We began the night with a meet-n-greet with the performers. I got to meet Raymond Rowe, Shane Taylor, AR Fox & Nicole Savoy. Athena signed the sign we made for her. We walked in and found our seats. I let her choose where she wanted and she went for smack dab middle of the front row where the wrestlers had the most room to dive. We’ll try to remember that for next time.

The show began with Keith Roberts, ring announcer extraordinaire, introducing GM Claudia. Wrestling shows everywhere begin with talking but we’re not about that. Let’s have wrestling.

First match: Lou Sterrett vs. “The Natural” Michael Shafer

So I thought this was going to be a collar-elbow tie-up, confined to the ring wrestling contest. It might have been at first. This was bathroom break #1 for my little girl. Well, when we got back, two guys that I don’t naturally (No pun intended) think of as being high-fliers were like AJ Styles-Low Ki. Well, Lou Sterrett ended up at ringside and fell in my lap. He whispers to me that I might want to move. Being that I’ve never heard a wrestler tell me to move before, I got up stat. I was very glad because about 2 moves later Sterrett’s foot would have gone right through my head. My daughter was fearless and didn’t really move out of the way like she should have. She became the star of the night because Daddy moved out of the way quickly and she was happy in her seat not wanting to move. This was a crazy, insane match I did not expect. Nikki Bella would have called her “Fearless.”

Winner: Sterrett

I didn’t see this from start to finish but because of how this exceeded my expectations, this is my choice for match of the night. There was good sportsmanship between the two afterwards. In honor of Claudia celebrating a birthday, they brought out a cake, which my daughter had her eyes on like a hawk. Of course no birthday celebration is complete without a Dirty Minds interruption. And to counteract the Dirty Minds we got Simply Irresistible. I thought we were going to have the match there. I couldn’t hear everything as there seemed to be audio problems all night. But we did have Jiggle-O introduce us all to… “The Crotch {dramatic pause} of Wrestling” which is a play on JT LaMotta’s “The Mind of Wrestling.” Claudia announced that the winner of their tag match would be in the main event.

Second match: Davey Vega vs. Orion “Payday” Taylor w/Kenny Steele

I’d like to see Taylor get booked a little bit more through Texas. He is a high-flyer that can stand toe to toe with people who are known on a national level. And he proved that tonight with Vega. I have never seen him look crisper and more complete. I wrote down that this match was exactly what I thought it was going to be. You had two high-flyers going out and doing their thing. And again they ended up in front of us. It was a struggle to get both guys into the ring. Taylor was the only one who made it by the 10-count.

Winner: Orion Taylor by countout

After the match Taylor and Vega shook hands and then… Vega turned on him. Out came Kenny Steele to his rescue. Then they were attacked by the Bad Boyz (Lil Tony & Seph Annunaki). Seph and Taylor came up together so I hope they play on their history. Claudia announced the next show would feature tag teams. Kimber Bombs, Made in Syn, please?

Third match: Dirty Minds (Andy Dalton & JT LaMotta) vs. Simply Irresistible (Matt Palmer & “Jiggle-O” James Johnson)

You remember the Smackdown 6? It was Kurt Angle, Edge, Rey Misterio, Jr., Eddy Guerrero, Chavo Guerrero, Jr. and He Whose Name Must Not Be Mentioned. Well, I am coining a new term. The Arlington 4. And that is these 4 guys in this match. All 4 of these guys have fought in all different kinds of matches. This was old hat for them.

So how over are these guys? One of the fans stocked up on pink loofah sponges to throw at Andy Dalton as he is #dirty. And of course Dalton sold everything like crazy. One of the sponges hit him, and he sold like it was a clothesline. The same fan also stocks up on streamers for Palmer & Johnson. She gave one to my daughter so she got to throw it in the ring. The hardest part was telling a 5 year old to wait on throwing streamers.

Of course they made it ringside and LaMotta barked at the front row to move. And once again, we found out seats the epicenter of the action. Thankfully we moved so we were not in them. These 4 guys knew how to put on a great tag match and did exactly that.

Winner: Dirty Minds

Fourth match: “Notorious” Shane Taylor (c) vs. Charlie Haas

For anybody unfamiliar with Shane Taylor, he is the champion of a promotion in the New Orleans area called WildKat, which is run by Luke Hawx. Dude is a total hoss, not to be confused with his opponent, who is an actual Haas. Somebody made a joke about him being overweight. And then since one person said it, the whole audience took on the fat jokes. The man was very thick, not fat. He reminded me a lot of Bam Bam Bigelow. He came out in this hoodie, most intimidating ring presence since Lance Hoyt. I said to my daughter, “Ooh, he’s scary isn’t he?” Totally unfazed, “No.” This was originally supposed to be Taylor vs. Gregory James but he did the job to an abscess tooth. So not only did they provide a replacement for Greg, they provided a former WWE champ. Now I have to apologize for this match was my daughter’s bathroom break #2. When we came back the two hosses were slugging the spit out of each other. What happened during the match from my perspective was one of the highlights of my life.

Of course they ended up in the crowd with my little girl who I had to call away from our seats. The crowd loved her all night for her fearlessness. Some of the chants for her included “Little Girl,” “She is awesome,” “Sign her up,” “She’s hardcore” and once Keith asked her name to assist in the drawing, they chanted it too. Well, during this match, after I escaped with her, I got the chants. “Father of the Year.” Charlie Haas, whose career I’ve followed since he was in WWE developmental, watched him debut in Team Angle, morph into The World’s Greatest Tag Team, become one of my three favorite tag teams of all time (LOD & the Dudleys are the other two), be part of a legendary tag division in ROH, THAT Charlie Haas, took a second out of the match to walk over to me, shake my hand and raise my arm. I died. That moment meant so much to me. Then the crowd chanted, “Don’t tell Mom.” (Sorry, Beautiful.)

This was a very nice hoss match or Haas match as the case may be.

Winner: Taylor

Fifth match: Athena (c) vs. Nicole Savoy

This was (I believe) Nicole’s first match in Texas. So it was my first chance to see her except for the Youtube matches we pre-watched. She is very similar to Athena so I was really looking forward to this match. This match was contested for the AIW Women’s (@aiwrestling) & ACW Joshi Championships (@ACWWrestling). So we all knew who was going to win, right? A Cleveland & Austin promotions are going to let their title change hands before a different crowd than their home crowd? This is how good the match was. I found myself thinking that Athena was going to tap out. They kicked the stuffing out of each other several times. And then we got to see Nicole shine. She put hold after hold on Athena. I went through scenarios. Maybe Nicole beats her tonight and then Athena beats her Sunday at Inspire Pro in Austin. That’s how good the match was. I knew how it was going to end but I doubted it.

Winner: Athena

Main event: ACH (c) vs. AR Fox vs. Raymond Rowe vs. Andy Dalton

I know what you’re thinking. One of these things is not like the other when it comes to Andy Dalton. For a long time I’ve been saying he’s Texas’ biggest kept secret. This match really didn’t have a clear-cut heel. Fans are going to boo ACH or AR Fox? And they’re going to boo Ray Rowe? Out of fear, only if he gives me permission. So they needed a heel, which is Andy Dalton to a tee. As the match began, AR Fox left the ring apron to tell me I was probably going to want to move. So I was over the side and not taking notes. And sometimes when you’re watching guys with so much talent, you just put the notebook down and be a fan. Highlights I remember: AR Fox did a killer moonsault onto where I would have been sitting. This was Ray Rowe’s first match since his motorcycle accident. I can tell you there was no ring rust at all. AR Fox did a running leap onto Ray Rowe who was head off the ring apron. Andy Dalton proved he could hang with national ROH and DGUSA talent. And ACH was ACH. He shone like the star he always is.

Winner: ACH

After the match Andy Dalton was about to shake ACH’s hand. Then JT LaMotta came in for the attack. They announced AR Fox & ACH vs. LaMotta & Dalton for the next show.

All in all… Sorry for not much of a recap. My little girl was kind of the center of my universe, and it’s hard to experience all of the wrestling when you’re being dad too. What I will say that I usually never say is that you need this DVD. That can be found here. As a wrestling fan I was very happy with the night. I got to see nationally recognized wrestlers I don’t usually get to see. My inner survivalist loved the thrill and exhilaration of never knowing what wrestler was going to attack me or my seat next. And as a father, I was very proud of the night I had with my little girl.

The post VIP Wrestling-Love Hurts 2-13-2015 appeared first on BoredWrestlingFan.com.

These are my thoughts on a recent show I went to in Fort Worth. I’d like to give my thoughts on the pre-show ambiance but due to my mistiming and the wrong address appearing in my phone, that didn’t happen. I came in right as promoter David Fuller was introducing former champ SB1. The two of them put over their past. Then SB1 put over Fuller’s passion.

Fuller announced they were scheduled to have a match between Peyton Gates and Miss Diss Lexia. However Ms. Gates suffered an injury to keep her out of the match. Her opponent Miss Diss Lexia came in to the ring to cut a promo talking about how she wished her to get better and then when the crowd believed her, she attacked Gates. Delilah Doom (who is like sunshine in human form) came out to try to rescue her and got attacked too. Miss Diss Lexia looked imposing, threatening and oh, yes, very stunning. If there is a vote for Most Improved Wrestler of 2014, she has my vote.

First match: Li Fang w/ Nigel Rabid vs. Kyle Hawk

Everybody involved in this match was really firing on all cylinders. While I’ve seen highlights of Hawk, this was my first time to see him do an entire match. And wow. I was really blown away by him. And dare I call Nigel Rabid one of the best things in Texas wrestling? He keeps the crowd engaged the entire time. Li and Kyle’s work was very good. It was a beautiful athletic contest. You had all the flippy-floppy stuff that sparked the crowd. The crowd seemed to be pretty hot and into it most of the night. Li, Nigel, Kyle, legendary referee Rick Manning, all 4 were reading off each other. It was a very good opener.

Winner: Li Fang

After the match they introduced HOFer Black Bart. Wow, this man can cut a promo and keep a crowd’s attention. Sit down at that man’s feet and learn from him.

Second match: Kevin Cross w/Nigel Rabid vs. Crusher Mark

Cross is huge, like legit 7’1″. I think his nickname should be the One Man Tag Team. Crusher Mark was the ultimate babyface. He came out with the American flag, giving it to a kid to hold during the match, gave his dog tags to a kid to hold. He stomped his feet and everybody said, “Hoo-rah.” Everybody knew they were supposed to do this but me. At first I thought the match would remind me of a Giant/Big Show match from ’96. But it was a lot more competitive than I thought it would be. You had the big guy taking on the little guy with lots of fire behind him. I actually thought Mark was going to win at one point. But out of nowhere we got the Kevin Cross chokeslam and he walked away with the pin.

Winner: Cross

Third match: Jiggle-O James Johnson vs. Bryan Ryder

I’m not sure where I heard that this was going to be Ryder’s last match, but I knew it somehow going into this. Johnson has has a really good year this past year. I call it the “Johnsonnaisance.” It was a beautifully laid-out match. Johnson bumped and sold like Dolph Ziggler. There were so many bumps where you were sure he died and so many near-falls where you thought this was it. But Ryder had a really last match to end off his career with. Jiggle-O walked away with an O-face and the victory.

Winner: Johnson

This really could have been a main event anywhere. It was nice to see Ryder go out on a high note. After the match, David Fuller came out with Khris Wolfe and talked about their past together as being founders of IHWE. It was a nice moment.

After the intermission, we had Thomas Shire come out to face an unknown opponent. It was the retired Mind of Wrestling JT LaMotta.

Fourth match: Thomas Shire vs. JT LaMotta

I’m liking what I see from Shire every time I see him. His look is so different. He doesn’t look like he belongs in this decade. He’s what you would see in the 60’s, 70’s or 80’s in a territory. Or you could find on a high school wrestling team. The name that comes to mind in Jack Swagger. I was there for JT LaMotta’s last match in the Dallas/Fort Worth area. Strange. Here he is wrestling a year later. Needless to say, it was a nice match. LaMotta is such a capable veteran. At one point, Shire extended his hand, and LaMotta told him he’d shake Shire’s hand if Shire could beat him. LaMotta didn’t need the victory. He put over Shire as he should have.

Winner: Shire

Fifth match: Mike Foxx vs. Seth Shai

These two have been around for forever, have wrestled in all parts of the globe. Both of them know what to do so I just sat back and watched the show. Foxx was not happy and was done and began to walk to the back. Rick Manning, the greatest referee of all time, was trying to get Foxx back in the ring. Foxx laid a hand on him and and Manning dq’d him.

Winner via disqualification: Shai

Black Bart came into the ring to threaten Foxx and Jiggle-O James Johnson came out to the rescue when lo and behold, Seth Shai joined forces with Mike Foxx. They introduced Charlie Haas and announced he was going to face the winner of the main event at the next show on 9/28.

Main event: Americos vs. Gregory James vs. Ashton Jacobs in a Best of 3 Falls Match with David Fuller as special guest referee

Jacobs looks a lot like 1996 Chris Jericho. I’ve been watching Greg ever since he first began in the business so I never ceased to be amazed by how far he’s come. And Americos is strangely familiar for some reason, like I’ve been watching him wrestle for forever too. This was a rematch of the opener at the last IHWE show. No surprise. These guys are talented and brought a good main event. I had one problem with the booking. It was very obvious each wrestler was going to win a fall each. Sure enough, Greg got the first, Ashton the second and Americos the third. We were all tied at the top. Fuller announced they were going into Sudden Death. And of course the winner of the 3rd fall got the final pin. It just made good booking sense.

Winner: Americos

After the match the Rabid Empire came to attack the main event competitors. Thomas Shire came to the rescue, Charlie Haas told Americos to hold on to that belt for him, and we ended on a high note.

All in all… It was a pretty decent show. The overwhelming MVP of the night was Rick Manning. He refereed all but one match. The first half of the card was really good and the second half served to further some storylines for the 9/28 IHWE show.

The post IHWE Showdown 2014 8-30-2014 appeared first on BoredWrestlingFan.com.

First match: Ashton Jacobs vs. Gregory James vs. Americos for the DFW Championship

Chico Torres was introduced. He was the last DFW champion and a legend at the time of the 80’s. This was originally supposed to be Barrett Brown but he got injured before the event. This was my first chance to see Ashton Jacobs & Americos. Greg, I’m quite familiar with. Ashton had lots of enthusiasm. I still haven’t figured out who he reminds me of. I hadn’t seen Greg without his face paint for a while. And as soon as Americos walked out, a d-bag not too far from me said, “Now we know you’re going over. Just go ahead with it.” This bothered me as a fan. Yes, I will do a report on it where I may talk about the business but I’m not going to yell out inside terms during a match. (Of course they showed how much they knew when they said later on that Gargano was under the Americos match. Spoiler alert: He’s not.) So, about the match. I could have watched Americos and Greg wrestle all day. They have such amazing chemistry. And Jacobs was fine with his work. I called this work excellent. I would put this up against any other Dragon Gate USA opener.

Winner: Americos

Second match: Li Fang w/ Matt Riviera vs. Seth Shai

I am very familiar with Li’s work. I’ve seen Seth a few times but don’t know him probably like I should. This was not a flashy, flippy-floppy match. This was about the stories. Riviera, who was accompanying Fang to the ring for some reason, cheated like it was going out of style, and Shai had to overcome. I’m not sure why Riviera was down there with Fang. It was nice that Li had somebody down there to help him get heat, but why him? Riviera never appeared with him anywhere else on the show. There were many legendary managers that night that could have helped out Li (cough, cough, Nigel Rabid). We also had Rick Manning as ref. He is just such a legend. I’d probably call him my all-time favorite ref. The finisher was pretty cool. Shai did a Northern Lights Suplex off the top rope.

Winner: Shai

Third match: Prince Al Farat w/ Ken Kelly vs. Apoc

In the movie “The Wrestler,” Randy the Ram played by Mickey Rourke asks The Ayatollah played by Ernest “The Cat” Miller what they’re going to do in their match. Miller’s character says, “You’re the face. I’m the heel. What else?” (This is my Ruff paraphrase.) This reminded me a lot of this match. I didn’t see Kelly do a lot but I think he was on the other side of the ring. Apoc and Farat have done this many times, and you could tell they were doing the dance. There was the story of the spike. Any time the referee was distracted, Farat would use the spike. As they were trying to flip each other over to get the pin, Farat got the most leverage and won.

Winner: Farat

Fourth match: Matt Riviera w/Tim Storm vs. Ashton Jacobs

So after Ashton Jacobs lost in the opener, he is now qualified for a title shot? Not sure I see the logic there. I was expecting a squash match. I got more than that. There wasn’t a person in the crowd who thought Jacobs was going to win, but the crowd was into it. Riviera put Jacobs in a killer submission hold and Jacobs gave up.

Winner: Riviera

Jacobs either got seriously hurt or they seriously sold it. They asked for a doctor in the house. It was a bad night for my wife the nurse to not be there. Of course, being 9 months pregnant, she probably wouldn’t have taken too kindly to waddling up there to take care of an injured wrestler. But I digress. Black Bart came out and spoke briefly. A lot of the wrestlers were out signing autographs. I enjoyed getting to meet all the guys I did, especially Farat, Storm & Gargano.

Fifth match: Terry Gordy Memorial Battle Royal

We were introduced to Craig Johnson, an announcer from the days of the Sportatorium. They brought out Terry Gordy’s widow. That was pretty awesome to see Gordy treated like a legend. Battle Royals are always really hard to cover. I know each wrestler contributed but I’m not entirely sure I saw how they did. I will talk about some of the highlights. Dave Dunnings’ weight was listed as “too damn much.” Tex As Red was over like a bone in a dog pound. I dare call his pop the biggest of the night. I’m pretty sure Randy Wayne destroyed Americos’ chest with a few chops. Here is the order in which they were eliminated: Chris Richter, John Famous, Dragon King, Tex As Red (thought the crowd was going to riot on that one), Gregory James, Randy Wayne (looked like he might be the winner early on), Americos, Dave Dunnings, Kevin Cross (whose size has to be seen to be believed) and then the winner Thomas Shire.

Winner: Shire

It was pretty cool moment watching Mrs. Gordy hand the trophy to Shire. They introduced Kody Kox who had a special interview with Franco D’Angelo. Franco talked about what he’d been through in the last few years, about how he was the last champion and his struggles with the car wreck that should have taken his life. Then Franco announced his retirement. Long-time foe/friend Mike Foxx came out to discuss the situation. He raised Franco’s arms and then, like anybody who’s ever watched Mike Foxx over the past 10 years was expecting, he turned on Franco and did his finisher. Out came Randy Wayne for the rescue and challenged Mike Foxx to a match.

Sixth match: Randy Wayne vs. Mike Foxx w/Katie Foxx

This was a pretty big opportunity for Randy Wayne. Mike Foxx is appropriately nicknamed “The Main Event.” So Randy Wayne essentially got to fight in the main event. And Wayne really brought it. This was the sleeper match of the night. Wayne isn’t a flippy-floppy guy. He’s more like a Texas tough MMA fighter. In a lot of ways, he is the new evolution of the cowboy character- tough, country, pain-giver. Wayne really knew how to shine. Foxx ended up doing his finisher and walking away with the victory.

Winner: Foxx

Wayne may not have won, but he looked like he belonged in the main event.

Seventh match: Tim Storm w/Miss Tiffany vs. Spoiler 2000

Later on in the night, Tim Storm referred to himself as the “Benjamin Button” of wrestling. With respects to Rain & Amber O’Neal, Storm is one of those guys that seems to get younger with time. I had seen Spoiler 2000 wrestle once a long time ago. Somehow these two had never wrestled each other. Miss Tiffany was good, jawing with the fans at ringside. There was two that looked like they were ready to kill her. We had Spoiler get on top of the ring at one point and go all the way across the rope to the other turnbuckle. What I loved most here was the drama of the claw. The claw is perhaps the most sacred move in Texas wrestling history. And here we got to see why it was. Storm would try to put it on Spoiler. Spoiler put him in the claw at one time.

Winner: Storm

No flashiness. Just two classics telling a story.

Eighth match: Johnny Gargano vs. Thomas Shire

Yes, it stills feels great to see myself having written that I got to see this match live. And quick warning. I’m a huge Johnny Gargano mark. Aside from the earlier battle royal, this was my first match of Shire’s. I found him to be a nice throwback to the days of the 60’s and 70’s. He’s like somebody you would find on an amateur wrestling team, much like a Bob Backlund or a Jack Swagger. This was not a very “smart-to-the-business” crowd (aside from the one d-bag near me who thought he was) so I’m not sure anybody was there to see Gargano other than me. I think Gargano might have noticed that too. So he took a crowd that had no idea who he was and gradually began to win them over. By the end of the match, people knew the name of Johnny Gargano. There were quite a few “Holy s***” moments for me. There was a great dive onto Shire that moved the guardrails back a few feet. I wrote down that it was an incredible match. The fans agreed with me, chants of “This is awesome” and “Awesome match” sounding through the match. Reflecting now, I’d call it Top 5 I’ve ever seen live.

Winner: Gargano

Shire hung with Gargano. I’d like to see more of him in the future. The Code came out to introduce JT LaMotta. Code was in total heel mode. Brilliant. LaMotta thanked them all for his time in the ring and like any retirement speech (aside from Edge’s for some reason), it was very quickly interrupted. He was interrupted by Tim Storm and Matt Riviera because I guess we hadn’t seen them enough tonight. They reminded LaMotta that he couldn’t anymore, he was a quitter, etc. LaMotta walked away.

Main event: The Empire (Tim Storm & Matt Riviera) w/ Miss Tiffany vs. Seth Shai & Americos

Not sure why we got to see these wrestlers again after having them wrestle a match earlier each. Tired from the work he’d put in all night, Riviera offered Seth and Americos the chance to forfeit the match so they could go to McDonalds (right, because wrestlers who spend that much time working on their physiques eat at McDonalds). It was a no-go. Poor Americos took a lot of the punishment in this match. He took a killer back body-drop from Tim Storm that made the crowd cringe. And if that wasn’t punishment enough, they gave him a wedgie. Storm just kind of looked like a gorilla man-handling an attacker. Riviera scoop-slammed him onto the floor. Eventually the hot tag was made and Shai came in and cleaned house. They rolled up both and got the pin.

Winner: Shai & Americos

The victory was short-lived as The Empire began to clean house. Gregory James came out and was promptly choke-slammed. LaMotta was attacked by Storm. Promoter David Fuller was attacked and the night ended with the Empire victorious.

All in all… This was a different kind of card for me. I have a tendency to like more of the flippy-floopy guys and girls. But it was interesting to watch story-tellers like Tim Storm, Mike Foxx and Al Farat do what they do. It’s not surprise I’m going to name Shire-Gargano the match of the night. But I have to give Randy Wayne-Mike Foxx a very honorable mention. Randy Wayne is a guy I like more every time I see him wrestle.

Some of the booking was a little off, like Ashton getting a title shot while losing the first match or why more than one of these guys had to pull double-duty. And WAY too much Empire. I’d like to see that dialed back a little.

What I see here is the best mix of the legends with the workers of today. I feel like there is something going on here.

The post IHWE Experience appeared first on BoredWrestlingFan.com.

We open the show with Paige Turner, who is one of my favorite characters in women’s wrestling. She would be a good fit for NCWFF or another character-driven promotion. She is a librarian who plays her part expertly.

First match: Pump Patrol (Jared Wayne & AJ Summers) vs. Reign or Shine (Alex Reigns & Moonshine Mantell)

This is my first time to see Pump Patrol as a team. They are some jacked-up guys. I have seen Jared Wayne before. He is a great story of a wrestler who has really toned up his body. I’ve heard lots about Summers. Wayne opened it up with a nice, quick promo. They antagonized the crowd and had some good zingers. ROS look to be some jacked-up wrestlers doing a kind of redneck trucker thing. I’ve seen Reigns before, and he is a very good technician. This is my first time to see Moonshine. We open it up with some comedy and an arm wrestling contest. ROS is composed of two beasts. The more I see Alex Reigns, the more I see a believability in him. This match was worth a watch. All 4 got a chance to showcase their talents with some good innovation. The win happened when Moonshine did a frogsplash, which that is a big boy to be doing a frogsplash, especially as fluid as it was.

Winner: Reign or Shine

After the match “The Texas Prodigy” Houston Carson comes out to congratulate the winners. If you have not had the chance to see Carson wrestle yet, he exudes such a cocky arrogance yet he makes you want more.

Second match: Carson vs. Scotty Santiago

I thought The Gambler facing the Giant in WCW on Worldwide had a better chance of winning this than Santiago. I thought we were going to have Goldberg-Rick Fuller, and instead Santiago kind of blew me away. I kept watching this thinking, “Okay, when is Carson going to do his finisher and get the pin?” But the match ended with Scotty doing a quick backslide for the pin.

Winner: Santiago

During the match I thought, “For a squash match, they sure aren’t burying this guy.” Turns out it wasn’t a squash match after all. After 18 years of watching wrestling, not a lot surprises me. This did.

Third match: Cherry Ramóns vs. Alexander Rudolph

Cherry is a really good heel, much hated by the fans. Rudolph does a huge Viking thing. He is an enormous hulk of a man. If he works on toning himself, I could see him going very far. During the match a manager came down to ringside to antagonize Rudolph. Apparently facing Cherry wasn’t antagonism enough. While this guy was distracting Rudolph, Cherry attacked from behind with a roll-up pin.

Winner: Cherry

This brought a lot of questions. Who is this man antagonizing Rudolph? Will he be there in the future? Will Rudolph joins this man’s tutelage? A good wrestling company gives you reasons to return.

Fourth match: James Claxton vs. The Great Depression

Words do not describe The Great Depression. It’s a large man in a burlap sack for a mask. I have no idea where this is going. It’s just so bizarre I got to see where it’s going. The Cowboy James Claxton is about 6’6″ of Texas toughness. I would have like to seen more of this match before it disintegrated. Rudolph stayed ringside during this match. Depression went outside to fight Rudolph and then Claxton went to join in on the festivities. This was not a match so much as an angle to set up a future match.

Winner: No contest

Fifth match: Legion (Gregory James, Morbidus and Blasphemer) vs. Downfall/Erick Shadows/Danny Chance w/Kat Green

I’ve had the chance to watch Gregory ever since he broke into this business. Blasphemer was formerly known as Jeff Gant, a very excellent little guy. I remember Downfall standing out to me the first time I saw him. This was your 6-man you’d see on a AAA show or a CHIKARA-type show. This was so well-put together. It was like a smooth, flowing lyrical piece.

Winner: Legion

After the match, Kat Green was confronted by Jessica James. James on my screen is always a positive thing. Looks like she’s part of the Legion faction? In comes Paige Turner to cut promos on the crowd.

Sixth match: Dagger Brothers vs. Barret Brown w/Bolt Brady & Sammy Guervera

I am not familiar with the Daggers or Sammy. At first impression, what I like most about them is that they look like a tag team. I’ve known Barrett’s work for about 2 years. The kid is nothing but spectacular. For those unfamiliar with his work, I use two names to compare him to in intensity: Davey Richards and Chris Benoit. And those are not names I use very lightly. The story here was Brown dealing with Guervera’s cockiness. Guervera is not going to be in a tag team. He left Barret in the ring to take the Daggers’ finisher.

Winner: Dagger Brothers

Now that is how you begin a feud.

Seventh match: JT Lamotta vs. Andy Dalton in a street fight

Dalton is perhaps the most underrated talent in Texas. The guy can do whatever is asked of him, whether it is heel or face. And the only thing rarer than a unicorn is a bad Andy Dalton match. This was also near the end of Lamotta’s very extensive career. He was saying good-bye as only wrestlers know how to do… tearing the house down with their swan song. The ring announcer began a disclaimer that if these men fought on the floor, get the hell out of the way. Dalton and Lamotta can wrestle beautiful technical matches. This was not one of them. This was an all-out, brutal brawl. I like how they spent some time building toward the table. There was a fork used as plunder. Terry Funk-Abdullah the Butcher would have been proud. There was a spot that BENT the chair and Lamotta kicked out, eliciting a “Holy s***” chant from the crowd, which should count for extra points for drawing that out of the Austin crowd. Out came Jordan Jensen to attack LaMotta with a plastic bag. Dalton hit the 3-count.

Winner: Dalton

That’s the match to beat for match of the night.

Eighth match: Mike Dell vs. Ray Rowe

Dell came out to the Halloween music and Michael Myers mask. Mr. Dell has found a way to make himself appear out of nothing and pop the crowds. I’ve had the chance to see him wrestle a few times. And being the fan of AIW, I know well Mr. Rowe from his time up there. Cleveland’s loss has definitely been Houston’s gain. This was two big powerful guys systematically dismantling each other for fun. Mike Dell has some great facials and charisma. This wasn’t finesse. This was mutilation.

Winner: Rowe

Dell was still very over with the crowd. Post-match, he was antagonized by Ricky Starks. I’d put Ricky as one of the best on the mic in Texas and perhaps one of the top all-around heels.

Ninth match: Robert Evans vs. Jojo Bravo

Robert Evans came out to a huge pop. Before he was RD Evans, Archibald Peck, Mixed Martial Archie and all his many incarnations, he was Robert Evans in Texas, one of the most charismatic heels. Gotta love a crowd that sings along to your theme song. Jojo is a star on the rise. It will just be a matter of time before we see him on an indy national stage. This was an excellent match filled with everything you could want, whether comedy or technical wrestling. This elicited a “That was awesome” chant from the crowd, also no small feat in an Austin crowd. The match was paused when Evans was deemed unfit to continue. The refs came around to help and all checked to make sure Evans was ok. It was all a great moment of sportsmanship and then you know what happened. Robert Evans attacked everybody and threw Bravo outside. The only time I’ve ever seen that done better is Rebecca Knox-Allison Danger at SHIMMER 3. Then the match kept continuing. I found myself asking, “Is this going to be it?” every near-fall.

Winner: Bravo

What a match. Definitely worth a view.

Main event: “Showtime” Scot Summers vs. “Absolute” Ricky Starks vs. Jordan Jensen

Summers is one of the top all-around wrestlers in Texas. I already previewed Starks. Jordan is a really good heel who concentrates on story rather than flashiness. Summers is just so brutal (in a good way). He will kill you with a headlock. He reminds me a lot of Bruiser Brody. Somehow Starks was able to pull off the major upset and pin Summers. Then Jensen, being the weasel-y heel that he is, pulled a surprise pin over Starks.

Winner: Jensen

I wanted to see Starks win, but this was well-done.

All in all… For more information on this company, you can go here. I was completely blown away by what I saw here. In many ways we are witnessing the future of Texas and quite possibly, the US. There’s so many things going right here. There are so many names worth watching: Starks, Summers, Bravo, Dalton, Guervera, Carson and especially Reigns (Spend some time watching that guy). And that’s just a few of them. All of this on Youtube for free.

I was really pleased with the production values. For a dark theater in an obscure corner of Austin that is the place that natural light goes to die, they do a pretty good job of lighting it up. I’d put it up against any other company not under a Smart Mark Video or a Highspots banner. Commentary is Eamon Paton and Rachel Summerlyn who I think do a good job discussing each wrestler and the goings-on in the match.

This company does a lot of right. Bring in big names (Chris Hero appeared in January, I saw Chuck Taylor for their first show), put guys out there who know how to wrestle and leave lots of unanswered questions that need to be answered at future shows to make the people come back. If you are in Austin, they are definitely worth a visit. If your appetite is missing something wrestling-wise, this may fill the void in which you’re missing.

The post Inspire Pro-The Quick and the Dead appeared first on BoredWrestlingFan.com.

We open up the night with Leva Bates looking spot-on like Jack Sparrow. So uncanny, my 4 year-old (the girl who calls all wrestling “SHIMMER,” regardless of gender or promotion) was once watching this with me and said, “Look, Daddy, it’s a pirate.” We follow with a promo montage: Mercedes Martinez then Jessicka Havok. I love this format. Give me a few bullet points, a reason to love you or hate you. Why should I care about you or your match?

Daffney opens up the show itself as ring announcer. She is so enthusiastic and energetic, she makes the product better just by her being a host.

Kimberly vs. Su Yung

Not gonna lie. I have a little crush on Kimberly. She is quite the physical specimen. I have had the chance to see Su before many times. She is gorgeous and infectious. The story was nice here as they crescendo-ed from the chain wrestling into the more intense fury. I really liked what I saw here and even thought the match could have been longer. Every time I see Kimberly, she gets better. It was everything you could want from an opener.

Sojo Bolt vs. Taeler Hendrix vs. Heidi Lovelace

This was the OVW highlight match. I love Sojo Bolt’s look. Heidi came out with lots of enthusiasm. I like her better as a heel though. And of course Taeler is ridiculously hot and is a total star in the making. If TNA wasn’t busy financing Hulk Hogan’s retirement fund, she would be wrestling as a top name in the Knockouts Division. There were still the cool spots, but they relied on story as well. The match way exceeded my expectations. They had opportunity to showcase OVW and they held nothing back. They really took advantage of their moment.

Reby Sky cut a nice short promo.

Sassy Stephie vs. Mia Yim

Nothing more need be said about these two really good competitors. Stephie was in full heel mode, and Mia was in full face mode. I think Mia is perhaps the best women’s wrestler not signed by one of the big 2. Stephie has a nice fluidity all the while wrestling extremely nasty (in a good way), especially one chop. Mia took quite the beating or sold like crazy. This match stole the show. It was much better than it’s card placement. I would probably call this match of the night.

Jessicka Havok vs. Reby Sky

Without a doubt, Havok is one of the best wrestlers on the planet, male or female. And of course Reby has what they say is “The Look.” Sky took a lot of punishment at the beginning. I think Havok made it a goal to get Sky some respect by taking a beating from one of the best. This was quite the mugging, brutal, vicious and unrelenting. Mission accomplished. I respected Reby a lot more after this match. Plus, Havok looked like a total monster.

How you know you’re a total baller-when you get Daffney to cut your promo for you (as Jazz did). Then we cut to Kimberly kicking things after her loss. Yes, she’s cute when she’s angry.

Rain vs. Santana Garrett

Rain is one of those few wrestlers who not only doesn’t age, she seems to get younger with time. Garrett is a stunning, gorgeous up-and-comer who has a look to make it in one of the big two. Not only is Rain a thing of beauty but so is her work. Santana is such a natural athlete. Garrett bumped and sold like crazy. Rain got the win through her foot on the ropes. It reminded me of a Ric Flair ending where of course he won because he was Ric Flair. I watched her win with a smile, like, of course she won. She’s Rain.

Portia Perez vs. Leva Bates

So we had Ninja vs. Pirate (respectively). Portia Perez is by far one of the best heels out there in women’s wrestling. And with her different outfits, Leva is one of the best babyfaces. There were the serious moments of this match, but there was the comedy too. Portia Perez can just walk out into a crowd and get people to start booing. One of my favorite parts about Leva is that not only does she dress as a character, she also wrestles as that character, so she essentially never wrestles the same match twice.

Made in Sin vs. MsEerie

Made in Sin is probably the prettiest yet most deadly tag team combination. And as a matter of full disclosure, Allysin Kay is my favorite in-ring wrestler to watch. MsEerie is two really good established stars (and dare I say, in the case of MsChif, a legend). Made in Sin have such good heel chemistry together. I love MsChif’s scream. (It’s on my bucket list to have her scream at me.) The best part was Allysin taping MsChif’s mouth so she couldn’t scream. It had its comedy but it also had stiff, hard-hitting action you’d see on a Ring of Honor card. And then if this match wasn’t great enough, we got an April Hunter appearance. After the match, we had a nice interview with MIS saying they now had a “Fixer” in April Hunter.

Jazz vs. Mercedes Martinez

How do you build up this match? Jazz. Mercedes Martinez. What more do you need? You have two of the greatest women to ever set foot in a wrestling ring. As a matter of full disclosure, I used to watch Jazz wrestle at my local indy about 12 years ago. My ability to be biased might come up a little short. This match had an angle to set it up. There were no side headlocks. These were just ladies beating the piss out of each other. It ended in a no-contest. There was a really nice pull-apart.

All in all… A really nice follow-up show from the first Shine. There really wasn’t a match that stood out too much as must-see. I liked Stephie-Yim and the OVW 3-way. The combination of everything worked made this a well-taken venture. I really feel like we are getting to see some true talents as they hit an important place in their crossroads. It is still recommended viewing for any women’s wrestling fan, especially if you are a fan of any of these competitors.

The post A Ruff Look at Wrestling-Shine 2 appeared first on BoredWrestlingFan.com.

1. Mia Yim vs. Amazing Kong

It was great to see both back, as I haven’t seen either recently. This was big girl-little girl match. You had Kong destroy and Mia sell. I had computer issues during this match itself. Something with needing to use a laptop made in this decade. So I didn’t quite get the look at this match I wanted to. I missed the finisher.

Winner: Kong

Interview with Serena-There was a run-in by Jessicka freakin’ Havok. My wife walked in and said, “That sounded like an orgasm.” I did NOT see that coming. Do you know what the possibilities are here? Jessicka is probably the best wrestler in the world not in SHIMMER. I tried explaining to my wife that this was the equivalent of AJ Styles showing up on Raw.

2. Cherry Bomb & Kimber Lee vs. Veda Scott & Shazza McKenzie

This match surprised me. This was my first time to see Kimber as a heel. Cherry/Kimber did a great job of wrestling a heel style. Veda/Shazza were great as a tag team. They have a natural chemistry you can’t teach. I was kind of disappointed in the length this match was here. I’d love to have seen more development in a story.

Winner:  Shazza & Veda

3. Rhia O’Reilly vs. Evie vs. Kalamity vs. Christina Von Eerie vs. Yuu Yamagata

This match alone is worth the purchase. It was a GREAT debut for Evie. She had some great kicks. Kalamity is great for what she does, just that little spitfire full of fight. And Von Eerie was sporting long, not-mohawked hair. Plus, she is so crisp and refined in the ring. If you’ve never seen any of these 5, this match would be a great sampler for any of their work.

Winner: Von Eerie

4. Mercedes Martinez vs. Ayumi Kurihara

Some good emotion for this match as it was Kurihara’s last match in the US (if I am correct). Mercedes did quite the beatdown on Kurihara. The crowd reaction made this match worth it. The story was that the two were so even. A well-received “That was awesome” chant.

Winner: Mercedes

A great show of class by the fans chanting “Arigato” after the match.

5. Jessicka Havok, Sassy Stephanie & Nevaeh w/ M. Rochelle vs. Regeneration X & Serena Deeb w/ Daffney

Regeneration dressed as Jay and Silent Bob. Nice. Serena looked great, did a lot of bumping. When the crowd became a little quiet, Alison got them back with one move. They are teasing a Serena-Havok feud. There was a Havok chokeslam that was the best one I’ve seen since WCW’s The Giant.

Winner: Re-X & Deeb

Jessicka continued an EPIC beatdown. Now THAT is how you start a feud!

6. Jessie McKay vs. Madison Eagles

Forgive me as I swoon over McKay. The beginning was very nice, as it showed how alike these two were. This match was a feat of athleticism. This match was really what SHIMMER does best: two athletic women having a physical contest. This match is a definite recommend.

Winner: Eagles

7. Made in Syn vs. Kellie Skater & Tomoko Nakagawa vs. LuFisto & Kana vs. Canadian Ninjas

Made in Syn is just too much prettiness for one team to contain. Skater & Nakagawa are awesomeness as a tag team. I would like to never step into a ring with LuFisto or Kana. And the Canadian Ninjas are greatness. The Nakagawa-Kana stuff was great. Made in Syn did some Dusty Rhodes clubberin’. Allysin took a lot of lumps and I hope people are noticing she is earning her place. LuFisto took a really bad moonsault. How she is still alive I’m not sure. Made in Syn were first eliminated followed by LuKana. The Canadian Ninjas won by spitting the water in Skater’s face for once.

Winner: Ninjas

8. Athena vs. Ayako Hamada

It is so surreal to see the wrestler at my local indy who got started around where I started watching wrestling to be taking on a Japanese legend. This began with some GREAT mat wrestling. Athena got some insane kicks from Hamada. Holy crap. THIS was a match. I’m pretty sure this is going to be the best match I’m watching this weekend. If you watch no other match this weekend, watch this match.

Winner: Athena

With the exception of the 4-way ladder match from AIW, this is my choice for Match of the Year.

9. Cheerleader Melissa vs. Saraya Knight

Saraya’s entrance is one of the best in wrestling. There is no more convincing heel. The crowd was madly in love with this match, which the crowd was kind of hit-or-miss. The match was really good, but it had the misfortune of being after Athena-Hamada. The ending was an incredible huracanrana that saw Cheerleader Melissa get the pin.

Winner (and new champion): Cheerleader Melissa

All in all… It will be interesting to see how this plays out on DVD. First of all, Athena-Hamada was the match of the afternoon and perhaps the Match of the Year. Melissa-Knight was a great emotional story. If you are wanting to know how to be a heel, study Saraya Knight. The 4-way tag match was really fun and really good story-telling. The Aussie battle was like watching some athletic spectacle. The 6-woman match was great for the history of Havok being in the SHIMMER ring and for Re-X as Jay and Silent Bob. Each match brought something unique and distinctive. If you find a replay, well worth the watch.

The post A Ruff Look at SHIMMER Vol. 53 appeared first on BoredWrestlingFan.com.

Jessie Brooks w/Sammy Geodollno vs. Nevaeh

The last WSU show found Jessie Brooks teaming up with Sammy Geodollno. I think they are a good pair on paper. I am intrigued how they will mesh as a team. And I’m not sure how this has never happened before, but this is my first chance to see Nevaeh wrestle. Sammy provides a lot of energy which counteracted with Brooks’ slow, methodical entrance. It reminds me a lot of Mark Henry in that an inevitable beating is about to arrive. (And there is no comparison between body types there so please do not kill me.) Brooks just looks mad and pissed-off, which I think is a great place for a leading heel to be. As the match started, the crowd was a little dead, and Nevaeh listened to the crowd and tried to get them moving. I’m not sure that these two have worked together very often. There were some awkward moments in the match. Nevaeh wrestled a heel style so I really wasn’t sure who I was supposed to go for. The ending came out of nowhere for me, so that’s pretty positive. I’m not really sure about the booking of the first match. The crowd was quite dead during this match, so that might have affected me enjoying this match as much as I could have.

Kimber Lee vs. Christina Von Eerie

Kimber Lee is the quintessential “girl next door” and Von Eerie is the antithesis of everything Kimber Lee is. This would be a very interesting feud should it ever happen. Kimber was wearing her Moolah tights. We started off with some exciting mat wrestling. We got to see a good showcase for Von Eerie. I think she really shined here. Von Eerie is one of the best athletes in women’s wrestling (with respects to Athena). I would have liked to see more offense from Kimber.

Niya vs. Veda Scott

I really like Niya, and Scott is one of my favorites to watch in the ring. One would have to call Scott one of the best all-around workers in wrestling. She is such a good heel. Niya had a lot of sassiness in her entrance. I liked it. We started out with an “at-the-bell” attack by Scott. We had Jana as ref, which was great to see. Niya really got the chance to fly around. Veda got the chance to bump and do her thing as only as she can. She plays the despicable heel role so well. This was easily the best of the first 3 matches. This match had a story and a reason to care.

Cherry Bomb vs. Kalamity

So we have my very favorite vs. one of the most unique wrestlers in the indy scene. Kalamity didn’t do a lot to get the crowd on her side. Cherry Bomb is a very over heel in CZW so she fit right in. If you like Grumpy Cherry, there were plenty of great facials. There was some good entertainment to start off the match including the greatest insult of all time-“You look like an Oompa Loompa.” Cherry Bomb kept the crowd hating her. Watching her during the opening minutes is a clinic on how to get the crowd to hate you. If you like a stiff SHIMMER-style match, this is your match. Cherry Bomb also kept the crowd engaged, never giving up on heckling them or yelling at them. This crowd was as dead as can be. However if there was any life up to this point, it awakened during the Cherry match. I found this to be a really good match, my favorite up to this point. (Pretend I’m not the biggest Cherry Bomb fan but) I would definitely recommend this DVD for this match.

Addy Starr vs. Chris Dickinson

I love Addy Starr, but why is there a guy here? I’ve never seen Dickinson so I will be happy to see him, but why is he wrestling in Women Superstars Uncensored? Dickinson took the mic and cut a really good heel promo. I love Addy’s energy. She brings so much to a crowd. This wasn’t my favorite intergender match, but Addy flopped around like a rag doll. She took a powerbomb that I wowed out loud for. The near-fall portion was really good.

Spoiler alert: I hated the finish. Why is this on Women Superstars Uncensored? It just seemed out of place. Dickinson won and got the pin. How does that help out THIS company? I just don’t see where it’s going yet.

Athena vs. Jessicka Havok

Would I be out of place to say my expectations for this are sky high? You have two of the top female wrestlers on the planet going at it here. This match got the time it needed. Up to this point, I didn’t feel the matches had gotten the time they needed to tell their stories, other than Cherry-Kalamity. There isn’t a lot to say. It was nearly twenty minutes of two of the top talents in wrestling doing their thing. This match alone would have been worth the price of purchasing it.

LuFisto vs. Mercedes Martinez

This first meeting between these two was my choice for 2012 Match of the Year. So you can imagine my expectations for this are pretty high too. Plus, this was Falls Count Anywhere. If I’m correct, this was in a hockey arena. This match took place in an ice skating rink. This was a match where you bumped on ice. I played broomball once in high school. I fell smack dab on the back of my head and haven’t been on the ice since. These women fought on the ice on purpose. There were some snap suplexes that made me hurt watching them. What an epic follow-up. I dare say this match topped the first. This match alone is worth the price of the DVD.

All in all… I know that circumstances were way against WSU when trying to put forth this show, and no one would have blamed them for cancelling. But they put forth a really good show. Not every match was epic, but I’m not sure they were given the time they needed. I would like to have seen more character development. Just give me a minute for Havok to tell me why she chose Athena, postmatch of Mercedes explaining her actions, why the Dickinson-Starr feud.

I liked Cindy Rogers on the mic. WSU needs a consistent color commentator so I’d like to hear more of her there. You had three really strong matches (And the Starr-Dickinson match was good; I just hated the story.), one of which bordered epic and another was the poster child of epic. I would definitely recommend this DVD.

The post WSU-An Ultraviolent Affair appeared first on BoredWrestlingFan.com.

So why am I talking about The Undertaker when I’m reflecting on the Life of Paul Bearer? Well, it was hard to separate the two. As imposing and terrifying as the Undertaker was, Paul Bearer was the other half of him. You could not have had the Phenom Undertaker without Paul Bearer in his early days. They tried with Brother Love, but the character just missed something in the early days. It wasn’t until Paul Bearer became part of the Undertaker’s character that the character clicked. Eventually the time came for Paul to break away and the Undertaker soared, but without Paul, I’m not sure we would have seen the Undertaker we have now.

One thing that stands out to me is how Paul was able to take anything, no matter how awful and make it into something good. Let’s face it. The Impostor Undertaker storyline in ’94 is one of the cheesiest things I’ve ever seen in wrestling. (And I’ve lived through Katie Vick, Kane-Shane McMahon and The Giant falling off Cobo Hall yet winning the world title.) Yet with all the players involved-Ted DiBiase, Brian Lee, The Undertaker & Paul Bearer-they made my inner kid believe in everything going on. Take the Kane storyline. Out of nowhere Paul Bearer was revealed to be the father. As preposterous as that sounded, through that interview with Jerry Lawler where they didn’t know the camera was running, he put together all the pieces. There was his return in the mid-2000’s that caused him to be buried alive in concrete by the Undertaker himself. With respect to all involved, there wasn’t anyone who could salvage that.

The Undertaker and Paul Bearer were something special. How many times has the WWE tried the supernatural thing since then to little or no success? Mordecai? The Boogeyman? Kevin Thorn the Vampire? Countless other names I can’t remember because of their failure? Due to the stage presences of both men, they were able to make this something special and make countless dollars off this.

There were so many great memories from him. There was the aforementioned Impostor Undertaker storyline. There was the feud with Diesel where Diesel did the unthinkable. He put his hands on Paul Bearer. That was back in ’96 when things still mattered. There was the Paul Bearer turn that broke my heart for a long time. Kane didn’t have much of a shelf life. Paul helped to give him fuel that kept him around today. There was the surprise appearance at Wrestlemania XX, where I remember marking out like a little kid for seeing him again. In 2010, Undertaker once again feuded with Kane. I remember seeing turning to Smackdown (which is something I never do), and I waited for him to appear from the casket. I was like a little kid watching him over and over again.

He had so many signatures. There was the “Ohhhhhh, yyyeeeeeeesssssssss” he was so famous for. I still do that. It’s not at the same level as “Brother” or “What?” but it’s still pretty impactful. When I was telling my wife he had passed away this morning, I described him as the “Oh, yes” guy. (And yes, I did it in his voice, or my feeble attempt at his voice.) I still remember how he would say, “The urn.” Any time I hear the word urn, I immediately think about him. And that voice was so eerie and so spooky. With respect to the Macho Man, it was probably one of the most recognizable voices of his time.

I never had the chance to meet Paul Bearer. I swear I had to have seen him live a time or two. (My first ever then-WWF show had a Kane appearance that must have been around Badd Blood ’97, so I think Bearer was there. It was just a long view from where I was.) I used to follow him on Facebook and after the birth of a grandchild, there were comments congratulating him and wishing him well. He took the time to like every one’s comments, including mine. I know it may have been little, but I thought it was pretty awesome. In the pre-Attitude era and in the Attitude era, there were fewer personalities who made a bigger impact. Brother Bearer, Uncle Paul, Mr. Pringle, thank you for your time on this Earth.

The post Remembering Paul Bearer appeared first on BoredWrestlingFan.com.

There were plenty of risks. First and foremost what would the stream be like? Ring of Honor is a top caliber company and they can’t get a stream working. I’d never gotten a Smart Mark Video stream before so I was pretty nervous. We began with the first match.

First match: Addy Starr vs. Sassy Stephanie

Addy Starr has really improved over the past few years. She has an IT factor that I see. She has an infectious enthusiasm that comes out during her matches. AND I love the All-American Canadian gimmick. Stephanie is a very good soldier and has done a very good job to help create the lady wrestlers in AIW. I think she’s one of wrestling’s greatest villains, male or female. The match was pretty decent. The two gelled together and had pretty good chemistry. I was a little shocked by the match length and the outcome.

Winner: Starr

Second match: Athena vs. Kimber Lee

What I first thought of when these two locked up is that this could be billed as “The Battle Between the Girls Next Door.” Both just have that sweet “girl next door” feel. I was very impressed by the work here. No secret I’m a huge Athena fan, and I think she’s one of the best out there. We had a nice stiff match that was very entertaining. Really wish it would have been a little longer. No shock with the outcome.

Winner: Athena

Third match: Veda Scott w/Gregory Iron vs. Leva Bates

Veda and Greg began with cutting a lengthy promo, which I couldn’t hear because I can only not hear indy wrestling promos and my wife telling me to pick up milk on the way home from work. Leva showed up as Daredevil, which was a painful reminder that Ben Affleck had a career in between Good Will Hunting and Argo. The match itself was one of my favorites of the first 4. Veda is one of the best when it comes to matwork. I could watch her do her grappling/submission all day. And I love Leva’s bumping. It’s reminiscent of Shawn Michaels. I saw this one coming from a mile away. Veda with the win.

Winner: Scott

Fourth match: Annie Social w/The Social Network vs. Crazy Mary Dobson

I’ve seen Social look more impressive than she did tonight. She also looked like the puppies were about to break free, which normally I wouldn’t mind except for the fact I have Google with unlimited opportunities. It might be time to look for a safer, more flattering outfit. Dobson has been spending some time overseas, and a lot of that work is showing in her matches. The match was pretty good here. We had some brawling outside the ring. But other than that, this was a pretty clean match from Dobson. We all know she can do the Pondo Death Match style. But here she wrestled an actual match concentrating on in-ring work. Well-done by both.

Winner: Dobson

Don’t know why, but I didn’t see Dobson winning this one. So two of the first 4 matches were surprises for me. AIW tried something different that I usually don’t see. During the intermission, they gave us a bonus match from Girls Night Out 6 between Jenny Rose & Hailey Hatred, which was one of my favorite matches of 2012. There were some glitches here and there (and I mean everywhere) with the bonus match, but I thought they were genius for giving a bonus match during the intermission.

Fifth match: Jodi D’Milo vs. Angelus Layne

I was really anticipating this match, as I have never seen either wrestle and had only heard of Layne. I wasn’t that impressed by Layne’s look. The hair didn’t do it for me, looked out of a Mad Max movie (and judging by my Twitter feed, I WAS alone). When it came to the in-ring work, I was an immediate fan of D’Milo. She was stiff, strong, had some good kicks. I liked Layne’s in-ring style. In my opinion, the one who shone here was D’Milo, but Layne is the bigger name, so it makes sense that she get the win and continue at AIW. Easily better than any of the first 4 matches.

Winner: Layne

AIW has done pretty well about discovering Canadian wrestlers: Ethan Page, Josh Alexander. Add Jodi D’Milo to that list.

Sixth match: The Social Network (Nikki St. John and Heidi Lovelace) vs. Angeldust and K.C. Warfield

Sammy Geodollno is really growing on me as a manager. Lovelace is improving a lot and I’m liking her hair longer. Angeldust and Warfield worked well as a team. Warfield has also improved a lot in her in-ring work. She carried most of the load tonight. And St. John is this graceful, beautiful, athletic goddess (Sorry, Athena). I admire her in the same way I do Courtney Rush, just a stunning athlete. Nikki and Heidi spent most of the match brutalizing Warfield. This was a nice diversion from the rest of the night and gave us a storyline reason to come back.

Winner: Social Network

Seventh match: Allysin Kay (c) vs. Mickie Knuckles

This sure was “Don’t worry, it happens to lots of guys” booking. Mickie never lost the title. She relinquished the belt after finding out she was pregnant. How does this match not get more build-up? This is a huge freaking deal. I don’t think Mickie got enough of a chance to shine here. I love Allysin. She’s my favorite in-ring female wrestler. Watching her in the ring is a thing of beauty. I’m not sure how it looked to anyone else, but it was like a poetic masterpiece to me. Allysin looked like a star here.

Winner: Kay

Main event: Addy Starr vs. Athena vs. Veda Scott vs. Mary Dobson in a 4 Way Ladder Match for the #1 Contendership

What can you say about this match? You had 4 of the best in their craft going at it. They made this title seem important. I can’t decide where this match goes in my all time favorite female matches. Maybe top 3. Crazy Mary channeled Terry Funk. Addy really stood out in this match and really had a scene-stealing night. This is perhaps the best match I’ve seen from a Girls Night Out event and is probably my first choice for match of the year for 2013, male and female. This match alone was worth the price several times over.

Winner: Scott

All in all… The stream worked! I think that is the biggest victory.

The main event made up for an okay show. For what I’ve come to expect from AIW, this was not the strongest complete Girls Night Out event. If you have never seen AIW, if you are a fan of any of these wrestlers, and if you’ve only ever watched WWE Divas matches, this is a must own. The main event was great. I liked the Kay-Mickie match and D’Milo-Layne.

Allysin Kay and Veda Scott should be a really good match. There is some really nice buildup on the way.

The post Absolute Intense Wrestling Girls Night Out March 1, 2013 appeared first on BoredWrestlingFan.com.

Either Darin is really great at selling or he had a legit sprained ankle. Speaking for somebody who has had one, walking to the ring, much less competing in a match is a small miracle. Gary’s work was really good as always. It was a really strong first match, though I thought it was a bit short.

We had a Barrett Brown promo. He needs a mouthpiece. He has such an amazing presence in the ring; he just needs the promo ability taken off his plate.

2. Barbi Hayden & Bolt Brady vs. The Takeover

Barbi is probably one of the best wrestlers you’re not watching. This is the first time I’ve ever seen Barbi as a face, which is funny because she’s one of Texas’ top heels, male or female. This is my first time to see Miss Maulie. I’ve only had the chance to see Jaykus Plisken once and it was when I was ring announcer so I was running around trying to find my bearings. He has a great look and is a born main-eventer. He has such a presence. I wonder if he needs a mouthpiece to help preserve the gimmick. I liked Maulie’s work here. And Bolt earns his name as he is-sorry, I have to-“electrifying.” The pumphandle slam into the knee breaker thing was incredible.

Jojo Bravo cut a really nice promo heeling Ricky Romida. Bravo is where ACH was a few years ago.

3. Ricky Romida vs. Carson

Add Carson to the list of best wrestlers you haven’t heard of. The match itself started off as Andre the Giant vs. Cary Elwes from Princess Bride. The strategy was that you had a little man (which Carson isn’t) trying to take down the bigger man. Romida looked strong, and Carson put him over as a monster, which he’s not really that big. I was impressed by both’s work here. I believe we had a story told.

4. Jeffery Gant vs. Athena

When I see Gant, I wonder where the rest of him is. Athena is just in a class by herself. This match was way more competitive than I thought it would be. The longer it went, the more Gant impressed me. I might call him the Texas Spike Dudley. I found myself liking this match a lot more than I thought I would. This was a great showcase for Athena’s submission skills, but both looked great in this match.

5. Davey Vega vs. Barrett Brown

I was told how great this match was from a very impartial source-Brown’s dad. (Yes, that sentence was in jest). If you have never seen Brown, he’s worth it. You have Texas’ future vs. the U.S.’ future. (Give Barrett time. He’ll be the U.S.’ future too.) He was able to hang with Vega and he looked pretty good in the ring against a top tier indy talent. It was very emotional to watch this kid that I’ve watched ever since he was 16 get to wrestle in what is probably the biggest stage in Texas. He did really well in there against Vega. The scary part is that Barrett is only 18 and has no limit to where he goes.

6. Arik Cannon vs. Matthew Palmer

Matt Palmer is the best wrestler in the world you’re not watching. I like seeing Cannon every time I get the chance to watch him. They worked really well together and had good chemistry. The thing I write about Palmer is that he never forgets he’s in front of a live crowd. There is so much innovation in this match. Not only were they great in the ring, they were great out of the ring too. This is a great DVD if you have never seen either of these. I’m not sure what they paid Cannon, but he gave you a really good match with brawling, scientific wrestling, striking, lots of blood and made Palmer look like a million bucks. Whatever they paid him, it was a bargain.

7. Pierre Abernathy vs. Darin Corbin

This was good fun. They did a tribute to the Wrestlemania VI Main Event, Warrior vs. Hogan. After 3 really excellent matches, the crowd needed come down a little bit. This was very good comedy.

8. Jessica James vs. Christina Von Eerie

This was an interesting look and transformation for James. James has got to be one of the top female wrestlers in Texas. And Christina has got to be one of the top female wrestlers in the world. She has the most unique look in all of women’s wrestling, plus she is great in the ring. Any wrestler I’ve first heard about while watching AAA is pretty awesome in my book. The match was really good. There were a few moments where I noticed the little things both did well.

9. Mojo Bravado vs. Team Havin Fun (Rachel Summerlyn & Portia Perez)

I really don’t know what to think about some of these creative decisions as Portia is one of the top heels in the world, but she is really good with Summerlyn, and Anarchy is its own creature. It gets to do what it wants to. Jojo Bravo wrestles like a face but is a heel. To call Jojo one of the next big names in Texas would not be much of an exaggeration. He has that same energy and charisma that ACH has. You can’t teach what skills this man already has. Jordan Jensen is extremely good at the heel role. And I’ve gone into detail about what I think about Summerlyn, but just to repeat, she reminds me of a really pretty tomboy. Plus, with Summerlyn, you get Machiko, who is in my opinion, one of Texas’ hottest wrestling personalities. The match was a really good match with intergender implications. Jensen puts on a heel clinic, and both ladies owned the crowd.

10. Children of Pain 2.0 vs. ACH, Summers & Genesis

Wrestling doesn’t have too many wrestlers who looked like The Thing of Fantastic Four fame. Scot Summers is one. Ryan Genesis is pretty jacked up too. I consider these two to be the top tag team in Texas. And ACH is in a category all by himself. I haven’t seen Vexx too much, but I’ve seen Silver and and Sky (the Lost Boys) live and wrestled in one of my favorite matches of 2012. Watching ACH at this point of his career at ACW is like seeing Ric Flair in Charlotte, CM Punk in Chicago, Jim Ross in Oklahoma. It’s his hometown, and that crowd has made him. The match was pretty violent and everybody carried their weight. A good main event to capitalize on a really great card.

All in all… A really good show from Anarchy. The Athena-Gant, Vega-Brown, Cannon-Palmer trilogy of matches were all really good. There are so many great underrated or undiscovered wrestlers on this card: Barbi Hayden, Bolt Brady, Carson, Jojo Bravo, Summers & Genesis & The Lost Boys. There are some top women’s wrestlers: Athena, Christina Von Eerie, Rachel Summerlyn, Portia Perez, Jessica James, so if you like women’s wrestling, this is also very worth your time and money. I’d have to definitely make this a huge recommendation.

The post Anarchy Championship Wrestling -Distrust, Dismay & Antisocial Behavior appeared first on BoredWrestlingFan.com.

So what was my criteria? Are these my favorites? Not necessarily. All the below are great workers that I like, otherwise they obviously wouldn’t be on this list. My Fav 5 (to steal a Booker T-ism) is another topic for another time. Are these the best workers out in the indy scene? Not necessarily. Obviously I’d say Jazz, Beth Phoenix, Awesome Kong & Rain are in the top. But they’ve been to the big dance. I’d like to concentrate on those who haven’t been to the big dance. And are these my favorite workers to watch? Not necessarily. I love watching Allysin Kay & Athena & Veda Scott, but that’s not what this is about. These are the wrestlers that I feel could go to WWE or TNA/Impact tomorrow and contribute immediately. This is my collection of who I think are the 6 (I couldn’t narrow it down to 5.) best unsigned (by WWE or TNA) female wrestlers in North America.

Mia Yim-Is there a better combination of beauty and wrestling ability? Yim’s look is exotic. She would look great in a Diva’s model shoot. She has the experience of having traveled all over the world. And this woman doesn’t break noses because she’s clumsy. She breaks noses because she’s trying to decapitate you. There is photographic proof known as Allysin Kay. Could Mia Yim show up tomorrow in the WWE or TNA and make an immediate difference? You can bet on it.

Courtney Rush-If this Canadian were not a wrestler, you would probably see her as a beach volleyball player or a track star or some other kind of athlete. She is a tremendous athlete, like watching a wild gazelle run on a Discovery documentary. But that’s not all she offers. I recently saw a match in SHIMMER (Volume 48, to be exact) where she carried it mostly by her personality. The story was that Sara del Rey was looking for a tag team partner, and she couldn’t find anybody to be her partner, except for a way-too-enthusiastic Courtney Rush. The vignettes were entertaining, and the match was something I have not seen done in wrestling before. She is very over with their crowd and just continuing her simple gimmick, tweaked for the Big 2’s creative minds, I could see her being very successful.

Melanie Cruise-Every once in a while, wrestling needs that one woman who can come in and destroy every one. This has been a role that Awesome Kong/Kharma, Jazz and Chyna have played in the past. I think Cruise would be perfect for this role. The thing is that Cruise is still a beautiful woman. Much like Beth Phoenix, Cruise could be the respected woman renowned for her wrestling ability but still has the right amount of femininity.

Leva Bates-The biggest minus for Leva in the past was AJ Lee of the WWE. Now AJ has evolved beyond the geeky character to psycho leaving room for the geek to return. Leva has the dorky cuteness that appeals to a lot of wrestling fans. She’s good on the mic and very good in the ring. She can play whatever character she wants to. I could see her breaking the hearts of many wrestling fans who would be in love with her.

Brittney Savage-As some of these wrestlers are great workers, Savage has one thing going for her. Savage is unbelievably hot. The WWE and TNA love them some hotness. I think she could show up tomorrow in a WWE or TNA ring and break hearts everywhere. Now, just because I think she has the look most companies crave doesn’t mean she’s not a good worker. She knows her way around a ring and is really good on the mic. She is a natural heel and would be a great addition to any if the big two.

Kellie Skater-If you have never seen the Ratetank persona, I think it is well worth a view to watch how she applies the persona into every aspect of her match. I really love her hair and see little girls dressing like her in arenas. (Note to self: Daughter must do if she ever sees her live.) There aren’t enough Aussies in the international wrestling market, and I feel that between Skater and fellow Aussie Shazza McKenzie, hearts of teenage boys would melt. Skater has a great physique and plays a great heel. I could see her lasting well in the WWE or TNA.

So who did I miss? Do you agree? Disagree?

The post Top Unsigned Women Wrestlers appeared first on BoredWrestlingFan.com.

We began the night with Sammy Geodollno offering her services to Mercedes Martinez. Nice, cute, short, character-driven.

Kalamity vs. Leva Bates

I am looking forward to this match. Kalamity has a good look and ring presence, even though she’s somewhat lacking in height. And to me, Leva reminds a lot in-ring wise of Shawn Michaels. By appealing to the geek in all of us, she has carved herself a really nice demand. Leva was rocking the Jigsaw outfit of Saw fame. It’s not exactly my favorite outfit of her’s, but I love her variety. We had a handshake to start the match. I’m going to compare old WSU to new WSU a lot. You can already tell an improvement in the crowd. They are alive. I really like Kalamity’s hard-hitting style. Her elbows look like they kill you. And Leva bumps like “H-She-K.” (I’m coining that term right now.) Leva’s chops have the perfect combination of cute and devastating. It had really strong wrestling and great back and forth. It was the perfect match for the opener. We had a nice show of sportsmanship. I know it’s ironic that the company is called Womens Superstars Uncensored, but I would let my daughter watch this match.

Brittney Savage vs. Tina San Antonio

I am intrigued by this match, as these were two stars created by the old WSU. What will happen in this new era? Where will they go? Tina is now a heel and if I may say, a rather good one. And even though I think Savage is a better heel, she is over with the crowd and they accept her as a face. San Antonio’s ring style in this match was slow and methodical. There was a nice exchange with the roll-ups. It was good old-school wrestling. You had the heel giving out punishment with the face taking it. I really liked the story of the finish. It opens them up for a good feud. After this match, Tina is a force to be reckoned with.

Addy Starr vs. Jessie Brooks

I like Addy’s cute, quirky look. I’m not too familiar with Brooks if I have seen her at all. She looks focused, no-nonsense. So far, 3 matches, 1 heel. Brooks is a very capable wrestler but comes off a little bland. Maybe being in a Sammy G skit would have worked better for her. Starr has a nice, unique ring style. One cannot deny Brooks’ in-ring ability as we got a cattle mutilation. I really liked the exchange when Addy had Brooks in the guillotine choke. Funny I should mention Sammy G because she came down to ringside. I really liked Jessie in this match. The crowd just needs a reason to care about her. The crowd loved Addy and even an incognito Sugar Dunkerton congratulated her after the match.

Mercedes Martinez vs. LuFisto

Yes, I just wrote that. Mercedes Martinez in the ring against LuFisto.  Two pioneers in this generation’s era of great women’s wrestling going at it. It didn’t start in the ring. This match started off so intensly. Why? What is the heat between them? The play-by-play guy filled us in as the match began, but why couldn’t he tell me why they hated each other as they were entering? Also, this was the first time they had ever met on American soil. Why was this not more prominent in the card or build-up? LuFisto’s kicks look like they will make your head roll. Every move she does looks like she’s going to kill you. And Mercedes is Mercedes. She’s an icon of her era. Were it not for that pesky Sara del Rey, she’d be hands-down, the best of her era. This was LuFisto’s showcase, plain and simple. If you are not a fan of LuFisto or women’s wrestling in general, you need to watch this match. I try not to use this word too much, but I’d dare call this match epic. My only complaint is that the play-by-play guy started talking about how these two might go the distance. And then he updated us they were at the 21-minute mark. I knew it was going the 30-minute draw and the rest of the match became a chore. The drama was still good enough to fool me into thinking it might end. The ladies got a standing ovation and a “That was awesome chant.” Myself, I would have been chanting “Match of the Year.”

Niya vs. Saturyne

This is an interesting match-up. There is the veteran getting one more chance story with Niya. Plus, you have the up-and-coming hot rookie with Saturyne. I would have liked to seen more of an emphasis from commentary placed on this actual match. Saturyne is quite exciting to watch in the ring. It was hard to concentrate on the in-ring action, but this was a nice short match. The crowd needed something to come down from after that LuFisto-Martinez match.

After the match, Jennifer Cruz ran in and started taking out Niya. Jana came out to Niya’s rescue. Then Jennifer took the mic and cut a nice promo, dropping a Spanish p-bomb.

Kimber Lee & Annie Social vs. Allysin Kay & Sassy Stephanie

This is where it gets hard for me to be partial as I’m a total mark for the Midwest Militia. Kay is my very favorite in-ring worker, and I have this weird schoolboy crush on Stephanie. Stephie was wearing her t-shirt from Gimick$ whom I strongly recommend for your wrestling t-shirt needs. I don’t see Lee’s and Social’s chemistry on paper. Lee is a great “girl next door” and Social is a great counter-culture heel. This was good classic tag team wrestling. Militia killed Social with the face in peril. If there are young upstarts wanting to know how to do “face in peril” from a heel’s perspective, watch this match. Kay & Stephie put on a clinic. I was ok with the non-finish. Allysin’s kick to the stumbling Kimber Lee was so wrong. It was so simple and subtle, yet so enraging.

Nikki Adams vs. Marti Belle

I should probably know her better, but I don’t think I’ve seen a Nikki Adams match before. And Marti Belle, in my opinion, has got to be the perfect combination of beauty and wrestling ability. I really didn’t get the build-up here. Who is Nikki Adams? Why does she have that title shot? Nikki had good crowd engagement. Marti as champ has a certain swagger about her. She now looks like a top name. The commentary started off really strong here. There are going to be some people watching WSU for the first time. They put over the Spirit championship and what it means to the former champ Jana who was doing the commentary. Adams worked a very strong heel style and Marti bumped like crazy for her. Watching Adams reminds me of watching an 80’s old school heel, like how every inch of that thing is a weapon for her. I thought this was a good match to add credibility to Adams. Plus we had the build-up with Ezavel Sueña.

Lexxus vs. Alicia vs. Jessicka Havok

This is Lexxus’ big chance as a main eventer. Alicia is the icon of WSU so I can see how she figured prominently in this match. And then there’s Jessicka freakin’ Havok. She is the best female wrestler not currently signed to the big two, and arguably the best wrestler, male or female, not currently signed to the big two. The commentary helped put this match in perspective nicely. There were some pretty cool spots. It just didn’t quite click for me like I thought it should. I wonder if it’s that I knew there was no way Havok was losing here. But they made Lexxus look like she belonged in the top spot. And Alicia served to take the pin so they can do Lexxus-Havok in the future. Lexxus-Havok is not done, and I think there was enough here to establish Lexxus as a credible contender.

We ended with Sammy G offering her services to Jessie Brooks, which I think is great.

All in all… I followed the company before the new ownership and am somewhat of a WSU mark so this was quite interesting for me.

1. There was SUCH an emphasis on the wrestling in this show. There wasn’t as much “garbage” and insultingly bad gimmicks. Wrestling mattered here.

2. Production values were so much better than the old WSU. I could hear the announcers. It just looked night and day with the difference.

3. I’d like to hear some consistency in the commentary. I’d like to hear a permanent person in color commentary, like a lady who’s given everything for the industry, like an Amy Lee or Cindy Rogers. Alicia’s a company icon; maybe she’d fit well in the role.

If you have never seen women’s wrestling, this is a really good DVD to start off with. LuFisto-Martinez is worth seeing for any wrestling fan. Kay/Stephie was a tag wrestling clinic. And something stands out to me about Saturyne. I feel like we are on the cusp of something very special with her. Most everything seemed to click.

To get this show, click here.

The post A Ruff Look at WSU Full Steam Ahead appeared first on BoredWrestlingFan.com.

First match: Erica Torres vs. Kyra Myra

All but one of these competitors, this was my first match. Kyra was the hometown girl and is over like Nolan Ryan in Arlington. I liked Erica. I would like to nickname her “The Latina Portia Perez.” She reminded me a lot of Portia Perez, which is not a name I use lightly. Erica knew her role pretty well. I coulda told you during the introductions that Kyra was going to win. I’m pretty sure that this crowd would have rioted had anybody else won. Erica knew it was her role to make Kyra look important and she did. Erica was a good engaging heel. What I wrote down is that she never forgot she was in front of the crowd. Each wrestler played up each others’ strengths really well. I wrote down that it was a good “big man-little man” match, but with women. One of the things that stood out to me is that there were a few moments in the match where I thought Erica would win. So even though there was no possible way Erica would have won, I still found myself getting lost. Very good match.

Winner: Kyra

Second match: Jen Alise w/Bree Ann vs. La Reina Pink

Here Pink was announced simply as “Pink.” And of course, the irony was that “Pink” was wearing no pink. Jen was over nice as a heel. Jen is the only one I had seen before tonight. This was a very nice short match. Jen won with her feet on the rope. What I loved about this crowd is that they were near-riot over the feet on the ropes. I loved it.

Winner: Alise

Third match: Barbi Hayden vs. Angel Blue w/Niki Night

Newsflash: Barbi Hayden is hot. You know when you watch the teen romantic comedy and Freddie Prinze, Jr. is with the really hot blond with the cheerleader, beach bunny body that is somehow the villain to the Rachel Leigh Cook character? Yeah, that’s Barbi. And Angel Blue is VERY striking as well. I’ve heard her name for a long time and I was struck by how short she is. Angel was very good with the crowd. I was very struck by Barbi’s style. I think both of these would fit in just fine in a WSU or SHIMMER. They really can go. Needless to say, this match put me in my happy place. Barbi won.

Winner: Barbi

Fourth match: Starr Venus vs. Bree Ann w/Jen Alise

Bree Ann is the local talent. Seeing her actual wrestling outfit, I hope she does not lay down otherwise people might picnic on top of her. Starr is so enthusiastic. I know I say that a lot, but she has a very infectious enthusiasm that flows into her matches. The chemistry didn’t quite happen in this match. However Bree did the loudest b****-slap I’ve ever seen in my life. After that happened, the work flowed a lot more smoothly. Especially since Bree Ann was the home girl, I was expecting her to win. But she did not. So it was a nice surprise booking-wise.

Winner: Starr

Fifth match: Cody Jones & Ken Carson vs. Michael Faith & Double D

I was very pleasantly surprised by this match. The first team should probably be called “The Boyfriends.” Both teams kept the fans engaged. Carson had a lot of fun with the crowd and the referee. They were kind of the cool heels that you boo with a smile. The match also had a nice crescendo with action. I had not seen or heard of Double D before, but he has a nice chiseled look and some great athleticism. I definitely knew his name after that match. While being in its role to give the fans a place to take a break from the women wrestlers, it was very entertaining. I want to see Faith some more. I think he has the potential to be the next Samoa Joe. These were two experienced wrestlers to help Faith & D get over as a tag team.

Winner: Double Faith (If that’s not their name, it needs to be)

During the intermission, the faces came out, signed autographs and mingled with the crowd. Starr was a total class act. She was so enthusiastic and really loves what she’s doing. She has such a genuineness that comes out through her work. Also, Tim Storm was such a class act as well. There wasn’t a single person he didn’t get his picture with. If anybody wants to know how to be a babyface, watch Tim Storm in how he wrestles AND how he treats the crowd.

Sixth match: Kyra Myra vs. Jen Alise

Well, I was a little surprised that THIS was not the main event, but I liked the booking. Bree Ann stayed at ringside in Jen’s corner and kept the crowd into it. This wasn’t much of a match, but I did see a gore for the first time in a woman’s match. Jen was choking her and so the referee disqualified her.

Winner by dq: Kyra

Bree was threatening with some handcuffs, and Kyra took the handcuffs from her and cuffed Jen to the ropes. A little too Super Cena for me. But Jen can say she never was pinned. I would have liked more of a beatdown that Kyra could overcome to win the tournament.

Seventh match: Starr Venus vs. Barbi Hayden

I’ve already gushed about how great Starr was. And Barbi was wearing a new outfit, including one of her t-shirts (which she didn’t have in XL or larger, hint, hint). It’s an interesting thing about Barbi. She is really good in the ring and can really go. But she doesn’t necessarily do a lot of moves. She does a lot of stalling and comedy before she gets into the work. Her ring style is geared towards a wide range of crowds. This match had my favorite finish of the night. Barbi had Starr in the sharpshooter, and Starr was really struggling. Great drama and great finish.

Winner: Hayden

Eighth match: Tim Storm (c) vs. Mike Foxx vs. Byron Wilcott

At first this started out as Storm vs. Foxx. I put my pen down and enjoyed. There were two legends in the history of Texas just doing their thing. I remember in his book Terry Funk referred to it as “the dance.” It was a total thing of beauty. Then Byron Wilcott got on the mic and that guy has such a good voice. He is so well-spoken on the mic. He’s also a great heel and knows how to make the crowd hate him. There was one really scary moment in the match, but Byron got up and was moving. It was a really good match.

Winner: Storm

Main event: Kyra Myra vs. Barbi Hayden

By this time, both wrestlers had worked their tails off. It was announced it was a No Holds Barred/Falls Count Anywhere match. So they did a totally wild brawl. It didn’t go out into the crowd quite like I thought it would. But somehow Barbi found a “fun-noodle” and they started whacking each other with it. Added to bucket list: Getting whacked by Barbi Hayden with a fun noodle. It was just kind of a formality until Kyra won.

Winner: Kyra

All in all… What a GREAT crowd. They soaked up every minute and were wild. I like the decision for Kyra to start off with the championship. She’s the hometown girl. But I think if she loses it rather quickly, to somebody like Barbi or Jen Alise, I can see them drawing some money in the pursuit of Kyra trying to get that belt back. I totally love the country atmosphere of it all. It was a really good experience.

To follow me on Twitter, click here. For Facebook, click here.

The post Texoma Pride Wrestling June 15, 2012 appeared first on BoredWrestlingFan.com.

John Laryngitis-an off-screen role (ONLY)

John Cena-intensity

Alberto Del Rio-a promo that does not use the word “destiny”

WWE Creative Team-creativity

Divas-real women wrestlers and more than two minutes for matches (must be both; don’t do one or the other)

Dolph Ziggler-a main event push

Goldust-likability on Twitter

Jack Swagger-a role where he never has to talk and where he is pushed like a monster

Rey Jr.-new knees

Sin Cara-a new guy behind the mask

Hunico-a gimmick not currently being used by Impact’s Hernandez

Jim Ross-never to be humiliated in Oklahoma on TV again

Kevin Nash-relevance

Mick Foley-see Kevin Nash

Hogan & Bischoff-a repeat of Bash at the Beach where he’s given his walking papers

Impact-stop pushing the old guys at the expense of the new generation & a product that I consider watchable

All Night Xpress-a tag title run

Kyle O’Reilly, Tommaso Ciampa, Caprice Coleman, El Generico, Grizzly Redwood, Willie Mack-pushes to the moon

Matt Palmer, ACH, Athena-a chance on a national stage

Gregory Iron-a shot in the WWE; there are so many stories to be told there; unlike Eugene, you could have a bonifide handicap wrestler that the WWE fans would genuinely go for

Ring of Honor-a show in Dallas… please

Sara Del Rey, Cherry Bomb, Eric Ryan, Rickey Shane Page, Façade, Marion Fontaine, Tim Donst, Johnny Gargano, Aeroform, Portia Perez, Mad Man Pondo, Sugar Dunkerton-a match in the Dallas area

The post My Wrestling Christmas List appeared first on BoredWrestlingFan.com.

1. CM Punk-He’s cut two of the greatest promos of the year. He cut a promo so good it made us think that wrestling had become real for a night. Plus, the night he shocked the wrestling world when the WWE champion appeared on an AAW show to put over competitor Gregory Iron (see #2). And how about the time period after Money in the Bank and before Summerslam? Has wrestling been that exciting in years? CM Punk was showing up at Wrigley Field, tweeting pictures of the title belt in the refrigerator, showing up at Comic conventions. It bled over into John Cena’s promos and Raw was exciting to watch again. Money in the Bank was still the top match the WWE has put together this year. He is the one sane person in the world of the insane. And he’s one of the few things that gives me hope for the future of the WWE.

2. Gregory Iron-The guy has cerebral palsy. Let me say that again. The guy has cerebral palsy. And he wrestles. This isn’t Eugene playing a retarded character. He is an actual handicapped wrestler. There is a documentary that will be coming out. Fox News did a feature on him. Now there is a petition to get him into the Royal Rumble! The guy has a legitimate shot at being in the WWE as a great story to be told. If you have never seen one of his matches, go to Youtube and search. You will be blown away.

3. Sheamus-I am a fan of Sheamus because he is pasty white. I’m pasty white. My body does not tan. I go out into the sun, my skin burns (“fries” is a better word), it peels off a day later and whiter than I was before. So having somebody like Sheamus in the public life makes me happy, rather than Hulk Hogan or George Hamilton. I am on Team Pasty White.

4. Air Boom-These are two of the best in-ring workers in the business. Evan Bourne has one of the happiest smiles in wrestling (and of course, after the wellness violation, we know why). Not only that, he’s one of the best at selling. And how do you not love Kofi Kingston? And as a tag team, these guys have great chemistry.

5. Mark Henry as champ-How many years did we sit through “Sexual Chocolate,” humping Mae Young, going on a date with Chyna? And now here is, a truly dominant, well-booked champ (for the WWE). I look forward to seeing him, and I had a genuinely emotional moment when he walked away the champ.

6. Ricardo Rodriguez-I’ve decided that if Ricardo Rodriguez would announce my arrival at work, I would be CEO. I haven’t decided whether it’s the perfect hair, the tuxedo or the majestic voice. But not only that, he makes a great manager/lackey.

7. MPX-This is my local wrestling promotion. At first they started out as nothing, but it has been awesome to watch them mature into a hotbed. There’s Kenny Steele, a heel who could be on the cusp of greatness. Cash & Carry, one of the top upcoming tag teams in the Texas scene. Seph Annunaki, who could be a match or two away from being a huge name in Texas. $Payday$ who is our version of Kofi Kingston. Ben Wylde, fellow member of Team Pasty White. Headbanger who is already cementing himself as a mainstay in promotions all over Texas. Great veterans like Kristopher Haiden, Carrion Arcane, Matt Palmer (!). Plus, I love the family atmosphere and saying hi to everybody.

8. Lance Hoyt-I say that name, but it stands for all the guys (and girls) who like to give back. For a company that started pretty lowly, guys (and girls) like Lance Hoyt, Mike Foxx, SHIMMER’S Athena have helped build it up. Lance Hoyt came in, loved it AND returned. Now there’s talks of him bringing other big names.

9. Ring of Honor-How do I BEGIN to describe what I love about Ring of Honor? Shelton Benjamin doesn’t have a low-rent comedienne playing his mother. Charlie Haas gets to be Charlie Haas. Homicide, Jay Lethal, Davey Richards, El Generico, Tommaso Ciampa, Grizzly Redwood. It gives me something to look forward to every few months or so. And now there’s a weekly tv show!

10. Chikara-So the WWE’s problem is that they make a TV-PG product. Right? Chikara has a G-rated product. And their product is infinitely more watchable than the WWE’s product. You have names like Eddie Kingston, Mike Quackenbush, The Colony, BDK. You have great action, long matches, a devoted crowd and a lot of passion.

11. SHIMMER-Have you ever watched a Bella Twins match and prayed that God would take you now? You know, the “I-Don’t-Want-to-Live-in-a-World-Where-The-Bellas-Are-Considered-Entertainment” feeling. About a month ago, I discovered SHIMMER. I watched SHIMMER VOL. 1 and was completely blown away by the matches I saw. I know I’m only on Vol. 2, but I’m excited to see where women’s wrestling goes from here.

12. Sara Del Rey-This is for all the women’s wrestlers. Del Rey is one of my favorite workers, male or female. And there are a lot of great women’s wrestlers out there who are not WWE Divas. These are the Del Reys and Cherry Bombs and Jessicka Havocs and Mickie Knuckleses and Athenas and Portia Perezes that give daddies of little girls somebody they can watch with their daughters.

13. AIW-I remember asking what promotion I should try on Twitter. AIW (who follows me) recommended I buy Absolution VI or Girl’s Night Out IV. I bought Absolution and was so blown away by this wrestling, whether it was the atmosphere, the devotion of the fans, the Rickey Shane Page/Vincent Nothing match, Josh Prohibition/Greg Iron match (my first time to see an Iron match), Tim F’ing Donst. I was hooked and a fan for life.

14. All the wrestlers-All the boys who go out and give everything for the fans in the crowd. You can always tell those who have the passion and those who give everything for the fans every time. I know it’s been done, but… “It’s still real to me, damnit.”

15. AJ Lee & Alicia Fox-Just for existing. I know I said something about how much I love SHIMMER because of the hard-working women who aren’t sex objects. But I gotta admit. Those two are just breath-takingly beautiful and it makes me happy whenever I get to see them.

16. Sites I get to write for. I love writing and I love wrestling. So it’s a given that one of my favorite things on Earth would be writing about wrestling. I am very proud to be part of very awesome teams no matter where I write. I also want to thank my fellow co-writers, who I feel very lucky to even consider some my friends.

http://bigbadsportsdaddy.com/

http://boredwrestlingfan.com/

http://wonderpodonline.com/

http://www.pwponderings.com/

17. Wings in Euless-Somehow I was discovered by www.bigbadsportsdaddy.com. I started doing a Saturday MMA column for them. Then after their Raw blogger was future endeavored, I was given the role. Ever since February, they have let me join them in a live broadcast. It’s now one of the favorite parts of my month. I love getting to hang out with the guys like Larry, John & Eric and getting to see all the variety of people: Drew and Chelsea, Zero, Carlos and their crew, the MPX guys. It makes me happy knowing that we will all get to experience the new PPV together.

What are yours? What are you thankful for in wrestling?

For my site, click here. To follow me on Twitter, click here. For Facebook, click here.

The post Things I’m Thankful For-Wrestling Edition appeared first on BoredWrestlingFan.com.

This week, a great promo joined the ranks of the best ever. Eddie Kingston cut a promo that is probably the best of the year. And that’s on a year where you had CM Punk’s “The Promo,” CM Punk honoring Gregory Iron at AAW and HHH-Taker stare-down when both made their returns at the same time building up Wrestlemania. (I wrote a Facebook status after that where I said “Cut the promo. And if necessary, use words.”)

After Punk’s “The Promo,” a lot of the Internet Wrestling Community (IWC) used the phrase “talking people into the building. ” This Eddie Kingston promo does exactly that. Around Money in the Bank, there were so many great promos on Raw, not just from Punk. John Cena also cut some good promos during that time. He didn’t sound like the 10-year-old trying to get the other 10-year-olds on his side at the playground. He sounded legitimate and that he believed what he was saying. But some nights he just sounds like he’s reciting lines.

When I hear that Eddie Kingston promo, I hear something I don’t hear very often on WWE television… passion. And I’m not saying that John Cena doesn’t have any passion. I see that passion when he walks out to the ring every time. But I just don’t hear his passion through his promos. You can only believe somebody’s else’s thoughts so much. Even the great actors-Kevin Spacey, Robert DeNiro, Meryl Streep, Susan Sarandon-you can tell when they are playing a role and when they are not in character. The problem is that too many times, John Cena sounds like the guy you see on The Marine and not the athlete you go for on your local sports team, which is who he should be.

What I would love is for WWE to bring back the passion. Stop scripting stuff for the boys to say. I’m ok with rehearsing, but let them say what they want. After you watch this Eddie Kingston promo, you can’t live without seeing High Noon. When was the last time we wanted to see a WWE pay-per-view that much?

For my full site, click here.

To follow me on Twitter, click here. For Facebook, click here.

The post John Cena vs. Eddie Kingston appeared first on BoredWrestlingFan.com.

Jigsaw vs. El Generico

The opener was pretty fun. You got a Gory special from Jigsaw. What was special about that was that this was the 6th anniversary of Eddie Guerrero’s death. Eddie, if he were still around, would have been very proud and very humbled. There was very good action; both wrestlers came out of this looking strong. There weren’t any “Holy s***” moments, but there was some great action and some innovative moves I’ve never seen before. And you don’t need to have too many “Holy s***” moments in an opener. Being two high flyers, there were some great planchas and suicide dives. The announcers over-sold it a little, but it was still a great match.

Young Bucks w/Marty Jannetty vs. The Colony (Soldier & Fire Ant)

First of all, I loved the surprise of Marty Jannetty. I don’t understand why he was there though. Could they have maybe found a face tag team he could be mentor for, like an inspirational leader? (Let’s face it. Who is going to boo Marty Jannetty at this point in his career?) At first appearance, the Young Bucks look so indy and so generic. As the match goes on, we find out they have moments of greatness in the ring. Aside from the last ROH Ladder Match at Death by Dishonor, the best match of the night for me was Young Bucks-Future Shock-Bravados (once the Bravados were eliminated). They can be so great. There’s just nothing that separates them from Joe Indy Tag Team at my local VFW. One of my favorite moves is the guy close to the ring apron, they spin him and then kick him. I’ve seen that in PWG, I saw it today and think it is an awesome spot. I counted 2 “Holy s***” moments, one team each. You have to love Chikara’s style. They have their own story to tell and they’re not afraid to tell it. They took a lucha style to the states and found it more than successful. Their crowd is so great and so devoted. This had a very good finish that resulted in The Colony winning out of nowhere.

Sara Del Rey vs. Jakob Hammermeier

Sara was greeted with a Happy Birthday chant and a “Sara’s gonna kill you” chant. Hammermeier gave a really good cowardly heel-Genius-type performance. During this match, the commentary got much better. It didn’t seem like they were channeling Don West so much now that they already had our money. The thing closest to a “Holy s***” moment was an axe kick to the back of the head. Del Rey pretty much killed him for the match. She won. It was a short match, everything it should have been.

Amassis came out and retired. Ophidian sprayed mist on him and then proceeded to attack him. And then they unmasked him! I like a wrestling promotion where masks mean something. (hint, hint, WWE)

Green Ant vs. Tursas

To begin with, there was a huge size difference. It began with a heel ref. I hate heel refs. Well, Green Ant moved and Tursas ended up hitting the ref and he was out. The Colony carried him out. I liked it. It was a good big man-little man match. There was a reference to Tursus having, “Arms like legs and legs like people” followed by an “Oh, my God!” Not many people would get that reference, but I did-Mr. Joey Styles in ECW. There was one “Holy s***” moment for me, Green Ant’s splash off the top turnbuckle onto Tursas on the floor. He got a “Please don’t die” chant before he even did it. Green Ant put Tursus in a hold I’ve never seen before and submitted him.

During the intermission they had an unbelievable video package talking about the main event. It was up there with the Triple H-Undertaker package they did with Arn Anderson and all the legends.

Colt Cabana vs. Archibald Peck

Ok, I get Chikara’s weird and wacky gimmicks. But I’m sorry. This one was too much. The comedy spots in this match were really good. You can tell they had lots of fun preparing this match. This hurts me to say this. I love Colt Cabana. I listen to Art of Wrestling when they have somebody I care about on. Archibald Peck also cut his teeth in my neck of the woods in Arlington, so I have all the love and respect for him. If ever there are two sacred cows on this show, these two are it. But something did not click for me during the match. It was paced very slowly, and while I appreciated the comedy aspects, it took them a while to get serious. It still had some really good comedy aspects, but overall, this match did not do it for me. Colt Cabunny (yes, I just wrote that) hit Peck and Cabana got the pin. After the match Colt Cabana and Colt Cabunny hugged. The only way to salvage this match was for CM Punk to be the bunny and turn heel on Colt Cabana. That didn’t happen.

Gregory Iron vs. Icarus

Of course during this match, my wife came home with the groceries and dinner for the night so I had to help her out. It reminded me of one WWE house show I went to (the night I bought my Eddie Guerrero “Latino Heat scarface” t-shirt btw). During the Shawn Michaels match (where my wife and sister-in-law acted like tweens meeting Justin Bieber), a guy walked past our way on his cell phone saying, “Come on, what do you want? You got me during HBK.”

Now, onto the match. I liked Icarus engaging the crowd during his entrance. And how do you not love Iron? I gotta admit. I popped for the sweater-taking-off thing from Icarus. Aside from the main event, this was the greatest story of the night. Icarus did everything he could to Iron. And every move, Iron would get back up. There was a lead pipe where Iron took the whole 20-count to walk back into the ring. This was a huge way to put him over. Icarus won with a low blow followed by a Spicolli Driver into the turnbuckle. Iron was almost put over more because he lost.

After the match, Akuma appeared in the ring and when he was trying to attack Icarus, he got Gregory Iron. Akuma tried to apologize and they kept holding him back from apologizing. There was a lot of raw emotion in this segment.

Ares & Tim Donst vs. Hallow Wicked & Ultra Mantis Black

This is the match where my wife decided to have dinner so I put the laptop to my right and ate sesame chicken with white steamed rice with my ear-bud in my right ear while the tv played “The Cat in the Hat Knows a Lot About That.” So my attention to this match was pretty low. (Sorry, guys) There was one major moment that stood out to me. That was Ares’ insane bump he took onto the chairs. It felt like a season finale to a huge storyline. The action was pretty good; I just had life happen during this match.

Eddie Kingston vs. Mike Quackenbush

First of all, Eddie Kingston cut the promo of his life before this match. My three favorite promos of the year are Triple H-Undertaker when they just stared at each other and then both looked at the Wrestlemania sign, CM Punk’s “The Promo” and the promo Kingston cut before this match (with special props being given to CM Punk’s promo he cut on Greg Iron at the AAW show near Chicago).

This had a big-match feel. You could feel the anticipation so much. I can’t remember the last time I saw a pro wrestling match that had so much anticipation at the moment. What made this match was the emotion. Mike Quackenbush was escorted by Jigsaw and Eddie Kingston was escorted by Tommy Dreamer. During the intros, my daughter climbed up on the couch with me. She looked at what was going on and I told her who everybody was. She is two and has never really acknowledged wrestling characters before (thought she did say “Woo woo woo” after Zack Ryder on Smackdown once). She was pointing at the wrestlers and I was telling her who they were. We tried saying Eddie and Mike. That didn’t quite happen.

To me, the most touching part was when the ring announcer said “For those watching around the world… (long pause) And for those watching up above…” There was a long pause and the fans started chanting something. I couldn’t tell whether it was “Eddie” (for Eddie Guerrero, who had passed away 6 years ago to the day) or “Larry” for Larry Sweeney, a very instrumental figure in the Northeastern Independent scene for a long time.

I guess I should start talking about the match. They really played up the knee injury and told the story of Quackenbush going after the knee. Quackenbush is billed as the Master of 1,000 Holds and did everything he could to use them on Kingston. Then the wrestlers started coming out one-by-one to watch. It was reminiscent of an early ECW Pay-Per-View show when all the wrestlers would come out to watch or Wrestlemania X when all the wrestlers came out to celebrate with Bret Hart. There were names I hadn’t heard in years, like Reckless Youth. The wrestlers would pound the apron in honor of them. The fans started chanting “Please don’t tap” when Quackenbush would put him in a hold. Then the wrestlers joined them in chanting “Please don’t tap.” They were all out there, heel and face alike. It has got to be one of the most emotional things I’ve ever seen.

For me the special moment happened when my daughter’s attention was diverted to the computer from Dora or whoever she decided to torture us with. Eddie Kingston had Quackenbush hooked in a submission hold and was putting him through body scissors. She looked down at the laptop and saw Quackenbush struggling to break free. She said “Uh-oh.” And for a second, she diverted all her two-year-old attention to the laptop screen. She watched the match for a while. It was like the first time she realized wrestling was going on. So it was kind of like “Baby’s First Wrestling Match.”

Eddie won and it was such a great moment. The title was brought to him by Larry Sweeney’s brother and friend. I don’t think there was a dry eye in the house.

So, match of the year so far? We’ve got Trips/Taker at WM27, Punk/Cena at Money in the Bank, All Night Xpress/Briscoes in the ROH ladder match. This has got to be up there. You didn’t know who was going to win the match (Taker-Trips). Both wrestlers could do abdominal stretches (*cough, cough* John Cena). And this fight didn’t rely on plunder or blood. (Ladder match) Dare I call it the match of the year?

All in all… I have rambled so much about this event. While I think this event had Match of the Year, I’m not quite so sure it was Event of the Year. I’m still going with ROH’s Best in the World 2011. Not every match on this card clicked for me, but there were a lot of great stories told. I’d say the main event and the Gregory Iron match are worth the price of the iPPV alone. You can’t book passion, and that’s exactly what we saw on Sunday afternoon.

To follow me on Twitter, click here. For Facebook, click here.

The post Chikara High Noon 11-13-2011 appeared first on BoredWrestlingFan.com.

First match: 6 Pack Scramble: Sugar Dunkerston VS. Sabbath VS. AERO! VS. Kobald VS. Maximo Suave VS. Low Rider

I know who Sugar Dunkerton is from his Twitter presence, so I was excited to see him wrestle. Sabbath had no crowd reaction, but had a different look. Suave looked like a died-black-hair Amazing Red. AERO! looks like a skinny white guy wearing a mask. Low Rider looks like a low-rent Perros del Mal wannabe (I did not find his name listed as a Perro del Mal). And Kobald looks like a bad Mortal Kombat character. I was impressed by how Sabbath used his power and the other wrestlers sold it. Sugar Dunkerton did a clothesline that would have impressed Stan Hansen. And Low Rider did a powerslam type move into the turnbuckles I’ve never seen before. Random painted people attacked somebody and Kobald got the win.

Winner: Kobald

Second match: BJ Whitmer VS. Eddie Kingston

This was my first Eddie Kingston match. I’ve followed Whitmer for about 10 years, going back to his IWA-Mid South days. I’m a little cautious about “the first time they’ve ever met” fights because they can be clusters because the guys have no chemistry together. It looked like there was a feeling out period and they let the drama slowly build. They told a story of Whitmer working over Kingston’s leg and Kingston trying to overcome. It got a “This is Awesome” chant. This was a GREAT match that really had the crowd going.

Winner: Whitmer

Whitmer and Kingston had a nice exchange and the crowd received it well.

Third Match: Chad “The Chad” Williams w/Chest Flexor VS. Tursus

There is a guy named Chest Flexor who must have a faction somewhere. The Chad looks like Randy Orton without the tattoos. The crowd chanted “Randy Rip-off” but I really didn’t think he was a rip-off; he just looked like Randy Orton. This is my first time to see Tursus after hearing so much about him, so I was very impressed with him. I’m surprised the WWE has not brought him in yet.

Winner: Chad by DQ

Fourth match: Team Duke VS. Team Dalton

I have no idea who these people are. Dalton Castle has a Puerto Rican faction as his partners. This RBI guy is named Bonds. I couldn’t figure out who I was supposed to cheer for. This reminded me a lot of a Ring of Honor 8-guy match from their early days. Dasher Hatfield was one of the major workers to stand out to me. Ben Fruith was another worker who stood out to me. He looks like he needs to eat, but man, can this guy sell. I was impressed that Izeah Bonds did a standing moonsault. It told a nice story.

Winner: Team Duke

Fifth match: Marion Fontaine VS. Shiima Xion VS. Chuck Taylor

I’ve tried watching some Xion matches on Youtube and stuff before. (I don’t currently watch the TNA/Impact! product.) Fontaine looks like he needs to eat. Xion has all the makings of a star, except for the awful tights. Chuck Taylor interfered in this match and made it into a 3-Way Dance. It just went way too short. I found myself more impressed by Fontaine with his in-ring action.

Winner: Fontaine

Sixth match: Josh Prohibition VS. Gregory Iron

I still have a deep-seated hatred of Josh Prohibition that goes back to him leaving CZW to start wrestling for XPW during the days of the PA Indy Wars. And holy s***, Greg Iron. He is everything Zach Gowen tried to be. He overcomes a huge disability, but he is still believable when he wins in the ring. The two had an unbelievable Street Fight. I knew about Iron from him the night CM Punk about how awesome he was. Regardless of how I felt about Prohibition, he and Gregory Iron were incredible in the ring together.

Winner: Prohibition

The crowd did a Holy s*** chant and rightfully so. Every Greg Iron match deserves a Holy s*** chant. Forgetting that Iron has cerebral palsy, it was probably one of the best matches I’ve seen all year.

Seventh match: Eric Ryan VS. Bobby Beverly

From this point on, the only wrestler I’ve ever seen before is Sabu, so I promise I will stop saying this is my first time to see this guy. Eric Ryan really impressed me. I think Beverly did a good job of making Ryan look good. Something tells me he’ll get over in the future. Eric Ryan wrestled with a lot of passion and definitely got my attention. You can’t book or train for that.

Winner: Ryan

The Olsen Twins VS. The Irish Airborne VS. AEROFORM

(Ok, so I’ve seen Colin Delaney before, but I really wasn’t into the WWECW product that much at the time.) The six worked really well together. I have no idea what I watched here because it was so fast-paced. Irish Airborne & AEROFORM are tag teams that could walk into Impact or AAA/CMLL and be successful. There was just so much going on it was hard to comprehend this match.

Winner: Irish Airborne

This was everything we wanted it to be. Six amazing athletes just doing their thing.

Ninth match: Sabu VS. Facade in a Falls Count Anywhere Match

I was curious why there were was a Street Fight and Falls Count Anywhere Match on the same card. On thing I have to give AIW credit for is distinct-looking wrestlers. It’s not like watching NXT where you see nothing different than the other 10 guys. Facade looks different. He has a distinct look and it differentiates him from “Joe Indy Wrestler.” And of course I worship Sabu and pray to him every night before I go to bed. I am intrigued by how Sabu reinvented himself. As he wasn’t able to keep up in the ring as much, he started using a toolbox like his late uncle (The Shiek) used to do. It added some longevity to his career.

Winner: Sabu

This booking made absolutely no sense by having Sabu go over, but Facade bled. Prohibition/Iron was more of a wild brawl, but the image of Facade wearing the crimson mask was pretty good.

Tenth match: Rickey Shane Page VS. Vincent Nothing

The video package was well-done. I still had no idea about anything, but it looked to be very emotional. Nothing has a really good look. Page is way too young-looking, but I get what they’re trying to do. The commentating was pretty awful. The play-by-play guy was fine, but the color commentator bordered on stupid. Heel does not equal stupid. I loved Nothing’s in-ring style. I love me some MMA, so a fighter who incorporates some of his moves into wrestling makes me pop. Plus, an MMA fighter could be a huge heel. This had a “big match” feel. There were light tubes. That is all you need to know to grasp how intense this fight was. It got a “Match of the Year” chant during the match.

Winner: Page

Wow. I think I missed a lot of the emotion which was probably like tuning in during a Season Finale. WWE, Impact, this is how you put a guy over. Right now, I believe Page could main event this company. I’m still going with Iron/Prohibition for Match of the Night, but Page gets my MVP. There was total commitment and it was kind of like a “coming of age” match.

Main Event: Johnny Gargano VS. Tim Donst

Donst is ridiculously over with this crowd. Donst is great when it comes to mat wrestling. I haven’t seen much in the way of a distinct look or personality to Donst, but he is super-over with this crowd and reminds me of Dean Malenko in-ring. Gargano had a RED chest. Gargano has a good look and I could see him in Impact before too long. The commentary deteriorated to Mark Madden levels. I can’t describe all the highlights of this match. All I know is that Tim Donst is one of my favorite new indy guys.

Winner: Gargano

What a match. As they were signing off, Chest Flexor’s music hit and Shiima Xion started fighting Gargano and the match started.

Real Main Event: Gargano vs. Xion

This went on until Chest Flexor interfered, the referee turned heel and Xion won the belt.

Winner: Xion

So yes, I am in love with my new favorite non-Texas wrestling promotion. I cannot decide match of the night. Iron/Prohibition, Page/Nothing, Donst/Gargano would all be Match of the Year candidates with any promotion. This is a company I will put my money behind. It’s hard to find a certain name that stood out to me the most. Now that I have been introduced, it’s time to start following the stories that are to be told here.

For my site, click here.

To follow me on Twitter, click here. For Facebook, click here.

The post AIW Absolution 6 Review appeared first on BoredWrestlingFan.com.

For those of you who have no idea who Mr. Peppermint is, click here. His show, Peppermint Palace, was on every Saturday morning on ABC at 6 (or 5, I don’t remember). His show meant Saturday morning cartoons were going to start. And that was back when you didn’t have Nick Jr. or Cartoon Network. This was the highlight of your week. So a moment of silence and respect to Mr. Peppermint.

We have some questions from last week’s Raw. What will come of “on-fire” Alberto del Rio? What of Miz and Truth being fired? What injury will Tony Romo suffer? What indy promotion do I want to get next and do a review on? (I’m thinking Chikara.)

We start off with Triple H. I look at upcoming Chikara and AAW shows. My AIW show is on its way. Triple H was interrupted by Vickie Guerrero. And yet, people still booed her. Ziggler sounded really good. Ziggler and Triple H played off each other really well. Then Cody Rhodes interrupted. And then Christian interrupted. Christian gets lots of matches. Ziggler fights Zack Ryder. Cody Rhodes gets a Battle Royal.

This was a pretty good fast Battle Royal. Cody Rhodes retained.

After the break, Super Dave Osborne is talking to “Not-so-Super” David Otunga. Apparently, he is still a lawyer even if he’s not practicing. Oh, the stupid… It burns.

We got a tag match. Nattie/Beth vs. Eve/Kelly. We got a Kelly Kelly video package. We need more of these. The crowd actually seemed to care about this match. Beth pinned the champion. Hopefully we get Beth winning more. Her and Nattie are a really good duo.

Mark Henry took apart Great Khali. It was an awesome image and added credibility to his tear of destruction.

John Cena cut a promo. Kansas City thought he was the Chiefs because there were some cheers, but a lot more boos. Then Del Rio came out ringside. Del Rio was doing commentary with his wrestling tights on. Then Punk came out with his announcer’s jacket. This match ended in a DQ. This was the best way to do this. Christian didn’t lose.

We got Zack Ryder vs. Dolph Ziggler. We got to plug Hugh Jackman’s film. Ziggler looked really good in this match. Due to some outside interference by Jack Swagger, we got a tainted Ziggler victory. Air Boom came to Ryder’s rescue.

Teddy Long made a match: AirBoom/Ryder vs. Swagger/Ziggler in a handicap match. This was a fun match. The crowd was really into it. Vickie went out and found a soon-to-be-suspended Mason Ryan, affectionately known as “Matista.” He’s a heel still. As soon as Mason Ryan was tagged it, he was a heel no more. He took out Team Vickie. Why did he do that? Interesting question.

Not-so-Super David Otunga is talking to the boys in the locker room. He’s creating a lawsuit. I like this. It’s creating an interesting storyline.

Our main event was ADR vs. CM Punk. This was a really decent match. Punk won. Then the cage lowered. Punk and Cena destroyed Ricardo Rodriguez and then ADR destroyed the other two with a chair.

This was a pretty good Raw, but then again, I DVR’d it so I didn’t have to sit through the stuff I didn’t want to see. But a lot of questions are raised. And I’m really digging the build-up for Hell in a Cell.

For my site, click here.

To follow me on Twitter, click here. For Facebook, click here.

The post Raw Is Dedicated to Mr. Peppermint 9-26-11 appeared first on BoredWrestlingFan.com.

I’m angry that there are still wrestlers out there using PED’s. I understand I am not a wrestler, and I don’t have the same perspective on the business as somebody inside would. But I am a fan. The people in front of that camera matter to me. I’m tired of caring about a wrestler and then hearing about them violating the wellness policy again and again. And it’s not the same idiots like Chris Masters or Mr. Kennedy (dramatic pause… Kennedy). It’s guys I’ve cared about: Chavo, Regal, Sin Cara (though it looks like they might find a better one because of the first one’s violation). I’m angry at watching wrestlers cut corners.

I’m angry at the unreal expectations the WWE, TNA, AAA (Yeah, I’m going after my sacred cow, too.) have set before their wrestlers. Why is Andy Leavine on juice? Why is Sin Cara? What about Hector Garza? Why did they take 5’3” Rey Misterio Jr. and make him put on weight? He is way ridiculously over his ideal weight for his size. And we wonder why he’s about to get ANOTHER knee surgery? What about Chris Benoit’s and Eddie Guerrero’s abnormal thickness for their heights? Remember when Randy Orton was coming back from surgery and Vince McMahon told him he needed to work out (on national tv)?

I’m angry that nobody seems to be trying to look into the “why.” Nobody seems to care about finding the root cause of “why” wrestlers are using their PED’s. Maybe it’s Body Dismorphic Disorder. Maybe it’s addiction to the adoration of the crowd. Maybe it’s cause they’re young and stupid and think they won’t get caught.

It’s time to change the culture. You can’t just give press lip service and then do what you’ve always done. Be different.

To follow me on Twitter, click here. For Facebook, click here.

The post Angry Rant-PED Edition appeared first on BoredWrestlingFan.com.

There were guard rails. It looked nice and professional. They were held together with bubble gum and chicken wire, but they were there. And they needed to be there. The night began with Kate introducing Mike Dolenz. He wanted to apologize to $Payday$ and Jiggle-O for putting them in a match last month. He was going to make it up to them by giving them a singles match for a title shot. Dolenz has improved nicely on the mic.

First match: $Payday$ vs. Jiggle-O Jim Johnson (for a future title shot)

Payday did his best to try to get the crowd going. The crowd has mass heatstroke so the crowd plants did their best to get the crowd going. The kids really love Payday. He is a great person to start off the night because of the reaction he gets. Payday is kind of like the Kofi Kingston of MPX. He’s always right and good. In this match, I was a little confused. Who do I go for? I like Jiggle-O and Payday.

The story was that they were both friends and just trying to win the belt. Jiggle-O faked an injury. He rolled up $Payday$ for the win.

Winner: Jiggle-O

Payday, being the great human being he is, raised Jiggle-O’s hand and was a good sport about it. Jiggle-O then took the mic and began to cut MPX’s version of “The Promo.” He channeled CM Punk very well. He didn’t give a damn about anybody or anything. He had never had a chance for a title shot. And he called Kate a “skank.” To describe this for anybody who’s never seen MPX, that would be like calling Miss Elizabeth a skank. I think it is the best heel promo I’ve heard in MPX (with respect to Kyle Davis).

Second match: Carrion Arcane w/Claudia vs. Danny Saint

It was nice to see Danny Saint again. He looks like he belongs in a WWE ring (hint, hint, Johnny Ace). He’s got the size and has a certain look about him. The two wrestled a very nice match. Claudia got a little too involved for my taste. As part of their feud, Kris Haiden walked out and abducted Claudia. Claudia is very over with the crowd as a heel. She is probably the number one heel in the company. The match was a little shorter than I would have like to have seen, but we got to see Saint get a nice win.

Winner: Saint

Third match: Cash & Carry (c) vs. Jinn & Lucha Lucha

As Cash & Carry develop more, the more they remind me of the Road Warriors. Now I’m not saying that they are on that level yet. But you have a strong, silent type (Animal) in Zach T and a charismatic, larger-than-life talker (Hawk) in BC. I see them emerging as a top tag team in Texas in the next few years are so. Jinn and Lucha have come so far in their ring work. Jinn is a big student of the game. You can tell he spends a lot of time perfecting his in-ring craft. We had a few “Holy s***” moments (in a good way) just from him. During the match, Kyle Valo walked to the ring and convinced Lucha to join Team Kyle.

Winner: Cash & Carry

After the match, Cash & Carry continued to beat on Jinn and wanted to unmask Jinn. But Lucha got to do it and it was revealed as Seph Annunaki. I understand they used the unmasking to cement a heel turn, but I was kind of hoping for a mask vs. mask match. Maybe I can hope for mask vs. hair?

After that match, Frankie Fisher and Daniel came out to the ring. Daniel had gotten Frankie a birthday present to make up for Frankie losing last month to James Hawke. His birthday present was a match with Lance Hoyt. Note to self: Don’t befriend Daniel. Daniel is pretty good on the mic.

Fourth match: Frankie Fisher w/Daniel vs. Lance Hoyt

Lance Hoyt took the mic and cut a very nice promo getting the crowd up. The crowd was really in to this match.

Hoyt led the crowd in “Happy Birthday to You” while he beat Frankie down. Kudos to Hoyt for being able to go on before the intermission. Of course nobody could have ever followed the main event. You can tell Hoyt has lots of fun coming to MPX and doesn’t phone in anything. I also give props to MPX for being able to involve him in a storyline. He was very well-booked, and I think the crowd really loved this match. One highlight was Frankie hitting Hoyt with the yardstick. Hoyt turned around and no-sold it. Another highlight was Frankie going to the back and Hoyt going back to get him. Daniel held onto Hoyt’s leg and cost Hoyt the match.

Winner: Fisher (by countout)

This was brilliant. So now Frankie can say he has a victory over former WWE/TNA star Lance Hoyt. Ben Wylde debuted a new look with his longer hair (I liked) and Kyle Davis was channeling the Chris Jericho look. It was a good moment. At the intermission, Lance Hoyt signed some autographs and worked the merchandise table. Also, they are now having a fund to bring in Colt Cabana. I did not give because I don’t know if he’ll still be taking bookings in the near future (like, he might be WWE-bound). MPX, you bring him in, I’ll make my donations. If you don’t, there’s always Sunny. (hint, hint)

After the intermission, Mike Dolenz announced there would be a Tag Team Turmoil event in August.

Fifth match: Kenny Steele vs. Matt Palmer

I really enjoyed this match. Kenny seemed like he was focused on this match and didn’t do as much jaw-jacking with the crowd.

This is a pretty hot feud. Both guys have such a magnetic charisma, both Steele as a heel and Palmer in whatever he does. Steele is about 2-3 years from being one of the most talked-about talents in Texas. Palmer is already one of the top names in Anarchy Championship Wrestling in Austin. ROH, Chikara, Dragon Gate USA, go find yourself some Matt Palmer matches on Youtube or www.smartmarkvideo.com. It’s time to see him on a larger platform. Steele hit the referee Tony (who worked 6 of 7 matches last night) who disqualified him.

Winner: Palmer by DQ

After the match, security had to hold them back from each other. Matt Palmer did a plancha on the security guys and Steele earning the first “That was awesome” chant of the night. After that, we were treated to a special Hot Topics featuring Kyle Valo and his new members Regrub and Lucha. Regrub had a nice, sleek-looking outfit, and apparently, of all things, hair. They invited James Hawke to the ring and to become a new member of Team Kyle. This segment got “real” very quickly. They used people’s “real” names without giving away their secret identities. John Cena James Hawke said over his dead body. A match was made between Regrub and Hawke.

Sixth match: Regrub vs. James Hawke w/Ryan Gauge as special guest referee

Regrub at one point took off his straps and that drew out the biggest reaction of the crowd that night. I really liked the finish of this match. Hawke had him in the STFU and Valo went up to the ring apron and distracted Gauge. Hawke went over to talk to Gauge and Regrub held Hawke’s tights. Gauge counted two, noticed he had a hold on his tights and counted to three anyway. He took off his shirt and sure enough, Gauge was wearing a Team Kyle t-shirt. So now Team Kyle is officially a faction. I know I tease James Hawke about being John Cena, but this was definitely not Cena. Really nicely-done angle.

Winner: Regrub

Seventh match: Kris Haiden vs. Viktor Tadlock

This was a very intense stiff match between these two. Any other night, this would have been match of the night. The bell didn’t ring until about 2 minutes into the match. They didn’t get in the ring. Tadlock had a red, “I’ve-Just-Faced-an-Angry-Scott-Murdoch” chest. The two had such a nice intensity and energy. Tadlock took the mic and offered to quit wrestling if he would just tell him where Claudia was. Haiden gave him a Clothesline From Hell that would make JBL impressed.

I’m going to be honest. I don’t remember who won this. I’ll say it was Haiden. There was a fireball from Arcane. They sold this like Arcane had just done a fireball in Haiden’s face. Kyle Davis was angry and ready to take on all of them at once. They helped Haiden to the back and Nemesis (Arcane & Tadlock) went in search of Claudia.

Main event: “Headbanger” Gregory James (c) vs. WASP w/Kyle Valo

Right now, this is MPX’s Match of the Year. This is an example of how a hot crowd can make a match. There was a chairshot from Hell from Headbanger on WASP. (I hope WASP is ok.) The two did their part of brawling in the crowd, but there was also a lot of really good in-ring action. WASP is so big that any move he does that involves agility looks like a Holy s*** moment. During the match, Gregory climbed on the bars that hold the weights up and did a dive onto WASP. This evoked the SECOND “That was awesome” chant of the night. A major highlight of the match was the guitar/mandolin. They kept on building up the drama of who was going to get it. It ended up being WASP who took it and was busted up. We also saw Kyle Valo take a Van Terminator from Headbanger. Headbanger is about a year or two away from being noticed by a Chikara or ROH. Both these guys abused their bodies and I do not think I’ve seen a crowd this much into a match. Headbanger won after using a washcloth soaked in chloroform.

Winner: Headbanger

Top to bottom, I think this is MPX’s best show. Every match meant something and led to something else. Now MPX has left lots of questions open: Will Jiggle-O finally get his chance to win a championship? Where’s Claudia? Do we get to see Seph again? Why did he quit? And why did he come back as Seph? Will Fisher be able to take on Colt Cabana? What about this Tag Team Turmoil?

To follow me on Twitter, click here. For Facebook, click here.

For my site, click here.

For more on MPX, click here.

The post MPX Scars and Tattoos 7-16-11 appeared first on BoredWrestlingFan.com.

1. John Cena. I liked this John Cena. Let’s be honest. John Cena is not going to be Ric Flair or The Rock or Macho Man. He is a charismatic larger-than-life star, but he’s not on the level of some of those great talkers. I won’t say that he never will be, but right now he’s built like the Pied Piper of Hamlin leading the kids away. He has recently sounded like he was trying to get all the other kids to gang up on Little Jimmy (See what I did there?) in the schoolyard. But last night he was different. He seemed honest, transparent, self-depricating. He championed free speech. He sounded like John the guy you would find in the bar, rather than Captain Kangaroo gathering up the rest of the Children of the Corn.

2. Sgt. Slaughter. I enjoyed seeing Sgt. Slaughter last night. Done that way, it was perfect. We got to see our legend, our villain got to crush our hero and then a new hero came out to save the old one. I was going to rip them a new one, but it was fun and it gave Swagger and Bourne a nice rub.

3. Vicky/Lawler. I preferred Jerry Lawler calling Vicky an “old bag” rather than fat. Vicky has worked really hard to lose a lot of weight. Matter of fact, I think she looks a lot better than Lawler. It’s one thing for the Bellas to bully Kharma. They’re heels. It’s another thing for a babyface commentator to make fun of somebody for being fat, especially when they make David Otunga’s soulmate look like an underachiever (Jennifer Hudson reference).

4. Commentary. The commentary was very good last night. Jerry Lawler told us what “Rey Misterio” means, like he was Jim Ross or WCW Mike Tenay. The commentators were summarizing Miz’ losing streak. Michael Cole was fine in his heel role. Commentators should not be involved in matches because they spend all their time putting over their own storylines other than what is going on in the ring (and outside of it).

5. Questions. Raw answered some questions. But it also left a lot of questions unanswered, but in a good way. What will CM Punk say the next time he gets a mic? Why did Zack Ryder come out at the end of the tag match? Since Alberto del Rio won the triple threat, what does he get? Can Dolph beat Kofi alone? How will Riley react with Miz’ beatdown.

To follow me on Twitter, click here. For Facebook, click here.

For my site, click here.

The post Thoughts on Raw is Patriotic appeared first on BoredWrestlingFan.com.

It was reminiscent of Paddy Chayefsky’s “Network” (which if you have never seen, is one of the best movies of ALL TIME). Another scene it reminded me of was the opening scene on the short-lived show “Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip,” which had Judd Hirsch cutting a very Punk-like promo on the state of his television show.

Was it a work or a shoot? I still can’t decide. My Twitter timeline was filled with person after person calling this the greatest promo ever, the greatest moment in the history of Raw, CM Punk is a god, etc. Stone Cold Steve Austin called the promo one of the best he’s ever seen. My wife (who is usually asleep by 8:15 central time) was on the edge of her seat asking “What is going on?” She asked me to update her tomorrow morning. She made us go talk to my sister-in-law (who is temporarily living with us) to try to describe it to her. I LOST SLEEP thinking about this because I was so excited! Do you know the last time pro wrestling made me lose sleep?

I’ve watched wrestling since 1996. It’s hard for me to believe that anything that happens on WWE’s television isn’t a work. First of all, if Punk grabbed the mic and they didn’t want him to talk, it would have never turned on. And if he veered off the topic, he would have been cut off the moment he mentioned the fourth wall. Random stuff DOES NOT come on the WWE’s television. Second of all, notice that when he was cut off, he was talking about Vince McMahon. Now the only question is did Vince McMahon suspend Punk or did Mr. McMahon suspend Punk? Third, they mentioned New Japan and Ring of Honor and Colt Cabana. This is not the first time Ring of Honor has been mentioned on WWE TV (Matt Hardy, anyone?). And what money is the WWE going to lose by New Japan being mentioned? Notice he didn’t say anything about TNA? (And yes, I know. He was already there once and they didn’t know what to do with him. I doubt he will be going back there.)

Have we seen something new here? Is Triple-H (who we have heard is beginning to run things) trying something that will work? Did Trips give him the microphone and say “Shoot. I’ll cut you off when you start talking about Vince and Bullying”? For the first time in a LONG time, I am on the edge of my seat. Raw is must-see, can’t-miss. I have one million questions and reasons to turn into Raw. Whomever let this happen, I give you full credit. This is the best thing I’ve seen on Raw in a long time and possibly, ever.

To follow me on Twitter, click here. For Facebook, click here.

The post Meditations on a CM Punk Promo appeared first on BoredWrestlingFan.com.

When I heard the first match was Tommaso Ciampa vs. Colt Cabana, I almost died of smarkdom. I really enjoyed most of the first match. Ciampa played a nice “straight man” to Cabana’s comedy. I thought the two had very nice back-and-forth. The ending just didn’t look right.

Next was “The Prodigy” Mike Bennett versus Jay Lethal. Jay Lethal was fresh off his TNA/Impact Wrestling/”It’s Still S*** No Matter How Many Times You Change The Name Because Vince Russo Still Works There” run. He was famous for the Black Machismo and it was his first time to appear on an event this big after the Macho Man’s untimely passing. The crowd was very into this, but the match did not click for me. Prodigy has looked good in matches to me before; this just was not one of them. It almost looked like he wasn’t on Lethal’s level.

The Rhino-Homicide “Barrio Street Fight” was really good. Plunder matches have their places in wrestling. Rhino really brought it. And I don’t think I’ve ever seen a bad Homicide match. We had some tables and some really awesome, intense “OMG” moments. Homicide got the win, but we got to see the gore through the table. It was nostalgic. It was like Old School (no Corino reference intended) ECW Rhino back again.

The Steve Corino-Michael Elgin match was really interesting. I did not watch ROH during the Kevin Steen era, so I really didn’t grasp the magnitude of his return. I was really amazed at how my opinion of Elgin changed during this match. Elgin reminds me of a stiff WWE would try to get over. But I got to admit-Elgin impressed me. He’s a power wrestler. If there’s a place for plunder matches, there’s a place for power wrestlers. Steve Corino sold like crazy, and Elgin looked like he had a spot in Ring of Honor. I personally think Elgin will be a better fit for the WWE, but I’ll keep him. The Kevin Steen post-match segment was greatness. The Corino rehabilitating himself storyline I think is one of my favorite storylines in all of wrestling.

The Daniels-Generico match really didn’t grab my attention. The commentary was pretty good for this match. Kevin Kelly and Dave Prazak made it important. I do love the El Generico gimmick. It’s one of my favorite all-time gimmicks. My 2-year-old woke up during this match and wanted the laptop, so I wasn’t able to dedicate the time I wanted to watching this. I am happy for El Generico winning. Christopher Daniels should be in the place now where he’s building talent, which is exactly what he did here.

The four corners tag team match was off the charts. Now granted, I haven’t seen every ROH event, so excuse me if I break out some hyperbole here. This is the greatest match in Ring of Honor I HAVE SEEN. I’m sure there were greater matches somewhere along the way. But this was insane. There were at least 4 “Holy s***” moments. The All Night Express looked great in this. I finally saw Kenny King for what everybody else does. This is most likely Match of the Year, barring some sweet miracle.

And finally there was the main event. There was no possible way that I could ever understand all the emotions that went into this match, but it sure felt like it. This match never seemed to end, mostly because my wife was over my shoulder waiting for it to end. Nothing I could write here could ever capture the emotion, the drama, the work these guys put into this match. This is now in second place for match of the year for me.

To follow me on Twitter, click here. For Facebook, click here.

For my site, click here.

The post Thoughts on Ring Of Honor-The Best in the World appeared first on BoredWrestlingFan.com.

But there’s a problem. Who is Alex Riley? Why do I care about him? What exactly has he done before wrestling? He looks exactly like Rob Conway, Sylvan Grenier & Rene Dupree. Why is he different than those guys? He wore a letter jacket? He carries a briefcase Miz won? He used to be Miz’ manservant and now is not? I need a reason to cheer for him that goes beyond his hatred with Miz. It’s not a coconut to the head. It’s not a fork in the arm. His feud with the Miz will not be enough to extend to other wrestlers after he’s done.

WWE, give me a reason to cheer for him. Give him a t-shirt. I’m assuming he must have a personality. Use that. I need to know the time I spend cheering him will be well-used.

For my site, click here.

To follow me on Twitter, click here. For Facebook, click here.

The post Alex Riley- What’s Next? appeared first on BoredWrestlingFan.com.

-First and most important lesson. Do NOT ever do a weigh-in outside in North Texas on June 17th. It had to be 108 degrees out there. You could tell that most people there were hungry for MMA, but then there were some blood-thirsty fame-seekers, too.

-Shirts not to wear at an MMA weigh-in: this or this.

-One of the most popular personalities there by far was Jacob Stitch Duran. The man was treated like a god, and many people wanted their picture taken with him. He was just out in the crowd, standing with the people.

-When you are speaking to a fighter or an MMA personality, show some respect. If you are trying to get somebody’s attention, start with their nickname. And if they don’t respond, start with their last name. Especially if they are as old as Stitch.

-After the weigh-in my dad and I were walking to the car, we saw, walking the other direction, Renato “Babalu” Sobral (who was cornering Marco Almeida). After having a minor freak-out moment, a group of guys behind us spotted him, too. They asked him for a picture. He didn’t have much time but took one anyway. I thought that was classy.

-The actual event was fun even though the fights pretty much blew. There was a tool who went apes*** over the fact they didn’t open the door at 5:59:30. He got the officer to open the door to tell him to shut up (we think).

-We had floor seats and they were very well-guarded so there weren’t any scrubs paying $12 and then finding a floor seat. I really hate it when that happens.

-There were some fight sponsors giving out their t-shirts for free. I felt they needed a plug.  http://www.feartappingout.com/

-Those of us on the floor were kind of like a double-decker tour bus taking a Hollywood tour of homes. Every new body that came out, it was like “Who is that?” We found Bas Rutten and Michael Schiavello pretty early in the night. When he was able to, Bas took pictures with whomever he could. I was shocked how little Mauro Ranallo and Jimmy Lennon Jr. were bothered. Miesha Tate was spotted in the crowd, as was Antonio “Bigfoot” Silva. Herschel Walker and Michael Irvin were also in the crowd. Miesha and Bigfoot were very accessible and took a lot of pictures with whomever they could.

-I had a 13-year-old girl Justin Bieber moment when I first saw Miesha Tate. I squeed like a girl when I saw her. I gave her a new nickname that night-“Gina who?” I tweeted, “Just saw @MieshaTate in person. Or as I call her, ‘Gina who?’ Camera does not do her justice.” I was actually responded to by her. “@justinruff Lol thanks! I don’t think Im very photogenic lol”. I’ve been tweeted by some celebrities before. I think that was one of the biggest for me.

-The first fight was Brian Melancon vs. Isaac Valle-Flagg. This was the first of the bulls*** decisions from the judges. Melancon looked great in the cage, and I hope he gets several opportunities. Nothing against Isaac (who had Keith Jardine in his corner), but it was 29-27 Melancon at best.

-During the first fight, we had the ring girls stand ringside. At first the one in front of us looked hot and athletic and stuff. And then I realized. The poor thing has never eaten. The great Sir Mix-a-Lot could not have said, “Red beans and rice didn’t miss her.” I again tweeted “Somebody get the ring girl some food. Give me @Mieshatate any day.” I was responded with a “Hahaha lmao” from the lovely Ms. Tate herself.

-Nah-shon Burrell was great in his fight, and even though Joe Ray tried to put him under every submission imaginable, Burrell fought back. I wrote that Burrell does not feel pain.

-Conor Heun took on Marco Almeida. While I am happy that Heun got the win, I started out the fight as a fan of Heun and ended up a fan of both by the time it was over. There was no way Heun got that decision.

-Gesias “JZ” Cavalcante is a man who cannot catch a break. His last fight was a decision that even the winner said “There’s no way that was 30-27.” And then an accidental eye poke. Love JZ. Wish him lots of luck, because the guy has no good luck at all.

-Chad Griggs looked great against Valentijn Overeem. The crowd was definitely “Team Overeem.” I was just glad to see a finish.

-Apparently they forgot to tell Jeff Monson he could hit too. It was a pretty disappointing fight.

-KJ Noons-Jorge Masvidal was my fight of the night choice. What was so surreal was that I was watching the moment where Masvidal punched Noons and the cut happened. That this fight lasted a round was a small miracle. I have to say that after this round, Stitch is the greatest miracle worker in humanity.

-Josh Barnett had a great submission victory against Bret Rogers.

-You’ll hear 30,000 different opinions on Overeem-Werdum. It was just such a styles clash. To compare, it was like AJ Styles having a pro wrestling match against Mad Man Pondo. Or the Dallas Mavericks playing the Green Bay Packers in baseball. I think that Werdum is going to get a lot of flack. All he wanted to do was fight his style. It was a pretty awful main event. I’m just glad Overeem won.

To follow me on Twitter, click here. For Facebook, click here.

The post Meditations on Strikeforce Experience appeared first on BoredWrestlingFan.com.

First match: Carlos Esquivel vs. Zero the Anti-Hero

I got to do streamers for Zero, which was fun. Carlos has a very nice heel presence, and Zero is a natural babyface. Carlos was great at engaging the crowd, and he kept arguing with the fans and doing what heels do. Zero is a very good high-flier, and the two have very good chemistry. It was everything a first match should be. Esquivel put him in a submission hold and Zero tapped out after some nice drama.

Winner: Carlos

Second match-Team Kyle Invitational 8-Man Tag Match: Jinn, Lucha Lucha, Ryan Gauge & Justin Sane vs. Kenny Steele, Regrub, Chris Preston & WASP

I want to use the word cluster, but that generally has a connotation of chaos. It wasn’t chaos; it was just busy. It was the MPX debut of Sane and Preston. I’m not sure if these guys were fighting their first match or not, but they looked well. Preston looked like he was having a white contest with WWE’s Sheamus. Sheamus still won. There were some multi-layered stories. WASP wanted to get in and fight and they kept on tagging other people. Kenny looked like gold. Mother Ruff was very impressed with him, which says something as this was her first time to ever see him. Then there was a new storyline where Jinn was going to do a drop-kick and missed and kicked Lucha. The match ended with WASP coming in and clearing house and punching the guy rather than wrestling him.

Winner by DQ: Jinn, Lucha, Gauge & Sane

After the match, Kyle was mad at WASP, saying that he always ruined everything. Then Jinn & Lucha were discussing the accidental drop-kick on the way back. Are we going to see Jinn & Lucha feud? I can see there being some crazy matches between those two. After everything, Kenny was in the ring alone and Matt Palmer came in through the crowd and took some revenge. Steele-Palmer? Yes, please!

Third match: Ben Wylde w/Kyle Davis vs. Scott Murdoch

This match was very well-done. Murdoch is a great monster and plays his role very well. This was a very good “big man” match, even though a few people in the crowd chanted boring. (I guess through their La Parka masks, they couldn’t see a 1260 splash onto exploding barb wire while doing Kinataro Kanemura’s dance.) Kyle is very-well utilized in this role. He helped keep Ben focused during the match, like a master motivator. Murdoch and Wylde were pretty brutal. Murdoch ripped off Ben Wylde’s t-shirt. I’ve never seen Ben without that t-shirt. He will have to get a new tie-dye or start a new focus. Ben won the “reddest chest of the night” award. He also had a white contest with Sheamus, but I think he and I have the same skin condition (both proud members of Team Pasty White because of our redhair). Ben got the pin.

Winner: Wylde

Murdoch didn’t like not winning. So he took it out on a few people. When Kyle tried to stop him, Murdoch did a powerbomb on Kyle. Murdoch turned heel by power-bombing Kyle Davis. Who’da thunk it? The angle was well-played out. Afterwards my mother asked me if he was really injured. Overall, the best match I’ve seen Ben have.

Next to the ring came out Nemesis: Carrion Arcane, Viktor Tadlock & Claudia. After a short promo from Claudia, a well-known Texas female wrestler was sitting in the front row. If you don’t know who she is, I’ll let it be a surprise. (It was my second time to see her, and she’s very well-known in the Texas indy scene.)

Fourth match: Lady in the crowd vs. Claudia

This my first time to see Claudia in the ring. I was really surprised with what she could do. She wrestles a very athletic high-flying type of match. I could see Claudia having a successful indy run and wrestling in an underground-type promotion, like Anarchy Championship Wrestling in Austin. And dare I maybe say SHIMMER in a few years? And nameless lady did a great job in this match, as well. She’s a great natural babyface. Claudia won thanks to some Arcane interference.

Winner: Claudia

I hope we build up to a nice feud, and nameless lady returns. After nameless lady was helped to the back, she took the mic and said, “Now where was I?” Kris Haiden came out and said he was injured, but he had found a replacement. Haiden & Arcane had a nice verbal showdown. Then Nemesis attacked Haiden. After a mini-beatdown, Lance Hoyt’s music hit and he rushed to the ring. You would have thought he was Sting in ’97 by the way the crowd popped for him. Hoyt said that he was going to have Arcane in the ring, and then Arcane said he was injured. Instead, Hoyt would have Tadlock (which was a huge opportunity for Tadlock).

Fifth match: Jiggle-O & $Payday$ (c) vs. Cash & Carry

They explained Scotty’s absence very well, so Jiggle-O (who was also in on the Sheamus Pasty White Invitational) introduced his tag team partner. This was a very good match. Zach plays the amoral beast very well. $Payday$ has really improved over the past month. Jiggle-O and $Payday$ also worked well together and had nice chemistry. The match ended with WASP coming out and interfering.

Winner: Jiggle-O & $Payday$ by DQ

This made sense. Cash & Carry should beat both champions. They also don’t need to lose a title match.

Sixth match: Frankie Fisher vs. James Hawke

I love the whole “I’m more patriotic than you” aspect of this match. Frankie’s entrance started with Hogan’s/Obama’s “Real American.” Perfect. This is becoming one of my favorite feuds in MPX. The match was very nicely-crafted. Hawke put Frankie in the STF, and Frankie tapped out.

Winner: Hawke

As part of winning this match, James Hawke got to choose the stipulation of their next match. It will be a strap match made out of red, white & blue.

Seventh Match: Lance Hoyt vs. Viktor Tadlock w/Claudia & Carrion Arcane

It was really good of MPX to give the ball to Tadlock. This was a very crucial match, probably MPX’s most important match to date. It was a big match for all involved. Anybody with the last name of Tadlock was there (I know this because they all sat to my right.), so you knew Tadlock was going to bring it, and he did. Not only did Tadlock bring it, so did Hoyt. There are many “bigger” names who will come out to a show and mail it in, if they are “incredible” enough to show up at all. (Pun intended) It was very nice match and quite possibly the best I’ve ever seen him look. If nobody has called Tadlock the “Texas Rhino,” I’m coining that phrase. Hoyt knew how to build up a crowd. I hope the younger guys in the back were watching how he did that. Such a big night, and all involved delivered.  Claudia tried to spray the red mist into Hoyt’s face and got it in Tadlock’s face instead. Hoyt got the win.

Winner: Hoyt

It popped the crowd, and Tadlock didn’t lose anything by losing to Lance Hoyt.

Main Event: Matt Andrews (c) vs. “Headbanger” Gregory James

After seven matches, we were all pretty drained, but this was a pretty big main event. I was concerned about the crowd leaving early, but most of them stayed for the main event. That’s happened in shows past, and that can really deflate a crowd. There was a lot of emotion in this crowd, and it shone through this match. The MPX regular fans have really rallied around the Headbanger. He’s very over in this crowd. The match had a lot of near-falls, and from somebody who has watched wrestling consistently since 1996, I didn’t know who was going to win this. Kate was channeling her Miss Elizabeth standing and cheering her man on. And the greatest Macho Man tribute was Headbanger doing an elbow off the top rope. (I personally would have loved to see him get the pin with it.) Headbanger got the win and became the champion.

Winner (and new champion): “Headbanger” Gregory James

A very crucial night, and I think they brought it. My mother enjoyed herself, and the crowd seemed to be really in to it. Headbanger-Choice has to be the best one-on-one match I’ve seen in MPX to date. It had a lot of things I liked. A really fun show.

For more on MPX Wrestling, click here: http://metroplexwrestling.com/

To follow me on Twitter, click here. For Facebook, click here.

The post MPX-Mayhem at Midcities II 5-21-11 appeared first on BoredWrestlingFan.com.

I hated the show centering around The Rock’s birthday. While I did like the VKM, appearance, the rest of the celebrities were just WWE getting to brag they were on their show. (And I hate to say it, but with the exception of Ellen, none of them were funny.) I hated the finish of the Miz/Cena match. The Pied Piper needs to come along and take all the Cena fans somewhere so we can get him off our tv. And I hated the WWE doing their 9/13 retrospective. At least they didn’t show Stephanie comparing 9/11 to when her dad got indicted for steroids.

The more and more I think about it, the Raw wasn’t horrible, it just wasn’t “incredible.”

Now onto the meat of my rant: Dallas/Fort Worth has a lot of good wrestling promotions. I enjoy going to MPX. I know there’s LWA, NAWA, TWE, CWF, (Sorry if I forgot anybody) and the victim of today’s rant, Pro Wrestling Onslaught. I really wish I could go to all of them, but I have a wife and 2-year-old daughter. I can get my wife to do an MPX show once in a while (and the Christian Wrestling Federation once when AJ Styles worked), but I seriously thought about going to PWO. I casually know some of the guys who work there. My mother who is a teacher has worked really hard this year, and we love going to wrestling together, and I thought about taking her to celebrate all the work she’s put in this year. My mom and I used to go to indy wrestling together back in the day, so it was kind of a no-brainer.

You see, PWO was advertising the former Portuguese Man-o-War, Justin Credible. I’m a total ECW mark. So here was one of the main eventers in ECW’s dying days. Hello, why not? I found my Justin Credible action figure (yes, I still have all my olf ECW action figures). People I respect in the industry said it was a really well-run show. I was ready to go.

Then life happened. Work was brutal, and I just needed to rest after the week that had been. My grandfather was injured and my mom needed to take care of him. My daughter suffered a concussion, and we spent most of Saturday in the hospital. (Thanks to Joe for his well-wishes for my daughter.) I felt really bad about not going.

Well, it turns out I’m not the only one who didn’t show up. The namesake of the show, Justin Credible, didn’t show up. I don’t know why he didn’t. I was not privy to the conversations or the details of his life. What I know is that according to the wrestlers that worked that night, he no-showed. It’s one thing for a wrestler to cancel at the last minute. While not optimal, it’s still good business to notify them through some method somehow. There’s emails, phone calls, text messages, the list goes on. It’s 2011. You have no excuse for no-showing.

So fans, understand, if you see Justin Credible advertised, understand that there is a distinct possibility you won’t see him that night. Fans, promoters, wrestlers, take this into consideration before you book Justin Credible.

Kudos should still be given to PWO. I heard that they had a strong main event nonetheless and brought home a very solid show.

For my site, click here.

Pro Wrestling Onslaught can be found on Facebook here.

To follow me on Twitter, click here. For Facebook, click here.

The post Not so Incredible appeared first on BoredWrestlingFan.com.

Tonight was a solid show. Everything worked well and gelled together. Quick warning: Iwill talk about my segment, but I really shouldn’t be the one to critique myself. It seemed there were a lot of people there. More and more people are beginning to show up. I’m seeing MPX get more buzz. There are wrestlers leaving comments on people’s Facebook about looking for bookings there. Wrestling promoters are coming there scouting talent. I talked to a fan afterwards who had been there for the first time and liked it. MPX has survived a lot of difficulties, and it’s nice to see them celebrate one year.

They began the night with the recap. It would be nice to have a voiceover. Kate walked out sporting a new haircut (the consensus was positive from the Ruff family). And she was rocking the obligatory bunny ears. She gave the thanks for all the responsible parties. And the action started, and it started quickly.

First match: $Payday$ vs. Carrion Arcane

I really liked this match. $Payday$ hid on the other side of the curtain waiting for Arcane to come out, which I thought was creative. There was no Claudia or Tadlock. Each of these wrestlers used their strengths in this match. Arcane fought a very power-oriented match. It reminded me a lot of Kevin Nash, but with agility. $Payday$ used his strengths of flying high and high-risk moves. It was a really great way to begin the night. $Payday$ still has some cringe-type moments, but he’s coming along nicely. I saw a submission hold from him. I love submission holds because they create some nice drama. Arcane has a great ring presence. He got the pin on $Payday$.

Winner: Arcane

Again, this was a great first match. It was also a nice continuation in their feud. I can see him tagging with Haiden against Nemesis. And $Payday$ wasn’t hurt any by this loss. The crowd loves him.

Second match: Ca$h & Carry & Kenny Steele vs. Jinn & Lucha Lucha & Ben Wylde w/Kyle Davis

Kyle has got to be one of the MVP’s of MPX. Nobody is better at self-deprecating. He had on bunny ears. It was full of epic win. This match was a little bit of a cluster, but not in a bad way. It just had a lot of good action and was multi-layered. Ca$h & Carry are working well on their tag team chemistry. They did some double-team moves and will be ready eventually for work outside MPX. Kyle Valo was out with a clipboard for this match and others. Why is he doing that? It’s a question that makes this company can’t-miss. Only like some other companies, these questions will actually be answered.

I got to take a moment to talk about Kenny Steele. He is coming along so nicely. I wonder when he will begin making appearances with other companies. I might go so far as to call him the most “over” heel in MPX. There was a “Kenny sucks” chant. To get this crowd to react that much to do a “[insert name here] sucks” chant was pretty big. I wrote down that he is “over like Zeus in Ancient Greece.” (Writing “over like God” didn’t sound right on Easter weekend.)

BC recognized Jinn as Seph Annunaki. Congratulations. He also recognized Hulk Hogan as Mr. America and El Caliente as Eddy Guerrero. The biggest surprise was Lucha’s chest not looking like a ground beef. I forgot who pinned who.

Winner: Ca$h & Carry & Kenny Steele

So I think we will most likely have a continuation of all the feuds here. The next segment was really fun. It was a Hot Topics that included me. Kyle talked about the fans and he mentioned me and then asked me to go into the ring. He asked me who gave him the right to write about MPX. I reminded him that there were buttons he could use on the top, as well as the bottom. And then Kyle made me read Twilight. Somebody in the crowd yelled, “Page 53.”  As I turned it there, Kris Haiden’s music hit and he came out to my rescue. He thanked me for writing the blog I did and it was fun. I won’t critique myself on anything because I really didn’t know what I was supposed to do. Just it was really fun to be a part of. Thanks to MPX for thinking it was worth a segment. I have joked about it being my in-ring debut. (15 years of being a hardcore wrestling fan, it’s the first time I’ve ever entered a wrestling ring. Weird, huh?)

Third match: “Headbanger” Gregory James vs. Regrub

If nothing else comes of MPX, I hope I can say that I witnessed the birth of “Headbanger” Gregory James. If Kenny Steele is the top heel, Headbanger has to be the top face. Part of me says that Headbanger deserves the belt next, but I don’t know that he actually “needs” the belt. When Andrews’ reign is done, I’d like to see it go to Headbanger. And I love Regrub. He is MPX’s Kane. He is Galactus. Tonight he was a heel. The lines are always really blurry when it comes to what exactly Regrub is. I’m going to be honest. I was still a little adrenalin-filled, so it was hard to concentrate on this match. It was a really solid match, and I think Headbanger showed a lot of personality here. I hope the scouts see him because I think he has a really nice future.

Winner: Headbanger

The intermission was fun. Ben Wylde and his brother Kyle Davis handed out Easter eggs to all the kids. I’ve told Ben this before, but he reminds me a lot of Kofi Kingston. He is all that is right and good in this world. And I’m not only saying that because he’s on Team Pasty White with me and Sheamus. I also like this night being kid-friendly. I think the kids there really enjoyed it. A lucky fan got to throw a pie in the face of Kyle Davis. This was so fun for the fan (who let a kid toss it with him) and all who watched.

Fourth match: Frankie Fisher vs. James Hawke

I would have liked to see this match given a month or two of build-up, but by the match’s finish, I was ok with what they did. I would have liked Hawke to be a little more intense. If somebody humiliated me that way in front of my wife and sister, Kate wouldn’t finish her ring intros, and the referee definitely wouldn’t have time to check my boots. The two wrestled a really great match. I hated the finish, but I popped for it all at the same time. I liked the uniqueness of it all. It made sense for Frankie to try that. But I hate it when a referee doesn’t see the move and calls it anyway. I hated it when Kevin Nash did it against Sid at Starrcade, and I was torn about it tonight.

Winner: Fisher by DQ

One of the MPX security people whacked Hawke over the head with the ruler. He then took off his MPX security shirt and was wearing a Frankie Fisher t-shirt. So now we know the other person who bought Frankie’s t-shirt. I think it was a nice debut. Who was this guy? (Another question I’ll have to keep coming back to get answered.)

Fifth match: WASP w/Kyle Valo vs. Ryan Gauge

WASP has that snarky heel face all the time. He’s cocky, better than you and he knows it. It reminds me of Jericho as a heel. WASP took the mic and informed us that Ryan wasn’t in the back so he wouldn’t be fighting tonight. Silly WASP, Ryan was going to sneak attack you. Ryan has a lot of natural charisma and understands how to use his size. Ryan Gauge is not the biggest wrestler, but he reminds me a lot of Scrappy Doo. He has a lot of fight in him. Kyle was his usual excellence managing. (See Kyle, I do say great things about you.) He put on Ryan’s customized hat. WASP actually tapped out to Ryan’s Full Nelson.

Winner: Gauge by submission

WASP put over Ryan HUGE. Then next came the main event. I really hadn’t decided who was going to win this one. I wasn’t ready for Andrews to lose the belt, but I wanted Haiden to win the belt.

Main event: Matt Andrews (c) vs. Kris Haiden in a Tables Match with Mike Dolenz as guest referee

This match had some great drama. The goal was to not go through a table so Haiden and Andrews did everything to not go through the table. It reminded me of a scaffold match or the Japanese barb wire match where explosives would go off if you touched the barb wire. (Ah, feel that FMW nostalgia flowing.) The drama was built around not going through the table and was nicely played. God did help out with the atmosphere as it began to thunder and lightning outside. It was like a action film climax. Matt Andrews told me to write this down and then took a suplex from Haiden. So here it is. “Owwwwww…” Haiden went out and got a ladder. We all knew what was coming next. It was just who was going through. Viktor Tadlock come out from the back, the lights went out and Claudia did a pre-recorded promo. After the lights came back on, Arcane was at the top of the ladder and spit out the red mist. Haiden went through the table.

Winner: Andrews

Security and the workers came out to separate Haiden and Arcane. After that Mike Dolenz took the mic and informed Andrews his next opponent was going to be the Headbanger. An Easter Bunny was passing out candy. The Easter Bunny took off his suit and, lo and behold, it was the Headbanger.

A nice end to the night. The match of the night was of course the main event, and anybody who goes through a table wins MVP in my book, though Kenny Steele, get ready for the ball. I see you getting it before too long. I like that more wrestlers are picking up submission holds. Those provide for great drama. And of course, one last time, thanks for the chance to be involved.

For more information on this company, go to http://www.metroplexwrestling.com/.”
For my site, click here.

To follow me on Twitter, click here. For Facebook, click here.

The post MPX One-Year Anniversary Show 4-23-11 appeared first on BoredWrestlingFan.com.

1.       Savage-Steamboat, Wrestlemania III-I remember watching this match when I saw Wrestlemania III for the first time. I had started getting into wrestling and I wanted to watch anything and everything I could find. My local video store was The Video Library, a mom and pop store back before Blockbuster ruled everything with an iron fist. They had Survivor Series ’91, Wrestlemania III and a few others. WM3 had Hogan and Andre on the cover. How could I not rent it? And of course I fell in love with the Savage-Steamboat match. It was such a tense, dramatic match. I’m sure many people would have this in Top 5 of all time.

2.       Chris Benoit-Kevin Sullivan, Falls Count Anywhere Match, Great American Bash ’96-Yes, I said the name Chris Benoit. Regardless of how you feel about him, I am talking about this match, not the person who killed his wife, son and self. There was so much intensity and hatred between these two men. And this was the first fight I’d ever seen go to the men’s restroom. The best part was Dusty Rhodes on commentary. “There’th a woman in the men’th westwoom! There’th a woman in the men’th westwoom!” And then after the match when Arn Anderson turned on Kevin Sullivan, another awesome memory. When I first heard that he had died, and before I knew he was the number one suspect in his murder-suicide, this was the match I watched.

3.       Stone Cold-Bret Hart, I Quit Match Wrestlemania XIII-Ken Shamrock as guest referee, Jerry Lawler & Jim Ross on commentary. This was such a hot intense feud. Bret Hart was beginning his anti-American Hart Foundation persona, and Stone Cold was about to embark on being one of the top stars in wrestling of all time. And in this fight, there was blood. The blood flowed out of Austin’s forehead like I had never seen before. And Austin never gave up, but Ken Shamrock awarded the match to Bret Hart. This was a watershed moment in the attitude era.

4.       Johnny Kashmere & Justice Pain-Jun Kazai & Nick Mondo, CZW Un-f’n-believable-I’m sure most wrestling fans would scoff at this one being in my list. But this is my list. Make your own. This match had all the drama you could ever want. They were feuding factions. This was “Fans Bring the Weapons,” and wrestling fans are very creative. This was intense and bloody, very bloody. The match was everything the title says. It really was un-f’ing-believable. This put CZW on my map, love it or hate it.

5.       Vince McMahon-Shane McMahon, Wrestlemania X-7-I know. This is not the most technical match ever. But there were so many storylines that were built up here. Shane had just “bought” WCW from his dad. Linda was in the wheelchair from the meds Trish was giving her. Mick Foley was the guest referee. The moment that Linda stood up, I stood up in my Arlington home for the pure emotion of it all. And if I remember correctly, there was a Van Terminator from Shane.

6.       Eddie Guerrero-Rey Misterio Jr., Halloween Havoc ’97, Mask vs. Title-This is my redemption for the above two matches. The build-up to this match was awesome. When Eddie was a heel, he had no equal. He had unmasked Rey on WCW Saturday night. As useless as Tony Schiavone was, the look of disdain on his face, covering Rey with his jacket, they were both so perfect. And in this match, you didn’t know if Rey was going to lose or not. I spent the match on pins and needles waiting for the bell to ring. Out of Eddie’s and Rey’s many matches together, this one was my favorite.

7.       Randy Orton-Cactus Jack, Backlash ’04-I hated the whole Orton spitting on my hero Mick Foley. And I hated it even more when he did nothing. But I read on the Internet this was Foley’s idea, and I just decided to sit back and let Foley be Foley. But we went to the PPV at the movie theater that carried the PPV’s. The match was a thing of beauty. Now, not graceful Eddie-Rey beauty, but more like a “Terry Funk-Sabu, you’re going to be able to count the number of visible tendons” beauty. When my then-fiance and I saw the thumbtacks getting laid out, we were both saying, “Oh, Foley’s going to be diving into those.” And then Orton took the bump, and our jaws both hit the floor. I had not really respected Orton yet, but when he did that, I had a newfound respect for him that I still carry to this day.

8.       Kurt Angle-Rey Misterio Jr., some Smackdown-I have no idea what it was, but Angle and Misterio had the greatest chemistry together. Misterio beat him out of nowhere. And the best part of the match was the post-match interview with Angle. “I just got pinned by a 12-year-old. Some kid barely old enough to mow my lawn beat me.” Angle and Misterio had some great matches. This was just the beginning.

9.       Mr. Pogo & Terry Funk-Hayabusa & Masato Tanaka, FMW 5-5-96-Yes, this match is pretty much bloody stumps galore. There was barb wire, explosives, pretty much everything you’ve always heard about wrestling but didn’t know it existed. The drama of the guys about to go into the barb wire and then stopping is so gripping. You get Mr. Pogo and his knives. Hayabusa nearly had his mask ripped off. After the match, you can hear Terry Funk repeating, “I don’t need no f***ing stitches” and insults at Atsushi Onita.

10.   Kristopher Haiden, Carrion Arcane, Frankie Fisher & Matt Andrews vs. WASP, Gregory James, Seph Annunaki & James Hawke, ladder match, MPX All on the Line- This match is unique as this is the only one I’ve ever seen live. It is also important that this was the day I met the guy now dating my sister-in-law (and the way these kids talk, he might be the brother-in-law before too long), so you know there are some emotional attachments this has for me. This is what I wrote about this the morning after:

“What can you say about this match? I’m not sure that I’ve ever seen a better match than this live. All ten guys gave everything live. I always praise this company for the little things. The wrestlers came out of the dressing room to watch. It reminded me a lot of old ECW when the boys all used to watch from the aisle. The only negative is that at the beginning of the fight, there was too much action going on.

“I counted the number of “Holy s***” moments for me. I had 9. There were a few that happened on the other side from where I was sitting, so I think there were a few more. At one point, we had dueling Van Terminators with ladders. There was a different spot where the two Kyles were climbing up the ladder at the same time, made it to the top and both threw baby powder at each other. It was awesome. We had Gregory James do the lucha libre plancha spot onto the 5 or 6 guys. He also did a conchairto on top of the ladder to Frankie Fisher. Haiden was already bleeding and took an insane bump onto two tables. Being that we know him outside of the business, it was difficult for my wife and some other people who knew him. It’s one thing to watch the Dudleys on Monday Night Raw back in the day; it’s another thing to watch our friend go through the tables. All I know is that my buddy took a table bump that would have made Sabu smile in approval.

“There are very few things in this business that surprise me still. I will admit I got worked when Bryan Danielson was the 7th member of Team WWE. That’s probably the last time somebody worked me that I never saw coming. Matt Andrews took the belt and the briefcase. He asked for the mic and thanked Genesis for getting him to where he was, but now that he was the champion, he was done with them. He fired all of them, climbed down the ladder, threw the briefcase on Seph and said, ‘I don’t care about this. You can have it.’

“What an insane, breath-taking main event. I guess one of the best compliments we can give the night is that my sister-in-law took her new boyfriend to wrestling for the first time last night. On the way home, he asked, ‘Do they do that all the time?’ I’ve said my peace about everything else that night. Great main event made for a great night.”

11.   El Hijo del Santo & Octagon-Art Barr & Eddie Guerrero, Mask vs. Hair, WCW When Worlds Collide-I’m a total El Santo mark, so the importance of El Santo, El Hijo del Santo and his mask are so important to me. There was no greater heel faction in Mexico than the Gringos Locos (Barr, Guerrero, Konnan & Louie Spicolli). Oh, yeah, and Octagon is one of those guys I ALWAYS mark out for. There was such intensity in that match. And Eddie lost his mullet.

12.   Ice Train-Scott Norton, Some episode of WCW Worldwide (I think)-Again, this is no Ring of Honor 5-star match. Nobody else probably remembers this match, but I do. The story of it was so awesome. Scott Norton & Ice Train were very similar wrestlers, and they mirrored each other. They couldn’t beat the other. Since both were on the same level on the card, you had no idea who was going to win. It even went to a time limit draw, and thus was born the tag team of Fire & Ice.

13.   Chris Benoit-Dean Malenko, WCW Hog Wild ’96-Again, if you are offended by me using Chris Benoit’s name, I apologize. Benoit and Malenko had such an amazing chemistry. They were awesome together in the ring. First the match went 15 minutes. Then it was given 5 more minutes. Then it was given 5 more minutes. Finally Nancy “Woman” Benoit interfered and won the match for Benoit.

14.   Undertaker-Mankind, Hell in a Cell, King of the Ring ‘98-I know. No points for originality. This is very well-documented. And if you’ve never read his account of it, read “Have a Nice Day” by Mick Foley. There were two major bumps: first was where Mick was thrown onto the table. That was planned. The second one was when the Undertaker choke-slammed Foley and the cage gave way and Foley fell to the ring. And then the chair fell on top of him. The amount of punishment that Foley took was insane.

15.   Tommy Dreamer-Brian Lee, ECW Scaffold match-The Tommy Dreamer-Raven feud could not have been any hotter. With respect to Sabu-Taz, it was quite possibly ECW’s biggest feud. Brian Lee was part of Raven’s group in ECW and had made it his goal to end Tommy Dreamer’s career. There was a rickety scaffold built over a ring piled up in tables 3-deep. There was so much drama over who was going to be the first to fall. And Brian Lee went through the tables in an incredible moment.

So, just in case Stone Cold ever asks me, I have it all written down. What are your favorites?

To follow me on Twitter, click here. For Facebook, click here.

The post In Case Stone Cold Asks (My Favorite Matches) appeared first on BoredWrestlingFan.com.

First of all, I loved the pageantry and the excess of it all. This is their spectacle. The WWE knows how to do big at Wrestlemania, and I think they should get the credit they deserve. The pyro, the big-ness of everything, the video packages (especially the Miz’), it had the feel of a big event, production values-wise.

I love The Rock. I really do (though nowhere near as much as my wife does). But having him there was completely pointless. When I think that Sheamus and Daniel Bryan had to cut their match short so The Rock could do his nonsensical promo, it makes me mad. Relax. I’m not one of those “You sold out” fans that think wrestlers should do nothing but wrestle all their lives. Dwayne Johnson has made a nice name for himself in Hollywood. I have moved on. He is not a wrestler anymore. I don’t want to see him in the ring, unless he’s talking. He showed up at the arena 2 times in a 6-week period. What in the Blue Hell has The Rock done to deserve that lengthy promo at the beginning? Recently? I think that is the biggest slap in the face to the Daniel Bryans and Sheamuses and the other wrestlers who have given everything. Hell, even The Great Khali did more to earn that promo than The Rock did. Instead of giving that time to The Rock, they should have been giving time to wrestlers who will become the next Rock. The focal point of this Pay-Per-View was somebody who hasn’t been in a wrestling ring since Ric Flair was active (Wait…).

Relax. I’m not a hater. I’m happy to see The Rock. I loved the Mae Young skit, and I loved the PeeWee Herman thing. How do you not? What I have a problem with is making a person who should no longer be the focus being the focus. Roy Halladay may retire as one of the greatest pitchers in baseball history. But if every time he is supposed to pitch, he is replaced by Steve Carlton, he will never be able to take the spotlight he deserves. Rock, you are the Great One. But somewhere in that WWE locker room could be the next “Great One.” WWE, get him out of the way.

(I would like to say in his defense that The Rock never held another wrestler “down.” The dude put over The Hurricane. I don’t see him holding a wrestler down here. I just see him being over-utilized.)

The first match had some really nice drama. I love the submission hold and the drama of “Is he going to tap?” I was waiting for the Christian heel turn that never came. It was fun watching them destroy the car, but really, shouldn’t that have been done on Smackdown!?

Cody-Rey was a decently done match. I wanted to see Dusty (but it makes sense that he not appear in Atlanta, as there is no way that Atlanta crowd would boo “The American Dream”).

All the skits were pretty funny. I loved Regal rapping. I marked out like a 13-year-old girl when I saw Rowdy Roddy Piper (There are 3 wrestlers I mark out for: Piper, Undertaker & Arn Anderson). I loved Mae Young pinching the Rock’s “candy ass” and wanting the “People’s Strudel.” And of course, Pee Wee Herman and Mean Gene were great. I like the Rock/Stone cold face-off, but as I said previously, I’ve moved on.

The 8-man with the Corre was insulting to those 8 wrestlers who have given everything.

Orton-Punk stole the show, in-ring wise. I hope this feud is over. There were some incredible athletic things that happened here. Neither person lost anything in this match.

The Cole-Lawler… “whatever you want to call it” was fine and had some entertaining moments. I loved Swagger throwing in the towel and Austin looking at it clueless and then wiping his head with it. The image of Cole against the glass was great, too. Loved how there were 3 stunners. And the best part was JR-King calling the rest of the night.

The Undertaker-Triple H match was everything we had hoped it would be. The entrances were phenomenal. The drama was sensational. There was no announce table still left standing. Nobody interfered (and goodness knows, between the two’s sins, anybody could have attacked either one and be justified). The drama of HHH grabbing the sledgehammer and Taker putting him in the rear naked choke. (Young wrestlers, you take a look at the drama that can be created through a submission hold like ADR’s or Undertaker’s. You don’t need to do a 1260 splash onto plates of glass to get a crowd going.) Triple-H tapped out at Wrestlemania. The cart was a nice touch. The people I was there with and my timeline on Twitter couldn’t tell whether Taker was ok or not.

The Snooki match was everything it should have been. The former cheerleader did her backspring thing and then pinned Michelle McCool. A lot of people were complaining about this match going on next-to-last. This was the best possible match they could have placed there. I remember a very wise blogger saying “There are going to be some very emotional matches at Wrestlemania. Triple H-Undertaker is going to be a very emotional match, as will Edge-Del Rio and whatever else they come across. There needs to be a moment the crowd gets to unwind from the tension and emotion. Whether we like it or not, this is going to be one of those matches.” Somebody had to follow HHH-Taker. Would you rather it be a legitimate match or the Snooki “match?” They got their TMZ moment.

The main event was really disappointing. The best part about those was the video packages before-hand. The Miz video package, for lack of a better word, was awesome. The John Cena package was well-done, but the music was way too religious for his character. I’m sure nothing screams religious connotations nothing more than the “5-Knuckle Shuffle” or the “STFU.” (<-heavy sarcasm) I loved the choir, though I really couldn’t figure out their purpose. Maybe I’m just being paranoid, but I think his background kinda looked like a Confederate flag. John Cena just cannot win. First he becomes the target for GLAAD after dropping some homophobic slurs which we know he did not write. Now he gets to walk out to the ring with a Confederate flag-like logo while a predominantly-Black choir sings. Next, I think for an encore, he will kick puppies. The match wasn’t mind-blowing, but the two did a very good job with their intensity. I did pop for Rock reading the email from the Raw GM. I have no idea where they’re going with The Rock’s interference. Right now, I don’t really want to know.

For my site, click here.

To follow me on Twitter, click here. For Facebook, click here.

The post Reflections on Wrestlemania appeared first on BoredWrestlingFan.com.

First of all, my confession. I am a smark. I know wrestling is predetermined. I also have been a subscriber of www.pwinsider.com for well over 10 years. (Well, going back to their days at 1Wrestling) I’ve read books by Mick Foley, Terry Funk & Jerry Lawler. I know some insider terms but just what has leaked to the world via the Internet. I know some wrestlers’ real names, but that only comes from being a fan for a long time. Yes, I know that wrestling is predetermined. This may not be an exact quote, but I believe Lance Storm once said “Predetermined does not necessarily mean fake.” This should not be a newsflash for anybody. Yet I still go, and I still respect it for the art form that it can be. Contrary to popular belief, I do not live in mother’s basement. I have a beautiful wife and daughter.

Second of all, this part is for the smarks. Wrestling has given us a lot. Remember Kurt Angle-HBK at Wrestlemania 22? Stone Cold-Bret Hart at Wrestlemania 13? Savage-Steamboat at Wrestlemania 3? What about “The Night the Line Was Crossed” in ECW? Eddie Guerrero-Rey Misterio Jr. at Halloween Havoc ’97? All the TLC matches? Sabu-Terry Funk in the barb wire match at Hard Wired? The cage match in TNA where Elix Skipper ran off the top of the cage? Or the first Ultimate X match? Or the Low Ki-Danielson-Daniels 3-way match at the first Ring of Honor show?

And those are just the matches. Think of the wrestlers. Eddie Guerrero, AJ Styles, Curt Hennig, Dean Malenko, Terry Funk, Ricky Steamboat, Edge, Christian, Pre-drug Jeff Hardy, Pre-Hostess Twinkies Matt Hardy, The Dudley Boys, Sabu, Taz, Tommy Dreamer, Sandman, 2 Cold Scorpio, Low Ki, Homicide, Paul London, Brian Kendrick, Samoa Joe, Nigel McGuiness, Doug Williams,Tyler Black, CM Punk, Bryan Danielson, Kings of Wrestling, Beer Money, Motor City Machine Guns, Mike Awesome, Masato Tanaka, the nation of Japan.

And we’ve had our villains. Anybody with the last name of McMahon, WWE Creative, Kevin Dunn, Triple-H, Chyna, X-Pac, Billy Gunn, Test, Katie Vick, the Dusty finish, Eric Bischoff, the contents of Baby Doll’s envelope, the driver of the Hummer, Robocop, Hulk Hogan, David Arquette, the Great Khali (even though I still love him), John Cena, Mark Madden and our ultimate anti-Christ-Vince Russo.

These people here have given everything for us (except for maybe Mark Madden). We owe them everything. When you go to a local independent wrestling show, you should see it as an opportunity to give back. The Bible says “To whom much is given, much will be expected.” Remember, just because you go to a local indy show, you’re not going to see Flair-Steamboat every time. What you are going to watch are two guys who are getting to do the thing they love before a group of people. You’ll see some good matches, and you might see some “works-in-progress” (my nice way of saying sucky matches). Some of you sit there with your arms crossed waiting for somebody to do Teddy Hart moonsaults off the top of the building onto shards of glass in a vat of alcohol. (I’m sure we’d all like to see Teddy Hart do that, btw.)

When you go a wrestling show, you need to get into it. You know who the faces and the heels are. Cheer them. Boo them. (An exception is the “Heel Section.” Those guys crack me up, and they get the fans more into it.) Heckle the heels. When the referee asks you if the guy cheated, tell them. Buy a t-shirt. Get your polaroid taken at the intermission. This is your chance to go out and stimulate the economy.

You can still be a “smart” fan. I tried the El Generico “Ole!” chant for my local luchador. The fans never joined me. I’ll also heckle my local wrestlers. Like, Local Wrestler #1 says they don’t have a match tonight. I’ll cheer. Don’t get in the way of the match. It’s disrespectful and not funny. Don’t call a wrestler by their real name. I know some outside of my local promotion, and when I see them live at the show, I always repeat to myself “His name is [name].  His name is [name].”

Let’s face it. Some of you are jealous. Some of you would love to step in the ring, but either don’t have the size or the courage. You’ll never be happy with what goes on in the ring because you wish you could be in it. You think you’re the cat’s whacker because you know who Kenta Kobashi is. There were a group of fans at a local indy that got in the way of the show because they wanted a job. If you truly love wrestling, you want to make it succeed. Your attitude creates whether you will enjoy it or not.

I, of course, wanted to be involved in the wrestling industry. I went so far as to call a few schools about information about being things like a referee/manager. But I had a lot of different roads to travel, and as much as I wish wrestling was on my road, it wasn’t. But I still like to help in the business. My way of doing that now is to pay, be an unofficial crowd plant and then to give my opinion afterwards.

It doesn’t mean you can’t have an opinion. A lot of you have a lot of experience as wrestling fans. You know what you enjoy and what you don’t. Just remember that the wrestlers are people with feelings and emotions and families. I write a review for my local promotion. While I was terrified at first, they seemed to appreciate it. I also don’t rip them a new one because they don’t do a 1260 splash off a 3rd story building onto a bed of thumbtacks. I just go into it knowing that I’m not a wrestler, and I just have one opinion.

We have been given so much, and it’s time we give back.

For my site, click here.

To follow me on Twitter, click here. For Facebook, click here.

The post An Open Letter to Smarks appeared first on BoredWrestlingFan.com.

But in honor of Drew Carey getting inducted for giving Kane money, I have come up with a list of 15 celebrities that I feel deserve induction into the WWE HOF more than Drew Carey. These are not in order of priority.

1.       Jenny McCarthy-A woman who started out as eye candy that moved on to being a child advocate against vaccines (even though she was wrong) and autism. She also was a very successful writer about books about pregnancy and motherhood. Maybe being inducted by Shawn Michaels, this would be a reminder of a big moment from Wrestlemania XI.

2.       Pamela Anderson-The biggest part about the 1995 Royal Rumble was that the winner got to be escorted to the back by Pamela Anderson. And then at Wrestlemania, she escorted Diesel to the ring. This was a big moment as she was at the hottest her career got at that time. The WWE always likes to have their big celebrity moment. Inducted by recent returnee Kevin Nash? Nash on the mic is always great fun.

3.       Regis Philbin-Regis has always had wrestlers on and never worried about his image. He’s freakin’ Regis. And then when Steve Austin propelled himself to superstardom, aside from the big Mike Tyson “shove heard round the world,” one of the watershed moments in his career was when he appeared on Regis & “the one before Kelly Ripa.” Austin wore his “Austin 3:16” and Regis had his “Philbin 911” t-shirt. And there was the moment when Austin got in his face and Regis rubbed Austin’s head and Stone Cold smiled. Stone Cold would be the perfect person to induct him.

4.       Burt Reynolds-The guest ring announcer at Wrestlemania X, I don’t really think he has contributed THAT much. But he was a big name. And since WWE has always loved their Hollywood celebrities whenever they could get them, if they could get Burt Reynolds for this role, they would be in “We make movies” heaven. I’m sure HE has something he could plug. I could see him getting inducted by Bret Hart or Roddy Piper.

5.       Joan Rivers-Is there anybody better at stirring up a buzz? And doesn’t she have some reality show or documentary to plug? And when has Joan Rivers ever turned down an appearance? Anywhere? I could see her getting inducted simply because she was Joan Rivers. Who would induct her? Take your pick. I’m sure any of the young lions would benefit from the rub: Ted Jr., Randy Orton, Zack Ryder.

6.       Muhammad Ali-Arguably the greatest boxer ever, if not the greatest athlete ever. He was the referee at the first Wrestlemania. Plus, Ali makes news any time he goes to the grocery store because of the sheer legend behind him. Who would induct him? Again, take your pick. Any wrestler of Black or Muslim heritage would be great here. The Rock, Booker T, Kofi Kingston (I don’t know of any wrestlers who are of Muslim heritage or beliefs.), etc.

7.       Dick Butkus-One of the greatest defensemen in the history of pro football and a man who appeared in several Wrestlemanias. I know that he has his charities that he takes care of. He definitely wouldn’t mind appearing to plug that. And who wouldn’t want to induct the great Butkus? Maybe somebody from Chicago like CM Punk. Maybe a college player like The Rock. I don’t see how they could go wrong.

8.       Tommy Lasorda-A Hall-of-Fame baseball manager known for being very colorful on the mic. Of course, the Atlanta crowd may not warm up to a Dodgers legend. Any wrestler would love to induct him. It would get them on some MLB sites and I’m sure Tommy Lasorda would love to plug a charity.

9.       Alice Cooper-Doesn’t he still put out songs and albums and stuff? I’m sure he’d love the chance to come back and speak to the fans. Who inducts him? Obviously not Jake “The Snake,” as that might require sobriety. But which wrestler wouldn’t want to induct a legend in the music world? Chris Jericho maybe?

10.   Ozzy Osborne-A former figure in Wrestlemania 2, and one of the most-recognized music icons of all-time, Ozzy Osborne would be GREAT  for publicity. The man can still draw, and he still must have some marketability as he was used for one of the biggest Super Bowl commercials this past year. Again, any wrestler would love to induct Ozzy freakin’ Osborne.

11.   Mike Tyson-I’d just love to hear him say “My man Cole Stone” one more time. Wrestlemania XIV was one of the biggest moments in wrestling history. That was a watershed moment of the Attitude Era. Of course if he came back, we’d always be reminded of how great their product was back then and how it isn’t now. Who would induct him? Triple-H, Stone Cold, Shawn Michaels, Jim Ross, take your pick.

12.   Chuck Norris-The possibilities would be endless. WWE Chuck Norris facts:  Chuck Norris can defeat the Undertaker at Wrestlemania. Chuck Norris can cross the boss. Chuck Norris knew who attacked Edge. Any young wrestler would die at the opportunity to induct Chuck Norris.

13.   Aretha Franklin-She sung at Wrestlemania III & XXIII. The Queen of Soul, who wouldn’t want to induct her? Of course, it could be a well-known Black competitor like Booker T, Ron Simmons (lots of “Damnnnnnnnnns” in that speech) or Kofi. Of course, the one who makes the most sense would be Lillian Garcia, whom I’m sure they could bring back for one night to induct Aretha.

14.   Cyndi Lauper-The fact Drew Carey is going into the celebrity wing of the HOF before Cyndi Lauper is downright embarrassing. Cyndi Lauper has done more for the wrestling business than show up in a match to plug their show. Brawl to Settle It All, War to Settle the Score, Wrestlemania, she used HER name to get the publicity on these events. Again, Lillian Garcia would be a great fit to induct her. So would Roddy Piper, Edge or anybody who watched her as a kid and was inspired to get into wrestling because of her participation on these big events.

15.   Motorhead-The group who has created one of the most iconic entrance themes in the history of wrestling. It is also arguable that is the most iconic entrance theme ever (with respect to “Real American,” Piper’s & Undertaker’s music and maybe Stone Cold’s and The Rock’s). From the first time you hear “Time to play the gaaaaaaaaaaame” you know that Triple-H is coming to the ring. Obviously, it’s kind of silly who would induct them. Triple-H, of course.

What are your favorites? Who do you think we should see?

For my site, click here.

To follow me on Twitter, click here. For Facebook, click here.

The post Who Really Deserves the WWE Hall of Fame? appeared first on BoredWrestlingFan.com.

Good:

-In their defense, the WWE had one purpose last night-Sell Wrestlemania. That part, I believe they did very well. I was ok with the Cole/Lawler build-up (and by the way, I love Cole’s Fortress). I do not like Grandmaster Sexay (or the Man Who Ate Brian Christopher or Ken Anderson’s fatter older brother or whoever that was), and I will pay the WWE money to never have him appear on my tv again. (I have the same agreement with them on Sean Waltman, Ashley Massaro and Hardcore Holly.) But they are selling the PPV. Cole and Lawler will be a nice chance to pop the crowd and let them settle down after seeing a major match like Triple-H/Taker or Edge/Del Rio. Plus, Lawler deserves his Wrestlemania match and putting him against Cole doesn’t hurt anybody. Also, when Austin gives his 9,000 stunners, it’ll be against Cole and maybe a few on Swagger. Austin won’t bury Swagger because he’s Austin. Austin will stun all kinds of people. He’s not beating them. That’s what the crowd wants to see.

I also liked the build-up for the Cena-Miz match AFTER a certain point. If you thought Cena was actually broadcasting from his home, I have some nice ocean-front property in Las Vegas for you. The room looked like a room in an arena backstage. Also, usually, they’ll say “Via satellite: [City he’s in].” That’s what makes it so dumb to actually think he wasn’t at the arena. It was so cheesy and so transparent, and Cena got to talk about how much better he was than The Rock because HE showed up at the arena. (And I don’t see what all the debate is over who paved the way into Hollywood. We all know it was Tor Johnson.) A lot of people hated the Miz turning the WWE logo upside down. I was ok with it. The part I liked the most was the fire that John Cena showed by attacking Alex Riley. Cena is going to put on an intense, focused face. I’ll take that John Cena. Just don’t give me SuperCena who makes poop jokes.

And then there was the Triple-H/Undertaker video package. That was (I think) the greatest video package I have ever seen the WWE do. They interviewed Dusty Rhodes, Ricky Steamboat, Harley Race (He looked like he lost a lot of weight. I said that to my wife, and she responded, “Yeah, he does.” My wife recognized Harley freakin’ Race. That is perhaps the sexiest thing she’s ever done.) and anybody who was anybody in the WWE. I got to see Arn Anderson, who is one of my all-time favorites, if not THE favorite. Any time I get to see Double-A, it’s automatically the greatest Raw ever. Plus, I forgot how good on the mic he was about cutting the cool, collective promo. I marked out for him, to be honest. I cannot echo enough times how good that video package was. I’ve never thought a non-title match should be a main event at Wrestlemania. Until now…

-So I’ve watched around 4 Raws in a row since giving it a try again. Used to if one was good in a 4-week period, we were happy. But I received 3 really solid Raws in a row. I’d forgotten how much I loved it. I’m even watching Smackdown! again. I’m beginning to have faith in the WWE again, which at one point, I had lost all faith in them.

Not-so-good:

-What’s up with Triple-H burying people? Did he go back to the Katie Vick era and say, “Yeah, that seemed to work?” He squashed Sheamus like bug and obliterated Ted DiBiase Jr. The only way this will work is for Ted Jr. to attack him during the WM27 match and cause Hunter to lose. The writing looks to be “on the wall” for Sheamus. I’m pretty sure he’ll be pinning AJ Styles or Doug Williams on Impact! in a matter of months.

-How does Abdullah the Butcher not get a video package? I know he didn’t wrestle for the WWF/E, but surely we can go through some old WCW libraries and find SOMETHING!!!!!!!! He has something to plug (his rib place in Atlanta). Give the man his true due.

For my complete blog where I talk about wrestling, MMA and anything else I’m inspired to, click here. To follow me on Twitter, click here. For Facebook, click here.

The post A Ruff State of the WWE 3-22-11 appeared first on BoredWrestlingFan.com.

First match: Ironheart vs. Carrion Arcane w/”The Angel of Mercy” Claudia

This was my first time to see Ironheart. Arcane was talking about “she was coming” and apparently, that Claudia. It’s nice that MPX has a valet, as women never hurt (but please don’t get “divas”). Her look is very gothic/Suicide Girl-ish. It is a great fit for Arcane. The match was solid. Claudia is a good throw-back to the old Woman/Nancy Benoit-type valet. And after Claudia attacked Ironheart with red mist, Arcane scored the pin.

Winner: Arcane

Second match: Kenny Steele vs. Ben Wylde w/Kyle Davis

This match was a lot better than I thought it would be. Steele is improving both in the ring and in his persona. Steele has great facials, and he’s learned other things than telling crowds he has abs. I saw something out of Steele tonight. He is an amazing athlete and has a heel charisma that you can’t teach. I can see him going places. I’m also loving the Kyle Davis aspect. Ben made him wear this green hat that was worth a million laughs in and of itself. I’m thinking this is probably my favorite storyline in MPX. The two wrestled a nice story of Steele not being able to bodyslam Wylde because he was injured. It was also a good way of Steele losing without making him look weak.

Winner: Wylde

Third match: Cash & Carry vs. Lucha Lucha & some masked guy

When Cash & Carry, came out with a grocery cart full of fun, I knew it was going to be a fun match. Maybe it’s just me, but I’ve been spoiled with seeing Necro Butcher through the years. The hardcore match was probably the un-stiffest hardcore match I’ve ever seen. I’m ok with it. I understand most of these guys are green. And I’d rather see them again, so I have to say it was fun. There was some nice plunder in this match: a baseball bat, lots of chairs (Lucha found a chair that had the Corona logo. Nice touch.), a bowling ball, a vuvuzela/”Grenade whistle” (of all things), stop sign, garbage can, grocery cart. The match was full of several OMG moments. Zach the Muscle at one point either got his bell ring or is the best seller ever. Also, there was a moment in the match where Zach attacked the masked man and he smiled a really saddistic smile. They can go a lot of places with this. I saw a little bit of of that Cactus Jack in him. I would like to see his character evolve a little bit more in that direction. He has the size to where I can see him going places. At one point, Cash & Carry found Kris Haiden out in the crowd and asked him if he wanted to hit Lucha or masked guy. He said no and this laid the groundwork for his face turn that night. This may not have been IWA-Mid South King of the Deathmatch Tournament-worthy, but IWA-MS isn’t running anymore, and a lot of those fighters aren’t fighting anymore. Not bad for a first hardcore match.

Winner: Lucha & Masked Man (I will call them Team Enmascarado)

During the intermission, the wrestlers continued their mingling with the crowd. This is one of their strongest aspects. It’s good for the kids. After the intermission came the 6-Man Elimination match.

Fourth match: James Hawke vs. Zero the Antihero vs. WASP w/Kyle Valo vs. Regrub vs. Headbanger Gregory James vs. Carlos Esquivel (with Ryan Gauge as the special ref)

This was a very multi-layered match with a lot of storylines. This is difficult to weave together and I thought the booking was nicely-done. So forgive me for missing some of the highlights. Carlos and Zero have a good dynamic and chemistry. It reminded me of that moment in “The Wrestler” when Randy “The Ram” asks the Ayatollah how they’re going to do their match. Ayatollah says “I’m the heel. You’re the face. Any questions?”

James Hawke cut a nice promo where he apologized for his attack on Frankie Fisher. I waiting for “It will neeeeever eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeever happen again” but no Jericho heel turn for now. We do Streamers for Zero. I love the Japanese/ROH tribute. Also, WASP was a very engaging heel, getting the crowd going and making fun of Regrub for breaking up pins when it was an elimination match. Ryan Gauge who had been previously in a sling, took off his cast and revealed his arm was just fine. Then he attacked WASP and made sure he was pinned. It is difficult to comment on all the dynamics as it was complex. The match ended when James Hawke made Regrub tap out. This meant something and made Hawke look very strong to make the monster Regrub tap out.

Winner: Hawke

After the match, WASP and Valo came out of the back informed Headbanger he was going to be fighting in a handicap match. Kate whispered something to Headbanger and then announced that it would be an inter-gender match: WASP & Valo vs. Headbanger & Kate. I will give MPX the benefit of the doubt, but I HATE inter-gender matches. The only one I’ve ever seen done right is Beulah-Bill Alphonso in ECW.

Fifth match: $Payday$ vs. Wally Darkmon

There were two kids behind me last night that were really into the whole show. $Payday$ saw them on his way to the ring and danced with them. This is awesome. A wrestling promotion always needs wrestlers to dance with the kids. There was a watershed moment in Mark Henry’s life when Andre the Giant brought him to the ring and danced with him. It’s hard to remember sometimes that they are what it’s all about.

The match between the two wrestlers was really good. I think this is $Payday$’s best match yet in MPX. Wally is such a pro that it was a fun match, even though it was face vs. face. As a fan, I was a little torn, because I don’t want to watch either lose. There were hand shakes for everybody. Wally gives 100%, and it is evident from his matches. The match was declared a no contest when Carrion Arcane attacked both. (I’m ok with no contests and dq’s and all that. It’s when a wrestling company does the same finish over and over again that it becomes boring, aka TNA.)

Winner: No contest

Sixth match: Matt Andrews (c) vs. Barrett Brown

This was my first time to see Barrett Brown live. He looks all of 13 years old, but he has a great focus and ring presence. His intensity reminded me a lot of Chris Benoit’s. The Matt Andrews title reign continues. He is quickly becoming a lot like Gollum with his belt. That is as it should be. He makes the belt seem important. This was a really good match. Brown was very impressive in the ring, and I hope to get to see him again. Andrews submitted Brown for the victory.

Winner: Matt Andrews

After the match, Mike Dolenz announced that Andrews would be defending his belt at the next show. After attacking him, Kris Haiden came to his rescue. He then cut a really great promo about one thing he learned from his time there is that the boys in the MPX were some of the toughest SOB’s he’d ever seen. This was a GREAT face turn. I can’t think of the last time I saw a face turn this good in wrestling. In a show of support, the MPX roster unanimously supported Haiden’s reinstatement and receiving a title shot. It was an emotional moment.

For more about Metroplex wrestling, click here.

For my complete blog where I talk about wrestling, MMA and anything else I’m inspired to, click here. To follow me on Twitter, click here. For Facebook, click here.

The post MPX-Fight to Survive 3-12-11 appeared first on BoredWrestlingFan.com.

Who was the first “Diva?” Sherri Martel wore skimpy outfits and caked on the make-up. Missy Hyatt definitely has her place in the great canon of women in wrestling. Miss Elizabeth was definitely seen as a sex symbol, even though she was always treated with class and elegance. Nancy Benoit was a great female manager, but she was more wicked, and people didn’t tune in to see her. Sable was the first WWE superstar to pose nude for Playboy. But what made Sunny special?

I’m going to be honest. I started watching wrestling in early 1996, before Wrestlemania XII. I was 15. I was at the height of my hormonal teen years. Sunny was every 15-year-old boy’s dream. And in the WWE at that time, Sunny reigned supreme. Todd Pettengill used to host a show called WWF Mania on Saturday mornings. WCW Pro was at 8 am. WWF Mania was at 9am. That’s what I did with my Saturday morning. When I first started watching the show, Sunny was the host. And yes, my little 15-year-old heart pitter-pattered.

I have a lot of great memories watching Sunny. I remember her coming out with the LOD at Wrestlemania XIV and forming LOD 2000. I remember the feud with Dawn Marie (“Tamara Lynn Bytch”) in ECW. I remember her showing off those buns of steel to the live crowd in Dallas at Raw. And of course, who could forget her getting slopped by Phineas I. Godwinn (a then-clothed Naked Mideon)?

Last night they showed a video package that showed Sunny’s greatest moments. Tamara Lynn Sytch was a pretty girl. She was athletic, naturally very pretty and had lots of charisma. She was the girl you wanted but you knew you could never have, but you were going to dream about her anyway. She was one of the first Divas to draw. What makes her the first Diva, you might ask? Here is what I think. I think she was one of the first females in wrestling to do lingerie shoots and bikini shoots and, at some point in her career, served no other purpose than to come out and wave to the crowd. Sherri was a manager. Woman/Nancy Benoit was a manager. Miss Elizabeth was a manager/valet. And while Missy Hyatt did her share of bikini modeling, she pushed the envelope nowhere like Sunny did. Sunny was a pioneer who set the standard for every Diva we watch every week.

That being said, when I watch her footage, while she was the highlight of my mid-adolescent years, her stuff actually was pretty tame, all things considered. Her character was pretty simple. “I’m the drop-dead gorgeous woman you want. You can’t have me because I’m with Chris Candido.” That’s all she needed. Her body also looked like something that would be a foreign concept to Divas nowadays. She was natural. Her breasts didn’t enter the rooms three days before she did. Her lips didn’t look like flotation devices. And her hair didn’t look like Extension City. She was an insanely beautiful woman. And speaking from the fantasies of a 15-year-old boy, she more than got the job done. And I’m not alone. She was the most downloaded celebrity in 1996 on AOL.

The woman has earned her place in the annals of WWE history, and for what little it’s worth, I wish her congratulations for this time.

For my blog, click here. To follow me on Twitter, click here. For Facebook, click here.

The post Sunny to the Hall of Fame appeared first on BoredWrestlingFan.com.

I must begin this with a confession. I like Jersey Shore. [pausing for the jokes about losing my man card] It is an entertaining show. Yeah, make all your jokes, shout your snide remarks and giggle endlessly at my expense. But I’m not alone. Jersey Shore’s rating this past week was 4.7. Jersey Shore was the highest-rated show on Cable. Yes, that is better than WWE’s both hours of Raw. We won’t be seeing that during the “Did You Know…” graphic this week. Right now, Jersey Shore is one of the hottest topics you will find on television. If it was more sought after, it would be winning on Adonis DNA and tiger blood.

And no figure on Jersey Shore is more iconic than Snooki. Towering over none at 4’9″, she is a bubbly, charismatic, polarizing figure. You wanna get a group of people going? Bring up the subject of Snooki, and ask people what they think of her. Regardless of what this says about our society, Snooki is one of the hottest commodities on television today.

Yes, the wrestling world has had plenty of celebrity appearances go bad: RoboCop, the cast of Jackass, Pacman Jones. But there have been some really successful ones: The War to Settle the Score, Lawrence Taylor-Bam Bam Bigelow, Mike Tyson & that encounter with Stone Cold (How many times did we see that on ESPN?). Wrestlemania was built around the appearance of Mr. T, who was one of the hottest commodities of his time.

So here is an opportunity to get an actual star from Jersey Shore (and not some joke who hasn’t lasted either season and is now doing TNA) and capitalize on her star power. This CAN work. They will most likely have a broader audience than usual, because there will be some people who will tune in to see Snooki. As much of an indictment that is on our culture, it’ll create some buzz. When the people tune in, the key is to get them a reason to watch again.

WWE, this part is for you. You might have people who have never tuned in before. You need to make sure you give an exciting product that makes people tune in again. Also, your biggest show of the year is a matter of weeks away. Make sure you find a way to pimp out Wrestlemania like it’s never been pimped before. Also, I know that you’ve always been a sucker for your “Sportscenter” moment. Make sure you parlay this into an effort to sell the biggest show of the year.

With this in the right hands, this just might work.

For my blog, click here. To follow me on Twitter, click here. For Facebook, click here.

The post The Great Defense of Snooki appeared first on BoredWrestlingFan.com.

I fell in love with Ring of Honor all over again. I watched it when it was first created, but I had not really kept up with it. As a wrestling fan who despises the very thought of TNA existing, is tentatively getting back into the WWE’s product, can only watch AAA on Galavision for so long before my mind gets tired of listening to Spanish and can only go to so many live wrestling shows per month because I’m a husband and father before I’m a wrestling fan, Ring of Honor (ROH) fills a lot of holes for me. For those of you who haven’t discovered it, here are 10 Reasons to Watch ROH.

1. The price. WWE’s PPV’s are a whopping $44.95, $10 more for HD. Ring of Honor was $14.95. And they didn’t have some length promo bringing out Trish Stratus. I love Trish more than anything, but did she really belong being reintroduced on a PPV? I don’t think there was a single ROH fan tweeting that night that didn’t feel they got their money’s worth several times over.

2. Steve Corino storyline. I think that we can admit that Steve Corino has been one of the best heels of the past decade. The storyline now is that Steve Corino is trying to atone for his many sins. He’s trying to be a good guy. He still feels that urge to be bad. So now there is a kind of Incredible Hulk vs. Bruce Banner struggle.

3. Grizzly Redwood. My theater teacher in high school would always make us come up with verbs for our characters’ motivation. And she said to always go with the most interesting choice. Grizzly Redwood is a little guy. He plays the big burly lumberjack, which is ironic and a fun choice. He’s a great, scrappy babyface.

4. Kyle O’Reilly. The ironic thing is that I was not looking for O’Reilly’s matches. I was searching for Adam Cole, and I found a match where he was wrestling Kyle O’Reilly. And all respect to Adam Cole, but I was blown away by O’Reilly’s work. He’s sensational and worth watching.

5. El Generico. When it comes to chants, El Generico’s makes me happy. I even tried doing it for my local indy and their wrestler Lucha Lucha. The crowd did not appreciate the “Ole!” chant. However the Texas Rangers do “O’Day” for reliever Darren O’Day. He’s a great gimmick and a great reason to watch.

6. Sara del Ray. Most women on TNA & WWE look like they came off the page of a porn magazine. They teach women that they are never anything unless their cup size is double letters or look like the page of a porn magazine. Not that del Ray isn’t pretty or isn’t attractive, but she’s a strong female athletic wrestler. Plus, she’s a great heel and the woman you love to hate.

7. Kings of Wrestling. Kings of Wrestling are a Tag Team that seems like they could be very successful singles wrestlers, yet they are a tag team. They have an amazing swagger and work incredibly well as a team. They own the ring, and they own the Tag Team Division. And with respect to Beer Money and Motor City Machine Guns, they are the best Tag Team in wrestling.

8. TV Title. Most fans probably hate this, but I’ll admit it. I like the title. I’m ok with a DQ or countout. I’m ok with time limit draws. Matter of fact, I wish there were more time limit draws. I used to love the TV title, because Lord Steven Regal always found a way to last long enough. If you wanted that title, you had to win and you had to win in 10 minutes.

9. The Briscoes.I remember watching some early Briscoes matches, CZW, ROH, etc. I’m going to be honest. They didn’t show me anything. They were just two brothers who looked alike and were ugly as sin. This match they had against Haas & Benjamin was the real first time they had ever shown me anything. I think I finally “get it.” They showed me something for the first time. They still aren’t any prettier, but I finally “saw something.”

10. Shelton Benjamin done right. I could write a whole blog of how the WWE dropped the ball on Shelton Benjamin. With respect to John Morrison, he is perhaps the most athletically-gifted wrestler I’ve ever seen. Do you remember that match he had against Triple-H in a time when The Game DID NOT LOSE? How about his match against Shawn Michaels (That one was for bragging rights between me and my then-fiance)? And then they brought in his mother, failed sitcom veteran Thea Vidale. And I saw a great athlete ruined because of poor booking. Ring of Honor understands how to do Shelton Benjamin right. No stupid gold hair. No failed sitcom actress. No reference to his criminal past. Just a great athlete being a great athlete.

To follow me on Twitter, click here. For Facebook, click here.

The post 10 Reasons to Watch Ring of Honor appeared first on BoredWrestlingFan.com.