The Two Sheds Review

And They Wonder Why This Country Dislikes Banks?

2012-01-31T12:16:00.000Z

2002: Bank of Scotland tell me that because my clinical depression wasn't diagnosed by a fully qualified shrink I can't claim my credit card insurance, despite the fact that I was under the care of my GP and several officials from the local health authority, who all said that I was in no condition to work. They then set their debt collector attack dogs on me, contributing to my illness.

2011: Bank of Scotland tell me that after reviewing some old cases that I may be able to claim on my old insurance after all.

Today: Bank of Scotland, after studying my medical records from 2002-05 tell me that because my clinical depression wasn't diagnosed by a fully qualified shrink I can't claim my credit card insurance, despite the fact that I was under the care of my GP and several officials from my local health authority, who all said that I was in no condition to work between 2002 and 2005. Thankfully I've managed to see off the attack dogs, having cleared most of my debt.

And they wonder why the country is losing faith with the bankers!

UFC on Fox 2: Evans vs Davis on ESPN - TV Review

2012-01-30T16:32:00.000Z

It’s time to step into the Octagon once again as we take a look at the latest offering from the Ultimate Fighting Championship, with Rashad Evans taking on Phil Davis in the main event of UFC on Fox 2, shown live in the early hours of this past Sunday morning on ESPN here in Britain.

The broadcast began with the first of two middleweight fights as Demian Maia went up against Chris Weidman.

This certainly was a very interesting encounter. As good as he has been in the past Maia looked a shadow of his former self. His striking looked one dimensional, and Weidman worked him out easily early on, taking control of the striking game and scoring with a couple of take downs in the first two rounds.

By the time the third round started both men looked exhausted, which wasn’t surprising as far as Weidman was concerned, mainly because he took the fight at short notice. But it was surprising as far as Maia was concerned. The pace slowed down considerably, and it didn’t exactly make for interesting viewing.

So with the fight going the distance it went down to the judges Weidman took the split decision.

The second middleweight encounter saw Chael Sonnen taking on Michael Bisping.

Now this was a lot better. Bisping put in a good performance in the first two rounds, and even though Sonnen managed to score with the take downs the Brit showed some great defensive work before controlling his man up against the cage.

It was only in the third round that Sonnen really came to life with a take down. From there he controlled the fight on the ground, frustrating Bisping, taking the mount and his back at various points. Bisping’s only real offensive action came towards the end of the round when he finally managed a take down of his own.

Once again the judges were called into action as Sonnen took the unanimous decision. Two of the judges gave it to Sonnen by one round, while the other gave him everything, leading me to wonder if he was actually watching Bisping’s performance.

As for Sonnen’s post match interview, I’ll put it this way. The great Muhammad Ali took inspiration from legendary professional wrestler “Gorgeous” George Wagner. Has Sonnen been watching old Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson tapes?

The main event featured light heavyweight action as Rashad Evans went up against Phil Davis.

While this may not have been one of the most flashy fights I’ve ever seen it was a very intriguing encounter.

Evans looked a whole class above Evans throughout each and every round. His striking was a lot better and his ground work was good, even though he never managed to go for any submissions.

Davis had a few good moments but when these happened Evans soon regained control, whether it be in the stand up or on the ground.

The only down point in this fight was that Evans didn’t get the finish, so the judges were called upon once again as all three judges gave the fight to Evans.

In conclusion - the UFC’s third foray into the land of Fox gave us a mixed bag of fight action.

The opener was a little disappointing, but the final two fights were far more satisfying as Chael Sonnen once again entertained us with his pro wrestling persona and Rashad Evans’ performance was good if unspectacular.

So while UFC on Fox 2 gets the thumbs up it doesn’t get the big thumbs up I always seem to give UFC shows.

XWA Goldrush 2011 - DVD Review

2012-01-29T12:37:00.000Z

It’s debut time again here in the hallowed pages of The Two Sheds Review. This time we’re going to take a first look at a promotions I’ve heard a great deal about but never actually seen. That promotion is the XWA.

First a little background information. The XWA was born out of the ashes of the first incarnation of the Frontier Wrestling Alliance when that particular promotion lost a feud with the IPW:UK promotion.

Based in the Lancashire town of Morecambe the company is run by Greg “The Truth” Lambert. Greg has worked for numerous promotions as a ringside manager and ran the FWA in it’s latter days. He wanted to run a family-oriented company rather than one aimed at a more adult audience based around the American indy style of wrestling.

Oh, and before I forget, and so he doesn’t chastise me, Greg is also Britain’s greatest wrestling journalist, having written for the Powerslam magazine for a number of years.

With all that out of the way it’s time to actually look at the wrestling product, and for that we’re going back to February 2011 and The Carleton in Morecambe for Goldrush, featuring the annual Goldrush Rumble.

The show began with Jack Gallagher challenging the masked El Ligero for the British Flyweight title.

El Ligero is a many I’m very familiar with from my FWA reviews, while Gallagher was described by our announcers as a very technical wrestler.

This was a very enjoyable opener. It started off in a very sportsmanlike fashion with a shake of the hands, but as the match progressed Gallagher’s heel tendencies came to the fore as he grew increasingly frustrated at his inability to put his masked opponent away.

Ligero used his high-flying arsenal to good effect until Gallagher managed to ground him so he could apply an STF. The challenger was convinced he’d won the title, claiming that Ligero had tapped when he’d reached the ropes.

This gave Ligero the chance to recover, and moments later it was all over as he took Gallagher down with a springboard DDT for the title retaining pin.

The singles action continued with Zack Diamond taking on Colossus.

Originally Diamond was meant to take on Nathan Cruz, but the Showstealer announced that they’d been a change of appearance and that Diamond would now be facing his bodyguard Colossus, a big bear of a man with a beard any Amish man would kill for.

Diamond tried to use hit and run tactics early on, but these were soon halted when Colossus connected with a powerful blow to Diamond’s bread basket.

The big guy then went on to dominate Diamond with an impressive series of power moves. Diamond made a brief comeback but soon fell to an awesome looking choke slam for Colossus’ winning pin.

Then it was on to the encounter between J.D. Sassoon, accompanied by his tag partner Axel Rage, and Joey Hayes.

The referee soon made his presence known in this one. Rage tried to interfere straight away, right in front of the official, who had no choice but to send him from the back.

So after the long-haired one was sent out of the way these two engaged in a great evenly matched back and forth battle. But when the referee took a snooze after getting accidentally clobbered it looked all over for Joey.

That was when Rage came back to the ring with his Best of the Northwest trophy in his hand. As Sassoon held Hayes Rage was about to clobber him with the silverware until they were interrupted by the appearance of Declan O’Connor, Hayes’ former tag team partner, who stopped the attack and cleaned house before trying to revive the referee.

Then it was all over as Hayes took Sassoon out with his version of the RKO, the JKO. Afterwards O’Connor tried to reconcile their differences. Hayes was, quite naturally, very sceptical.

The penultimate match saw the debuting Ricky J. McKenzie taking on the face-painted Jynkz.

RJM didn’t exactly endear himself to the crowd early on, his underhanded tactics earning a yellow card from the referee.

As the match progressed it turned into a very entertaining battle, pitting RJM’s power against Jynkz’s aerial skills. RJM had the upper hand on quite a few occasions, but as he spent a lot of time jumping down to ringside to pose for fans that really didn’t want him to Jynkz recovered enough to take his man down with some quick aerial moves.

RJM’s cockiness proved to be his downfall though, and eventually Jynkz took the pin after a quick series of moves, finishing of with a roll-up.

It was then that the evil Authority faction, headed by British Champion Alex Shane and Greg “The Truth” Lambert arrived on the scene. Originally Shane had been scheduled to challenge Shane for the British title, but the champion pulled up.

As the XWA’s co-owner Lambert grabbed the microphone and announced that the title match between the two was now back on. Shane’s cronies, as well as RJM, attacked Jynkz while Shane sat in the corner. After they’d left him laying in the ring Lambert called for the bell, and the match was on.

It only lasted a few moments. Shane basically beat the hell out of Jynkz before taking him out with the big boot for the three count, taking the pin with his boot on Jynkz’s chest.

This brought Shane’s foe Johnny Phere, who quickly took care of Lambert’s various co-horts until XWA security stormed the ring and carried him out of the building.

The main event was the 15 man Goldrush rumble, basically a Royal Rumble-style match, with the winner getting a shot at the British title.

Featuring all of the wrestlers from the previous matches, as well as the likes of Stixx and Cyanide, this was a match packed with action and some interesting developments.

The first two in the ring were former tag partners Declan O’Connor and Joey Hayes, who spent their segment discussing their past problems. Jack Gallagher was the third man in and the first man out as it looked as if the Manchester Massive were back together.

All that changed when Axel Rage and J.D. Sassoon jumped into the ring earlier than they should have and took Hayes and O’Connor out, leaving as Nathan Cruz made his entrance, with the Showstealer greeting them as they left the arena, the damage done.

This was soon followed by the arrival of the massive Cyanide and Cruz’s bodyguard Colossus. The two big gives put on an impressive performance, eliminating the beloved baby faces as the ring got a little top heavy with villains.

Later on we saw the surprise appearance of the Rock Star Spud, who had previously been injured at the hands of Nathan Cruz while Spud’s buddies Rage, Sassoon and Stallion looked on and did nothing.

At first it looked as if Spud was going to attack his former friends, but when he hugged all of them it appeared as if the friendship was back on, until Spud attacked them. His rampage was all too brief though as he soon found himself flying over the top rope, courtesy of his former friends.

The last two men in the ring were Stixx and Colossus. Having eliminated Rage and Sassoon Stixx found himself on the receiving end of a beating from the big man, but as Colossus choked him over the bottom rope Stixx used his legs to lift Colossus off the ground, eventually pushing him over the top rope for the win, earning a shot at Alex Shane’s British title.

As Stixx sat recovering in the corner Greg Lambert and Alex Shane came back down to the ring, with Lambert revealing that Stixx would get his title shot there and then.

But before the match could begin it was revealed that former XWA co-owner Mark Kay had found a buyer to his half of the company and had sold it to someone I’ve known for years, none other than Sam Slam, a man who had been previously banned from the company.

After taking care of Shane’s crony Slam made his first announcements, the first being his own immediate reinstatement, the second being that Shane would be defending his title at the War on the Shore show, with Slam installing himself as the special enforcer.

In conclusion - my first experience of the XWA turned out to be a very enjoyable one.

It was nice to see some of the faces I’d become familiar with during my FWA reviews last year, and once again these guys impressed me a great deal, especially El Ligero.

As for those I wasn’t too familiar with their work was sound as well, especially the big guys Colossus and Cyanide. Immediately I began to imagine what would happen if these two former a tag team.

As for the Goldrush match, well it may be a copy of another more widely known match but it was full of great action and drama, which is all you can ask for as a wrestling fan.

So in all XWA Goldrush 2011 gets the thumbs up from this particular writer, and I look forward to getting another taste of XWA action in the future. The near future that is.

With thanks to the powers that be for supplying a copy of this release. XWA Goldrush 2011 is available to buy online at www.xwawrestling.com.

WWF Royal Rumble 1991 - Retro Review

2012-01-26T12:59:00.000Z

With this year’s Royal Rumble just a few days away there’s no better time than to revive my tradition of looking back at a previous “big four” show.

For this we’re going back to January 19th, 1991. Allied forces were taking part in the Operation Desert Storm campaign to liberate Kuwait from Saddam Hussein’s invading forces, and in Miami Iraqi sympathiser Sgt. Slaughter was challenging the Ultimate Warrior for the WWF title at the Royal Rumble.

The show began with tag team action as Mr. Fuji’s Orient Express team of Kato and Tanaka went up against the Rockers, Shawn Michaels and Marty Janetty.

This was actually the second version of the Orient Express, with Akio Sato having left and been replaced by Tanaka’s old Badd Company partner from his AWA days Paul Diamond, and as Diamond was as close to looking Japanese as I am they had to put him under a hood.

It’s been so long since I’ve seen this show I’d forgotten how good this match was. It was a great way to open the show as well as being a great example of tag team wrestling at it’s finest.

It began with the Express attacking the Rockers as they entered the ring before it settled down into a regular tag team match. The action was so fluid that it was a joy to watch.

As was his custom Mr. Fuji got involved, clobbering Michaels with his cane. But in the end it didn’t have any effect on the outcome.

The ending was quite inventive. Kato had used a sling-shot move to send Janetty into one of Tanaka’s knife-edge chops. They then tried to go for the move again, only for Michaels to come back into the ring and disrupt their plans. So when Kato sling-shot Janetty again he took out Tanaka with a sunset flip for the winning pin.

Then came the dramatic segment of the show. Backstage Sean Mooney had interviewed “Macho King” Randy Savage saying that Sgt. Slaughter had guaranteed him a shot at the title if he won.

In the arena Sensational Queen Sherri virtually dragged Gene Okerlund into the arena for an interview, calling out the Ultimate Warrior and insulting him until he made an appearance.

Sherri’s mood changed instantly as she began to compliment the champion on everything from his physique to his hair, at one point getting down on her knees in front of him as she begged for a title shot for the Macho King.

At first the Warrior seemed flattered until, with just one word he ruined their dream. That word was a resounding no.

The Warrior then left the arena before an irate Savage came running through the crowd to curse his luck.

Then it was back to the action as the Barbarian, accompanied by Bobby Heenan, met the challenge of the Big Boss Man.

This was when the Boss Man was waging his war with the Heenan Family. If you recall “Ravishing” Rick Rude had been “suspended” for making rude comments about the Boss Man’s mother before moving on to WCW, and having taken care of Haku he had the Barbarian in his sights.

No technical classic here, this was just two big guys beating the hell out of each other, and it was very entertaining.

The Barbarian impressed with power moves as he sought to put the former prison guard away with bear hugs and the like. The Boss Man, for his part, showed that his power had been allied with a turn of speed as he used hit and run tactics.

As this back and forth encounter went on became more dramatic by the minute. Both men went for their finishers, the Barbarian with his top rope clothesline and the Boss Man with his side slam, but neither man could get the pin because they were two close to the ropes.

Then the Barbarian went to the top rope for a second time and came down with a cross body block. The momentum carried the Boss Man into a pinning position for the three count and the win to take him on to his next stop, challenging Mr. Perfect for the Intercontinental title at Wrestlemania VII.

After two backstage interviews with the protagonists it was on to the big title match as Sgt. Slaughter, accompanied by General Adnan, challenged the Ultimate Warrior for the WWF title.

As the hated heels made their entrance commentators Gorilla Monsoon and Roddy Piper went to great pains to tell the television audience that the views of Slaughter and Adnan were in no way the views of the WWF. Well, they may not have been the views of the company but they were certainly willing to take advantage of a war in the Middle East.

While this may not go down as one of the best title matches in history it will go down as one of the most dramatic.

It began with Slaughter and Adnan attempting to attack the Warrior with their Iraqi flag as he entered the ring, only for the Warrior to foil the attack before we had the symbolic moment with the Warrior ripping up the flag and choking his challenger with it.

As the Warrior assaulted Slaughter Sensational Queen Sherri came running down to ringside and grabbed his leg as he ran the ropes. The champ turned his attention away from the match and chased Sherri up the aisle, only to be assaulted by Randy Savage.

The Warrior began to crawl back to the ring as Slaughter broke the referee’s count time and time again, and when the champion eventually made it back to ringside Slaughter began his attack, working over the Warrior’s back before putting him in the camel clutch.

There was one problem though, because the Warrior’s feet were under the ropes, and when the referee made Slaughter break the hold the Sarge thought he’d won the match, so when he began arguing with the official the Warrior began to shake the ropes.

As the Warrior made his comeback Sherri appeared again, jumping on the ring apron. The Warrior dragged her into the ring and pressed slammed her over the top rope onto the hastily returning Savage.

This left him open to another attack from the Sarge, who attacked him from behind and began to choke him over the middle rope. But when the referee pushed Slaughter back and admonished him Savage went on the attack, smashing his sceptre over his skull before running for cover.

And that was it. Slaughter dragged the Warrior’s lifeless form back into the ring and took the pin. Everyone seemed confused, wondering if Slaughter had actually been disqualified. Then the Fink made the announcement that there was a new and highly controversial WWF Champion, and as Slaughter celebrated the Warrior raced up the aisle, intent on revenge.

Normal and less controversial action resumed as the Mountie, accompanied by Jimmy Hart, went up against Koko B. Ware.

The sole intention of this match was to introduce Jacques Rougeau’s new gimmick. Koko put in some good work early on, using his speed to good effect before the lawman took control, clobbering Koko in the head with his cattle prod at one point while little Jimmy distracted the referee.

Koko made his comeback and almost got the win with a cross body block, but it was the Mountie who got his man, taking Koko down with a slam similar to that used by his future feud opponent, the Big Boss Man.

After a ton of backstage interview including Sgt. Slaughter gloating about his title win and the interruption of the Macho King’s interview when the Warrior found his dressing room it was on to the next match as Dusty Rhodes and his boy Dustin took on “Million Dollar Man” Ted Dibiase and his bodyguard Virgil.

This was the match that ended the Virgil/Dibiase relationship. As the match began Dibiase ordered his bodyguard into the ring, only for young Dustin to take the upper hand early on.

The Rhodes boys had some success early on until Rhodes missed a corner attack and rammed his knee into the corner pad. The hated heels then began to work over the injured limb until Virgil accidentally took his boss out with a clothesline when Dustin ducked out of the way.

Dibiase was irate, attacking his bodyguard and tossing him out of the ring. Meanwhile Dustin had made the tag to his old man, and after a brief exchange Dibiase took the pin with a roll up after Rhodes had missed an elbow in the corner.

Pleased with his win Dibiase grabbed the microphone and gloated in the ring before chastising Virgil for his performance and ordering him into the ring with his custom-made title belt. Dibiase ordered Virgil to put the belt around his waist, but the bodyguard refused, dropping it on the mat in front of him.

Dibiase then reminded him of his family, and in particular his mother, before ordering him to pick up the belt and to put it around his waist again.

By this time Virgil had had enough and clobbered his boss with the belt, leaving him lying in the ring as the crowd roared with approval as he made his way backstage.

After the usual hype job from the Hulkster where Mean Gene revealed that the new champion had apparently defaced the American flag it was on to the main event, the Royal Rumble match.

Beginning with Bret Hart and Dino Bravo, who were soon joined by Greg Valentine and Paul Roma, this match was full of the kind of action you’d expect from the Rumble.

There were the long stints from the likes of Valentine, Hercules, Tito Santana and Davey Boy Smith, but none of these lasted as long as “The Model” Rick Martel, who broke the record by lasting 52 minutes and 17 seconds, coming in at 6, lasting until he was eliminated by Davey Boy. It was a record that would only last a year though.

It was also the first appearance in the Rumble match by the Undertaker, who was still being managed by the ever annoying Brother Love at this point. I was already a massive ‘Taker mark at that point, and I was utterly devastated when he was the 9th man out of the contest, eliminated by the Legion of Doom after just over 14 minutes.

Conspicuous by his absence was Randy Savage. The Macho King was due to come in at number 18 but never showed, having apparently fled the arena to escape from the clutches of the Ultimate Warrior.

The final three were Earthquake (entrant number 22), Hulk Hogan (entrant number 24) and Brian Knobs of the Nasty Boys (entrant number 28). Jimmy Hart’s boys had doubled up on the Hulkster, with Earthquake taking him out with his sit-down splash. But when they celebrated their achievement Hogan did his usual thing, suddenly jumping up and quickly sending Knobs over the top rope before taking Quake down with the big boot and a body slam before sending him over the top to claim his second Rumble win.

Oh, and one more notable appearance here, a young Shane McMahon working as a ringside referee.

In conclusion - this was the second Royal Rumble I’d ever seen way back in ‘91, and as I mentioned it’s been years since I’ve seen this show, which is why I’d forgotten how good some of the matches were.

The undercard certainly delivered. The opening tag match was a quality encounter, while the Warrior/Slaughter match is one of the most dramatic title encounters I’ve ever seen, even though the whole Slaughter Iraqi sympathiser angle sucked big time.

As for the Rumble match, what can I say? It’s the Royal frickin’ Rumble! It was the only time of the year back then were you got to see baby faces fighting with baby faces, and heels beating the hell out of heels. This was without question the match of the night.

So in all my trip down memory lane means that this 21 year old show gets the thumbs up, as it did back then. It’s a great example of what a Royal Rumble show should be.

UFC Fight Night on FX: Guillard vs Miller on ESPN - TV Review

2012-01-23T12:53:00.000Z

It’s time to step into the Octagon once again as we take a look at the second show broadcast with the help of Rupert Murdoch’s vast media empire, with Melvin Guillard facing Jim Miller in the main event of UFC Fight Night on FX, shown live in the early hours of this past Saturday morning on ESPN here in Britain.

The broadcast began with the big guys of the heavyweight division as Pat Barry went up against Christian Morecraft.

This entertaining battle began with Morecraft catching a Barry kick and scoring with the take down. He then looked for a rear naked choke until Barry managed to escape.

Morecraft soon took the fight back to the ground, first going for an arm choke and then going for an arm bar, but Barry managed to escape both attempts and looked good in doing so, showing how his well his defensive skills on the ground are developing.

A few moments later it was all over. A big left hook sent Morecraft down to the mat. Barry followed him down and it wasn’t long before the referee stepped in to give Barry the impressive knockout win.

It was down to bantamweight for the next fight as Mike Easton faced Jared Papazian.

The only fight of the broadcast to go the distance proved to be a very competitive and highly entertaining back and forth encounter. These two began swinging from the fences as soon as the fight began, keeping up the somewhat frantic pace throughout.

It certainly was an intriguing battle. Both guys managed to get in some good blows and combinations. There were a few clinches against the cage, and the only ground work came in the second when Easton scored with a couple of take downs.

But with the fight going the distance the judges were called into action, with two of them giving the fight to Easton and one scoring it as a draw, giving Easton the win by majority decision.

Welterweight action followed as Duane Ludwig took on Josh Neer.

A quality battle saw Ludwig taking control early on, causing problems for Neer when he connected with a series of knees to the bread basket.

But when Neer recovered he managed to take the fight to the ground, and it wasn’t long before he’d locked in a guillotine choke, with the referee stepping in when Ludwig lost consciousness, giving Neer the submission win.

The main event saw lightweight action as Melvin Guillard took on Jim Miller.

This was definitely worth it’s spot on the card. Guillard took control early with his striking, getting in some good shots, especially with his knees. Miller was clearly in trouble as it looked like Guillard was going for an early finish.

But as Miller recovered his senses he began to work his way back into the fight, scoring with the take down. Guillard tried to escape, but as he did Miller took his back and synched in a rear naked choke. It wasn’t long before Guillard tapped to give Miller the impressive submission win.

The show rounded out with filler material as Joseph Sandoval faced Nick Denis in the bantamweight division.

The blink and you’ll miss it affair of the show saw Denis overwhelm his man as soon as the fight began, connecting with a series of punches before grabbing Sandoval’s head and connecting with a series of elbows to the temple

Sandoval went crashing down as the referee immediately called a halt to the fight, giving Denis the knockout win after just 22 seconds.

In conclusion - even though the UFC’s second show under their new agreement with Fox may not have had the big star power of their first show it certainly delivered.

It really was a quality show with great performances throughout, including explosive knockouts from Pat Barry and Nick Denis, an engaging three round affair, and some nice submission work from Jim Miller and Josh Neer.

So in all UFC Fight Night on FX gets the thumbs up from this particular writer.

ROH Gateway to Honor - DVD Review

2012-01-22T12:33:00.000Z

It’s time to enter Ring of Honor territory for the first time in 2012 as we go back to last November where the All Night Express took on the American Wolves in the main event of Gateway to Honor, recently released on DVD.

The show began with Tommaso Ciampa, accompanied here by his Embassy co-horts, going up against Andy Ridge.

The action began with Prince Nana and his boys bad mouthing the absent Delirious, who was originally meant to face his crown jewel. Then Ridge made his entrance, with Ciampa taking him out with a belly to back suplex as soon as he jumped over the top rope.

What followed was an extremely entertaining and fast paced back and forth encounter. Ciampa dominated the early stages before Right Leg made his way back into the match, but when he went looking for the win Princess Mia jumped up onto the ring apron to distract the referee. This gave Nana the opportunity to attack Ridge from behind.

Chaos ensued, and it turned out that Delirious was in the building after all. Enraged by Nana’s tactics the masked man raced down to ringside and chased the various Embassy members around the ring, stopping off to give Mia a quick snog before chasing the boys all the way backstage.

While all of this was going on Ridge went close to defeating the undefeated Ciampa, only for the big guy to keep his streak intact when he took his man out with his Project Ciampa power bomb/back breaker thing.

The special challenge match saw Jay Briscoe taking on T.J. Perkins.

Despite being portrayed as a villainous heel in recent months Briscoe received a massive pop as he made his entrance, which paled in comparison to that received by the relative newcomer.

Like the opener this was a fast paced back and forth affair. Briscoe put in his usual no nonsense performance, looking very good in the process, while Perkins impressed me with his work here.

Perkins looked like he was going to get the upset win on quite a few occasions, but it wasn’t to be. Having been on the receiving end of a super kick Briscoe came back with a Yakuza kick before putting his man away with the patented Jay Driller.

The first tag team match of the show saw the Bravado Brothers, Harlan and Lancelot, going up against Jimmy Jacobs and Steve Corino.

Usually it’s Colt Cabana’s job to provide a bit of light hearted relief on ROH shows, but with my favourite Chicago native absent from this event it fell upon these fellows to give us a few belly laughs.

Corino and Jacobs were the first ones to break the ice as it were, using the referee to help them deliver a double clothesline on Grandma Bravado’s favourite boys before the team I’m kind of growing fond of came back to use Jacobs as their proverbial punching bag.

It wasn’t long before the inevitable four way brawl, with Jacobs joining Corino in delivering the thumb to the bum on the brothers. Some nice sequences followed before Jacobs took Harlan out with Sliced Bread, with Corino securing the win with a lariat clothesline.

Truth Martini, wearing one of the worst outfits I’ve ever seen on a wrestling show, was up next, leading his man Michael Elgin into battle against Grizzly Redwood.

This David versus Goliath battle was another enjoyable battle. The littlest lumberjack did a great hit and run job on the more powerful Elgin early on, with the big man once again impressing.

But even though he kept taking his opponent down with his array of power moves Redwood kept coming back for more, kicking out of pin attempts time and time again, even managing to find the time to take Martini out at one point.

In the end Redwood’s luck ran out as Elgin took him down with an impressive side slam.

The only title match of the show saw Future Shock, Adam Cole & Kyle O’Reilly, challenging Wrestling’s Greatest Tag Team, Shelton Benjamin and Charlie Haas, for Tag Team titles.

Benjamin came into this match with his ribs taped, having been injured at the hands of the Briscoes at a previous television taping. Early on Haas tried to protect his partner, making it obvious that he wanted to wrestle the majority of the match.

Benjamin was having none of it and insisted on doing his share, but when he tagged in it wasn’t long before Cole and O’Reilly began to target those injured ribs.

It proved to be a very good storyline as the up and comers put on a great effort against the hampered champions. Cole and O’Reilly put in a hell of a performance, easily matching their more notable opponents.

The champions, for their part, put in their usual high standard performances as Benjamin sold his injuries well.

Future Shock came close to getting the win a few times, most notably when they had the champions in stereo guillotine chokes. But in the end the veterans emerged victorious as O’Reilly tapped out to the Haas of Pain.

Afterwards, with his injured partner trying to recover in the corner, Haas grabbed the microphone to praise his opponents, saying that Ring of Honor had the best tag division in wrestling.

The Women of Honor match saw Princess Mia, accompanied by her Embassy buddies, taking on MsChif.

Another short and sweet encounter saw MsChif start quickly against Mia, who had looked a little reluctant to get into the ring at first. But when the match got going it turned into a very entertaining affair, certainly better than the women’s matches you get on Raw and Smackdown every week.

Mia looked like she was going to get the win after a running kick, but after stalling while climbing to the top rope she missed her corkscrew off the top, with MsChif taking the win after taking Mia out with her Desecrator finisher.

The Proving Ground match saw Mark Briscoe tackling on TV Champion Jay Lethal.

Like his brother before him Briscoe got a great tremendous response from the fans, but unlike his brother before him the response his opponent he got was just as good.

Briscoe had a fifteen minute time limit to play with here, knowing that if he beat Lethal he’d get a shot at the TV title. So what we got here was a great back and forth encounter.

Briscoe’s no nonsense style complimented that of Lethal extremely well. Indeed, if it wasn’t for Briscoe’s tag team commitments he definitely has what it takes to hold one of the singles titles.

That opportunity will have to wait though, because after taking it to Lethal the champion came back strongly, finally taking Briscoe down with his Lethal Combination move and adding the finishing touch with a top rope elbow, showing that there is still a little Black Machismo in him.

The penultimate bout, billed as the First Time Ever Singles Match, saw Mike Bennett, accompanied by his trainer Bob Evans, going up against El Generico.

Both of these guys were looking to get a shot at Jay Lethal’s TV title, with Generico the former champion looking for a re-match and Bennett looking for a re-match having taken Lethal to a time limit draw.

This meant that a lot was riding on this one, and it showed in the performances of both men. With Generico you always know you’re going to get a good performance from him, and with Bennett you know that he’s continuing his development as one of ROH’s top stars.

These pieces led to an exciting back and forth encounter, with occasional cameos from Brutal Bob, with Bennett stepping up to the plate but just failing to hit that home run, going close on several occasions until Generico took him down with the Brain Buster for the win.

Needless to say that this didn’t sit too well with Evans, who attacked Generico from behind. The masked man then went to take Evans out with another Brain Buster until Bennett saved his coach.

The main event, the First Time Ever Dream Tag Team Match, saw the All Night Express, Rhett Titus and Kenny King, facing the American Wolves, World Champion Davey Richards and Eddie Edwards.

Now this was a main event. For over twenty minutes for of the best on the roster put on an excellent display of tag team wrestling.

This was one of those matches that you really can’t speak too highly about. It began with the usual hard hitting back and forth action with both teams giving a good account of themselves, and it was during these exchanges that I realised just how far King and Titus have come in the past couple of years.

Then we moved on to the four way action. The team work here was top notch, and the performances certainly went up another level.

As we neared the end the action was even more intense, and as King’s shotgun knees knocked Edwards into Richards on the corner post, sending him through the time keeper’s table, you knew that an upset of sorts could be in the offing.

Moments later it was all over. With Edwards lying in the middle of the ring Titus came flying of the top rope with a frog splash, closely followed by King with a shooting star press. A three count later and it was all over, the All Night Express had the win.

Afterwards King and Titus showed the utmost respect for their downed opponents, helping Richards back into the ring. The Wolves went on to praise their opponents, a sign of how good they’ve become.

Only one bonus feature on this release, an in-ring segment in which Davey Richards addresses his home fans.

In conclusion - so what can I say about ROH shows that I haven’t said before.

Even though this wasn’t exactly what you’d call a “big” show it was still a hell of an event. Every match delivered in spades, with the two tag team bouts the highlights of the night for me.

So without going into complete hyperbole mode let’s end this by saying that Gateway to Honor gets the big thumbs up from me.

With thanks to the powers that be for supplying a copy of this release. ROH Gateway to Honor is available to buy online at www.rohwrestling.com.

UFC 142 Aldo vs Mendes on ESPN - TV Review

2012-01-16T15:42:00.001Z

It was a night with a controversial decision and a fighter failing to make weight as Dana White and his crew returned to Rio, where Chad Mendes challenged Jose Aldo for the Featherweight title at UFC 142, shown live in the early hours of this past Sunday morning on ESPN here in Britain.

The show began with action from the lightweight division as Edson Barboza faced my fellow Brit Terry Etim.

Now this was a good fight. Barboza put in an almost flawless performance here.

It began with Etim scoring with an early take down, only for Barboza to escape as if it never happened. From there he began to centre his attack on Etim’s lead leg with as series of stiff kicks, allied to some nice combinations to the body and head.

Etim tried another take down later on, but the result was the same, with the Brazilian easily escaping and going back to his striking plan.

The end came when Barboza connected with a wheel kick to Etim’s head. The Brit crashed down to the mat like the proverbial sack of spuds and was out before he hit the ground, giving Barboza the knockout win, and the first knockout via wheel kick in UFC history.

Then it was on to the all-Brazilian welterweight fight between Erick Silva and Carlo Prater.

This was the controversial one. After a brief feeling out period Silva connected with a knee that sent Prater down. Silva followed him down for the ground and pound, and it wasn’t long before the referee stepped in to stop the fight.

But it wasn’t to give Silva the victory. After much discussion it was announced that Silva had been disqualified for repeated illegal blows to the back of Prater’s head, even though the replay showed that only one blow landed on the back of the head. In short, Silva was robbed.

Normal service resumed with middleweight action as Rousimar Palhares took on Mike Massenzio.

This one saw an early inadvertent low blow from Palhares, and after a brief pause the Brazilian took control. A minute later he pulled guard and took Massenzio down, quickly moving to the leg and applying a heel hook for the impressive submission win.

The co-main event saw Vitor Belfort facing Anthony Johnson in a catchweight encounter.

Originally this was meant to be a middleweight bout, but with Johnson missing the weight limit by a massive 12 pounds. Belfort agreed to the fight, but only if Johnson weight under the light heavyweight limit on the morning of the fight, which Johnson did, but only just.

Despite all of that this proved to be a very good fight. Johnson went for a take down early on, but Belfort put in some good defensive work, stopping Johnson from working. It happened again a few moments later, and Belfort also did a good job of stopping a couple of other take downs.

As the first round neared it’s final minute Belfort took Johnson’s back, and after landing a few well targeted blows Belfort synched in a rear naked choke for the submission win.

This defeat wasn’t the end of Johnson’s problems. Dana White cut him from the roster just a few hours later.

The main event saw Chad Mendes challenging Jose Aldo for the Featherweight title.

This was one of those fights that showed how things can turn in an instant.

Both fighters began by testing the waters with kicks, but whenever Mendes went for a take down Aldo easily defended.

The next few minutes saw them exchanging kicks, with Aldo continuing to defend against Mendes’ take down attempts. Mendes did manage to take Aldo’s back while they were still standing.

However, just when it looked like the fight was going into the second round Aldo broke free and connected with a left knee that sent Mendes crashing, with the referee quickly stepping in to give Aldo the knockout win with just one second left in the round.

Afterwards Aldo ran out of the cage and into the crowd as the faithful swarmed over him, lifting him triumphantly onto their shoulders before security took the reluctant fighter back to the cage.

With the main card fights all finishing early it was on to the filler material, beginning with Ricardo Funch against Mike Pyle in the welterweight division.

A quick fight saw both fighters getting off some good shots early on, but after a minute or so Pyle connected with a right that staggered Funch. The Brazilian went down against the cage after a right knee to the head, with Pyle delivering a few more blows before the referee stepped in to give Pyle the TKO win.

The big boys of the heavyweight division were on show next as Gabriel Gonzaga faced Ednaldo Oliveira.

This one began with a lengthy feeling out period, and it didn’t really come to life until Gonzaga scored with a take down about two minutes there.

Gonzaga then did a good job of controlling his compatriot on the ground. Oliveira got to his feet for a brief moment before Gonzaga took him down again, taking his back moments later and synching in a rear naked choke for the submission win.

It was down to lightweight for the next fight as Thiago Tavares took on Sam Stout.

The only fight of the broadcast that went the distance proved to be an entertaining battle. Tavares managed to score with some take downs in the first, but after that it was mainly a striking battle.

For a while it looked like Tavares would have to withdraw after an inadvertent Stout low kick left him laying on the mat. He managed to recover though although as the fight neared it’s conclusion Stout connected with a right uppercut that staggered the Brazilian, but unfortunately time was against him.

So with the fight going the distance the judges came into play as they gave Tavares the unanimous decision.

In conclusion - even though it had it’s controversial moments the UFC’s return to Brazil proved to be another great show.

The strong opener between Barboza and Etim set the scene perfectly as we saw a succession of high class knockouts and submissions, as well as a strange refereeing decision that will probably lead to an immediate re-match between Erick Silva and Carlo Prater.

So in all, as you can probably guess, UFC 142 gets the thumbs up for another cracking night of MMA action.

TNA Genesis on Challenge - TV Review

2012-01-14T22:04:00.000Z

It’s time to step into the Impact Zone for the first time this year as we take a look at TNA’s first pay per view of the year, with Jeff Hardy challenging Bobby Roode for the World title in the main event of Genesis, shown this past Wednesday night on Challenge here in Britain.

The show began with the first title match of the evening as Zema Ion, Kid Kash and Jesse Sorensen challenged Austin Aries for the X Division title in a four way elimination match.

This was a pretty good match, another example of what the rejuvenated X Division is all about these days. It was an encounter full of fast paced action, with all four men going for pins within the opening few minutes.

Kash was the first man eliminated, taken out by Ion’s 450 splash from the top rope. A few minutes later Ion followed him, courtesy of a small package from Sorensen.

Both Austin and Sorensen both then had pin attempts which weren’t counted because the referee was arguing with Ion, who hid by the ring when the referee returned his attention back to the action.

Both champion and challenger came close to getting the win, but when Ion crotched Sorensen as he stood on the top rope Austin sealed the win a few moments later when he took his man down with a brain buster from the second rope.

Grudge match action followed as D’Angelo Dinero, accompanied by Terrence and Tyrell, who were dressed like rejects from a 90’s boy band, went up against Devon.

This was a highly charged affair, with Devon attacking the Pope before the bell rang and beating the hell out of him, until Dinero eventually managed to make his way back into the match.

Dinero then sought to humiliate his man, and he did a good job in doing so. When he had him down and out in the middle of the ring he ordered the kids to get in the ring to attack their old man. But when they refused Dinero attacked them before throwing them out of the ring.

This inspired Devon, and after some great back and forth action Devon took the pin after his Saving Grace finisher, reuniting with his kids seconds later.

Next up we saw Gunner, accompanied by Ric Flair, taking on Rob Van Dam.

This wasn’t too bad, and it was certainly better than some of RVD’s early TNA matches. Okay, it won’t go down as an early match of the year candidate but it achieved what it set out to do.

Both men acquitted themselves well and put together some nice sequences. Even the obligatory face off between Earl Hebner and Ric Flair added to the match, mainly because it gave Gunner the chance to DDT RVD on the concrete floor.

After Hebner and Flair had finished their argument Gunner pushed Van Dam into the ring, and three seconds later it was all over as Gunner took the win, with the whole f’n show being carried away on a big f’n stretcher.

The second title match of the show saw Mickie James challenging Gail Kim, accompanied by Madison Rayne, for the Knockouts title.

Earlier in the show Velvet Sky made a suggestion to Sting for an added stipulation, and before the match began Madison was put into a cage at ringside and hoisted into the air so she couldn’t interfere.

Another of those matches that fits into the not bad category. Both girls had a good outing here, although they were somewhat over shadowed by the crew focusing their attention on young Madison in the cage early on.

When they finally turned their attention to the match we saw an entertaining back and forth affair with neither girl holding anything back, with both champion and challenger coming close to getting the win.

Then came the expected interference from up on high when Rayne dropped a pair of brass knuckles down, which bounced on the mat a couple of times before falling out of the ring. The referee went out to retrieve the offending item and chastised Kim for it.

But while this was happening Rayne dropped another pair of knuckles into the ring. This time around though they ended up in Mickie’s hands as she clobbered the champion. All this achieved was her immediate disqualification, meaning that Kim was still the champion.

Then it was on to the Monster’s Ball as Bully Ray faced Abyss, with Abyss having to rejoin Immortal if he lost.

It took a while to get going, but when it did it proved to be a highly charged brawl between two men well suited to this sort of environment.

These two beat the hell out of each other with anything they could get their hands on, chairs, rubbish bins, rubbish bin lids, chains and more. We even saw Abyss use a cheese grater on Ray’s gentlemen vegetables before Ray went through a table and Abyss was in between two barbed wire boards when Ray came off the second rope with a back splash.

And they still couldn’t put each other away, not even after Abyss choke slammed Ray onto a pile of thumb tacks and Ray repeatedly clobbered the monster with a kendo stick.

Eventually the end came when Abyss, his arm covered in blood, took Ray out with a black hole slam on one of the barbed wire boards. Nice brawling here.

The penultimate title match saw Samoa Joe and Magnus challenging Crimson and Matt Morgan for the Tag Team titles. This is one match I won’t be reviewing, and if you don’t know why click here.

The penultimate match saw Kurt Angle and James Storm going at it again.

Another of those that fit into the quite entertaining bracket. Angle put in his usual solid performance, while Storm again showed that he’s definitely got a bright future for himself in the singles ranks.

Plenty of back and forth action in this one, and plenty of false finishes as Storm threatened to take his man out with his super kick a few times. Angle, as is his way, looked for the win with his patented ankle lock, which Storm easily kicked out of.

Underhanded tactics led to Angle’s victory. As Storm went for the super kick again Angle pulled the referee in front of him. Storm hesitated, and after shoving the official out of the way Angle connected with a low blow while the ref’s back was turned. A boot to the head later and our Olympic hero had finally beaten the Cowboy.

The main event saw Jeff Hardy challenging Bobby Roode for the World title.

For me this match proved two things. The first is that Jeff Hardy is slowly but surely getting back to his best. He hasn’t hit the heights of his prime WWE years yet, but his performance here showed once again that he’s still on the road to redemption.

The second is that Roode is really starting to come into his own as the cowardly heel champion. While his mannerisms may not be obvious to most he’s starting to build on the kind of character that many have perfected over the years.

These two ingredients made for a very enjoyable match. Hardy went all out to achieve victory, pulling off his usual high flying moves to take it to the champion, while Roode was the perfect foil, growing increasingly frustrated at his inability to put the charismatic enigma away, and seeing only one way out of his predicament.

Having failed in two attempts to get himself counted out, Roode took the next best option. Hardy had thrown him back into the ring while his was still clutching his title belt and had ducked when Roode tried to use the belt as a weapon.

But as it lay on the mat Hardy looked to take Roode down with the Twist of Fate, only for the referee to stop the move so Hardy couldn’t use the belt for added impact.

Roode then struck, delivering a low kick to the referee, earning himself a disqualification, losing the match but saving his title. It didn’t stop Hardy though as he soon climbed to the top and took the champion out with the swanton.

In conclusion - as is my custom I didn’t read any of the online reviews before compiling my own.

TNA’s first show of 2012 proved to be an entertaining affair. Okay, there wasn’t any five star classics, and most of these matches will probably be forgotten in a year or so, but overall I enjoyed the show, which in my opinion is all that counts.

So while Genesis doesn’t get the big thumbs up, it gets a thumbs up nonetheless.

Strikeforce: Looking Back at Rockhold versus Jardine

2012-01-11T13:10:00.000Z

With Strikeforce having vanished completely from British television screens yours truly has had to go the download route in order to watch and review their latest show, with “The Dean of Mean” Keith Jardine making his middleweight debut and challenging Luke Rockhold for the title in the main event.

We begin with, for the first time, the preliminary fights, starting with Alonzo Martinez taking on Estevan Payan in a catchweight encounter, made at 160 pounds.

Payan put in a dominating performance here, controlling the contest for the entire three rounds with some excellent striking. His jab was lethal, and at times there seemed to be little that Martinez could do to stop the onslaught.

The man with the chess board hairstyle went for a couple of take down attempts which Payan easily escaped from, and from there Payan re-established control, going back to the striking game that had served him so well.

No surprise with the judge’s decision as they gave each and every round to Payan.

Action from the welterweight division followed as Chris Spang faced Ricky Legere.

Another enjoyable three round affair saw Legere putting in a good performance on the ground as he scored with a number of take downs, with the Swede seemingly unable to stop this course of action.

Early on Spang managed to tie Legere up easily, but it wasn’t long before Legere took control, and even though the referee stood them up a few times Legere would quickly take the fight back down.

Spang’s best moments came with a couple of head kicks and towards the end of the round when he took Legere’s back and went for a rear naked choke. Legere managed to escape, finishing the fight in the mount going for the ground and pound.

So with the fight going the distance the judges came into action as Legere took the unanimous decision.

It was up to light heavyweight for the next fight as Trevor Smith went up against Gian Villante.

The first fight of the show not to go the distance saw Villante stuff Smith’s take down. They soon engaged in a clinch against the cage before a right to the body and a left to the head staggered his man.

Villante then caught Smith’s leg when he went for a kick, sending him down with a series of rights sending him down to the mat. Villante followed him down with a series of hammer fists before the referee stepped in to give Villante the TKO win.

Then it was back down to welterweight as James Terry took on Nah-Shon Burrell.

This was your classic striker versus grappler battle. For the first two rounds Terry put on a great display of ground fighting, scoring with some great take downs and controlling the action, except for the moment when Burrell escaped by simply sitting up and scooting his backside along the mat.

Burrell upped his game in the third with some nice striking. Terry was on the back foot for most of the round, hardly throwing a punch as Burrell tried to make up for his lack of performance on the ground, looking for the big knockout punch.

So once again the judges came into the equation, and just when everyone thought Terry would take the win the judges were split as they gave Burrell the fight.

The main show began in the welterweight division as Tarec Saffiedine faced Tyler Stinson.

This was a great way to begin the main show. Saffiedine began well early on with his striking, but after Stinson connected with a left elbow that busted open and rocked his man he took control, putting Saffiedine on the back foot and controlling the striking himself.

From the second round onwards Saffiedine re-established control, scoring with some impressive take downs and going to work with the ground and pound and bloodying his face. But as the third round neared it’s end Stinson came back with some nice striking of his own.

So once again the judges came into play, with Saffiedine took the split decision.

More welterweight action followed as Tyron Woodley took on Jordan Mein.

An intriguing three round affair saw Woodley put on a good display of ground fighting. His take downs may not have been flashy but once he got there he did a good job of controlling Mein, whose main offence was a series of elbows to the top of Woodley’s head.

This was pretty much how the entire fight played out, but we did get a strange occurrence in the third round. When Mein was going to a kimura for some reason the referee decided to stand the fighters up. That move certainly left this writer scratching his head a little.

So with no finish it meant more work for the judges as they gave Woodley the split decision, although whoever scored the fight in favour of Mein was obviously watching another fight.

Light heavyweight action in the form of King Mo Lawal against Lorenz Larkin followed.

The King put in a dominating performance, dominating the fight as soon as he took it to the ground. Larkin looked like a fish out of water as he tried to control the veteran, and he would have controlled the rest of the first round on the ground had we not had one of those unexpected and unneeded referee stand ups.

The end came in the second. After Lawal took the fight the fight down again he went to work with the ground and pound, and it wasn’t long before the referee stepped in when Larkin went limp, giving the King the highly impressive knockout win.

The penultimate fight saw Robbie Lawler facing Adlan Amagov in the middleweight division.

This one didn’t last long, but it was certainly action packed.

After Lawler came forward early on with the combinations Amagov scored with a take down. But when he connected with a knee to the head while Lawler was still grounded he earned himself a point deduction.

Lawler was given time to recover, and when the fight restarted it wasn’t long before Lawler connected with a flying knee that sent Amagov crashing. Lawler followed him down for a brief period of ground and pound before the referee stepped in to give Lawler the TKO win.

The main event saw Keith Jardine challenging Luke Rockhold for the Middleweight title.

On a show that was promoted as a veterans against up and comers affair the up and comers finally came to the fore with this fight.

Jardine began well with some nice strikes and kicks, but Rockhold showed that he was more than up to the task against his more illustrious opponents.

Both fighters had their moments, but as the first round entered it’s final minute Rockhold staggered Jardine with a three punch combination. A right to the jaw then dropped Jardine with his back against the cage.

Rockhold then went to work with a flurry of blows, and even though Jardine looked out of it it took a while before the referee stepped in to give Rockhold the highly impressive TKO win.

In conclusion - The new year certainly began well for Zuffa’s second tier promotion.

From the opening preliminary fight right up to the main event this Strikeforce show certainly delivered big time.

One of the big highlights for me was that we finally got to see the preliminary fights, and the standard these fighters showed would have easily fitted in well on the main card.

As for the main card the performances of King Mo Lawal and Robbie Lawler were top notch, but my fight of the night honours would have to go to the main event fight between Luke Rockhold and Keith Jardine, although it leaves me wondering what’s left in the career of the Dean of Mean.

One other thing I’d like to comment on is the “feel” of the show. Without the flashy entrance ramps it had more of a UFC feel about it. Whether this was because of the venue or it was Zuffa’s decision I don’t know, but it added to the overall atmosphere for me. Those old entranceways had too much of a pro wrestling feel for me, and if they’re going to scrap them altogether why not go all the way and have Jimmy Lennon Junior make his announcements after the fighters have entered the cage?

The final conclusion? A thumbs up from me for Strikeforce’s first show of the year.

YouShoot with Tony Atlas - DVD Review

2012-01-09T13:01:00.000Z

For the younger generation of professional wrestling fans he’s nothing more than the big guy who laughed at Abraham Washington’s jokes during the dying days of ECW, but to the rest of us he’s more than that, and now Mr. USA himself, Tony Atlas, is the latest subject of Kayfabe Commentaries’ YouShoot series.

With the always dependable Sean Oliver posing the questions set by fans around the world Atlas comes across as perhaps the most honest guy whose ever done one of these interviews. Nothing is out of bounds here, and that’s why there’s a long segment about his foot fetish. For those of you who don’t know, our Tony likes sneaker-wearing women to stand on his face.

It’s not all about stuff that some of us may find a little weird and crazy. When Atlas talks about racial equality he makes some very good points, even if some of them, like his foot fetish, seem a little crazy.

For those of you wondering if he actually discusses his wrestling career, yes he does, and it’s this he’s truly passionate about. Atlas is one of the most knowledgeable people Oliver has ever interviewed, and that’s what makes this interview so interesting. He makes some very valid points, including one where he talks about friendship in the wrestling business, and a particular aspect I’ve experienced first hand.

In conclusion - while at times this was one of the weirdest YouShoot interviews I’ve seen it was still pretty good. Their choice of interview subject was spot on, and once again I can’t recommend a Kayfabe Commentaries release highly enough, so if you’ve still got some of that cash your aunts and uncles gave you for Christmas then I would advise investing in this DVD.

With thanks to the powers that be for supplying a copy of this release. YouShoot with Tony Atlas can be purchased online at www.kayfabecommentaries.com.

While Others Have Come and Gone.....

2012-01-06T00:18:00.000Z

It's been nearly twelve years since The Two Sheds Review began, and in that time I've seen many things.

While other bloggers and sites came and went after the proverbial five minutes I've worked tirelessly to promote wrestling and MMA, working long hours and, at times, to the detriment of my health, both physical and mental, with very little financial reward. I've worked my backside off getting my work on over 50-plus websites and newsletters over the years.

I've had to put up with a ton of abuse from internet smart marks and supposed friends, both online and in person, people who can't take the slightest bit of criticism, people who accuse me of just trying to get freebies when all I'm trying to do is to help them promote their product.

While I've never cried out for acclaim it would be nice to get some positive feedback. It would be nice to have a promotion actually reply when I offer to help them. It would be nice to have a wrestler or fighter thank me for giving them a positive review.

There are times I wonder if it's worth carrying on, staying up until the early hours writing my reviews, knowing that I'll get little or no feedback, knowing that others will get all the perks, getting invited onto the online radio shows and Youtube channels to offer their views. There won't be any offers from the likes of Meltzer or Apter. Powerslam and Fighting Spirit Magazine won't come calling.

But you know what? It is worth carrying on. Writing is a part of my life. It has been since my parents first encouraged me all those years ago.

And wrestling and MMA are just as big a part, from watching the old World of Sport shows back in the 70's and 80's, from discovering the WWF in 1989, exploring the ever-growing American indy scene and the growing British scene in the 00's, to discovering the world of mixed martial arts in 2003, it's all been a joy, despite the setbacks I've suffered.

So while others will pop up every now and then and claim to be the best thing since Pro Wrestling Illustrated The Two Sheds Review will muddle on. I may not get the same amount of exposure as some writers, but I will always enjoy what I do.

Because if it isn't enjoyable then there's no point in doing it, is there?

UFC 141 Lesnar vs Overeem on ESPN - TV Review

2012-01-01T22:19:00.000Z

It was the last big event of 2011 as Brock Lesnar faced Alistair Overeem in the main event of UFC 141, shown live in the early hours of New Year’s Eve on ESPN here in Britain.

The broadcast began with featherweight action as Nam Phan went up against Jimy Hettes.

To say that I was impressed with Hettes would not be an overstatement. As soon as he scored with his first take down early in the first round he imposed his will on the fight, doing an excellent job of controlling Phan on the ground.

It really was a stellar performance from Hettes as he went for a number of submissions throughout the fight, Unfortunately he couldn’t get the finish, but his inability to make Phan tap didn’t phase him, especially when he was using Phan’s face for punching practice.

Phan’s good moments were few and far between, and despite the urgings of his corner he just couldn’t cope with his opponent’s onslaught.

With the fight going the distance the judges were called into action. No surprise here as Hettes took the unanimous decision, and by some distance.

An all-European light heavyweight encounter followed as Vladimir Matyushenko took on Alexander Gustafsson.

This one began with an extensive feeling out period with both fighters testing the waters a little, and Matyushenko almost falling on his face with a big swing and miss.

It wasn’t until about two minutes or so in that the fight came to life. A left jab from Gustafsson sent Vlad crashing, with the Swede following him down for the ground and pound until the referee stepped in to give Gustafsson the TKO win.

Then it was down to the welterweight division as Jon Fitch went up against Johny Hendricks.

The blink and you’ll miss it affair of the show. Just as Mike Goldberg was done hyping Gina Carano’s new film Hendricks connected with a big left. Fitch went down like the proverbial sack of spuds, and that was it. The referee stepped in after just 12 seconds to give Hendricks the knockout win.

More welterweight action followed in a fight from earlier in the evening as Dong Hyun Kim took on Sean Pierson.

This proved to be an entertaining affair. Kim did a good job of controlling the striking part of the game, keeping his man at bay with some crisp striking, making it difficult for Pierson to close the distance.

Pierson had a couple of good moments on the ground, especially in the first when he rolled with Kim’s judo throw.

Things almost came to an end towards the end of the second round when Kim connected with a jumping front kick that staggered the Canadian. As the old saying goes Pierson was saved by the bell, and it didn’t look like he’d make it to the final round as he walked on wobbly legs back to his corner.

Pierson did indeed make it to the third round but found himself on the receiving end of Kim’s ground game. Once again he had a couple of good moments, but they just weren’t enough to overcome the South Korean.

No surprise from the judges as Kim took the unanimous decision.

The co-main event saw Nate Diaz facing Donald Cerrone in the lightweight division.

Now this was a fight. For three rounds our protagonists gave us a thrilling back and forth striking battle.

They began early, before the bell, when Cerrone saluted Diaz, before beginning their excellent striking battle.

Diaz looked in great form as he took the fight to the Cowboy, particularly in the first round. Cerrone looked down on the pace as he moved around the cage with his bloodied mouth as Diaz beat him to the punch with numerous combinations, some of them five or six punches in length.

Cerrone came back a little in the second, achieving some degree of success with some leg sweeps and a head kick which saw Diaz go down after a delayed reaction. But Diaz easily stayed in the game, and by the time the third round started Diaz began to showboat, once again taking control with his excellent striking.

But despite all of this he couldn’t get the job done, so the decision went to the judges, with all three giving the fight to Diaz, and rightfully so.

The main event featured heavyweight action as Brock Lesnar faced Alistair Overeem.

This one certainly had that big fight feel about it. Lesnar tested the waters early on with a couple of kicks, but it wasn’t long before Overeem was centring his attack on Lesnar’s body.

Time and time again the Dutchman delivered knees and kicks, and a right kick to the liver. A delayed reaction sent Lesnar down as Overeem went in for the kill, Lesnar covering up as Overeem went for the ground and pound. It wasn’t long before the referee stepped in to give Overeem the TKO win, sending Lesnar into retirement.

The show rounded out with more filler material in the form of the featherweight encounter between Manny Gamburyan and Diego Nunes.

The story of this one was Nunes’ solid kicks as he centred his attack on Gamburyan’s lead leg. Gamburyan just didn’t seem able to find his range as Nunes attacked his limb, adding shots to the body and head for good measure.

Gamburyan’s best moments came in the second round, connecting with an overhand right that had Nunes in some trouble, as well as a brief stint of ground and pound. But by the time the third round began Nunes returned to his tactic of choice, switching his stance and attacking Gamburyan’s leg and body.

Once again the judges were called into action as Nunes took the unanimous decision.

In conclusion - Dana White and his team certainly ended their year in style.

Although us Brits who like to watch TV the old fashioned way were once again denied the chance to see the Spike prelims we were treated to another quality show. The Phan/Hettes encounter would have been the fight of the night for me, had it not been for the Diaz/Cerrone fight, and while some have criticised Alistair Overeem’s demolition of Brock Lesnar I thought it was a great way of sending out a clear message to the rest of the heavyweight division.

So in all UFC 141 gets the big thumbs up from this writer.

The Last Three Strikeforce Shows of 2011

2011-12-27T12:57:00.000Z

With 2012 almost upon us I thought it would be a good time to take a look at the last three Strikeforce shows of 2011, a year that many are saying could be their last full year.

We begin on September 23rd, and the Larkin vs. Rossborough Challengers show, which kicked off with welterweight action as Brian Melancon faced Felipe Portela.

This proved to be a very intriguing three rounder. Melancon put on a great display of striking throughout, able to beat the promotional debutant to the punch on more than one occasion, and knocking him down with a big left towards the end of the second round.

He also showed some good work on the ground as well, scoring with a number of take downs, particularly his big crotch slam in the first, as well as some sound defence when Portela tried to take the fight to the ground.

Portela had his moments, but these seemed few and far between, and he wasn’t helped by his inadvertent low blow in the first and the glancing knee strike to Melancon’s head while he was grounded.

So with the fight going the distance it went down to the judges, with Melancon taking the unanimous decision.

The welterweight action continued with Jason High taking on Todd Moore.

High put in a dominating performance in this one, taking control when he used a great combination to set up for the first big take down of many in the first round. From there he looked for a few submissions, using punches to keep his man on the ground.

Moore had one good moment when he managed to reverse the positions, but it wasn’t too long before High regained control.

And that was how the fight played out throughout the three rounds, with high dominating on the ground but unable to find that elusive finish.

No surprise with the judges decision in this one, as all three gave everything to High.

It was down to lightweight for the next fight as Maka Watson took on Ryan Couture.

This was a very interesting and enjoyable fight. The first two rounds followed the same formula where Couture would score with the take down, taking control on the ground and going for a variety of choke submissions.

Watson would then take control late on, unleashing with the ground and pound and causing some damage, particularly in the first when an elbow opened up a nasty cut on Couture’s forehead.

The roles were then reversed in the third as Watson scored with the take down and putting in some good ground work before Couture reversed the positions and dominated on the ground, grinding his opponent down.

But once again neither fighter could get to the finish, so the judges were called into action, with one scoring it as a draw and two giving it to Couture.

It was all the way up to heavyweight next as Lavar Johnson went up against Shawn Jordan.

The only fight on the broadcast not to go the distance saw Jordan unloading with the heavy leather early on, connecting with a big left that swelled Johnson’s right eye, although Johnson complained that he’d been the victim of a poke.

From there both guys enjoyed some good moments on the ground before moving on to the second where Johnson unloaded with some big shots of his own before Jordan took the fight to the ground, where he worked into a position so he could apply a key lock for the submission win.

The main event saw light heavyweight action as Lorenz Larkin faced Nick Rossborough.

There was no feeling out period for these two here as Rossborough, who took the fight at one week’s notice, unloaded with the big guns early on until Larkin came back with a few shots of his own, including an attempted high jumping kick.

As well as some crisp striking exchanges the two engaged in a war of attrition against the cage as they tried to grind each other down.

The fight looked a pretty even affair until the third round when Larkin connected with a knee to the body that sent Rossborough falling backwards. Larkin dominated from that point onward and went on to deliver a sustained period of ground and pound, with a series of elbows opening Rossborough up.

The judges were called into action again one last time, with Larkin taking the unanimous decision.

Show conclusion - we may not have seen any flashy finishes in this show but it was very entertaining, with some good solid performances from the likes of Ryan Couture and Jason High, with the Rossborough/Larkin encounter the fight of the night for me.

Forward to November 18th, and the final ever Challengers show, Britt vs. Sayers, which began with middleweight action as Derek Brunson faced Nate James.

The only fight of the broadcast to go the distance saw Brunson put in a dominating performance on the ground for the first two rounds. James just didn’t seem to have any take down defence, especially when Brunson took him down with a belly to back suplex that wouldn’t have looked out of place in pro wrestling rings.

With two rounds seemingly in the bag Brunson began to showboat a little at the beginning of the third. James failed to capitalize on this, and soon found himself on his backside after a big left. Brunson then upped his game and went back to the tactics that suited him well in the first ten minutes.

So with the fight going the distance the judges came into play Brunson took the unanimous decision.

Then it was on to the light heavyweight division as T.J. Cook went up against Trevor Smith.

This one began with both men swinging and kicking before it settled down a little as Smith took control on the ground. From there he went for a number of submission attempts, a guillotine, a toe hold and a reverse arm bar, before he finally made his man tap out with a second guillotine attempt to get the first round submission win.

What was meant to be a middleweight bout but was later changed to a catchweight fight at 188 pounds followed as Adlan Amagov took on Anthony Smith.

After a brief exchange at the beginning Amagov scored with the take down, having held onto Smith’s leg like a dog with a bone. The Russian tried to work from the closed guard until Smith tied him up, leading to a stand up.

Seconds later it was all over. A combination finished with an overhand right sent Smith crashing down. Amagov followed him to the ground until the referee stepped in to give the Russian the TKO win.

Then it was on to the women’s featherweight division as Ronda Rousey stepped in against Julia Budd.

This one didn’t last long. Rousey went forward immediately, getting the take down into the mount. Seconds later she applied the arm bar, with Budd tapping out after just 39 seconds. And before you ask, yes, I did wince when I saw Budd’s elbow bent in a direction it just shouldn’t be bent in.

The main event featured further middleweight action as Antwain Britt went up against Lumumba Sayers.

This one was even shorter. After a very brief feeling out period it looked like they were about to engage in a clinch against the cage. Then Sayers unloaded with the heavy leather, a big right finishing the job as Britt slumped against the fence, the referee quickly stepping in to give Sayers the knockout win after just 28 seconds.

Show conclusion - they saved the flashy finishes for this show. With only one fight going the distance we got to see some explosive endings here, with my joint fight of the night honours going to Rousey/Budd and Britt/Sayers. That arm bar was just brutal, definitely in Frank Mir territory.

Forward to December 17th and Melendez vs. Masvidal, which began with the lightweight encounter between K.J. Noons and Billy Evangelista.

This was a good way to open the show. Noons began with a take down, but it wasn’t long before Evangelista took control, rolling off some crisp strikes that put his man on the defensive.

But from the second round onwards Noons upped his game with some great striking of his own. Evangelista went for a couple of take downs but nothing came of these.

Evangelista looked like he had a chance when he went for a standing d’arce choke, but Noons managed to escape so he continue with his striking game.

With the fight going the distance the judges were called into action, with Noons taking the unanimous decision.

Then it was up to the light heavyweight division as Gegard Mousasi took on Ovince Saint Preux.

Another entertaining three rounder saw Mousasi putting in a great performance, dominating OSP on the ground for two rounds and looking like he was going to get the submission win at one point, bringing back memories of Frank Mir when he went for a kimura, with OSP rolling out to escape the hold.

Saint Preux had his moments, and looked good in doing so, but these moments were few and far between, although the final moments of the site saw OSP going for a choke, but by then it was far too late.

Once again the judges were called into action, with Mousasi taking the unanimous decision.

The first title fight of the night saw Hiroko Yamanaka challenging Cris Cyborg for the Women’s Featherweight title.

The only fight of the show not to go the distance, and the blink and you’ll miss it affair of the evening. Cyborg came out swinging, and it wasn’t long before Yamanaka was on the ground after a big right hand.

The challenger soon got back to her feet, but it wasn’t long before she went back down again under the onslaught, with the referee stepping in after just 16 seconds to give Cyborg the title retaining knockout win.

The main event saw Jorge Masvidal challenge Gilbert Melendez for the Lightweight title.

This proved to be an intriguing five round affair. There wasn’t much ground work to speak off in this one as the two protagonists engaged in an entertaining striking battle.

Melendez was on top throughout, content to keep his challenger at bay with some nice striking, beating his man to the punch and keeping him on the back foot on more than one occasion.

Masvidal just seemed to lack that certain spark and the intensity that he needed to put on a credible challenge. His strikes did cause some damage to Melendez’s right eye, but he was far too one dimensional, and his attack was too easy for the champion to handle.

No finish in this one, so the judges were called into action once more as Melendez took the unanimous decision.

Show conclusion - there were some good fights here, and while the main event saw Melendez putting on a textbook striking display his performance was clearing overshadowed by Cris Cyborg’s demolition job on Hiroko Yamanaka, which leaves me wondering if there is any female fighter out there who could give this woman a run for her money.

So that’s your lot for my Strikeforce reviews for this year. It certainly has been an interesting year for Scott Coker and his crew, and while their cohorts in the UFC continue to strip mine the company of it’s best fighters it will be interesting to see what happens in the next few months.

Many are predicting that it’s only a matter of time before the promotion closes. Personally I’d like to see them take on the role of a development territory, similar to the system used by the big two in professional wrestling, where they groom up and comers for bigger things as well as giving veterans the chance to re-establish their careers. It could happen you know!

WWE TLC on Sky Box Office - TV Review

2011-12-21T12:49:00.000Z

It was the final wrestling pay per view of the year as World Wrestling Entertainment presented TLC, shown live on Sky Box Office in the early hours of this past Monday morning here in Britain.

The show began with the first title match of the evening as internet favourite Zack Ryder challenged Dolph Ziggler, accompanied by Vickie Guerrero, for the United States title.

Ziggler is becoming one of those dependable guys, the sort who can have a good match with anyone.

This was the case with this opener. Both guys put in great performances in this intriguing back and forth encounter.

Mrs. Guerrero played her part as well, putting Ziggler’s foot on the rope after Ryder took him out with his big boot in the corner. Needless to say that the referee was none too pleased and sent her away from ringside.

The action was turned up a notch afterwards with a ton of fast paced action and plenty of false finishes until Ryder took Ziggler down with the rough ryder leg lariat for the winning pin.

The title action continued with Air Boom, Evan Bourne and Kofi Kingston, defending the Tag Team titles against Primo and Epico, accompanied by Rosa Mendes.

This was the first time I’d seen Primo and Epico as a team, and along with the champions they continued the trend for good action.

Bourne, looking good after his recent…ahem…absence, was used as the punching bag for the champions as they doubled up on him to good effect.

But when he finally managed to get the hot tag to Kingston the Ghanaian again showed how good he is, putting in his usual solid performance before taking out Primo with his trouble in paradise for the title retaining pin.

The first gimmick match of the show was Randy Orton taking on Wade Barrett in a tables match.

If you were expecting a technical classic with this match then you may have been disappointed. This was a fight, pure and simple.

Barrett is really starting to come into his own again, putting in performances we haven’t seen since the hey day of the Nexus, and he was, once again, the perfect opponent for the Viper.

The third good match in a row saw both mean tear strips off each other as they almost put each other away a few times, in between beating the snot out of each other.

So after a ton of brawling the table finally snapped. Having placed Orton on a table near the corner Barrett went to the middle rope with the intention of putting his man away with an elbow drop.

Orton was having none of it though. He soon recovered to take Barrett out with an RKO through the table as he came flying down, taking the win in the process.

It was back to title action for the next match as Divas Champion Beth Phoenix defended the title against Kelly Kelly…again!

As good as this match was I couldn’t help but think we’ve seen it all before, mainly because they’ve faced each other so many times recently.

It was a well executed encounter, with Kelly starting the match quickly before the Glamazon came back with her power moves.

Kelly made a brief comeback, almost getting the pin when she countered Phoenix’s glam slam attempt with a roll up. But moments later the champion took the pin with an electric chair slam.

Then Booker T, leaving the comfort of his commentary position behind him, challenged Cody Rhodes for the Intercontinental title.

Well, that’s what we thought we were going to get. Earlier in the evening Rhodes had attacked Booker backstage, and it was touch and go for a while about whether he’d be able to compete.

But as Booker was making his entrance Rhodes attacked again, and after Rhodes was sent packing by security the trainers took him to the back.

So with that match put on the back burner it was on to the sledgehammer ladder match between Kevin Nash and Triple H.

Yep, you read that right. Kevin Nash took part in a ladder match. Who would have thunk it?

It was kind of obvious what sort of match we were going to get from these two, another big fight.

While Nash came out with his usual six or seven moves the Game made good use of the ladder, using one of them in a very inventive way.

After delivering several ladder shots to Nash’s right knee Triple H then wrapped Nash’s leg through it and applied a figure four leg lock.

Nash came back strongly though as the Clique members knocked seven sorts of you know what out of each other.

Then came the big surprise. As Triple H climbed the ladder and grabbed the sledgehammer Nash climbed up the opposite side.

They began to fight over the hammer, until Triple H rammed it into Big Sexy’s head, and the big guy fell off the ladder and through a table that he’d brought into the match.

Triple H then took Nash down with the pedigree, but it wasn’t over. As the Game grabbed the sledgehammer again Nash gave him the Clique sign. Triple H responded with a crotch chop before clobbering his man in the head with the hammer for the winning pin.

Normal action resumed as Jack Swagger, accompanied by Vickie Guerrero, went up against Sheamus.

What may have come across as filler material at first proved to be a very enjoyable encounter.

These two big guys were well suited to each other, and with Miss Vickie screaming her guts out at ringside Swagger did a good job of taking it to the Irishman, chop blocking him a couple of times before going for the ankle lock.

But all of this came to nothing as the Great White recovered to take Swagger out with the brogue kick for the winning pin.

The Smackdown main event saw the Big Show challenging Mark Henry for the World title in a chairs match.

This one was pretty short, and began in quite a unique way, with Show walking around the ring and tossing several chairs into it.

Henry was none too happy as he left the ring and grabbed his title, unwilling to do battle. But it wasn’t long Show stopped him in his tracks with a well placed chair shot.

After several well placed combinations from Show to Henry’s body the champ recovered and slammed Show’s hand into the ring steps.

Then, for the next few minutes the two big guys exchanged numerous chair shots, with Henry causing more damage to Show’s right hand until, from out of nowhere, the challenger connected with his weapon of mass destruction to send Henry down like a sack of spuds. A three count later and we had a new champion.

As the new champion celebrated the former champion attacked him from behind with another chair shot, adding more insult to injury with a DDT onto a chair.

It was then that Daniel Bryan, referee in tow, raced down to the ring and cashed in his Money in the Bank title shot. With Show lying in the ring Bryan went for the cover. A three count later and we had another new champion. Who would have thunk it?

Then, finally, Booker T challenged Cody Rhodes for the Intercontinental title.

For someone who was meant to be past it Booker put on a pretty good showing here, dominating the early part of the contest before the younger champion managed to take control.

Rhodes continued to show why he’s one of the best heels at the moment, really taking it to the veteran before Booker came back and treated us to a spinneroonie.

That was the beginning of the end for him as he appeared to be dazed by his exertions. Rhodes then stepped his game up, taking Booker down with a second kick off the ropes to get the title retaining pin.

The Raw main event saw Alberto Del Rio and the Miz challenging C.M. Punk for the WWE title in a TLC match.

While this may not have been the best TLC match I’ve ever seen it was still pretty entertaining.

All three combatants gave a good account of themselves, with each man willing to take the big bumps in order to entertain the fans.

Early on Miz and Del Rio, despite what they said earlier, doubled up to good effect on the champion, but it wasn’t long before the toys came into play.

The most unique moment came when Punk went to climb the ladder, only to be stopped by Del Rio’s ring announcer Ricardo Rodriguez, who proceeded to handcuff the champion to the ladder.

However, Punk managed to free himself moments later by kicking the ladder supports as Del Rio was climbing.

The first big bump came when Punk was trying to superplex Miz from the top rope, only for Del Rio to come into the ring to deliver a kick to Punk that sent him falling from the top rope and into a table at ringside.

More good use of the toys followed before we saw the bump of the night, and this one didn’t come from any of the main protagonists.

With all three men down Rodriguez gingerly climbed the ladder so he could get the belt for his boss. Punk and Miz soon put a stop to this, tipping the ladder over, causing Rodriguez to crash into another ringside table.

A brief exchange between Miz and Punk followed, and when Punk missed a corner charge Miz took the handcuffs that Punk still had on and cuffed him to the turnbuckle.

It looked as if there was going to be a new champion as Miz and Del Rio climbed the ladders in the ring until Punk managed to unscrew the turnbuckle, releasing the middle rope. He then fought his way back, and after taking Miz out with the GTS he climbed the ladder to grab the belt and claim the win.

In conclusion - the WWE certainly ended their pay per view year in style, didn’t they?

Apart from the “we’ve seen it all before” Divas title match the third annual TLC show delivered, with the majority of the matches ranging from the good to the entertaining to the great, with the main event the best of the bunch for me.

But what was perhaps the most surprising thing of all is that they accomplished all of this without their poster boy, their biggest star, the one and only John Cena.

So in all TLC gets the thumbs up from this particular writer as a great way to end wrestling’s pay per view year.

TNA Final Resolution on Challenge - TV Review

2011-12-16T13:33:00.000Z

It was the penultimate wrestling pay per view of the year, as A.J. Styles challenged Bobby Roode for the World title in a 30 minute iron man match in the main event of TNA Final Resolution, shown this past Wednesday night on Challenge here in Britain.

The show began with Rob Van Dam taking on Christopher Daniels.

Last month these two had a pretty good encounter, and it was as if they’d just picked up where they’d left off at Turning Point.

Daniels seems to be one of the few TNA stars who can take RVD to a good match, and he did it again this month. This isn’t meant to be demeaning to RVD in any way, it’s just that the only really enjoyable matches he’s had in TNA have been against other former ECW alumni.

In the end Van Dam emerged victorious, taking Daniels out with the five star frog splash at the second time of asking. Nice stuff all round.

The first title match of the evening saw Eric Young challenging Robbie E, accompanied by Robbie T, for the TV title.

From a character standpoint these two remain the most annoying characters in TNA history, even more annoying than the Johnsons (look it up on Wikipedia), but from an action viewpoint this was quite good. No possibilities of an appearance in Botchamania for this one as E and Young put together some good sequences.

There was, of course, attempted interference from T at ringside, and he ended up getting drop kicked for his troubles, but all this interference led to E taking Young out with his knees to the chest finisher thing for the title retaining pinfall.

By the way, wasn’t Robbie T meant to be the next “big thing” in TNA?

The title action continued with Brother Devon and D’Angelo Dinero challenging Crimson and Matt Morgan for the Tag Titles. Hang on! Weren’t these two feuding last month?

These two relatively new teams continued the sequence of entertaining matches. Crimson and Morgan looked pretty good as the used the Pope as their punching bag, with Crimson just edging it for me.

As for their opponents they looked just as good, with Devon looking revitalised for the first time since he split from Brother Ray.

Sadly the challengers couldn’t get the job done, with Crimson taking Devon down with a double choke slam for the winning pin.

The X Division stars were up next as Kid Kash challenged Austin Aries for the title.

I think you know how I’m going to describe this one. Without Jesse Sorensen these two put on a pretty good match which at times seemed like they were taking part in a constant game of one-gunmanship, but I guess that’s what you get when you have two villains going at it.

Both guys put in solid performances, with Kash really doing a good job with his high intensity high impact moves, particularly when he took Aries up into a suplex move only to slam him down face first.

We also had some nice comedy touches involving a pair of brass knuckles and the title belt towards the end before Aries took the pin after taking Kash down with his trademark brain buster. Nice work.

The ladies followed as Mickie James challenged Gail Kim for the Knockouts title.

I haven’t said this in a while, but this is one thing that TNA does better than WWE at the moment. Whereas their Divas only get a small amount of time for their matches the Knockouts get a lot more time, enough to tell a good story.

Kim and James looked well made for each other, the two former Divas putting together some good sequences, and or the first time in ages James didn’t seem to blow anything.

It certainly was an intense back and forth battle, with both girls coming close to getting the pin. But the interference of Kim’s partner Madison Rayne as she stopped James from getting back into the ring gave the champion the chance to put her challenger away with her eat-da-feet finisher for the pin.

Then it was on to the return battle between Kurt Angle and James Storm.

The hamstring injury-free Angle was able to put in a longer stint this time around, and along with the tag team specialist put together a well executed encounter.

The story surrounding this one was simple, with Angle targeting Storm’s head, having previously taken him out and given him a concussion, with the Cowboy looking like he was down and out several times, coming back into the match time and time again.

It was great to watch, and great to see Angle elevating the ever deserving Storm up to his level. It may not have been overly flashy but it didn’t need to be, and in the end Storm came out on top after taking Angle down with his last call super kick.

The steel cage match saw Jeff Jarrett, accompanied by his wife Karen, taking on Jeff Hardy.

As is TNA’s way this one had a ton of stipulations. If Jarrett beat Hardy then Hardy had to leave the company, but if Hardy won he’d not only get a title shot but he’d get to fire one of the Jarretts. Also, Jarrett’s missus would be handcuffed to Sting at ringside.

This match showed that although Hardy may not be back to his best he’s certainly close. It was another solid performance from the Charismatic Enigma as he joined Double J in putting on a very enjoyable encounter.

We had the staple cage match moves, with each man using the cage as a weapon, several close calls as they climbed the cage, and the big move from the top of the cage when Hardy went upstairs and missed a swanton.

We also had the obligatory cage door move, first as Sting got accidentally clobbered, which gave Karen the chance to retrieve the keys so she could release herself. Seconds later she slammed the door into Hardy’s head as he made his escape. Sting then stopped Karen from entering the cage and giving Jarrett his trusty old guitar.

Moments later it was all over as Hardy took Jarrett down with the third twist of fate in the match for the winning pin. Afterwards Sting entered the cage to tell the Jarretts that one of them would be fired on Impact.

The main event saw A.J. Styles challenging Bobby Roode for the World title in a 30 minute iron man match.

This was another match that involved a previously sustained injury, with Roode centring his attack on the left knee of Styles, an injury Styles sustained when Roode attacked him. This cast Styles in the role of the plucky underdog, looking to overcome his handicap in an attempt to win the big prize.

Roode scored the first fall around the ten minute mark, pinning Styles after taking him out with a chop block to his injured knee. He double his score about five minutes later when Styles tapped out to his figure four.

Styles got one back around the 18 minute mark. Having countered another leg lock attempt by shoving Roode into the corner he took the submission by applying a cross face, taking advantage of Roode’s injured left shoulder.

With ten minutes left Styles evened the score. Roode went to lift him up with Styles countered with a small package for the pin.

Three minutes later and despite his knee injury Styles used the ropes as a springboard for a 450 splash, taking the pin and a 3-2 lead.

With five minutes left Styles went for a sunset flip over the ropes, Roode countering by holding onto the ropes for the pin, equalling the scores at three apiece.

From there the one legged challenger and the one armed challenger tried to take the win, and both went close at times, with Roode looking to stall as the time limit approached only for Styles to take him down with a suicide dive. But the challenger then managed to run down the clock, getting out of the ring time and time again as the time limit expired, and with the score tied the match was declared a draw, with Roode keeping a hold of his title.

In conclusion - although this probably won’t feature in any of the major match of the year polls TNA’s final big show of the year proved to be a solid and very enjoyable affair.

From top to bottom the matches delivered. They weren’t overly spectacular but they didn’t need to be. They all succeeded in telling their own particular story, and at the end of the day that’s what a wrestling match is supposed to do.

Match of the night for me was the Roode/Styles encounter. It may not have featured a ton of fast paced back and forth action but given the stipulation it didn’t need to be.

So in all this year’s Final Resolution gets the thumbs up from this particular writer for it’s solid all round effort.

Guest Booker with Terry Taylor - DVD Review

2011-12-14T12:28:00.000Z

It’s 1987. Bill Watts, having attempted to expand his UWF promotion has over-extended himself financially, and ends up selling everything to Jim Crockett promotions. The result is that a select few go on to be big stars while very little else happens as prestigious titles were allowed to fall by the wayside.

But what if that never happened? What if the UWF turned up on NWA shows demanding spots on the roster? What if UWF Heavyweight Champion “Dr. Death” Steve Williams faced NWA World Champion “Nature Boy” Ric Flair in a unification match?

This, and much more, is the subject of another release from Kayfabe Commentaries’ Guest Booker series, and the man given the pen this time around was on the UWF roster at the time of the sale, Terry Taylor.

With Sean Oliver acting as question master, Taylor begins by telling us how he got in the business, and of how he never had any training prior to his first match, which was also his first televised match. That’s something that would never happen in this day and age, because I know of some promotions who’d give you at least a weekend’s worth of training before throwing them in front of a live audience.

From there he goes on to discuss his career as a booker, from a two month stint as Watts’ assistant in the UWF to his time with WCW and WWE, before eventually making his way to TNA.

Like many who came through his era Taylor’s booking principles and philosophies are just so sound and logical, something we just don’t get to see today in the era of scripted promos and one-off blow-off matches.

It takes about 40 minutes or so before Taylor gets down to the crux of the matter and books four weeks worth of television, leading up to a pay-per-view. After choosing who he wants to keep from both rosters he begins with how the UWF workers would be introduced on NWA programming, before moving on to the aforementioned and inevitable angle between Williams and Flair.

Without giving too much away the booking is sound, and if it had happened it would certainly have made great television.

There’s also the other unification battles to take care of, with Taylor himself and Chris Adams as UWF Tag Team Champions taking on their NWA counterparts Rick Rude and Manny Fernandez, and the battle of the TV Champions between Eddie Gilbert and Tully Blanchard, as well as a drinking angle between Buzz Sawyer and Dick Murdoch and a possible angle between the original Freebirds and the Road Warriors.

As a booker Taylor comes across as someone with excellent ideas, which is why he was held in such high regard by the companies he worked for. However it’s a shame that, due to time constraints, we only got to see him book four angles and a month’s worth of television. It would have been interesting to see how he booked UWF guys like Sting and Rick Steiner, and how NWA guys like Arn Anderson and Lex Luger would have fitted into the mix.

But apart from this little grip this latest Guest Booker is worth watching, and that’s why I’m once again giving a Kayfabe Commentaries release the big thumbs up, because if you haven’t finished your Christmas shopping yet then this would be a good present for the wrestling fan in your life.

With thanks to the powers that be for supplying a copy of this release. Guest Booker with Terry Taylor is available to buy online at www.kayfabecommentaries.com.

And don’t forget to check out my website at twoshedsreview.blogspot.com, and why not join my Facebook page at Facebook.com/twoshedsreview.

UFC 140 Jones vs Machida on ESPN - TV Review

2011-12-12T12:48:00.000Z

My MMA weekend trilogy concludes with the biggest show of the month so far as former champion Lyoto Machida takes on Jon Jones for the Light Heavyweight title in the main event of UFC 140, shown live on ESPN in the early hours of this past Sunday morning here in Britain.

The broadcast began in the featherweight division as Mark Hominick went up against Chan Sung Jung.

This was the proverbial blink and you’ll miss it affair. While Mike Goldberg was making his obligatory sponsorship announcement Jung connected with a big right. Hominick went down like a sack of spuds, with the referee stepping in and ending the fight before Goldy had finished his announcement, giving the Korean Zombie the knockout win after just seven seconds. All I can say is wow!

So after that lightning fast encounter it was on to the welterweight division as Claude Patrick faced Brian Ebersole.

While this was nowhere near as spectacular as the opener it proved to be an intriguing three round encounter.

The first two rounds saw the fighters engage in a striking and clinching battle with a brief trip to the ground when Patrick went for a guillotine. The action went up a clear notch in the third when Ebersole scored with the early take down.

From there we saw some nice ground work from both men, with Ebersole briefly taking Patrick’s back and the Canadian going for a couple of submissions, including an anaconda choke.

But with neither man able to get the finish the decision went to the judges as Ebersole took the split decision in a bout that really was too close to call.

Then it was up to the light heavyweight division as Tito Ortiz faced Antonio Rogerio Nogueira.

Ortiz came out like a house afire and put in some great dirty boxing work. But a big left from Little Nog rocked him, and from there the Brazilian went in for the kill, a knee sending him crashing to the mat.

Nogueira went to work with the ground and pound, overwhelming Ortiz with a series of punches and elbows to the body, and with the bad boy failing to respond to this onslaught the referee wisely stepped in to give Nogueira the first round TKO win.

ESPN then went back to their old habit of coming back late from a commercial break, missing the beginning of the Costa Phillipou /Jared Hamman fight, a quick encounter which saw Phillipou dominate on the ground and with the striking, staggering his man with a left right combo and sealing the deal with another combination for the TKO win.

The big boys of the heavyweight division were up next as Frank Mir faced Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira.

Now this was a fight. After they jockeyed for position up against the cage Big Nog scored with a combination that rocked Mir as he staggered around like a baby. Nog followed him down to the ground for the finish, and for a second or two it looked like Mir was out of it.

Then the real ground battle began, and from out of nowhere Mir took control and applied a kimura. Nogueira tried to fight it and rolled over, but Mir kept hold of the arm, and this writer shuddered when Nog’s arm snapped and the referee stepped in to give Mir the impressive TKO win.

The main event saw Lyoto Machida challenging Jon Jones for the light Heavyweight title.

Jones began the fight in what has become his usual custom, coming out of his corner on all fours. However, it wasn’t long before Machida asked questions of him that he’s never had to answer before, putting on a great display of striking in the first round that he continued into the second.

But when Jones connected with a blow that rocked the challenger Jones went in for the kill, and an elbow on the ground opened up a nasty gash on Machida’s forehead. The doctor checked the cut briefly and allowed him to go on.

A few moments later Jones rocked Machida again before synching in a standing guillotine, and when the referee saw that Machida had passed out the referee stepped in to give Jones the impressive submission win.

So with plenty of time to spare the show rounded out with filler material, beginning with John Makdessi against Dennis Hallman in the lightweight division.

Hallman came out at the start as if he’d been shot out of a cannon, going for the immediate take down, and the only way Makdessi could stop this was by grabbing the cage, and after two warnings from the referee Hallman finally got the take down.

From there he dominated with the ground and pound before taking Makdessi’s back twice and synching in a rear naked choke for the submission win second time around.

Then it was on to the light heavyweight bout between Krzysztof Soszynski and Igor Pokrajac.

Soszynski began with a quick combination, but it wasn’t long before Pokrajac had his man on the back foot, a right staggering him before a barrage of blows sent him to the ground. A brief period of ground and pound followed before the referee stepped in to give Pokrajac the knockout win.

Welterweight action in the form of Rich Attonito against Jake Hecht followed.

The debuting Hecht began by testing the waters with a couple of kicks, but it wasn’t long before the fight went to the ground. Hecht tried to stay active from his back, always looking for submissions, with Attonito countering with a few well placed punches.

The end came in the second round. As Attonito tried for the take down Hecht connected with a couple of elbows, the second of which saw Attonito go limp. Hecht then went in for the kill with the ground and pound before the referee stepped in to give the debutant the TKO win.

In conclusion - the UFC’s penultimate show of 2011 proved to be a solid affair from start to finish. As the old saying goes every fight delivered, with the Mir/Big Nog and Machida/Jones encounters earning fight of the night honours from me. That kimura will make me wince for years to come.

The only downside came with the timing of ESPN’s commercial breaks, with me thinking that they’d got past the problem of coming back late and missing the beginning of fights.

But apart from that UFC 140 gets the big thumbs up, bringing my MMA weekend to a nice conclusion.

BAMMA 8 on SyFy - TV Review

2011-12-11T02:18:00.000Z

It’s time to step into the world of British mixed martial arts once again as we take a look at the latest televised offering from BAMMA, with Jimi Manuwa making his promotional debut live on SyFy here in Britain this past Saturday night.

The broadcast began with action from the welterweight division as Joey Villasenor went up against Jimmy Wallhead.

This one lasted less than a minute. Villasenor began with a couple of kicks, but when Wallhead connected with a big left hook the American went down. Wallhead followed him down for some ground and pound before the referee stepped in to give Wallhead the impressive knockout win.

The main event saw light heavyweight action as Jimi Manuwa faced Anthony Rea.

As was expected this mainly a striking battle. Both men tested the waters early on before engaging in a clinch against the cage. When Manuwa finally managed to break clear Rea staggered him slightly.

A second clinch led to another stand off, but moments later Manuwa connected with a spinning back fist that spelt the beginning of the end for the Frenchman. A high left kick sent Rea crashing down, with Manuwa following up for the ground and pound. However, when the referee stepped in to stop the action the Poster Boy thought he’d won when he was in fact signalling the end of the first round.

That action actually didn’t matter that much. With Rea failing to come out for the second round the referee ended the contest, giving Manuwa the TKO win.

The show rounded out with filler material in the form of the lightweight encounter between Colin Fletcher and David Round.

Fast paced action was the order of the day in this one. Both men began by swinging for the proverbial fences until Round scored with a massive slam.

Round went on to dominate on the ground, able to transition at will and go for some quick submission attempts. Fletcher managed to survive though, and after Round slammed him down for a third time Fletcher locked in a guillotine choke for the submission win.

In conclusion - BAMMA 8 had it’s good and bad points.

The good points were the fights can’t be faulted, they really can’t. The three shown were full of top notch action, with the Wallhead/Villasenor encounter the fight of the night for me.

The bad point was the fact that this show only lasted an hour. Yep, while the likes of Ultimate Challenge and Cage Warriors give their television fans shows ranging from 90 minutes to three hours in length, BAMMA and SyFy only gave us 60 minutes, and with no further highlights packages scheduled it feels like a massive letdown.

So in all BAMMA 8 gets the thumbs up for it’s fights, but the thumbs down for it’s television treatment.

Home and Away with UCMMA

2011-12-10T22:25:00.000Z

It’s time to step into the world of Dave O’Donnell’s Ultimate Challenge MMA once again, but this time it’s going to be a little different as I give you two reviews for the price of one, a review of a show that was broadcast live on the interweb, and a review of their most recent show on Sky Sports.

Let’s begin with the online show from the beginning of November, which saw the promotion hold their first overseas event at the Hard Rock Casino in Punta Cana in the Dominican Republic, which was part of a combined MMA/boxing show, which meant that, for obvious logistical reasons, the matches took part in a traditional four-sided ring.

The show opener saw action from the middleweight division as Miguel Bernard took on Ben Craggy.

This one didn’t last long. When Bernard went for a kick Craggy easily caught it and took the fight to the ground, and from there Craggy dominated, moving from position to position on the crowd before he took Bernard’s back for the second time and synched in a rear naked choke for the submission win.

More middleweight action followed as Richard Griffin faced Ross Pointon.

No feeling out period in this one as these two began swinging for the fences straight away, with Pointon quickly sustaining a cut above his eye.

From there the two men jockeyed for position, looking a little hampered when they tried to work the clinch against the ropes. Eventually the fight went down to the ground, where Griffin locked in a guillotine choke for the submission win.

Then it was up to the light heavyweight division as Neil Bittong went up against Iain Martell.

The only fight to make it out of the first round saw Martell beginning as if he’d been shot out of a cannon, only for Bittong to take him down. Martell soon got back to his feet but soon found himself in a clinch in one of the corners, each scoring with knees, with Martell having more success in this respect.

The end came early in the second. As Bittong went for the immediate take down there was an accidental clash of heads, with Bittong suffering a deep cut just under his left eyebrow. The fight continued for a moment or two until referee John McCarthy called the doctor in to check on the cut.

Seconds later the fight was over, with Bittong taking the decision to pull out, giving Martell the impressive win.

It was down to welterweight for the next fight as Wesley Murch faced Tim Radcliffe.

These two engaged in a clinch right from the start, working for position until Radcliffe connected with a knee to the body that staggered Murch.

Radcliffe went in for the kill with the ground and pound before taking Murch’s back and synching in the rear naked choke for the submission win.

The main event saw middleweight action with Sam Boo taking on Jamaine Facey.

Another quick encounter saw Boo going for the early take down, with Facey countering with a take down of his own. Facey then let his man up, and seconds later he connected with a knee to the temple, and after Boo went down like the proverbial sack of spuds the referee immediately called a halt to the proceedings, giving Facey the KO win in just 34 seconds.

Then it was on to last weekend’s show The Beat Down, held at their usual stomping ground in The Troxy in London, and shown on Sky Sports this past Wednesday.

The broadcast began with Miguel Bernard, making his second appearance in this review, taking on Andre McIntyre in a UK1 middleweight fight.

Bernard looked far more comfortable as a kick boxer than he did as an MMA fighter early on, coming forward with a variety of kicks as McIntyre looked like he hadn’t got across the starting line.

But it wasn’t long before McIntyre got going, focusing his attack on Bernard’s body and knocking him down twice in the first round. The onslaught continued into the second, with McIntyre sending Bernard down with an overhand right, and with the Spaniard unable to beat the ten count McIntyre secured the KO win.

After a highlights package from some of the other fights it was on to the light heavyweight fight between Earl Brown and another man making his second appearance in this review, Iain Martell.

Martell scored with the early take down, but as he looked for a comfortable position Brown did a good job defence job. But it wasn’t long before Martell re-took control, unleashing with the ground and pound, and with Brown offering nothing in return the referee stepped in to give Martell the TKO win.

The light heavyweight action continued with Ricky Campbell taking on Ben Smith.

Smith, the former heavyweight champion who looked dwarfed in most of his fights looked far more comfortable at this weight. The first round saw him scoring with the early take down and going to work with the ground and pound.

It was more of the same in the second round, with Campbell looking like a fish out of water as Smith took his back and synched in a rear naked choke for the submission win.

It was back to UK1 kickboxing for the next fight as Louis King challenged Mark Weir for the Middleweight title.

No feeling out period in this one. These two were swinging from the start, and just seconds into the fight King connected with a big left that sent Weir crashing, with the referee stepping in after just 18 seconds to give King the title wining knockout victory.

The UK1 action continued as Chris Harman took on Mark Potter for the Heavyweight title.

Harman, who looked a whole weight division lighter than Potter, came forward straight away with a front kick, only to find himself on the end of a big blow that staggered him a little.

From there it was an exciting power versus speed battle. As Harman jinked around the cage Potter connected with a number of shots that sent Harman down to the ground for the count. But Harman wouldn’t stay down, and showing the heart of a warrior he kept getting up, getting off some good shots of his own before Potter regained control with some more shots.

This was how the rest of the fight played out, and eventually the referee stepped in in the second round as Harman suffered one knockdown too many, giving Potter the TKO win and the Heavyweight title.

The main event saw Jake Bostwick challenging Denniston Sutherland for the Middleweight title.

This proved to be an intriguing fight. Both men took the upper hand at points during a clinch against the cage, with Bostwick getting a take down which Sutherland soon stood up from.

But as the first round entered it’s final stages they began to trade blows, and after Bostwick connected with a blow that staggered the champion a big left sent Sutherland falling to the ground, with the referee stepping in immediately to give Bostwick the TKO win and the Middleweight title.

In conclusion - let’s look at both shows individually.

Even though it lasted a shade over an hour the Dominican Republic show proved to be very enjoyable. Each fight delivered, with Iain Martell impressing me again (and not because he’s a Norfolk boy like me), and I really hope that their Cage Warriors counterparts UCMMA will start holding regular events overseas, although I think it would be better for them if they were dedicated MMA shows, and not combined MMA/boxing shows.

The Beat Down was also another quality show. I’m really starting to enjoy the UK1 kickboxing fights, and that was something I never thought I’d say, and the MMA action was top notch throughout.

However, after 25 shows at The Troxy I’m starting to think that perhaps it’s time for Dave O’Donnell to take the show on the road. I’m sure that there are many MMA fans all around Britain who would love to see a UCMMA show near them, and off the top of my head I can think of about half a dozen venues I’ve been to which would be perfect for them.

But getting back on topic, both of these shows get the thumbs up as two more examples of British MMA at it’s best.

UFC The Ultimate Finale on FX - TV Review

2011-12-05T16:02:00.000Z

So after several weeks of eliminations we were at the final stage, and once again my dislike of reality television meant that I hadn’t watched any of it. But that doesn’t mean I couldn’t enjoy a few good scraps for the Ultimate Fighting Championship’s 14th Ultimate Fighter Finale, shown live in the early hours of this past Sunday on the FX channel here in Britain.

The show began with bantamweight action as Louis Gaudinot, a guy with awful green hair, went up against Johnny Bedford.

Bedford came into this fight with a huge height and reach advantage, and he used this to great effect, dominating the action throughout.

From the moment the fight started Bedford took control, and it seemed as if Gaudinot just didn’t know what to do as Bedford overwhelmed him, taking him down at will and going to work with the ground and pound.

But try as Bedford might Gaudinot just wouldn’t give up, and as the fight entered it’s final round Bedford went in for the kill, connecting with numerous combinations to the body before going for the ground and pound, with the referee wisely stepping in when Gaudinot failed to defend himself, giving Bedford the impressive TKO win.

Then it was up to the lightweight division as Tony Ferguson took on Yves Edwards.

This battle between the veteran and the former Ultimate Fighter proved to be an exciting back and forth affair. Although there were brief trips to the ground these two engaged in a great striking battle.

Both men gave their all, and both men had their moments as they put together some crisp combinations, with both men in trouble a number of times.

By the time the third round began both fighters looked as fresh as daisies as they kept up their fast pace, but as they couldn’t put each other away it went to the judges decision, with Ferguson taking the unanimous decision.

The final of the bantamweight tournament followed as T.J. Dillashaw went up against John Dodson.

This one didn’t make it out of the first round. They began with a couple of exchanges before a big right sent Dillashaw back a few steps.

From there they went back to testing the waters with kicks and combinations, but when Dodson caught his man with a big left Dillashaw staggered again. Dodson went in for the kill, and a few seconds later the referee stepped in to give Dodson the TKO win and TUF Season 14 bantamweight crown.

The featherweight final saw Diego Brandao taking on Dennis Bermudez.

No testing of the waters for these two. They went all out as soon as the fight began.

Both fighters went all out with their striking and rocked the other early on, and as they traded blows it reminded me of the first ever TUF final.

As the first round entered it’s final minute Bermudez connected with a short right that sent Brandao crashing to the mat. Bermudez followed him down, looking for the ground and pound finish, and it looked as if the referee could stop the fight at any time as Bermudez continued the assault.

Then it happened. From out of nowhere Brandao went for an arm bar, locked it in and quickly secured the submission win in a matter of seconds, just when he looked as if he was about to go down. An impressive win for the new Ultimate Fight featherweight king.

Filler material in the form of the bantamweight bout between Dustin Pague and John Albert followed.

This quick affair saw both men exchanging blows at the beginning before Albert dropped his man with a big right. Albert followed him to the ground, and after gift wrapping Pague’s right arm he went to work with the ground and pound, and it wasn’t long before the referee stepped in to give Albert the TKO win.

The main event saw the battle of the coaches as Michael Bisping took on Jason Miller in the middleweight division.

Mayhem looked good early on, coming forward with the first kick and taking the fight to the ground, tying Bisping’s legs up with a leg triangle. But the move to the mount gave Bisping the chance to escape back to his feet.

From there the Count took control with a tremendous display of striking. Miller looked exhausted from the second round onwards and had very little to offer as Bisping teed off on him, bloodying his nose and generally messing up his face.

The end came in the third round. Once again Bisping took control, and when he went for the ground and pound Miller had no answer to the onslaught, and it wasn’t long before the referee stepped in to give Bisping the TKO win.

In conclusion - once again this has proven my point, the point being that if, like me you don’t like reality television but you like watching MMA fights you can still enjoy The Ultimate Finale.

The six fights here certainly delivered, and while the two finals made for a great spectacle the main event was the fight of the night for me as Michael Bisping moved ever closer to a shot at the middleweight title.

So in all The Ultimate Finale gets the big thumbs up from this particular writer.

Woo Mercy: The Jimmy Valiant Experience - DVD Review

2011-12-01T13:13:00.000Z

Those of you who know me personally will know that I’m a sucker for old wrestling stories. Whether it’s talking to someone who has made a living for decades or watching shoot interviews or documentaries I’m happy.

Which is why I was more than delighted when a company called EllBow Productions sent me their latest offering, a documentary about Hall of Famer Jimmy Valiant.

Woo Mercy: The Jimmy Valiant Experience sees the great man himself talking about his life in and out of the wrestling business.

From the proverbial humble beginnings we hear how he made his formative steps in one of the toughest industries in the world, of how it took several name changes before the man in question became known as Jimmy Valiant.

It really is an extraordinary story, and in telling in Valiant comes across as one of the most likeable men in the world.

Valiant is happy to tell it all, from becoming “Handsome” and part of the hottest teams of the 70’s with his storyline brother “Luscious” Johnny Valiant to his metamorphosis into the Boogie Woogie Man, and becoming one of the hottest singles stars in the Memphis and Mid-Atlantic areas.

The one thing that really stood out for me was that Valiant never had a bad word to say about anyone, and in an age where retired wrestlers seem content to spout bile about those they worked with Valiant’s demeanour certainly makes for a refreshing change.

But if you’re thinking that this is just a near two hour film in which Valiant sings his own praises then you’re wrong. There’s a great deal of input from his fellow wrestlers and fans.

People like Ivan Koloff, Ricky Morton, Jim Cornette, Bill Apter and more tell stories of a man who was an innovator in the wrestling business, and a damn nice guy to boot.

The biggest praise the man gets come from the students who attend the wrestling school he set up with his wife Angel. They tell of a man who cares deeply for the people he trains. They’re not just students to him, they’re like his children.

If truth be known though I already knew how kind the man was. I interviewed him a few years ago, and when the interview went online he not only thanked me he also invited me to his home so he could show me his wrestling school. Maybe one day.

In conclusion - this is one of the best wrestling documentaries I’ve seen this year. It’s well put together, the protagonists come across well, and the overall production values are top notch.

So if you’re looking for a Christmas present for the wrestling fan in your life then this release comes highly recommended, getting a big thumbs up from me.

With thanks to the powers that be for supplying a copy of this release. Woo Mercy: The Jimmy Valiant Experience is available to buy online at ellbowproductions.weebly.com.

Eddie Edwards: Road to the Triple Crown - DVD Review

2011-11-30T16:33:00.000Z

It’s time to step into Ring of Honor territory once again, but this time with a slight difference. We’re going to take a look at their latest compilation, a release that looks at the ROH career of the only man to have won all three of their current titles. The release in question is the two DVD Eddie Edwards: Road to the Triple Crown.

Disc 1
International Challenge: It’s a trip back to December 2006 as we take a look at Edwards’ ROH debut against Austin Aries.

It’s one of those short and sweet encounters, a staple of ROH shows over the years with Edwards, the local guy with the Road Dogg-like dreadlocks, looking to put in a good performance so he can earn a permanent spot on the roster.

It’s a pretty good match. Edwards gives it his all as he takes it to the former/future World Champion, but despite coming close to the win on many occasions Aries grabs the victory with his brain buster, finalising the deal with a 450 splash from the top rope.

Bedlam in Beantown: Forward to March 2008 as Edwards, now minus the dreadlocks, takes on Jigsaw, accompanied here by Mercedes Martinez.

It’s another of those short encounters, with the former masked man using his speed advantage to good effect early on before Edwards makes his comeback in this fast-paced back and forth affair.

There’s plenty of near falls here, but towards the end the late-Larry Sweeney, head of Sweet & Sour Inc, appears in the entrance way to distract Jigsaw. This gives Edwards the chance to take him down with the 2K1 bomb for the winning pin, with Sweeney revealing afterwards that Edwards is the latest member of his team.

Death Before Dishonor VI: Five months later in August 2008 and Edwards, accompanied by Larry Sweeney and Chris Hero, faces Roderick Strong.

Strong was looking to gain a measure of revenge here, with Sweeney having signed his tag partner Davey Richards to his stable.

It’s a nice pre-cursor for what was to come a few years later. Edwards and Strong put together a match full of fast paced action with plenty of high impact moves. Both guys put on great performances here.

There was the inevitable interference from Sweeney. It was while he was distracting the referee that Hero climbed into the ring and clobbered Strong with his loaded elbow pad. Edwards then connected with a springboard moonsault from the second rope for the winning pin.

ROH on HDNet Episode 11: Edwards, along with his American Wolves partner Davey Richards, challenges Kevin Steen and El Generico for the World Tag Team titles in a tables match.

If you’ve never seen just how intense the rivalry was between these two teams then this is a good place to start. It’s a match filled with tons of great drama, and tons of great action.

Apart from the hard hitting action there’s plenty of tables action, the best of which came near the end with Richards pushing Steen off the corner and somersaulting through two tables at ringside.

Generico then sought to put Richards through a table with a top rope brain buster, but a low blow from Edwards stopped this with a low blow before both men put the masked man through the table with a top rope bulldog, taking the title winning pin moments later.

ROH on HDNet Episode 15: Edwards and Richards, accompanied by Shane Hagadorn and Sara Del Rey, put the World Tag Team titles on the line against Tyler Black and Bryan Danielson.

Having seen the Wolves in a rather frantic tables match it was nice to see them in more normal surroundings. The exchanges with Danielson were great to watch, and Black wasn’t that far behind the American Dragon in that respect, although as far as tag team continuity was concerned they couldn’t keep up with the champions.

Both teams pulled out all the stops as they went for the win in this one, but a moment of miscommunication between the challengers cost them in the end. After Danielson dragged Richards to one of the corners he told Black to go to the top rope for his finisher. But when the Dragon charged the ropes to knock Edwards off the ring apron he also knocked Black off the top rope.

The challengers then began to argue, Richards sneaked up behind Black, and while Edwards took care of Danielson Richards took the title retaining pin with a roll up.

A Cut Above: It’s April 2009, and Edwards, accompanied by Hagadorn, faces Danielson in singles competition.

This was a match that deviated from the norm as far as ROH shows go. It was the show opener, but they were given more than the usual ten minutes.

The extra time allowed the match to develop nicely. They began by exchanging holds and moves before Edwards lighted a fire under Danielson by bitch slapping twice, taking the intensity level up a notch or three.

From there the action moved at a fast pace. Both guys looked like they could get the pin on a number of occasions, but after all the flashy moves Edwards tried to get the win with a small package, only for Danielson to reverse the positions for the winning pin.

Final Countdown Tour: Boston: Five months later, and with the feud between their respective teams still as hot as ever, Edwards takes on Kevin Steen an anything goes match.

This one began when Steen pulled Edwards out of his locker room before he’d had the chance to get into his ring gear. They then began brawling through the crowd before the ring introductions could be made.

They then proceeded to brawl up into the cheap seats and around ringside before eventually making it into the ring. A few moments later Edwards would actually sustain a broken right elbow when Steen clobbered him with a chair as he attempted a suicide dive out of the ring.

Despite this Edwards continued and still put on a hell of a match, taking quite a few bumps, including when Steen took Shane Hagadorn out with a package piledriver right on top of him. A few moments later we also had a cameo appearance from Davey Richards, who took a ladder out of the ring before Steen could use it as a weapon.

The end came when Steen took Edwards out with a package piledriver on a pile of chairs which, ironically, Edwards himself had set up in the ring.

The most amazing thing to come out of this match though was the fact that Edwards, with a massive cast on his right arm and elbow, still competed in the ladder match against Steen and El Generico the following night.

ROH on HDNet Episode 46: It’s back to tag team action as the American Wolves, accompanied by Shane Hagadorn, take on Matt and Nick Jackson, the Young Bucks, with a shot at the Tag Team Championship on the line.

If you want to see a great example of 21st century tag team wrestling at it’s best then this is the match for you.

Both teams were at the top of their game in this one in a twenty minute match filled with tremendous action. I know I’ve said this a few times before but the Bucks looked a hell of a lot better here, unhindered by the restrictions that TNA would later put upon them.

There was so much great action here it would take too long to list everything. Richards and Edwards looked as excellent as usual with their no nonsense hard hitting style, while the Jackson’s high risk offence fitted in perfectly.

So after countless near falls what could be considered an upset occurred when Matt countered Richards’ DR driver attempt with a roll up for the pin, earning a title shot against the Briscoes.

ROH on HDNet Episode 55: It’s a battle of the partners as Edwards faces Davey Richards in the finals of the TV Title tournament, with Shane Hagadorn representing both men.

This starts off as a good natured battle, but after Richards suplexed Edwards and himself out of the ring the intensity level was turned up quite a few notches.

The Wolves then put on a highly entertaining encounter, with Richards working over the arm so he could go for a kimura while Edwards worked over the knee so he could go for the Achilles lock.

Indeed when Richards accidentally kicked the ring post during an exchange on the apron Edwards knew that the end was almost near, and even though he was derailed slightly when Richards went for a kimura Edwards countered with his Achilles lock, with Richards tapping seconds later.

As the title belt was brought into the ring Richards snatched it, and while many thought he was acting like a sore loser their tune soon changed when he put the belt around Edwards’ waist, crowning him as the first TV Champion.

Supercard of Honor V: May 2010, and Edwards, with Hagadorn in his corner, takes on Christopher Daniels.

This was Daniels’ second match back in ROH after his temporary hiatus for TNA, and it was another example of how certain wrestlers seem unhindered in their performances away from the Impact Zone.

The Fallen Angel proved that he was more then capable of keeping up with this generation of ROH stars as they both put on a great back and forth encounter. These two were equally matched in every department, and it was a joy to watch them exchange various holds before going for the big moves.

Towards the end Edwards looked like he was going to get the win with his Achilles lock until Daniels managed to escape. He then looked to put his man down with the 2K1 bomb, which Daniels also countered.

But after taking Edwards down with a urinage Daniels went to the top and came down with the BME for the winning pin.

Salvation: It’s now two months later and back to tag team action as the Wolves face El Generico and Colt Cabana in the first round of Tag Wars 2010.

Cabana began the match with his usual comedic stylings which infuriated the already hyper-intense Richards, and these getting under the skin tactics worked early on as Cabana dominated his foes.

Later on Generico took his turn to serve as the Wolves’ proverbial punching bag, but it wasn’t long before Cabana was back in the ring and taking it to his opponents, looking great as, with his masked partner’s help, he really took it to the former champions.

The Wolves looked like they were going to get the win on numerous occasions, especially when Richards and Edwards delivered a stereo kick to Cabana’s head, but the beloved baby faces soon came back into the match, and in what was considered an upset Edwards tapped out to Cabana’s billy goat’s curse submission hold while Generico held Richards at bay.

Disc 2
Champions Challenge: It’s a battle of the champions in August 2010 as Edwards tackles World Champion Tyler Black in a non-title affair.

This was back when Black had recently signed a developmental deal with WWE, using his new status for a slow and gradual heel turn, with many speculating that he’d take the World title with him when he went down to Florida.

This was a highly competitive encounter, and proof that Edwards belonged in the main event scene as he easily held his own against the champion.

Black was heeling it up to good effect, even leaning over Edwards and doing the “you can’t see me” gesture at one point, as well as belittling the crowd when they began to chant for him.

In short this was a really good match, with both men pulling out all of their big moves and then some, including when Black used his buckle bomb move to send Edwards crashing into the ringside barriers.

Towards the end Edwards look like he was going to get the win when he applied the Achilles lock, but Black managed to escape to the ropes. Moments later it was all over as Black took the win with a roll up with his feet on the ropes.

Tag Wars 2010: One day later Edwards takes on Colt Cabana.

This one certainly brought a smile to my face. Although it only lasted about ten minutes those minutes were filled with tremendous wrestling action.

Cabana once again showed his love of the British World of Sport era by taking Edwards down to the may and out wrestling him early on. Edwards, however, showed that he had another side to his game when he kept up with Cabana, and seeing these exchanges brought back fond memories of when I first became a wrestling fan.

It wasn’t all mat wrestling though as these two brought out the big guns as well, giving this match even more appeal to this particular writer, and after all of that great technical wrestling it seemed fitting that Edwards took the pin with a roll up and bridge.

Fade to Black: One month later Edwards defends the TV title against Erick Stevens, accompanied here by the various Embassy cronies.

Although, like the previous match, this was a relatively short encounter they fitted in a ton of action.

Stevens looked incredible and absolutely brutal at times as he attempted to take Edwards apart, with a little help from his friends at ringside, Prince Nana and Ernesto Osiris. The action was fast paced and quite frantic at times, but it made for tremendous viewing.

Towards the end Edwards went for the Achilles lock, only for Nana to provide the distraction. After Edwards broke off the hold Stevens went to attack him from behind, only for the champion to counter with a backslide for the title retaining pin.

ROH on HDNet Episode 81: Edwards defends the TV title against another of Prince Nana’s Embassy boys, the Necro Butcher.

Necro had recently become the Embassy’s new crown jewel, although given my past experiences of his performances I would have described his as a rough diamond, and a fake one at that.

It’s the usual kind of performance from the Butcher here, one that I’ve been unimpressed with time and time again, and it took a distraction from Nana and Osiris for the Butcher to go back to his brawling ways early on.

Edwards put in a good effort here and sold like a you know what when Necro unloaded with his weak looking punches. Later on it looked as if the champion would get the win with the Achilles lock, only for Nana to distract the referee when the Butcher looked like he was going to tap.

The end of this thankfully short match came when Edwards countered Necro’s tiger driver attempt with a roll up for the pin.

And I just know that a certain guy called Flash is going to hate me even more for bad mouthing his beloved hero once again.

Final Battle 2010: A week before Christmas Edwards faces the Playa from the Himalaya, Sonjay Dutt.

This was another of those short matches filled with a ton of action. Dutt looked great, far better than he did during his TNA stint, and he was more than a match for Edwards in this fast paced back and forth encounter.

We saw plenty of great moves and exchanges as these two went all out to get the win, with Dutt looking like he could get victory on a number of occasions, only for Edwards to bring Dutt down with a power bomb, sealing the deal with the 2K1 bomb for the winning pin.

World’s Greatest: It’s the first match from 2011, February to be precise, as Edwards faces one half of the All Night Express, Kenny King.

This was an evenly matched contest between two men with big title matches the following day. However, these guys weren’t looking past each other as they put on a great encounter.

It began with some nice mat wrestling before moving on to a faster-paced tempo as the two protagonists began to bring out their big guns, with King showing how far he’s come in the past couple of years, keeping up with one of the company’s main men.

But despite his great performance King didn’t get the job done, as Edwards was finally able to apply the Achilles lock for the submission win.

9th Anniversary Show: One day later Edwards faces Christopher Daniels for the second time in this collection, but this time he’s challenging for the TV title in a best of three falls encounter.

As good as the other match between these two on this collection was this was a whole lot better.

For thirty minutes these two put on a tremendous piece of storytelling, with Edwards going all out to regain his title, and Daniels doing the same in an attempt to hang on to the gold.

The wrestling was so crisp in this one it was almost flawless as the action went back and forth, with each man coming close to getting the first fall, which didn’t actually happen until around the 20 minute mark when Daniels scored with a roll up.

It was then that we saw some excellent mat wrestling as they exchanged submission holds, and they even used each other’s favourite hold at one point, but it wasn’t long before Edwards evened the score as Daniels tapped to the Achilles lock with just a few minutes later.

Things began to get even more frantic, and Daniels was busted open after Edwards took him down with a top rope hurricanrana. A hip toss by Edwards then sent both of them crashing over the top rope to ringside, and although Edwards managed to make it back into the ring Daniels did not.

However, as the old saying goes, Daniels was saved by the bell as the time limit expired. The crowd began to chant for five more minutes, but given the state that the Fallen Angel was in it was obvious that he was unable to continue, with Executive Producer Jim Cornette ruling that the contest was a draw.

Defy or Deny: March 2011: On the eve of the biggest match of his career Edwards faces Truth Martini’s resident monster, Michael Elgin.

This was the perfect way to lead into the World title match. Elgin put on an excellent display of sheer power early on until Edwards came back into the match using some hit and run tactics.

From there we saw a tremendous back and forth encounter. Elgin continued to put in an excellent performance as he looked to take Die Hard out, but Edwards kept coming back time and time again before finally taking the big man down with the 2K1 bomb for the winning pin.

Manhattan Mayhem IV: One day later and it’s the biggest match of his career as Edwards challenges Truth Martini’s main man Roderick Strong for the World title.

Before the match began Strong showed that he had tremendous confidence by telling his manager he could go to the back with the words “I got this.”

It’s a term I’ve used many times before, but this really was one of those matches you couldn’t take your eyes off.

From start to finish two of the best wrestlers in the world today put on a classic, a definite match of the year candidate. They matched each other move for move and hold for hold as they put on a wonderful piece of storytelling, the likes of which we rarely get to see in the big two these days.

Strong and Edwards threw everything they had at each other, and the champion in particular became more and more frustrated at his inability to put his challenger away.

Eventually one of them was put away, but it wasn’t Edwards. After applying the stronghold Edwards countered with the Achilles lock as they jockeyed for position, with Strong delivering a series of kicks to the head while Edwards tried to reapply the hold, eventually taking the title winning pin with a simple pin.

In conclusion: Well, it took me a while but I eventually made it through six hours and 20 of Eddie Edwards’ greatest Ring of Honor matches.

And what a journey it was, from his dreadlocked debut against Austin Aries right through to his World title triumph against Roderick Strong almost every match delivered big time.

This collection proves that without a doubt, whether it’s as one half of the American Wolves or in the singles ranks Eddie Edwards is one of the best in the business today, and this well deserved collection is proof of that.

So in all this two disc collection gets the big thumbs up for me as the perfect stocking filler for the Eddie Edwards fan in your family.

With thanks to the powers that be for supplying a copy of this release. Eddie Edwards: Road to the Triple Crown is available to buy online at www.rohwrestling.com.

Remembering Bison Smith

2011-11-24T14:13:00.000Z

This week saw the passing of one of the most intimidating wrestlers I’ve seen over the past few years, but because he never worked for WWE or TNA it’s hardly been reported.

Bison Smith was one of the many wrestlers I saw during the heady days of The Wrestling Channel here in Britain. A physically imposing specimen with his massive build and Mohawk haircut, Smith was competing in Japan for Pro Wrestling NOAH.

I have to admit that I never really paid much attention to NOAH back then, and I only began to follow the promotion sporadically when A-Merchandise sent me a few English language DVDs to review. These reviews included their tour to Britain in 2008. The big man impressed the hell out of me in matches against the likes of Mohammad Yone, and Mitsuharu Misawa.

Although he’d had some success on the Indie scene in America for me Smith really came to prominence in 2009 when he debuted for Ring of Honor. He was booked perfectly as the monster heel, interrupting matches and destroying jobbers while also targeting their top star, former World Champion Bryan Danielson. It was later revealed that he’d been brought in by the returning Prince Nana.

Smith died of a heart attack this past Tuesday in San Juan, Puerto Rico. He was just 38 years old.

Whenever I saw Smith I used to wonder just how he’d fare in the big leagues. Given his size and skill I always thought that he’d fit in perfectly as the all-destroying, all-conquering monster.

Sadly we’ll never know if that would have ever happened. Smith may not have been one of the best known wrestlers in the world but he certainly made this writer sit up and take notice.

Rest in peace Bison.

WWE Survivor Series on Sky Box Office - TV Review

2011-11-24T01:53:00.000Z

It was billed as never before, never again as John Cena teamed with the Rock to go up against the Miz and R-Truth in the main event of WWE’s Survivor Series, shown live in the early hours of this past Sunday morning on Sky Box Office here in Britain.

The show began with the first title match of the evening as John Morrison challenged Dolph Ziggler, accompanied by Vickie Guerrero, for the United States title.

This match will probably be remembered for one thing. As the two protagonists went at it in the ring, putting on a very entertaining opener, the Madison Square Garden crowd, as one, chanted “we want Ryder”.

Despite this distraction Morrison and Ziggler put on a great back and forth encounter which was contested at a frantic pace. The lovely Mrs. Guerrero got involved, of course, and after she put Ziggler’s foot on the bottom rope the referee banished her from ringside, leaving her screaming like a banshee.

So with her out of the way Morrison and Ziggler shared several near falls, until the champion finally put the challenger away with his zig zag finisher.

Ziggler then took to the microphone to boast about his accomplishments, until the man who the crowd had been calling for, Zack Ryder, ran down to the ring and attacked Ziggler, eventually sending the champion running for cover.

Then it was on to the lumber-Jill match as Eve Torres challenged Beth Phoenix, accompanied by Natalya, for the Divas title.

Well, this didn’t start off too well, with a couple of dodgy moments, but it soon progressed into a nice little match. Phoenix was her usual powerful self, and Torres looked pretty good as well, especially her leg triangle submission hold.

No championship change here though as Phoenix took Torres down with the glam slam from the middle rope for the winning pin.

The only Survivor Series match followed, as Wade Barrett, Jack Swagger, United States Champion Dolph Ziggler, Hunico and Intercontinental Champion Cody Rhodes faced Sheamus, Sin Cara, Tag Team Champion Kofi Kingston, Mason Ryan and Randy Orton.

When I saw that there was only one traditional Survivor Series match on this show I have to admit that I was a little disappointed. But that disappointment soon went out of the window when the action began. This match proved to be a highly entertaining affair, and definitely worthy of the Survivor Series tradition.

As for the eliminations, Ziggler was the first to go, Orton taking him out with the RKO, putting Team Orton up 5-4.

Sin Cara was the next to go. As he attempted a suicide dive it looked like he didn’t time the dive perfectly, and as he landed on the outside he immediately grabbed his knee, and after a few uncertain minutes it was announced that he was eliminated, evening the scores.

Ryan was the next one to go. After putting on a great display of power moves against Hunico Rhodes got the blind tag and took him down with the cross-Rhodes for the pin. Team Orton were then down 3-4.

Things got worse for Team Orton soon afterwards. After Kingston put on a good display while trying to take all of his opponents out Barrett took him down with the big boot before sealing the deal with wastelands for the pin. Team Barrett were now up 4-2.

Sheamus’ Irish temperament then got better of him. Tagging in after Orton took a beating the Irishman went a step too far, delivering a series of knees to Swagger’s head while holding the ropes. When he failed to heed the referee’s five count the official disqualified him. It soon dawned on him what he’d done, but he left a message in the ring, taking Swagger out with the brogue kick before he left. Team Barrett were now up 4-1.

That score didn’t last long though. As Swagger lay in the ring Orton crawled back in and pinned him. Team Barrett were now up 3-1.

Hunico was the next one to walk. As Orton prepared to take Rhodes down with the RKO Barrett provide the distraction needed so Rhodes could tag Hunico. But as the Mexican came flying into the ring Orton took him down with the RKO instead for the pin. Team Barrett were now up 2-1.

This left Barrett and Rhodes against Orton, and after Orton finally took Rhodes down with the RKO Barrett took Orton out with wastelands for the final pin, winning the match for his team.

The Smackdown main event saw the Big Show challenging Mark Henry for the World title.

Slow and methodical was the order of the day in this one, and there was a marked difference from last month’s encounter.

Instead of the wild brawling the two big guys began with some technical wrestling, with Henry growing frustrated as Show outwrestled him. A chop block to the big guy’s knee soon brought him down to size though.

From there the match developed into a rather intriguing back and forth encounter, and Henry taking Show down with his big finishing moves and getting even more frustrated when Show kept kicking out of the ensuing pins.

Then we saw the rather odd sight of Show slowly climbing to the top rope and coming down with an elbow drop.

Moments later it was all over. Henry kicked Show in the gonads and the referee called for the immediate disqualification. The champion then got that look on his face and grabbed a chair from ringside, putting it on Show’s ankle. But before he could come down from the second rope Show moved out of the way.

Show then sought a measure of revenge, putting the chair around Henry’s ankle and coming off the ropes with a leg drop, the champion crying out in pain, the challenger leaving the ring as Henry was attended to by the medics.

The Raw main event saw C.M. Punk challenging Alberto Del Rio for the WWE title.

Before the match began Punk engaged in a game of one-upmanship with the champion with his own personal ring announcer, none other than Hall of Famer Howard Finkel.

This was a very entertaining encounter. Both guys put in a good performance here and were well suited to each other.

From the beginning ADR used his usual game plan of going after his opponent’s arm in preparation for his cross arm breaker. Punk did a pretty good job of hanging with the Mexican superstar.

With the always vocal New York City crowd adding their approval, the match developed nicely as both men went for their big moves time and time again, only to be thwarted by counters.

Eventually Del Rio managed to get Punk into the cross arm breaker. The challenger fought like a mad man until he managed to get to the ropes feet first.

It wasn’t long before Punk got back into the match, and after Del Rio once again managed to escape from the GTS attempt Punk locked in the anaconda vice. ADR had no choice but to tap, and with the gathered faithful voicing their approval Punk was crowned the new WWE Champion.

The real main event saw the Miz and R-Truth taking on John Cena and the Rock.

Whatever way you look at it, this match was only ever about one thing, Cena and the Rock.

As entertaining as this was, Miz and Truth were only ever going to be bit part players in the proceedings here, and that was obvious from the opening exchanges when the two of them engaged in a game of one-upmanship before Cena became the kick dummy for our heinous heels.

Miz and Truth did a good job of doubling up on Cena, with the Rock looking as if he didn’t care that his partner was taking a beating.

Eventually Cena managed to get the hot tag to the Rock, and after some brief offence from Miz the great one sprang back into life when he took his man down with a spine buster, finishing the job with the most electrifying move in sports entertainment, the people’s elbow. A three count later and it was all over.

Then, as the Rock celebrated in the ring Cena began to make his way backstage, only for the Rock to call him back into the ring so he could demonstrate how he should celebrate with the crowd, putting an exclamation point on the whole affair by taking his future opponent down with the rock bottom.

In conclusion - the 25th annual Survivor Series was certainly one of the better WWE pay per views of recent months.

The undercard was pretty entertaining, apart from the early stages of the Divas title match, while the two big title matches certainly delivered, and it was nice to see C.M. Punk getting his hands on the big prize again.

As for the real main event, the appearance of the Rock certainly brought back many fond memories, and although Cena actually spent more time in the ring Mr. Johnson showed that he can still get the fans eating out of the palm of his hand.

Speaking of the fans once again I must give massive kudos to the New York City faithful. I’ve lost count of the times I’ve seen fans basically sitting on their hands during shows in the past few years, but to see the way that the MSG crowd reacted throughout the show brought back memories of Wrestlemania 20, and it was great to see a crowd that passionate once again.

So in all this year’s Survivor Series gets the thumbs up for it’s great action and those warm nostalgic feelings that the main event gave me.

UFC 139 Shogun vs Henderson on ESPN - TV Review

2011-11-21T16:30:00.002Z

It was a night that featured three battles between former champions as Dan Henderson faced Shogun Rua in the main event of UFC 139, shown live in the early hours of this past Sunday morning on ESPN here in Britain.

The broadcast began in the light heavyweight division as Stephan Bonnar took on Kyle Kingsbury.

Bonnar is one of those balls to the walls kind of fighters you can’t help but like, his never say die attitude having won over countless fans when trading heavy blows with his opponents.

The Bonnar we saw here was a completely different animal. Although he managed to bloody Kingsbury’s nose and stagger him with a few good shots it was on the ground that Bonnar dominated.

The American Psycho seemed able to take his opponent down at will, and once they were down there Kingsbury seemed unable to do anything against his man.

Bonnar worked extremely well as he transitioned from position to position, looking for various submission attempts. Sadly those attempts just weren’t viable, but he was able to make Kingsbury look quite ordinary.

So with the fight going the distance it was down to the judges, and no surprises there as Bonnar took the unanimous decision. It was just a shame that those in attendance didn’t realise just how good his work was.

It was down to welterweight for the next fight as Martin Kampmann went up against Rick Story.

The second three rounder of the show proved to be an entertaining affair. Both men began by swinging for the proverbial fences, both sustaining cuts over their right eyes.

As the action progressed Kampmann began to impose his will on the fight, his more technical striking game causing problems with Story before the Dane took the fight to the ground.

This was more or less how the rest of the fight played out. There were some more brief stand up battles, but when the fight went back down to the ground Kampmann took control again, going for a rear naked choke as the fight came to an end.

So once again the judges came into play, and surprisingly they only gave the fight to Kampmann by split decision.

The first battle of former champions saw Urijah Faber taking on Brian Bowles in the bantamweight division.

This one promised much, and delivered in spades.

Both guys looked good early on as they engaged in a striking battle, but when Faber scored with the take down he took control, delivering some heavy blows while Bowles countered with a big up kick.

The end came in the second round. Faber staggered Bowles with an uppercut, and from there it was all over bar the shouting. Faber went to work with the ground and pound, and it wasn’t long before he locked in a guillotine for the impressive submission win.

The second battle of former champions saw Wanderlei Silva taking on the debuting Cung Le in the middleweight division.

This was the fight I was looking forward to the most. The opening round saw Le bring out the full array of kicks, looking like the action move star he is, and although some of them connected it was actually a spinning left back fist that staggered Silva.

Silva soon began to get his distance though, and as the fight moved into the second round he began to judge his punches more, causing more trouble for Le.

As the round neared it’s final minute Silva connected with a series of knees in the muay thai clinch that rocked Le. Silva went in for the kill as Le began to stagger, following him down and going for the ground and pound, with the referee stepping in to give Silva the TKO win.

The main event, the third and final battle of former champions, saw Shogun Rua facing Dan Henderson in the light heavyweight division.

When Dana White announced that certain non-title fights would be contested over five rounds I have to admit that I didn’t think it was a good idea. This fight changed that decision.

For five rounds two of the best in the world put on a tremendous back and forth battle, a war of attrition in which both men gave it their all.

Henderson looked great early on with his striking, putting Shogun on the back foot on more than one occasion and looking like he could take the win at any moment.

As time went on Shogun’s face turned into a mess, and Henderson looked in top form, even though he just couldn’t put the Brazilian away.

As the old saying goes they really were leaving everything in the cage, with both men looking exhausted as they came out for the final round, but with Shogun finding the energy to take Henderson down so he could control him on the ground.

After all of that they still couldn’t finish the fight as they left the decision up to the judges, with Henderson taking the close unanimous decision.

In conclusion - long-time readers will know that I spend quite a few column inches telling you how enjoyable these UFC shows are. It’s not hyperbole, it’s the truth.

Well, UFC 139 may turn up to be the best show they’ve put on this year. From top to bottom every fight delivered, with the final three fights going that step further to make this show that much more special, and as the old saying goes they left the best for last.

For me the battle between Dan Henderson and Shogun Rua was not just the fight of the night but perhaps the fight of the year. It didn’t matter that there wasn’t a title on the line, and the UFC’s decision to put on non-title five rounders has now been justified.

So in all UFC 139 gets the big thumbs up from this particular writer, and that’s all I can really say about that.