good performance in the first round. He put in a good display, controlling the action as he tried to grind Pearson down with a clinch against the cage, adding some dirty boxing into the mix as well, although Pearson came back strongly towards the end of the round.

Pearson looked a lot more confident when the second round began, and although Couture got off some good shots his slide began when Pearson tripped him for a brief moment of ground and pound. Couture managed to get back to his feet, but a big left sent him back down again. Pearson followed up with some more ground and pound until the referee stepped in to give him the TKO win.

The main event featured light heavyweight action as Gegard Mousasi went up against Ilir Latifi.

There was a distinct difference in class between these two. Mousasi put on a great display of fighting throughout. It was a solid and workmanlike performance, his left jab giving the adopted Swede no end of trouble. His other hand wasn’t too bad either.

Latifi looked a game fighter, but he also looked like a guy who took this fight on short notice. He got in a few good punches but failed with his takedown attempts in the first two rounds. It wasn’t until the end of the fight that he managed to take the fight to the ground, but his ground and pound was too little too late by then.

The judges were then called upon for the final time, and once again they were in complete agreement as they gave Mousasi the unanimous decision.

In conclusion - this was another solid outing for the UFC on their return to Sweden. There were some really good performances here from the likes of Corassani, Mitrione and Pearson, and all of this made for a very enjoyable show.

As for my fight of the night no-prize this time I’m going for the lightweight encounter between Reza Madadi and Michael Johnson. And to think I would have missed this one if it hadn’t been for Matt Mitrione’s 19 second knockout.

So with all of that out of the way let’s wrap this thing up by giving the UFC’s latest show the thumbs up.

For today’s plug visit Pro Wrestling Mania at www.pwmania.com, another site that carries The Two Sheds Review.

UCMMA 28 - DVD Review

2013-04-03T22:37:00.000+01:00

It’s time to dip into the pile of DVDs sent to be by the good people at Ultimate Challenge MMA once again as we go back in time to last May with two championships on the line at UCMMA 28.

We begin with action from the heavyweight division between Paul Taylor and Scott Saward.

This one didn’t last long. Saward used his natural height and reach advantage to good effect early on when he connected with a few good body shots, but when Taylor connected with a big left the big man crashed to the mat. Taylor followed him down for a spot of ground and pound before the referee stepped in after just 33 seconds to give him the TKO win.

Then it was down to middleweight ad Makunga Bunduku faced Steve May.

This was a fight where somebody’s “oh” had to go, mainly because both of these guys were making their professional debuts. May got in a couple of good blows early on, but as the fight went on Bunduku began to assert his authority, stuffing all of May’s takedown attempts and connecting with a series of knees to the head and body.

May earned a short reprieve from the inevitable when the referee took a point away for continually grabbing his man’s shorts, but by then it was a foregone conclusion. Moments later Bunduku stuffed another takedown attempted before unleashing with further ground and pound and an arm triangle for the submission win.

Bantamweight action followed as Steve Brazier went up against Salih Kulucan.

Both of these fighters were looking for their first win in their fledgling careers, and given Kulucan’s performance I was surprised that he hadn’t won before. From the moment that he scored with the takedown at the beginning of the first round he dominated. Brazier just didn’t seem to have any defence against his man’s ground work, and Kulucan was able to transition at will when he went for a couple of submissions.

It was the same story in the second and third rounds. Despite what had happened in the first it was Brazier who took the fight to the ground at the start of the second. Kulucan quickly reversed the positions and continued his dominance, and even though he managed to survive into the third it was only a matter of time, and with the fight nearing it’s final two minutes Kulucan took Brazier’s back, synching in a rear naked choke for the submission win.

Next up was a catchweight encounter, made at 80 kilos, between Johnny Donaghue and Patrick Jalloh.

The first fight of the show to go the distance also proved to be a somewhat one-sided affair. All three rounds followed a similar patter. Jalloh would score with an early takedown, going on to dominate the action as he smothered Donaghue, mixing in some ground and pound from time to time, while all Donaghue seemed content to do was to hold on to Jalloh and bide his time, hoping that the referee would stand them up while getting an occasional warning from the referee for grabbing the cage.

It may not have made for enthralling viewing but it was an effective tactic on Jalloh’s part, although there were a few little things that he could have done that would have ended the fight.

As for the judges they were in complete agreement as Jalloh took the unanimous decision.

The action then moved on to the lightweight division as Sean Carter faced Ben Deller Smith.

The second three rounder in a row proved to be a very interesting affair with another dominating performance. This time around the dominance came from Carter. He put in a good stint on the ground as he dominated almost every aspect there. His work wasn’t flashy, and some may have called it boring, but it was a solid and workmanlike performance.

Smith, for his part, showed some sound defensive skills early on, but as the fight progressed and tiredness became a factor he just wasn’t able to stop Carter’s attack, although he did survive a kimura attempt in the third round.

So once again the judges came into play, and unsurprisingly they gave everything to Carter.

It was down to featherweight for the next fight as Martin Sheridan took on Dan Shortman.

I really enjoyed this one. After the initial testing of the waters Shortman came forward with a quick combination followed by a quick takedown. From there we saw a good display of ground fighting as they exchanged positions a number of times.

As the first round entered it’s last minute Sheridan took his man’s back and synched in a body lock, and with his first rear naked choke attempt failing Sheridan returned to that hold as the round neared it’s conclusion, with Shortman tapping out to give Sheridan the submission win.

The featherweight action continued with Danny Lawson and Brendon Katz.

This was another of those likeable encounters. The initial feeling out period ended when Lawson literally barged Katz into the fence for the first takedown of the fight, and when they got to the ground it proved to be another good display of ground fighting as they reversed the positions a few times. The only downside was when Katz earned a warning from the referee for kneeing Lawson in the head while he had three points grounded.

Katz’s best chance of taking the win came in the second when a big right staggered Lawson. Katz went to work with the heavy leather, and although Lawson had the three points on the ground again the rules didn’t stop Katz from raining down a torrent of punches. Lawson eventually slumped to the mat as Katz continued his assault, but just when it looked as if he was out of it Lawson came back swinging, scoring with the takedown as the round ended.

Lawson continued his comeback into the third, and even though Katz went for a couple of submissions Lawson showed some sound defensive skills before coming back with some more takedowns.

Which meant more work for the judges, and this time around they couldn’t agree as Lawson took the split decision.

It was up to welterweight next as Jack Kaminsky went up against Umer Kayani.

This was another fight featuring two guys looking to get off the mark win-wise, with Kaminsky debuting and Kayani losing his first two encounters. The action looked a bit scrappy as the first round began. Both fighters looked a little nervous as they tried to gauge the distance.

But when Kaminsky connected with a right and then scored with a takedown the action settled down nicely. Kaminsky opened up a nice cut with a spot of ground and pound from the guard before moving to side control. Kayani began to struggle as blood ran into his eye, and with Kaminsky cementing his good work with some more blows the referee stepped in to give Kaminsky the TKO win.

Then it was back to middleweight and the fight between Chris Harman and Luke Barnatt.

Harman began his shift by coming forward as soon as the bell sounded, but when he tried to take the fight to the ground Barnatt ended up on top, although it wasn’t long before Harman managed to get to his feet.

They weren’t standing for long though as Barnatt took the fight back down to the ground moments later. It was then that he went to work with the ground and pound, first from the mount, then the back, and then from the mount again. Barnatt then went to Harman’s back once more and synched in a rear naked choke, but just when it looked all over Harman managed to escape.

The reprieve only lasted a few seconds. Barnatt took him back down, and it wasn’t long before he took Harman’s back again so he could apply another rear naked choke, with Harman tapping at the second time of asking to give Barnatt the submission win.

UK1 kickboxing action followed as Aruna Slicius faced Tony Giles at a catchweight of 80 kilos.

This has to be one of the most one-sided fights I’ve ever seen. It began with Giles eyeing up his man for a few seconds before he came forward with a barrage of blows. Slicius was like a punching bag. The only offensive moves he made were a couple of kicks, and he never actually threw a punch. It was a very poor performance, and by the time Giles knocked him down for the third time the referee waved the fight off to give Giles the TKO win.

It was back to regular MMA action for the next fight, and a return to welterweight as Galore Bofando took on Wendle Lewis.

Now this was interesting, and kind of fun as well. It began with a lengthy clinch against the cage as Lewis tried to negate Bofando’s unique striking game until he scored with an inadvertent low knee.

The re-start in the middle of the cage gave Bofando the chance to show his wares, and it wasn’t long before the video game-like kicks came out. As the first round entered it’s final minute Lewis was in trouble. A spin kick followed by a right hand sent him crashing to the ground, with the referee stepping in after a brief moment of ground and pound to give Bofando the knockout win.

Then it was back up to middleweight as Charlie Langdon faced Ben Callum

This was quick. They engaged straight off the bat, and after a brief clinch Callum went to work, sending his man down with a left hook. Callum got in a few more blows before the referee stopped the fight after just 24 seconds to give Callum the TKO win.

The second bantamweight fight of the night saw Husseyin Garabet taking on Cory Tait.

The only fight of the main show to make it out of the first round proved to be a very entertaining affair full of back and forth action. The first round was fought at a frantic pace. Both guys had their moments, but most of them belonged to Tait. He was certainly the busier of the two, and it looked like he was going to take the win with some vicious ground and pound. Garabet managed to survive these onslaughts, even going for a couple of submissions.

The second round seemed a little more sedate. Garabet had his man in trouble for a few seconds when a kick to the leg sent Tait sprawling. Tait quickly recovered, and when he scored with the takedown he soon took his man’s back, synching in a rear naked choke for the submission win.

The co-main event saw Danny Welsh taking on Ashleigh Grimshaw for the Featherweight title.

The fight began with Welsh connecting with some nice kicks, but as soon as Grimshaw instigated a clinch and took the fight to the ground it was all about him. His ground and pound looked brutal at times, and Welsh looked powerless as Grimshaw transitioned. He soon took Welsh’s back for the second time so he could sink in a rear naked choke for the submission win and the vacant title.

The main event saw Jamaine Facey taking on Jake Bostwick for the Welterweight title.

These two didn’t bother with the feeling out period. They began when Facey connected with a front kick before they jockeyed for position against the cage, looking for the upper hand. They broke apart briefly before another clinch which ultimately led nowhere.

Facey then made the mistake of coming forward with his hands down, turning him into an open target for Bostwick’s combinations. Facey tried to go for a takedown as he staggered, but a big right from Bostwick while he was on his knees sent him into la la land as the referee stepped in to give Bostwick the knockout win.

In conclusion - when I reviewed the television broadcast of this show last year I have it a glowing reviewing, mainly because of all the first round finishes. Now that I’ve seen the entire event my opinion hasn’t changed one bit. This was a tremendous show and another excellent advertisement for British MMA.

As for my fight of the night no-prize I originally gave it to the Facey/Bostwick main event, and I don’t see a reason why that verdict should change.

As for my final verdict last time around I have this show the big thumbs up, and once again that decision will remain the same.

With thanks to the powers that be for supplying a copy of this release. For more information on purchasing this or any other UCMMA DVDs visit www.ucmma.tv.

And for today’s plug visit www.severemma.com, another site that carries The Two Sheds Review.

WWE Raw Top 100 Moments Part 2: Raw 1000 - DVD Review

2013-03-29T22:45:00.003Z

In my last review we took a look at another of WWE’s recent DVD releases, Top 100 Raw Moments. I have it the big thumbs up, even though I didn’t review all of this particular collection.

That’s because the third disc contained Raw’s 1,000th show, and as I’ve never seen this show in full before I thought it would be a good idea to give it the full treatment right now…..

After an initial appearance from our esteemed leader Mr. McMahon it was on to a fun segment involving the return of every member of D-Generation X. Well, almost all of them. A certain porn actress wasn’t there. From what I hear she’s been a bit green lately.

This was great. I really enjoyed seeing the guys going through all the old routines, although it was inevitable that they’d get interrupted. Damien Sandow soon found out that he’d made the wrong decision after Sweet Chin Music from Shawn Michaels and a Pedigree from Triple H, with Billy Gunn adding in a couple of words as well.

After Jim Ross joined the commentary team it was on to the first match as Rey Mysterio, Sin Cara and World Champion Sheamus faced Chris Jericho, Dolph Ziggler and Alberto Del Rio.

Before the match began the commentators speculated as to whether Jericho and Ziggler could get along following their confrontation the previous week. It proved to be a good point.

The match was joined in progress after the commercial break. Cara was getting the punching bag treatment until he got the hot tag and the mass brawl started. It went down to Sheamus and Jericho. The Irishman missed a Brogue Kick and was hung up on the top rope when Jericho looked to take him out with his springboard dropkick. But just when he was about to execute the move Ziggler clobbered him. A Brogue Kick from Sheamus later and the babyfaces had the winning pin.

After some Tout thoughts from the WWE Universe (I hate that term) and a brief Skype chat with Charlie Sheen it was backstage to A.J.’s wedding preparations. Layla began to question her choices as a cavalcade of crazy people passed by their dressing room door.

Back in the ring Jack Swagger took on Brodus Clay in an attempt to break his losing streak.

Before the match began Clay introduced his guest for the evening, none other than Dude Love. As for the match Swagger missed a corner attack, Clay took him down with a suplex and then finished him off with a big splash. And now Swagger is headlining Wrestlemania?

Afterwards the Dudester got in the ring to dance with Clay and his girls, breaking off his routine for a few seconds to take Swagger down with a multi-coloured Mr. Socko.

Backstage Trish Stratus tried to tell Triple H about her yoga regime, with DX coming in to find them in a certain position. Some double entendres followed that the Carry on team would have been proud of.

Back in the ring it was time for the wedding of Daniel Bryan and A.J. Lee, with the man with the greatest entrance music in wrestling history, the Doctor of Style himself, Slick, handling the ceremony.

You know these wrestling weddings get me every time. When are they going to learn? Never have your wedding in the ring in front of a paying audience! It always turns out the same way!

Basically A.J. said yes. Not to Daniel Bryan, but to Vince McMahon’s offer to become the new General Manager of Raw. Yep, she dumped him for a better proposal.

This morphed nicely into the next segment. With Bryan refusing to leave the ring WWE Champion C.M. Punk came down to taunt his former challenger, and after Punk proclaimed he was the greatest ever the People’s Champion, the Rock, came out to dispute those claims.

Rocky did his usual routine before announcing his title shot at the Royal Rumble. Both Punk and Bryan argued their case before Rocky took Bryan down with a Rock Bottom.

By the way, if, as Rocky said, Bryan is nothing more than an Oompa Loompa then what am I? After all, the American Dragon is taller than me!

Also, am I the only wrestling blogger who has actually met one of the original Oompa Loompa? He went on to become a weather midget you know!

With Bret Hart as the guest ring announcer the Miz challenged Christian for the Intercontinental title.

This wasn’t too bad. They began quickly, with Christian banging up his knee when he came off the top rope to attack the Miz while he was on the floor. Miz began to target the injured limb until Christian made a spirited comeback. The action was taken up a notch when they began to look for their respective finishers, but when Christian flipped over Miz and jarred his leg again Miz quickly took him out with the Skull Crushing Finale for the winning pin and the title.

Another Skype chat with Charlie Sheen followed as they discussed the night’s events. Sadly no references to tiger blood or rock stars from Mars here.

Triple H then made yet another appearance, this time to address his challenge to Brock Lesnar at Summerslam.

This was a great set-up for the match. The Game called Lesnar out but found himself facing Paul Heyman instead. The back and forth tirades soon saw Heyman insulting Triple H’s kids, a move that brought Stephanie McMahon into the situation, and it was only after she goaded Heyman with a few home truths that he agreed, on Lesnar’s behalf, to the match.

But when Heyman began goading Mrs. Helmsley she attacked him, and it wasn’t long before the Pain himself arrived on the scene. The inevitable brawl between Lesnar and H followed, with the Game sending him packing after a clothesline over the top rope.

More Touts followed (where on Earth do they find these people?) before we got a look at the Steve Austin/Vince McMahon feud of years gone by. It was a reminder of how great things were back then, and also a shame that the Rattlesnake couldn’t make the show.

After a plug for the Brawling Buddies, which consisted of Hornswoggle and Santino Marella handing out freebies to the front row it was on to Heath Slater’s legends challenge, and this time around the One Man Band put out a challenge for a no disqualification and no count out encounter. This time it was the lovely Lita who answered the challenge.

At first Slater treated her challenge like a joke. He quickly accepted the challenge though, but before the match began Lita introduced her backup for the evening, the APA, John “Bradshaw” Layfield and Ron “Farooq” Simmons. Slater tried to head for the hills but was headed off at the pass by all of the legends he’d annoyed in the previous weeks.

So with Slater back in the ring Lita soon took him down with a Twist of Fate. Bradshaw then connected with a Clothesline from Hell before Lita took the win after a moonsault. The legends then climbed into the ring for the celebration, with Simmons have the last word. I think you can tell what that last word was.

Backstage Sean Mooney, the guy who used to sit in front of all of those screens in the Events Centre, interviewed Daniel Bryan. The boy wasn’t too happy with what Charlie Sheen said about him.

After Michael Cole interviewed WWE’s 100,000,000th social media follower Fozzie Bear took a look back at some of Raw’s greatest catchphrases. More great memories.

Backstage Zack Ryder revealed to John Cena that Gene Okerlund was the brains behind GTV, even though Mean Gene didn’t work for them at the time. The Rock then interrupted them to exchange pleasantries with Cena.

Back in the arena Kane came out for his match. The match never happened because Jinder Mahal and a bunch of guys stuck on Superstars came out to bitch about their lack of opportunities. But before they could do anything the Undertake returned, and even though the odds were against them the Brothers of Destruction made short work of the dark match regulars.

More words from Charlie Sheen followed as he responded to Daniel Bryan. He spoke of the possibility of a match between the two of them. I suddenly got flashbacks of David Arquette there.

The main event saw John Cena cashing in his Money in the Bank contract and so he could challenge C.M. Punk for the WWE title.

This was an altogether different encounter to the one I reviewed a few days ago. Of course back then Punk was a beloved babyface, which made this a slightly more sportsmanlike affair. Although this wasn’t their best encounter it was still pretty enjoyable. The exchanges were as good as ever, even though they did seem a little rushed because of the television time constraints.

The dramatic moment came when Punk shoved Cena. Cena accidentally collided with the referee, and while the official was taking forty winks at ringside the Big Show came down and attacked Cena, taking him out with his knockout punch.

Punk watched all of this from the corner of the ring. He hesitated for a few moments as he tried to decide what to do. Eventually he pushed the referee back into the ring and went for the cover, only for Cena to kick out.

Cena soon made his comeback, avoiding the Go to Sleep so he could apply the STF. This led to another attack from the Big Show. The referee called for the bell immediately, giving Cena the disqualification win, but not the title.

Show continued his attack on Cena as Punk looked on, and it was only when the Rock came charging down the ramp that the assault stopped. Rock took the big man down with the spine buster, but just as he was about to deliver the People’s Elbow Punk took him down with a clothesline, cementing his heel turn when he left Punk laying after a Go to Sleep. And with that the show came to an end.

There’s only one extra on this disc, a five minute piece looking at the making of Raw 1000.

In conclusion - this was the first full episode of Raw I’ve seen in quite a while, and even though it wasn’t exactly up to date it was still very good.

The backstage and in-ring segments were enjoyable, and they certainly achieved what they set out to do. As for the matches I would have like to have seen a few more, but then again you can’t have everything.

As for my match of the night no-prize it was a close run thing, but once again I’m going to plump for Punk and Cena.

So with all of that out of the way there’s only one more thing left to do, and that’s to give Raw 1000 the thumbs up.

With thanks to Fremantle Media and Fetch Publicity for supplying a copy of this release. Raw 1000 forms part of the Raw Top 100 Moments set and is available to buy online at www.wwedvd.co.uk.

And for today’s final plug of another site where The Two Sheds Review appears check out Steve Gerweck’s efforts at www.gerweck.net.

WWE Top 100 Raw Moments Part 1: The Countdown - DVD Review

2013-03-28T23:20:00.000Z

I have a little confession for you, although long-time readers may already know what I’m about to say.

I’m no longer a regular viewer of Raw. I do catch the occasional snippet, mainly on the highlight shows, but the times when I go out of my way to watch WWE’s flagship show are long gone. However, there was a time when I would move heaven and earth to watch this show, especially during the now-fabled Monday Night Wars.

So it was with a great deal of anticipation that I sat down to watch another of WWE’s recent DVD releases, Top 100 Raw Moments.

This three disc set follows the tried and tested formula that television shows around the world have followed. Get a list of favourite moments, insert some talking head segments gleamed from the video archive, and Bob’s your uncle, you’ve got your very own list show.

Spread over the first two discs this countdown brought back some rather fond memories. It was great to take a trip into the past to see some of those moments again, as well as seeing some moments I’ve never seen before.

It certainly was a very interesting collection, but what surprised me a little is that only a few actual matches made the list. Raw hasn’t always been just about the backstage and in-ring segments. Despite what they might tell you these days it is a wrestling show. Mind you, my complaint about the lack of matches being chosen could come back to haunt me if they release a Top 100 Raw Matches collection.

But despite this somewhat minor complaint I found myself really enjoying this compilation. WWE have done a really good job with this one, and while I’m tempted to tell you what made it to the top of the list I won’t. Instead I’ll just tell you that this thing is getting the big thumbs up.

But wait a minute, I hear you cry! You said this was a three disc set! You haven’t mentioned the third disc yet!

That isn’t an oversight, and the reason for that is simple. Disc three contains Raw’s 1,000th episode, and as I’ve never seen that show in full I’m going to give it the old review treatment in the next instalment. So as the old saying goes, To Be Continued…..

With thanks to Fremantle Media and Fetch Publicity for supplying a copy of this release. Top 100 Raw Moments is available to buy online at www.wwedvd.co.uk.

Also check out TBL Wrestling at www.tblwrestling.com, one of the sites that carries The Two Sheds Review. It’s been around even longer than I have!

WWE Night of Champions 2012 - DVD Review

2013-03-25T18:30:00.000Z

It’s time for one of those déjà vu type of reviews as we take a look at a DVD release of a show I’ve already reviewed. This time around we’re heading into WWE territory as yours truly begins reviewing official WWE releases, as supplied by their new UK distributor Fremantle Media, and for the first review we’ll be going back to last September and Night of Champions.

The show began with the Miz defending the Intercontinental title against Rey Mysterio, Cody Rhodes and Sin Cara.

Fast-paced action was the order of the day in this encounter. All four men went at it full throttle from the start, which made this the perfect show opener.

The performances were perfect for this kind of match. They all acquitted themselves extremely well, with Sin Cara the man of the match for me.

Mysterio came closest to getting the pin before the finish when he took Miz down with his 619/top rope splash combo, only for Rhodes to pull him out of the ring as he made the cover.

Rhodes also played a pivotal role in the finish when he tried to rip the mask off Cara. The Lucha star brought a second mask into the equation, which he later used to blind Miz as the champion tried to put him away.

A few moments Miz stumbled into Rhodes while he was struggling to take Cara. He went on to take Rhodes down with the Skull Crushing Finale for the title retaining pin.

Then it was on to Daniel Bryan and Kane challenging R-Truth and Kofi Kingston for the Tag Team titles.

This was right at the start of the Team Hell No storyline. The guys were going through anger management and had a great deal of difficulty in getting along. So not much change there then.

Because of this Kingston and Truth seemed almost like bit-part players. They both put in good performances, and even though it seems like I’m stating the obvious there wouldn’t have been such a good match without them.

Amidst the arguing and the occasional team work from the challengers we also had the sight of Kane and Bryan hugging it out after Bryan crashed and burned in the corner. This new sense of brotherhood didn’t last long though, although it did lead to a very interesting finish.

When Kingston tried to take Kane down with a top rope hurricanrana Bryan held on to the big man’s leg, which sent Kingston crashing to the mat. The challengers began to argue again before Bryan clobbered Kane and pushed him off the top rope, right into an inadvertent splash on Kingston. A three count later and we had new Tag Team Champions.

This didn’t stop the dissention as the “I am the Tag Team Champions” argument began. Definitely a poor use of grammar there.

The next title match saw Antonio Cesaro defending the United States title against the winner of the pre-show battle royal, Zack Ryder.

What we had here was quite a short encounter. Cesaro put on his usual solid performance as he dominated the early going before Ryder caught his second wind and took his man down with a few high impact moves.

But just as Ryder was about to connect with his Broski Boot Cesaro’s lady Aksana pulled him out of harm’s way. A brief game of cat and mouse followed before Cesaro took Ryder down with the Neutralizer for the pin.

The non-title match in this supposed cavalcade of champions saw Dolph Ziggler taking on Randy Orton.

You can argue about the merits of a non-title match on an all-title match show until the cows come home, but what you can’t argue about is the quality of this match.

From bell to bell these two put on a terrific encounter, once of the best I’ve seen Orton involved in for years. It was one of those knock down drag out affairs that you just had to watch.

Orton’s performance may have been top notch throughout, but the performance of Ziggler was just as good, if not better. He showed with this performance that he truly belonged in the ring with the likes of Orton.

As for the highlight moments there certainly were plenty of them, especially when Orton took the aggression levels up a few notches when he took Ziggler down with his trademark DDT on the floor instead of the ring.

Give him his dues, Ziggler came back strongly, but he wasn’t strong enough to survive Orton’s RKO, which saw the Viper take the winning pin.

The Divas were up next as Layla defended her title against Booker T’s assistant Eve Torres.

Originally Layla was meant to defend her title against Kaitlyn, but a backstage assault by a mysterious attacker put her out of the match and put Eve in.

Well, it was nice to see the Divas get a half decent storyline, and the match wasn’t that bad either.

It was a solid enough encounter, and what started out as a friendly rivalry turned a little nasty when Eve played possum after Layla dropkicked her in the face. A mid-match handshake saw Eve taking a new aggressive stance as she threw Layla outside and then threw her ribs first into the ring apron.

The challenger went on to dominate the action when she tried to put Layla away with a couple of body scissors. The champion made a brief comeback until Eve took her down with a neck breaker for the win and the title.

The Smackdown main event saw Alberto Del Rio challenging Sheamus for the World title.

Before the match began our esteemed Smackdown General Manager Booker T came out to make an announcement, that despite the protestations of Del Rio, his ring announcer Ricardo Rodriguez, and their lawyer David Otunga the Brogue Kick had been reinstated.

The kick came into play immediately. As Del Rio argued with Otunga on the apron Sheamus took the lawyer out with that particular move, sending him crashing to the floor. From there we were given a very entertaining encounter, a battle between a brawler and a technician.

Del Rio’s performance as spot on as he looked to put his man away with a series of moves to prepare for the cross arm breaker, while Sheamus showed how far he’s come in the past few years.

Del Rio came extremely close to getting the submission with his armbar. Sheamus managed to power out of the first attempt, and he barely survived the second when he just managed to make it to the ropes.

Del Rio was visibly upset at his inability to put his man away, and it was this delay that led to his downfall when Sheamus connected with the Brogue Kick from out of nowhere for the title retaining pin.

The main event saw John Cena challenging C.M. Punk for the WWE title.

So, how best to describe this particular encounter? There are probably countless ways, so let’s just say that this was one of my favourite matches of 2012.

From the moment it started to the moment it ended it was a great piece of storytelling. It had everything you could ever want in a wrestling match.

With Paul Heyman watching on from ringside Punk and Cena took their rivalry to the next level and beyond. Early on Punk countered many of Cena’s trademark moves, with some speculating that Heyman’s influence had something to do with this, and as the match went on it turned into an intriguing back and forth affair.

All of the big guns were brought out as they tried to put each other away, Cena’s STF and Attitude Adjuster, Punk’s Go to Sleep and running knee, and much, much more. Punk even used a Rock Bottom at one point, but despite all of this they still couldn’t put each other away.

Cena then lifted Punk on to the top rope. The champion managed to fight him off at first, but it wasn’t long before Cena took him down with a back superplex. Cena held on, bridged, and took the title winning pin.

Or so we thought. After Cena began his celebrations the referee took the belt from him and gave it back to Punk as our ring announcer revealed that the match had been declared a draw because both men had their shoulders on the mat when the referee made his count. Cena tried to argue his case with the official but ended up getting clobbered by a title belt-wielding Punk.

Only one DVD extra on this release, with matt Strike interviewing Booker T backstage.

In conclusion - when I reviewed the television broadcast last September I gave this show a glowing recommendation, praising every aspect of it, including the return of John “Bradshaw” Layfield on commentary, and having seen this for a second time I see no reason to change my original verdict, because this was a great show.

Back then my match of the night no-prize went to Punk and Cena, and once again that’s an opinion I see no need to change.

So having read my final thoughts on this release you’ll probably know how I’m going to rate this. Yep, that’s right, it’s going to get the big thumbs up.

With thanks to Fremantle Media and Fetch Publicity for supplying a copy of this release. WWE Night of Champions 2012 can be purchased online at www.wwedvd.co.uk.

C.M. Punk: The Second City Saint - DVD Review

2013-03-22T15:48:00.000Z

He is currently one of the biggest stars in the world of professional wrestling, the longest-reigning WWE Champion this century, and his old employers have decided to pay tribute to him again.

Yep, the good folks at Ring of Honor have delved into their archives once again for another two disc set devoted to wrestling’s most famous non-drinker. The set in question is C.M. Punk: The Second City Saint.

And as is customary with these affairs let’s start at the beginning.

Disc One
July 12th, 2002
Punk goes up against his old buddy Colt Cabana (hey Scott Colton, how you doing?) at Night of the Butcher.

These two know each other so well they could probably do a match with their eyes shut. Well, probably not. I doubt it Cabana could pull off an Asai Moonsault with his shut.

This was one of those short and sweet encounters jam packed with action. Cabana was looking to make a statement here because the powers that be brought Punk into the company before him. Everything they did just looked so natural and fluid, and it was a shame they weren’t given more time.

As for the winner Cabana made his statement, taking Punk down with his Colt 45 finisher at the third attempt for the winning pin.

December 28th, 2002
Punk faces Cabana again, this time with an ROH contract on the line at Final Battle.

The danger when two guys have faced each other as often as these two have is that they could just go through the motions and do the same thing every time. Thankfully that was a trap they didn’t fall into here.

Although this was a little shorter than their pervious encounter it was the perfect sequel. There were parts that were similar, but moves that worked in the first match were countered more often than not.

Once again they both put in good performances, and with a regular slot and plane rides to the shows for the winner they certainly turned things up a notch.

This time it was Punk who came out on top when he took Cabana down with the Pepsi Plunge, consigning his friend to long road trips while Punk flew in luxury.

February 8th, 2003
Now a regular on the ROH roster Punk takes on former ECW star C.W. Anderson at the One Year Anniversary show.

Anderson came into this one as a late replacement for Reckless Youth, who had been injured in a car crash on the show. He wasn’t actually meant to be there, having been fired from the company twice before.

As for the match it had an old school kind of vibe about it. (Where have I heard that before?) Anderson continued the “family” tradition of working over Punk’s arm, but it wasn’t long before the Straight Edge star came back with some nice moves of his own.

The end came when Anderson tried to take Punk down with the trademark spine buster. Punk managed to counter with a sunset flip for the winning pin.

March 15th, 2003
Punk takes on another former ECW star in the form of Raven in a Raven’s Rules match at Expect the Unexpected.

Punk was a fully-fledged heel by this time, his straight edge ethos being preached to anyone who would listen, which made him a natural adversary for Raven.

The match itself started out quite normally. Punk out-wrestled Raven early on before Raven came back and out-wrestled him. It was then that the ECW legend called for the plunder to be brought into the match, signalling the start of Raven’s Rules.

Nothing was off limits. They destroyed barricades and clobbered each other with chairs. Even Raven’s main squeeze Trinity got involved when she took Punk out with a moonsault from the top rope to the floor. She soon paid the price though when Punk leg dropped here through a table.

Eventually they managed to get back to the ring, and although Raven took Punk down with his trademark drop toe hold onto a chair Punk quickly came back as Raven tapped out to his Devil’s Lock submission.

That wasn’t the end of things though. Punk offered his hand, apparently following the Code of Honor, but when Raven accepted this gesture Punk attacked, and although Raven reversed the positions the referee stopped him from taking Punk down with the Raven Effect DDT. But just as Punk scurried away Raven took out his frustrations on the official, taking him out with the move instead.

March 22nd, 2003
The old rivalries continue as Punk teams with Ace Steel against Colt Cabana and Raven at Night of the Champions.

We had lots of jaw jacking at the beginning of this one as the two sides traded insults before they decided it would be another Raven’s Rules affair.

When the match eventually started Punk played the part of the cowardly heel perfectly as he tried to avoid all physical contact with his nemesis.

The toys soon came into play, and although it was more or less a regular tag match as Punk and Steel used Cabana as their crash test dummy all hell broke loose when Raven got the hot tag and began hitting everyone with a rubbish bin.

Plenty of hard-hitting action followed, with Punk crashing and burning when he tried to put Raven through a table before Raven sealed the win when he took Steel down with the Raven Effect DDT.

There was more to come though. When Raven tried to observe the Code of Honor Punk gave him the finger. Raven snapped and went to put Punk away with his DDT until Punk bolted from the ring.

Raven then decided to take his frustrations out on the still-down Steel as he took him down with more DDTs. While all of this was going on Punk shouted at Cabana for not saving the main who had trained him.

Eventually Punk returned to the ring and attacked Raven. Then it happened. Punk finally convinced Cabana to join his die as they attacked Raven again, with Punk taking him down with a drop toe hold onto a chair before adding insult to injury with his own Raven Effect DDT.

April 12th, 2003
It’s back to singles action for our man as he faces B.J. Whitmer at Epic Encounter.

It was nice to see Punk going back to some good old fashioned wrestling after the two hardcore encounters, and although this didn’t last long it was still full of great action.

These two looked ready made for each other as they exchanged holds early on, with Punk quickly taking the upper hand. As the match progressed Punk went to the outside and dragged a table out from under the ring, setting it up at ringside. He didn’t get to use it at first though when Whitmer stuffed his attempts.

Later, during a back and forth exchange on the ring apron Punk took the upper hand again and used a German suplex to put Whitmer, and himself, through the table. But as both men laid motionless on the floor the referee and several backstage officials checked on their condition before the referee called the match, neither man being declared the winner.

June 14th, 2003
The big rivalry continues as Punk teams with Colt Cabana against Raven and B.J. Whitmer at Night of the Grudges.

Once again there was a ton of jaw jacking at the beginning, but with Punk and Raven involved what would you expect?

The action began in the normal way, but it wasn’t long before the chairs came into play when Punk hit Whitmer and Raven hit Cabana before they moved on to the all hell breaking loose part of the match.

This part featured fan participation and a lengthy brawl through the crowd as the claret flowed down the faces of Punk and Whitmer. But after Raven and Whitmer took their foes down with drop toe holds onto chairs they began to move back towards the ring.

Back between the ropes the Chicago boys used Whitmer for target practice before he got the hot tag to Raven, and moments later it looked all over when Raven was finally able to take Punk out with the Raven Effect.

But when he went for the cover Cabana pulled him out of the ring as the referee made his count. Then Whitmer hit Punk with a diving head butt from the top rope, but when Whitmer went for the cover Cabana pulled the referee out of the ring.

A few seconds later Punk took Whitmer down with a chair-assisted Shining Wizard before Cabana added his Colt 45 finisher for the winning pin.

Once again there was more action after the bell as Punk clobbered his foes with numerous chair shots before putting Raven through a table with a leg drop from the top rope.

July 19th, 2003
The rivalry gets even more heated as Punk faces Raven in a dog collar match at Death Before Dishonor.

Remember what I said earlier about sequels? Well this was the perfect sequel in their ongoing saga.

It began with Punk cutting another promo, but this time around he singled out former ECW star Danny Doring in the crowd. He then refused to put on the collar, suggesting several alternative stipulations. Raven wasn’t interested in changing the rules though.

From there we got what could only be described as a brutal display as they tried to beat the proverbial out of each other. They hit each other with the chain, they brawled all over the arena, they busted each other open, Raven got put through a table, as well as a few other things I’ve probably forgotten about.

Raven looked like he was going to get the win after taking Punk out with the Raven Effect. One problem though, the referee was taking a nap after an accidental chair shot. It was then that Colt Cabana stormed the ring and attacked Raven, taking him down with a DDT on a chair.

Doring then jumped the guard rail and began brawling with Cabana, sending him out of the ring and into the barricades, and while all of this was going on the now-revived referee made the count as Punk covered Raven for the winning pin.

Guess what folks? The action didn’t end there. Punk pushed Raven out of the ring and taped his arms to the bottom rope. He then mocked the former heavy drinker before pouring a can of beer over him.

Then came the big surprise. As Punk celebrated in the ring none other than Tommy Dreamer came in and clobbered Punk with a chair before taping his arms to the top rope. He then released Raven, who took great delight in returning the favour by pouring a can of beer over Punk.

September 20th, 2003
It’s legend time once again as Punk takes on Terry Funk at Glory by Honor 2.

This was actually a part of the Punk/Raven feud where they were allowed to choose each other’s opponents for this show. Punk chose Steve Corino for his nemesis while Raven chose one of his old rivals for Punk.

Before the match began Punk took to the microphone and spoke of Funk’s numerous retirements as he promised to retire him once and for all.

When the match began Funk outwrestled Punk, but when the action spilled out to ringside Punk suddenly announced that this encounter was a hardcore match, a clear attempt to upstage Raven.

There were a few moments of hardcore action, most notably when Funk suplexed his man from the ring and through a table. But when he missed with a moonsault his left knee buckled under the strain.

Punk was like a rabid wolf as he went to work on the injured knee, first with a spinning toe hold and then with a figure four, and when Funk managed to get to the ropes Punk clobbered his knee with a chair.

Punk continued his assault on the knee with more leg locks, but despite all of this Funk refused to give up as he made his way to the ropes again. Punk refused to release the hold, and as Funk cried out in pain, still clinging to the ropes, the referee called for the bell, disqualifying Punk.

Punk still refused to break off his attack, and when Colt Cabana came down to the ring it looked as if he was trying to plead with Punk to stop the attack.

In reality he wasn’t. Cabana took Funk’s legs and applied a figure four of his own while Punk hit him in the face, and it was only when Raven stormed the ring that they broke off the attack, with Punk heading through the crowd while Cabana headed up the aisle.

Cabana soon found an obstacle in his way though in the form of Tommy Dreamer, who threw him back into the ring so Raven could take him down with the Raven Effect.

Disc Two
November 28th, 2003
Punk faces Raven for one last time in a steel cage match at The Conclusion.

This was the perfect way to end their feud. It began with Punk stopping Raven from getting into the cage, and when they did make it inside the claret was soon flowing after numerous chair shots and flying visits to the cage fence.

The holy you know what moment came when Punk climbed to the top of the cage as Raven lay in the middle of the ring. The man from the Bowry managed to move out o the way as Punk crashed and burned with his failed leg drop.

As the action moved towards it’s conclusion Punk almost took the win with his own version of the Raven Effect. It didn’t work though, and when he had the opportunity to walk out of the open cage door Punk chose to climb on to the top of the cage again, intent on doing more damage.

Raven soon stopped him, pushing him down and crotching him on the open door. But just when Raven was about to leave the cage Punk managed to get back on top so he could slam the door into Raven’s head. He then dropped to the floor to claim the feud-ending win.

December 27th, 2003
Punk teams with Colt Cabana to take on the Japanese team of Tomoaki Honma and Kazushi Miyamoto at Final Battle.

This was the first of four matches in the one night ROH versus All Japan Series, and it was pretty darn good. It began with a bit of a feeling out period before both teams got into first gear, with Punk and Cabana using some nice moves to take Miyamoto down.

Both teams put in impressive performances as the action progressed, and the style and moves of the Japanese stars really made this match for me.

Of course there was the all hell breaking loose segment towards the end with bodies flying everywhere and plenty of near falls before Punk took Honma down with the Pepsi Plunge for the winning pin.

January 10th, 2005
The entire Second City Saints team of Punk, Colt Cabana and Ace Steel face the Prophecy’s Christopher Daniels, B.J. Whitmer and Dan Maff at The Battle Lines are Drawn.

This was the first match in the feud between ROH’s two big factions, and it was good way to get things going. Given the talent on show it was obvious this was going to be a quality match, and from the opening exchanges between Steel and Daniels right it up the end it proved to be so.

After the initial exchanges the Saints put in some good teamwork as Maff became the punching bag for the evening, and when he eventually got the hot tag it signalled the start of the six-way brawl. Or perhaps I should say eight-way brawl.

Because after we had the obligatory bodies flying through the air segment the Saints’ Traci Brooks and her opposite number Allison Danger got in on the action as well. It was a brawl that was only broken up when Punk put Danger in a sleeper hold.

Seeing his team-mate in danger (pun intended) Whitmer came into the ring with a chair. Punk ducked the swing through as Whitmer accidentally clobbered the referee, sending him in la-la land.

Eventually another referee came down as the teams continued to brawl. He immediately called for the bell and ruled the match a no contest.

Bet you thought that was the end of the action, didn’t you? Well it wasn’t, because things got even more heated as they began brawling through the crowd and all over the arena for the next ten minutes.

Eventually the Saints took the upper hand, showing their superiority when Steel and Cabana helped Punk put Daniels through a table with the Pepsi Plunge.

February 14th, 2004
Punk faces A.J. Styles in the final of the Pure title tournament at the Second Anniversary Show.

I really enjoy watching these Pure rules matches. It lends itself to a certain style of wrestling that we rarely get to see on the main stages these days, and this was another perfect example of that.

If these two faced each other today it would be considered a dream match. Mind you, it seemed like a dream match back then. Both Punk and Styles put in great performances in this one. With no illegal tactics or outside interference they were allowed to do what they do best, and that’s wrestle.

The rope break rule came into play early on when Punk used them to spin out of an arm wringer. Punk disputed the call, and also had good reason to dispute the loss of his second rope break, considering Styles was using the ropes for a neck crank-type move.

As for the rest of the match it was pretty good. They exchanged numerous submission holds before Punk kicked out of the pin after the Styles Clash.

Several near falls and the loss of all rope breaks followed before Punk tried to go for the Pepsi Plunge off the top rope. Styles managed to stop this attempt with some well-placed blows, and as Punk lay probe, dangling upside down from the top rope, Styles took him down with a Super Styles Clash, moving backwards into the ring for the title winning pin.

March 13th, 2004
With Ricky Steamboat as the special referee Punk faces Styles again as he challenges for the Pure title at At Our Best.

This time around these two didn’t have to go through two other opponents before they faced each other, which meant fresher wrestlers, more time and an altogether better encounter.

Once again they proved they they’re two of the best in the world. It was completely different to the tournament finals, and a little bit more heated as well.

The rope break rule wasn’t an early factor this time around. In fact it was Styles who used them more as he lost all of his while Punk still had two of them left.

The action was perfect throughout. There was the usual exchange of submission holds as well as the sight of Styles almost falling to his own finisher when Punk took him down with that particular move.

The end almost came when Punk applied a sleeper hold. Styles had used all of his rope breaks by then, and it wasn’t long before he slumped to the mat. Steamboat checked his arm and was about to call for the bell when Styles barely kept the limb off the mat.

Styles quickly invoked the spirit of Hulk Hogan as he made his comeback, and a few moments later he took Punk down with a discus clothesline for the winning pin.

After the match ended Punk grabbed the microphone and demanded an apology from Steamboat for his decision. Needless to say that the apology wasn’t forthcoming as Steamboat reminded Punk of the way he’d disrespected him throughout the evening.

Punk then tried to attack Steamboat as he left the ring, only for the Dragon to reverse his Irish Whip attempt so he could take Punk down with his trademark chops and arm drags. Sadly where weren’t any “you still got it” chants from the ROH faithful.

April 24th, 2004
Punk teams with Colt Cabana as they challenge the Briscoes for the Tag Team titles at Reborn Stage 2.

The Briscoes were a completely different breed of animal back then. They didn’t live up to their redneck roots, they wore those red and black singlets, they both had full heads of hair, and I think Mark still had all his own teeth!

Seriously though, this was a pretty decent encounter. The Saints were treated as mega-over babyfaces here from the start, and we even had a few comedic moments from Cabana early on.

Things took a more serious turn when the brothers isolated Punk and used him for target practice, but when they went to take him down with their version of the Doomsday Device Punk caught the lad in mid-air and took him down off his brother’s shoulders with a Powerslam. (Before you ask there was no commentary for this match, and from a distance those rednecks looked the same back then!)

The mass brawl saw both teams bringing out the big guns, and just as the brothers were about to take Punk out from the top rope he threw one down to the floor and took the other out with a Pepsi Plunge to win his first ever title in ROH.

But before they could celebrate B.J. Whitmer came down to the ring to attack Punk. The Briscoes briefly joined in until Ace Steel appeared and clobbered Whitmer with a chair.

May 15th, 2005
The Saints face the Briscoes again, this time at Round Robin Challenge III.

This one had quite a bit of back story. These two teams, along with the Prophecy’s Dan Maff and B.J. Whitmer, had competed in the Round Robin tournament. Punk and Cabana had lost the Tag Team titles in the first match to Maff and Whitmer when special enforcer Ricky Steamboat stopped the Saints from taking the count out loss, which eventually led to Maff and Whitmer winning the titles. Steamboat later paid the price for this when Punk and Cabana attacked him in the ring. Later that night Maff and Whitmer lost the titles to the Briscoes, which meant that the Brothers had to defend the titles against the Saints.

As for this particular match it was another great piece of storytelling. Both teams entered the ring exhausted from their previous exertions, and Mark was handicapped even further because of injured ribs.

So after the initial exchanges the Saints began to target Mark’s ribs to good effect. It was a great example of tag team wrestling, an example of just how great Punk and Cabana worked as a unit.

Needless to say Mark eventually managed to get back to his own corner to tag his brother Jay, and that’s when the bodies began to fly.

At one point the brothers looked to take Cabana out with the Doomsday Device, only for Punk to break up the attack when he crotched Mark on the top rope. Moments later though, and despite his injured rubs, Mark took Punk down with a Shooting Star Press, only for Cabana to pull the referee out of the ring as he counted Mark’s cover.

Eventually Mark’s injuries led to his downfall. Although he fought of Punk’s Pepsi Plunge attempt, sending Punk crashing from the top rope to the floor he crashed onto Cabana’s knee as he came off the top rope himself. Cabana followed up with a frog splash from the top, and a three count later there was the third title change in as many matches.

There was no time for a celebration though. Maff and Whitmer hit the ring, briefly attacking Cabana before they brawled with the Briscoes at ringside. Cabana then took them all out with an Asai Moonsault to the floor.

Punk was about to enter the fray until Ricky Steamboat came down to the ring. At first it looked like Punk was backing off after they went nose to nose until the Straight Edged one attacked. Steamboat quickly took control with his chops and arm drags before finally taking Punk out with a cross body block from the top rope.

May 22nd, 2004
It’s the final match of the collection as Punk and Cabana defend their Tag Team titles against Dan Maff and B.J. Whitmer at Generation Next.

This was another very heated battle between these two factions, and the perfect continuation of their feud. Contested under no DQ rules it began as a normal tag match, with both teams, and the Saints in particular, looking very good.

But as was expected all hell broke loose about ten minutes in when they began brawling around ringside and through the crowd as they clobbered each other with chairs.

They soon made it back to the ring for the big moves. There was one point where all four men were on the top rope in one corner brawling, but after Cabana fell to the ring apron and Maff through a table Punk took Whitmer down with the Pepsi Plunge for the title retaining pin.

In conclusion - it took me over six hours (spread over a few days) to watch all of this collection, and I’m glad that I did.

Ring of Honor’s latest tribute to the Straight Edge Superstar is another quality release, and it backs up what I’ve been saying about the man for nearly a decade.

We all know that he’s a great talker and a great wrestler, but this compilation shows that he’s more than capable of competing in a variety of different styles against a variety of different opponents. From the technical stylings of Colt Cabana and C.W. Anderson through to the hardcore leanings of Raven and the tag team speciality of the Briscoes, Punk can do it all.

So if you’re one of those people who only really took notice of Punk when he debuted in WWE I urge you to go out and get a copy of this, because it shows there really is life before you enter the main stages of professional wrestling.

And before you ask, this collection definitely gets the big thumbs up from this particular writer.

With thanks to the powers that be for supplying a copy of this release. C.M. Punk: The Second City Saint is available to buy online at www.rohwrestling.com.

Can Someone Please Tell Their Right Hand What Their Left Hand Is Doing?

2013-03-20T16:05:00.001Z

Today I had a letter from Seetec’s head office in Essex. It told me that my next appointment with my advisor in Norwich had been booked for Wednesday, March 27th at 2pm.

This confused me a little, mainly because my next appointment wasn’t meant to be until Thursday, April 4th at 1pm. It would have been the week before, but a little thing called Good Friday meant that it had to be put back a few days.

I rang Maggie, my advisor, at her office in Norwich. Basically here’s what’s happened. Because my monthly appointment with Maggie was put back a few days because of the Easter Bank Holiday weekend Seetec’s computer went into overdrive, convinced that I wasn’t attending my appointments, my last one with Maggie being back on March 7th.

So their head office sent me a letter telling me of this new appointment next Wednesday where, so I’m told, I’ll be given a letter “reminding me of my responsibilities while on the Work Programme.”

Even though Maggie told me it’s nothing to worry about because of my appointment with her on April 4th what it boils down to is that their head office is going to tell me off via letter form, even though I’ve done nothing wrong. It’s annoying because I’ve got to travel to Norwich just to pick up a letter.

So to cut a long story short, Seetec’s right hand doesn’t know what they’re left hand is doing. It’s a situation that seems very familiar to me.

UFC 158 St-Pierre vs Diaz on ESPN - TV Review

2013-03-19T14:11:00.001Z

Finally it happened. After ages of back and forth jibes Nick Diaz finally challenged Georges St-Pierre for the Welterweight title in the main event of UFC 158, shown live in the early hours of this past Sunday morning on ESPN here in Britain.

The five hour marathon began with the preliminary fights and the lightweight encounter between John Makdessi and Daron Cruickshank.

This proved to be a very entertaining three rounder. We had quite a lengthy feeling out period at the beginning which didn’t exactly sit too well with the Canadian fans, but once it got going we were treated to a great striking display.

Cruickshank was successful early on with a series of well-placed kicks that welted up Makdessi’s leg, and his striking enabled him to take control it wasn’t long before Makdessi took that control away from him.

With his home fans roaring him on Makdessi put on a tremendous display. His striking was crisp and accurate, he did a good job of controlling the centre of the cage, and he was able to defend against all of Cruickshank’s takedown attempts. In fact the only thing missing from his game was a finish.

Which meant that the judges were called into action for the first time. No disagreements here as Makdessi took the unanimous decision.

It was up to welterweight for the next fight as Dan Miller faced Jordan Mein.

The great striking that began in the first fight continued with this bruising encounter.

Mein looked a little nervous during the introductions, and as the fight began Miller took the upper hand with a couple of solid combinations.

Miller continued to look the more solid of the two until Mein connected with a left that put him on his backside. But instead of following him down Mein let him get back to his feet.

It wasn’t long before Mein took complete control, a big right sending Miller crashing to the ground once more. This time around Mein followed him down and unleashed with the ground and pound, and with Miller offering nothing in reply the referee stepped in to give Mein the TKO win.

Then it was down to featherweight as Antonio Carvalho took on Darren Elkins.

Although this one featured some more sound striking that’s not what it will be remembered for.

Carvalho had some success early on with three left hooks to the jaw. Elkins just shook these off as he went for a takedown against the cage, an attempt that Carvalho easily defended against.

As the Canadian began to take control Elkins connected with a big right that staggered Carvalho. He followed this up with some nice combinations that sent Carvalho down, but even though Carvalho got straight back up the referee stopped the fight, giving Elkins the TKO win, even though Carvalho looked like he had recovered.

After two first round finishes it was on to filler material and the bantamweight encounter between T.J. Dillashaw and Issei Tamura.

This one began with both guys testing the waters a little with a few kicks before Dillashaw scored with the takedown. The action didn’t stay on the ground for long as they got back to their feet and engaged in a clinch against the cage before the referee separated them.

When they went back to the striking Dillashaw looked on top form, and this certainly proved to be the case early in the second when he connected with a knee to Tamura’s head that sent him crashing to the mat. He then followed him down for a spot of ground and pound before the referee stepped in to give Dillashaw the knockout win.

The final preliminary fight saw Patrick Cote taking on Bobby Voelker in the welterweight division.

The welterweight debut of the former middleweight contender proved to be a rip roaring affair with both fighters putting in top notch performances. Early on it looked like we were going to get another all striking battle as both fighters connected with some good shots.

But then Voelker scored with the first takedown of the fight, and even though Cote put in some good ground work off his back with his armbar attempts Voelker always looked for the ground and pound.

As the second round began Cote began to have more success with his striking, although Voelker opened up a cut above his man’s right eye with a couple of knees.

When the fight entered the third round it looked like Cote was going to continue with his great striking until Voelker took the fight to the ground again. This time around Voelker was all over his man like a cheap suit. Cote tried for the armbar once again but Voelker saw these attempts coming, and he certainly looked the strong of the two when the fight ended.

With no finish in sight the judges were called into action once again as they gave Cote the unanimous decision.

The main show began with Mike Ricci taking on Colin Fletcher in the lightweight division.

This was an interesting one. The first round had the feel of a sparring session about it, and the only meaningful action came when Fletcher connected with a kick south of the border.

Things got a little better in the second round, especially when Ricci countered Fletcher’s kick with a takedown. From there he scored with some hard shots, opening Fletcher up under his right eye.

When they went back to the striking it was a little better second time around, but as with the opening exchanges they looked pretty even.

Ricci scored with the second takedown of the fight in the final minute of the third, quickly working into position where he could go for a rear naked choke and then an armbar. Fletcher survived these attempts and soon came out on top for a brief moment of ground and pound. Time was against him though as the fight came to an end.

Which meant that the judges were brought into the equation. Once again they were in complete agreement as Ricci took the unanimous decision.

Middleweight action followed as Nick Ring faced Chris Camozzi.

This certainly was better than the previous fight, and once again we saw a very enjoyable striking affair.

Ring put in a good performance in the first two rounds. With his hands down and his chin in the air he used his speed advantage to frustrate Camozzi, especially when he connected with a series of jabs to the body.

But as the fight entered the third round Ring looked spent as Camozzi upped his game. Ring was quickly becoming a static target for Camozzi’s punches and clinches.

With another fight going the distance the judges were put to work again, and this time they couldn’t agree as Camozzi took the split decision.

It was back to welterweight for the next fight as Jake Ellenberger took on Nate Marquardt.

No judges required for this one. Early on it seemed as if all Marquardt wanted to do was kick his man, and although he had some success in that respect it was a right from Ellenberger that caused the first damage when he opened up a cut underneath Marquardt’s left eye.

Then, as the fight neared the three minute mark, Ellenberger unloaded with a left/right combination. Marquardt slumped to the canvas, and after Ellenberger connected with a couple of more shots the referee stepped in to give Ellenberger the knockout win.

The welterweight action continued with Carlos Condit taking on Johny Hendricks.

Now this was good, one of the best three round affairs I’ve seen in a long time. Both guys went at it full pelt as soon as the fight began. Hendricks’ striking looked top notch throughout, and he had Condit in trouble no end of times.

Even though his striking was good his takedowns were even better. Condit just didn’t seem to have any defence as Hendricks took him down time and time again.

As for Condit’s performance it was just as good. His striking may not have been as effective and his takedown defence may have been non-existent but he still had his fair share of good moments. Hendricks may have be able to take him down at will but he couldn’t keep him down for long. He also left himself open as Condit went looking for a kimura on more than once occasion.

With neither man able to get the finish the judges came into play again as Hendricks took the unanimous decision.

The main event saw Nick Diaz challenging Georges St-Pierre for the Welterweight title.

Well, this was the one we’d all been waiting for, and for the first two rounds GSP was in dominant form once again. Like Hendricks in the previous fight he was able to take his man down at will, and once he got there he controlled the action brilliantly.

Diaz didn’t really come into the fight until the third round. It was only then that he began to defend against GSP’s takedowns. He also got in some good blows, but he almost ruined it all after the horn sounded when he took a swing at GSP when the referee separated them on the ground.

Diaz’s other main flaw was his tendency to mock GSP, and there was one point where he basically walked around the cage when he would have been better served to try a few combinations instead.

By the time the fifth round began it was pretty obvious who was going to win. GSP’s dominance and Diaz’s inability to take the chances when on offer meant that when the fight ended we all knew how it was going to turn out.

The judges were then called upon for the final time. No surprises here as they gave GSP everything with their unanimous decision.

In conclusion - so did this live up to all the hype? I think the answer to that question is yes, yes it did.

UFC 158 was another quality show from the Zuffa crew. From the preliminaries right through to the main event we were treated to some tremendous action, and even though there was one slightly strange referee’s decision and one fight that was somewhat lacking early on overall the show was very good.

As for my fight of the night no-prize those in the know gave the official reward to the Hendricks/Condit encounter, and I see no reason to disagree with that particular decision.

So with all of that being said there’s only one thing left to do, and that’s to give UFC 158 the thumbs up.

TNA Lockdown on Challenge - TV Review

2013-03-17T00:15:00.003Z

It’s time to head over to the Impact Zone…..oh, wait…..I can’t use that line anymore.

It’s time to enter TNA territory once again as we take a look back at Lockdown, shown this past Wednesday night on Challenge here in Britain.

The show began with the first title match of the evening, with Zema Ion and Christian York challenging Kenny King for the X Division title.

This I liked. It proved to be a highly entertaining show opener packed with fast paced action and high risk moves, as well as three great performances.

We also had our fair share of three-way moves. A lot of them impressed the hell out of me, but the best of all was when Ion took King down with a hurricanrana from the top rope and landed on York with a moonsault at the same time.

There were also plenty of near falls before King finally sealed the deal with his Royal Flush finisher.

The singles action began with Joey Ryan taking on everyone’s favourite lawyer Joseph Park.

This was kind of fun. Before the match began Ryan basically told Park that he had no business being in a wrestling ring, but when the match began Park took the upper hand with a couple of nice moves.

It wasn’t long before Ryan took control as he worked over the big man’s knee. The lawyer found a unique way of making his comeback though by grabbing a couple of handfuls of Ryan’s chest hair before following it up with wedgie. And I can’t believe I just wrote that sentence while reviewing a wrestling match.

A few minutes later Park took the win. Ryan went for a sunset flip, and when he couldn’t get the big man over Park came down with a sit-down splash for the three count.

More title action followed as Gail Kim challenged Velvet Sky for the Knockouts title.

Now this certainly wasn’t filler material. Unlike their Diva counterparts these ladies were given a storyline to work with, and this made it a very enjoyable encounter.

The exchanges between these two were pretty good, with both girls putting on decent displays, but as the match went on Kim began to get more and more frustrated with referee Taryn Terrell.

It got to the point where Kim shoved Terrell into a corner and slapped her, daring the referee to disqualify her. But when Terrell didn’t do this Kim calmly walked away right into a spear…from the referee. Yep, the official attacked the wrestler as the green mist descended. Terrell then realised what she’d done.

Sky then took advantage of the situation when she took Kim down with her In Your Face finisher for the title retaining pin.

Then it was on to the battle of the Robbies as E took on T.

Basically what we had here was one of those five minute throwaway type of encounters. T threw E around the ring a few times before missing a corner attack. E then took control before T came back into the match and took the pin after taking E down with a one-handed spine buster. It wasn’t bad I suppose but it was also nothing special.

More title action followed as Chavo Guerrero and Hernandez and the Bad Influence team of Christopher Daniels and Frankie Kazarian challenged Austin Aries and Bobby Roode for the Tag Team titles.

This one was great. It was packed with an absolute ton of action as all six men put in tremendous performances.

The first few moments saw some great exchanges between Bad Influence and the Tex-Mex team. Hernandez and Guerrero looked in top form as they took Daniels apart early on with some great double team moves.

Then it was the turn of Daniels and Kazarian to show what a well-oiled unit they were. Their two man moves looked just as good as they used Guerrero for target practice.

As for Roode and Aries, while they didn’t look as polished as the other two teams their efforts weren’t too shabby as they continued the good work on Guerrero.

Eventually we got to the all hell breaks loose part of the match as the bodies flew all over the place, with big Hernandez matching the smaller guys move for move once more.

It all worked up to the point where Daniels fell prey to Guerrero’s frog splash from the top rope. It meant nothing though because Roode got the blind tag before Guerrero took to the skies, and all he had to do afterwards was cover Daniels for the title retaining pin.

The first of the steel cage matches saw Aces & Eights’ Wes Brisco taking on Kurt Angle.

This veritable battle of the generations proved to be pretty enjoyable. Although there was a vast difference in experience levels young Brisco did a very good job of keeping up with the Olympic hero.

It started off well for Angle as he took Brisco down early on, but as the match progressed Brisco began to take control, starting off when he choked Angle with his own tee shirt.

The action moved along nicely, with Angle making his comeback and going for the Angle Slam and the ankle lock, but the tide turned when he accidentally clobbered the referee. Angle applied the ankle lock again as Brisco tapped out in seconds. But with the referee down there wasn’t anybody to give him the win.

Angle’s frustrations continued when he left the cage. This would have also ended the match if the referee hadn’t been snoozing, so when Brisco’s buddy D’Lo Brown came out and attacked Angle the referee didn’t see a thing as he threw Angle back into the cage before dragging Brisco out.

The referee soon came to, and the first thing he saw was Brisco outside the cage. He immediately called for the bell, giving Brisco the upset win.

The Lethal Lockdown match saw Team TNA, Sting, Magnus, Samoa Joe, James Storm & Eric Young taking on Aces & Eights, Devon, Mr. Anderson, Knox, Doc and Garrett Bischoff.

Well, seeing as how Nick Aldis still hasn’t offering any apology for his past transgressions towards me…..

The main event saw Bully Ray challenging Jeff Hardy for the World title.

I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve seen these two against each other over the years, and while this may not have been their best encounter it certainly had a high drama content.

It began with Ray using his power advantage early on before Hardy made his comeback with some good old fashioned speed, and as the match went on both guys had their fair share of good moments.

Then Aces & Eights tried to interfere as Wes Brisco and Garrett Bischoff climbed into the cage. Their attack didn’t last long though as Hardy and Ray doubled up to send them flying out of the cage door.

The action quickly returned to normal, with the best high impact move coming when Ray took Hardy down with a sit down powerbomb from the top rope.

A few moments later our esteemed General Manager Hulk Hogan and his baby girl Brooke came out to support their boy. But they weren’t the only ones who came down to get a better view. They were soon joined by another Aces & Eights contingent led by Devon. Ray handed Hardy a chain as the bad guys climbed into the cage, but as Ray and Hardy stood back to back, ready to face off against their foes Devon handed Bully a weapon. Ray then turned around and clobbered Hardy in the back.

Ray then gave Devon a double high five before covering Hardy, and a three count later we had a new World Champion.

The Hulkster and his baby girl looked shocked as Ray celebrated, telling his bride that she meant nothing to him before he took to the microphone and announced that he was the brains behind the bad guys.

In conclusion - you know what? I’m really liking TNA’s new pay per view schedule. It really seems to have freshened up their big shows a little, because Lockdown was a very enjoyable show.

I really liked the decision to move away from the all steel cage match show. It meant that the action could be built up nicely as they moved towards Lethal Lockdown and the main event.

As for the matches most of the ones I actually watched were pretty good. There was plenty of solid action from the usual suspects, and I ended my night’s viewing feeling very entertained.

As for main event, I wrote an article back in 2002 saying that Bubba Ray Dudley deserved a main event push. The smart marks on a certain fan forum laughed at me. I wonder if they’re laughing now.

Finally it’s time to give out my match of the night no-prize, and this time around it’s going to the three-way Tag Team title match for it’s tremendous action.

So with all of that out of the way it’s time to wrap this thing up by giving the bits of Lockdown I reviewed the thumbs up.

BAMMA 12 on 5* - TV Review

2013-03-11T18:36:00.000Z

It’s time to step into the world of British mixed martial arts once again as we take a look at the twelfth offering from BAMMA, shown live this past Saturday night on 5* here in Britain.

The broadcast began with action from the welterweight division as Luke Newman faced Ryan Scope.

This was a great way to open the show. The feeling out period was just a few seconds long before they instigated a clinch against the cage. From there Scope scored with the first takedown of the fight, and although Newman went for a guillotine Scope quickly escaped.

Quick escapes seemed to be the order of the day for a few moments as Newman soon got to his feet, and although Scope took him back down it was a back and forth exchange that repeated itself a few times.

Then Newman turned the tables when he began to unload with the heavy leather after dropping Scope with a knee to the bread basket. Newman followed him down as he looked to take the win, but after taking a few choice shots Scope quickly locked in a triangle choke. Newman soon tapped out to give Scope the submission win.

The only title fight on the show saw Curt Warburton challenging Stevie Ray for the British Lightweight title.

As the fight began our esteemed colour commentator Ken Shamrock predicted that the fight wouldn’t go the distance, immediately putting the commentator’s curse on the proceedings.

This proved to be a very entertaining three rounder, and for those who prefer ground fighting to striking then you’d really enjoy this one.

It began with a brief feeling out period before a clinch against the cage. Warburton then took the advantage with the first takedown of the fight, with Ray showing some sound defensive skills as he tried to shut his man down.

Ray’s best work came in the second round when he took control on the ground. It looked all over when he took Warburton’s back, looking for a rear naked choke. Warburton managed to survive this scare, but Ray still had his back, and his body lock didn’t give the challenger much room to move.

Both men had their moments in the third and final round. Warburton tried to take control on the ground. A few moments later during the only meaningful striking exchange he almost gained control again when Ray slipped going for a kick. He never really capitalised on this mishap though, and the fight ended with Ray scoring with a takedown against the fence.

With no finish in sight the judges were called into action for the only time during the broadcast. No difference of opinion here as Warburton took the unanimous decision.

The penultimate fight featured light heavyweight action as Max Nunes took on Maran Lazarz.

This was one of those intriguing kind of battles. Lazarz’s tactic of choice seemed to be to grind Nunes down against the cage while looking for a takedown. It was a tactic that worked a couple of times in the first round, the only problem was that when he took the fight down Nunes always managed to get back to his feet.

Lazarz continued with this tactic into the second round, but this time around he mixed it up with a couple of takedowns in the middle of the cage. This almost led to his downfall when Nunes went for an armbar, and when Nunes countered his push kick with a left/right combination.

The clinching and the grappling continued into the third round, but when Lazarz moved backwards and went for a takedown he slipped, giving Nunes the chance to take control. He quickly went to work with the ground and pound, raining down a barrage of punches and elbows, and with Lazarz offering nothing in reply the referee stepped in to give Nunes the TKO win.

The main event saw Jimmy Wallhead taking on Matt Veach in the welterweight division.

Plenty of action in this one. There were a few takedown attempts and a brief clinch against the cage early on, but it was during the striking exchanges that the first damage was caused when Wallhead opened Veach up.

A few moments later Wallhead dropped his man to the canvas. He then went to work with the ground and pound before taking his back and synching in a rear naked choke for the submission win.

The show rounded out with a highlights package of the other fights on the card.

In conclusion - now this was more like it!

Having been bitterly disappointed by BAMMA’s last television appearance I’m more than happy to say that this was definitely a return to form.

All four of the fights shown were very enjoyable, and it just goes to show that Channel 5 and their sister stations can produce a quality television show without having to focus on a certain reality TV star and tabloid darling who really hasn’t done anything of note in the British MMA world.

As for my fight of the night no-prize this time around it’s going to the opening encounter between Ryan Scope and Luke Newman, with an honourable mention to Jimmy Wallhead’s demolition of Matt Veach.

So with all of that out of the way let’s close this thing out by giving BAMMA 12 the deserved thumbs up.

UFC Silva vs Stann on ESPN - TV Review

2013-03-11T00:03:00.002Z

It’s time for a better late than never review, and this time around we’re heading to Tokyo for the UFC’s latest show on Fuel TV, shown live on ESPN here in Britain.

The broadcast began in the welterweight division as Don Hyun Kim took on Siya Bahadurzada.

This proved to be a solid three rounder. Early on Bahadurzada managed to cause quite a swelling above Kim’s right eye. Sadly for him that was the only meaningful damage he caused all night.

Kim went on to dominate the action for the remainder of the fight. He was able to take Bahadurzada down at will, and when his man managed to escape he took him right back down again.

Kim’s best work came in the third when he went for an arm triangle, and when that didn’t work he took the mount and unleashed with the ground and pound. A lesser fight would have tapped, but Bahadurzada stuck it out.

As for the decision the judges were in total agreement as Kim took the unanimous decision.

It was down to featherweight next as Mizuto Hirota faced Rani Yahya.

I really enjoyed this one. Yahya controlled the action for the first two rounds with some excellent takedowns and grappling. His work was top notch as he made Hirota look poor, especially when he went for an arm triangle.

Hirota seemed like a different man when the third round started. He was suddenly able to defend against Yahya’s takedown attempts before he took control when he went for an armbar. But with Yahya visibly tiring Hirota really upped his game, connecting with some sound shots as the fight came to an end.

Once again the judges were in complete agreement as Yahya took the unanimous decision.

Middleweight action followed as Yushin Okami went up against Hector Lombard.

The third entertaining three rounder saw Lombard trying to shorten the distance early on, but it wasn’t long before Okami took the fight to the ground as he began to assert his authority.

Okami allied his sound ground game with some nice striking in the second, but when the third began Lombard’s striking came to the fore as he staggered the Japanese star. Okami managed to survive though, mainly because Lombard preferred the ground game to his striking attack.

For the first time during the broadcast the judges differed in their opinion as Okami took the split decision.

Then it was down to lightweight as Takanori Gomi took on Diego Sanchez.

This was one of those very interesting encounters. It began with Sanchez racing out of the blocks to take the centre ground, and although Gomi’s boxing looked great from the start whenever he went for a kick Sanchez countered with a takedown.

Gomi changed his tactics a little from the start of the second round. The kicks were gone as he concentrated on his boxing. It proved to be a sound decision as he took the upper hand. Sanchez had some good moments of his own, but his takedown attempts were ineffective, although he did end the fight with a flurry.

Once again the judges differed in their opinions as Sanchez took the split decision.

The big boys of the heavyweight division were up next as Mark Hunt faced Stefan Struve.

I really liked this one. Given the obvious differences between these two it looked to be an intriguing fight on paper, and an even better one in the cage.

Both men got in some good shots early on before Struve pulled guard and took the fight to the ground, and although Hunt had some success on top it wasn’t long before Struve reversed the positions and took the mount. Struve quickly unleashed with the ground and pound, but Hunt managed to survive this onslaught to make it to the second round.

It was then that the former K1 standout had even more success, particularly with his leaping left hook. Then, for some reason, he decided to take the fight to the ground. That was all the encouragement Struve needed as he went looking for the submission before another spot of ground and pound.

Both fighters were visibly tired by the time the third round started, but that didn’t stop Hunt from unloading with the heavy leather, and this time around he managed to stagger the big Dutchman, backing him up against the fence before dropping him with another big left hook. Hunt then backed away as the referee stepped in to give Hunt the TKO win.

The main event featured light heavyweight action as Wanderlei Silva went up against Brian Stann.

Well this one certainly had a lot of action in it. The big guns were brought out early as both men went at it full tilt. Each man got in some good shots as they rocked the other, with Silva opening up a nasty cut on the bridge of Stann’s nose.

The stoppage looked like it was going to come early until Stann misdirected a kick. Silva’s rest period gave they both time to recover, and although they restarted at a somewhat slower pace they went back up to full throttle at the end of the round.

It was the same story in the second. Once again both fighters got in their fair share of big blows, and with neither man backing down it began to look like the fight could go either way.

But as the round entered it’s final minute Silva connected with a right/left combination that sent Stann crashing. Silva followed him down for a few more blows before the referee stepped in to give Silva the knockout win.

In conclusion - as with some of my other recent television reviews other issues and commitments meant that I wasn’t able to see this show until a few days after it happened. I had considered passing on this review. I’m glad I didn’t.

It was another night of great action as the UFC continued their quest for world domination. All of the fights shown on the broadcast delivered, and then some.

As for my fight of the night no-prize there was only ever one contender, and that was Wanderlei Silva’s tremendous knockout win over Brian Stann. Although I have to admit that if that fight hadn’t been on the show then the nod would have gone the way of Mark Hunt and Stefan Struve.

So with all of that out of the way let’s wrap this thing up by giving the UFC’s latest trip to Japan the thumbs up.

ROH Glory by Honor XI - DVD Review

2013-03-06T18:54:00.001Z

Ring of Honor is on the agenda once more, and this time we’re heading back to last October and Mississauga, Ontario to see Michael Elgin challenge Kevin Steen for the World title in the main event of Glory by Honor XI.

The show began with tag team action as the Bravado Brothers, Lancelot and Harlem, faced Caprice Coleman and Cedric Alexander in a Caged Hostility rematch.

These Bravado boys have certainly come a long way since I first saw them. Back then they were a couple of Grandma’s boys. Now they’re a well-oiled wrestling machine.

They showed how far they’ve come in this exciting opener. Their teamwork as they used Alexander for target practice was spot on, the best I’ve ever seen from them.

As for Alexander and Coleman they’re also becoming an impressive unit, and if it wasn’t for their input this match wouldn’t have been half as good.

Despite their improvement the brothers fell short in this one as Lancelot fell to Coleman and Alexander’s one-two punch, a top rope hurricanrana followed by a top rope frog splash for the winning pin.

The singles action began with Mike Bennett, accompanied by Maria Kanellis, facing Mike Mondo in a grudge match.

The grudge in this one was all about Mondo’s unwanted advances towards the lovely Maria. It was something that Bennett didn’t take too kindly to.

As for the match they spent more time brawling around the ring than they did in it. It was pretty entertaining stuff, particularly when Bennett power slammed Mondo on the floor as he flew off the ring apron.

The holy you know what moment came when Mondo climbed to the top of the entrance scaffold and came crashing down on Bennett.

When they eventually returned to the ring Mondo looked like he was going to fall for Maria’s charms. It was all part of an evil plan, and although it almost failed Bennett soon came out on top when he took Mondo down with a TKO for the winning pin.

The grudge match action continued with Rhett Titus and B.J. Whitmer taking on Wrestling’s Greatest Tag Team, Charlie Haas and Shelton Benjamin.

They didn’t even wait to get to the ring to start this one. Benjamin and Haas attacked Titus and Whitmer as they made their entrance, and it was Whitmer who took the brunt of the early punishment until Titus tagged into the match.

Benjamin and Titus then proceeded to tae Titus apart with their usual wide variety of moves, until the former ladies man managed to reach his own corner.

Whitmer came into the match like a house on fire as he took both men down with a wide array of suplexes. It looked like the new team were going to get the win until Whitmer was pushed into Titus when he was on the top rope.

Haas and Benjamin then lifted Whitmer high into the air before taking him down with their double spine buster for Haas’ winning pin.

Then it was on to the one I really wanted to see as Jay Lethal faced Davey Richards in a Survival of the Fittest finals rematch.

It didn’t disappoint. For over 20 minutes these two put on a classic back and forth battle, the sort of match ROH has become renowned for over the past few years.

This one had everything. From the early exchange of submission holds through the striking exchanges and the countless false finishes towards the end, Richards and Lethal put on a match that would have been worth of the main event, let alone the mid-card.

It really was one of those matches that could have gone either way, and it almost went the way of Lethal after he sent Richards crashing onto a table from the top rope.

Richards barely beat the count back into the ring, and as they brought out the hard hitting exchanges and the big moves everyone in the building was eating up everything that was on offer.

The end eventually came when Lethal went back to a hold he’d tried earlier in the match, the Koji Clutch. When he applied it for a second time Richards passed out, giving Lethal the stoppage win and earning both men a standing ovation.

The special challenge match was next as Tadarius Thomas went up against Truth Martini’s man Roderick Strong.

Well, that was what was meant to happen. Strong came out and promptly quit the House of Truth before returning backstage with Martini in hot pursuit.

He returned a few moments later with a rather reluctant Rhino in tow. Martini stated that all was well in his camp before putting the Man Beast in as Strong’s replacement, even though Rhino said he wasn’t ready.

Rhino began the match minus a knee pad and his wrist tape, and he was easy prey for Thomas’ unique striking combinations early on.

He soon established control though, but when Martini interfered the Man Beast chastised him, especially when he hit Thomas as Rhino prepared for the Gore.

So Rhino prepared for the Gore again, but when he came forward Thomas connected with a kick to the head that sent him into the middle of next week, and a Magistral roll-up later gave Thomas the upset win.

To say that Rhino was annoyed when he came to would be an understatement. Martini tried to plead with him, even offering him cash at one point. Rhino was having none of it though as he press slammed Martini from the ring right on to the top of the ring barrier.

The first title match of the evening saw Eddie Edwards challenging Adam Cole for the TV title.

Nothing like a good old fashioned friendly rivalry to get the pulse racing, and thankfully the normal time limit for TV title matches was extended to 30 minutes here. If it hadn’t this match would have been half as good.

It began with some nice chain wrestling as they exchanged moves and holds as well as a few stiff chops. But when Cole leapt over the top rope and took Edwards down with a DDT on the ring apron things got a little more serious.

As Edwards began to favour his neck the big guns came out as both men went for their leg submission of choice. Neither of them worked though and eventually Cole took his man down with his Florida Key suplex for the title retaining pin and the second standing ovation of the evening.

The title action continued with Jay and Mark Briscoe challenging the SCUM team of Steve Corino and Jimmy Jacobs for the Tag Team titles.

If you were expecting this to be a technical classic then you’d probably be bitterly disappointed. This was a fight, and a pretty entertaining one at that.

It began before the bell sounded, and the action quickly spilled out to ringside as they began to knock the proverbial out of each other for what seemed like an age.

They eventually made it to the ring, but when Corino clobbered Mark with a roll of coins in his hand it became a handicap match more or less as the SCUM boys used Jay for target practice.

Mark managed to make his way back into the match after getting checked over at ringside as the even bigger brawl started, and just when it looked like the brothers were going to get the win with the Doomsday Device Corino pushed the referee into the ropes, crotching Mark in the corner. He then kicked Jay below the belt, and when the referee returned his attention back to the match the first thing he saw was Jacobs taking Jay down with a Victory Roll for the winning pin.

The main event saw Michael Elgin challenging Kevin Steen for the World title.

Before the introductions began Steen took to the microphone to tell the crowd that all of his demands had been met and that the Package Piledriver was legal once again.

Oh, and mention must be made of Roderick Strong taking a seat in the front row. Remember that one folks, it may be important later.

As someone who has witnessed countless main event technical classics on ROH shows it still seems a bit off to see two big guys beating the snot out of each other with the World title on the line.

That was basically what you had in this match. For nearly 30 minutes these two traded big blows and power moves, and if I’m to be perfectly honest it seemed a little overlong.

Don’t get me wrong, it was a good match, and the performances of those involved can’t be faulted, but it could have done with being about ten minutes shorter.

So what were the highlights then, I hear you ask. The answer to that is simple: Elgin’s power moves. To be able to throw a big unit like Steen around the ring takes some doing, and Elgin made it look easy.

As for the aforementioned Roderick Strong he tried to clobber Elgin when the action spilled out of the ring, but Elgin soon took care of him, throwing him into the barricades before throwing him out of the arena.

We also had plenty of false finishes towards the end as they kicked out of each other’s big moves before Steen finally put his man away with a Package Piledriver from the top rope.

Then, as a couple of referees were helping Elgin to his feet Strong returned to the ring and took him down with a Sick Kick before scurrying away like a thief in the night.

It was then that another referee gave announcer Nigel McGuinness a box to give to Steen, and when the champion opened it up the celebratory look on his face disappeared when he saw that it contained the mask of his old nemesis El Generico.

In conclusion - so did Ring of Honor deliver once again? For the most part yes, yes they did.

There were some great matches on this show, a couple of them rightfully earning a standing ovation, and some of the continuing storylines were well played out.

But the main event kind of bugged me for the reasons I mentioned. Steen/Elgin was good, but it didn’t really feel like an ROH main event.

As for my match of the night no-prize that’s going to Jay Lethal and Davey Richards, although it nearly went to Adam Cole and Eddie Edwards.

So with all of that out of the way let’s wrap this thing up by giving Glory by Honor XI the thumbs up.

With thanks to the powers that be for supplying a copy of this release. Glory by Honor XI can be purchased online at www.rohwrestling.com.