Jeff Cobb vs. Timothy Thatcher - Supreme Pro Wrestling - 2/13/2013

The blog lives! Life put it on hiatus for a bit but it's time to get back into the swing of things with some fine independent wrestling. Let's go.

Jeff Cobb vs. Timothy Thatcher
I watched this match a few days ago, but not as closely as I will today. I enjoyed it immensely at the time, especially after watching the "Beat the Streets" wrestling competition before checking this out. Cobb and Thatcher look like legitimate athletes: muscular and lean but not overly chiseled. Thatcher has a similar build to Cesaro while "Mr. Athletic" Jeff Cobb is more squat, built like a keg.

They lock up straight away. Not your typical collar-and-elbow fair, but each has an underhook on the other as they jockey for position. Cobb drives Thatcher back into the ropes and breaks clean. Thatcher gets Cobb in a waistlock on the next lock up. Cobb escapes to grab one of his own, then hoists Thatcher into the air and brings him down to the mat. Thatcher counters on the ground to get behind Cobb. Both repeatedly go for waistlocks from behind when they can.

Thatcher gets Cobb in a hammerlock as they rise up. Cobb reverses into a hammerlock of his own, down to a waistlock, trips Thatcher, moves across him, and puts in a chinlock. Thatcher reverses into another hammerlock. Both men try quick pins, both get two counts.

They rise to their feet and tie up. Thatcher takes Cobb down and wrenches on Cobb's arm. Cobb grabs Thatcher's ankle and trips him. Thatcher picks Cobb's ankle from the bottom and pulls him into an ankle lock, forcing Cobb to grab the bottom rope. They lock up again, this time in a greco-roman knucklelock. Thatcher slips his leg behind Cobb, getting the mechanical advantage. He forces Cobb down to the mat and into a pin. Cobb bridges out before the three, rises up, and forces Thatcher down this time. Cobb shoves Thatcher's leg out from under him, putting Thatcher in a pin, but Thatcher gets out at two.

The two clutch onto each other in that Greco-Roman lock. Thatcher manages to break the hold on one hand with a kick to Cobb's arm, then yanks Cobb in and delivers a hard kick to Cobb's shoulder. Thatcher pulls Cobb to the mat again, this time working in a double wristlock. Cobb escapes and drops Thatcher with a fireman's carry. Now Cobb works Thatcher's arms, turning the wrist over, making Thatcher front flip to avoid a broken wrist. Cobb elbows Thatcher in the jaw when they rise up, the first strike of the match by my count. He shoots Thatcher into the ropes and dropkicks him. Two count. Thatcher gets back up. Cobb hoists him in the air for a delayed vertical suplex, marching around the ring before finally dropping the guy. Thatcher kicks out of a pin; Cobb grabs a headlock.

Thatcher pushes himself up into a headstand to escape. He rolls over Cobb, grabs a headlock of his own, gets a headlock take down, then pulls Cobb into a cross armbreaker. Thatcher has to roll back to escape it. Cobb rolls across Thacher, escaping his grip, then gets a headlock on.  Cobb takes Thatcher to the mat. Thatcher somehow twists Cobb into a crossface. Cobb has to use the ropes to escape again.

Now Thatcher has control. He butterfly suplexes Cobb then goes for a cross armbreaker. He's pulling back with all his might, but Cobb flips himself over and pushes Thatcher back into a pin. Thatcher kicks out at two but doesn't break his hold on Cobb's arm. Cobb clubs Thatcher in the back, finally breaking the hold. Thatcher hits a European uppercut, his first streak of the match. He attempts a pin but only gets two. Thatcher smashes Cobb across the back with a clubbing blow of his own, then drops Cobb with a big European uppercut. Cobb's reeling now. Successive uppercuts make him wobble. Cobb finally dodges one, gets behind Thatcher, and twisting back drops him. Thatcher kicks out of the pin. Cobb grabs a waistlock, deadlifts Thatcher up, and drops him with a German.

Thatcher kicks out and grabs another arm lock as he does so. He twists around Cobb, grabs underhooks on both arms from behind, and rolls Cobb over. Cobb's stuck in the pin, the ref counts to three. Thatcher gets the win in a great show of mat wrestling.

Match Rating: ****? Tough to score, but I loved this. Obvious flaws of the star system and putting a square peg in a round hole and etc. etc. aside, this was great. They didn't work this like anything else I've watched lately except for amateur wrestling. Not that this was an amateur wrestling shoot-style pro wrestling match. It is clearly reminiscent of catch wrestling though. The first strike occurs about two-thirds of the way into the match. Thatcher doesn't strike Cobb until the last few minutes. They make the few blows that they work in seem ultra effective because of their rarity. There isn't a big finisher or high spot to end this either. It's not even a sudden roll up. It's a hard fought, scraping roll up. Thatcher gets Cobb in a bad place, a dominant position. He rolls him over and sticks his shoulders to the mat in a way that he can't get out of for three seconds. It wasn't a fight, it was a wrestling match. I almost feel bad giving this "just" four stars. It's excellent, but my biggest knock is that I never quite popped the way I do for matches that I rate more highly. That could be my own fault for being unfamiliar with the style, but four stars is nothing to scoff at.

MORE Best of Japan 2000s

I continue to work my way through the Best of Japan in the 2000s project. Today's one of those days where I try to knock out a few more matches and get back on track. Let's see how it goes.

Toshiaki Kawada vs. Shinya Hashimoto - All Japan Pro Wrestling - Feb 22, 2004
Two of my favorites from Japan square off in this one so I've got high hopes coming in. Hashimoto has a really impressive bad ass aura for someone who really does look like fat Japanese Elvis. I'll give credit to the gear. The two back each other up early and break cleanly. Cleanly but cautiously. The two work on the mat after that with Hashimoto trying to double wristlock Kawada. Kawada gets a kick up to Hashimoto's head to break the hold. Hashimoto elbows Kawada away which pisses Kawada off. Kawada throws a high kick right into Hashimoto's face and he stares death back at him. They start trading strikes for a moment, popping the crowd.

There's a long low kick exchange next. Kawada comes out the worse for wear, dropping to the ground and clutching his knee after Hashimoto sweeps the leg. Hashimoto targets the knee; Kawada sells like a champ. Hashimoto evolves from grinding and stomping on the knee to a leg hold. Kawada drags his way to the ropes to make a save.

Kawada comes back with bigger, harder kicks. He drops a knee on Hashimoto's arm then tries to pull on an armbar which leads to a protracted struggle. Kawada pulls Hashimoto into an arm triangle then counters it back into an arm bar when Hashimoto escapes. Hashimoto is right under the ropes but takes a while before he decides to grab them. Kawada enzuigiris Hashimoto, twice, but it takes a back drop to get the big man off his feet. Kawada keeps going after Hashimoto's arm and shoulder.

Hashimoto spikes Kawada with a brainbuster but rolls around in agony after, clutching his shoulder. The crowd chants for Kawada. Now its Hashimoto who chops away at his opponent with high kicks. He tries another brainbuster but his shoulder gives out. Both men look exhausted. Kawada knees Hashimoto in the gut repeatedly, throws a kick, more high kicks, elbows, and finally an enzuigiri/ Hashimoto actually gets up first, having used the ropes to catch his fall. He blasts Kawada with a kick to the chest. Kawad dropkicks Hashimoto twice, neither drops him. Hashimoto takes another enzuigiri, wobbles, and fainlly collapses back. Two count!

Kawada drops a knee to Hashimoto's shoulder two more times. He wrenches in a stretch plum, cranking Hashimoto's shoulder further and further. Hashimoto doesn't give in but he's stuck in the middle of the ring. He may not give in, but his corner does. A towel comes flying in, this one's over.

Good match, really liked how big of a deal each Hashimoto bump became. Top quality work on the arm and leg by each guy but the ending sucked. I mean, it makes sense for Zero 1 to protect their ace, but it feels soooo anticlimactic.

Match Rating: ***3/4


Masato Tanaka vs. Shinya Hashimoto - ZERO 1 - Nov 7, 2003
Hashimoto beat the shit out of Tanaka last time I saw these two together. This one is more even right out that gates. Tanaka gets Hashimoto on his back and into a leghold. The veteran Hashimoto straight up out wrestles Tanaka, working him into a triangle choke. Tanaka tries a test of strength that he wins by headbutting Hashimoto's shoulder. Tanaka immediately works that over. He slaps Hashimoto's shoulder which leads to Hashimoto slapping him back. In the face. Harder and harder. Tanaka looks like a punk compared to Hashimoto.

Hashimoto tries to cave Tanaka's chest in with two hard, hard kicks. Tanaka has to roll outside onto the mats below to catch a breather. Hashimoto takes him down the second he reenters the ring. A standing senton flattens Tanaka. Hashimoto claps his hands, getting the audience going once he gets back up. Tanaka boots Hashimoto in the face until Hashimoto finally falls over. His nose bleeds as he clutches the ropes and Tanaka's assault continues. He takes Hashimoto down by the arm, refocusing his efforts there.

Hashimoto catches Tanaka's arm as he tries to club away at Hashimoto's shoulder. Hashimoto headbutts Tanaka then goes back to those super stiff kicks to the chest. Tanaka looks like he regrets ever getting near Hashimoto now. The ref chides Hashimoto for continuing to kick Tanaka while he's in the corner. In response, Hashimoto kicks the ref away. The ass kicking must go on. Tanaka surprises everyone with a tornado DDT. He forearms Hashimoto, then his a diving forearm, then two lariats but the big guy is still on his feet. Tanaka hits the ropes, ducks a Hashimoto strike, then finally knocks Hash down with another lariat. He goes up top for a frog splash that Hashimoto dodges. That was a short run.

Tanaka eats a big DDT. He kicks out at two on the cover. Hashimoto tries for a brainbuster but Tanaka fights like mad to get out of it. He scoops Hashimoto up for a slam that barely keeps Hashimoto down. A crazy stiff slap and then a discus elbow have about the same effect. Another body slam leads to a frog splash. This one lands. Tanaka tries to double wristlock Hashimoto's arm and almost gets it in. Hashimoto has to grab the ropes to avoid it. Hashimoto shoulders Tanaka after both come off the ropes. he blasts him with another kick. A huge DDT follows. None of it is enough to put Tanaka away.

Tanaka can't get to his feet after Hashimoto lays in some more offense. The ref starts the ten count, only for Hashimoto to interrupt it with a double stomp. Hashimoto puts Tanaka in a triangle choke; the ref stops the match moments later.

Match rating: *** This showdown is less of an extended squash than the first one. Tanaka actually gets a good amount of offense in, especially compared to their match earlier in the set. Hashimoto still beats the snot out of Tanaka whenever they go toe-to-toe. He's the ace of the promotion and the absolute killer in there.


Toshiaki Kawada vs. Katsuyori Shibata
Shibata jumps Kawada before the bell rings. He takes a hard, swinging kick at Kawada but Kawada lays back to evade it. Shibata follows him outside to keep the pressure on. A few more hard kicks lay Kawada out while Shibata waits back inside the ring.

Kawada throws a low kick that Shibata checks. They trade forearms that get harder and harder. Kawada winds back for one big hit but the last forearm he took sinks in, making him stagger. Shibata works on his neck for a moment then makes a cover. Kawada kicks out at one. The two go back to slapping each other now. Shibata boots Kawada's stomach. He gives two Kawada kicks which gets an "ohhh" from the crowd. More importantly, it puts Kawada into a rage. Kawada chops and kicks Shibata until he collapses in the corner. Shibata stands up only for Kawada to back drop him. Kawada puts Shibata in the stretch plum. Shibata refuses to tap but the life slowly fades. Kawada makes a cover that gets two.

Kawada sits Shibata up. He tries a kick to the chest but Shibata catches it and hangs on. Shibata throws a hard elbow at Kawada's face. Kawada fires back with chops. Another strike exchange makes Kawada teeter into the ropes. Shibata puts on a sleeper though Kawada is grabbing the ropes. Shibata back drops Kawada then goes back to the sleeper. Shibata leaves Kawada sitting there, bounds off the ropes, and his the PK. Shibata works on another sleeper. Kawada powers out of it and rises to his feet. The two start to slap and trade strikes again. Looks very awkward. Kawada grabs Shibata by the hair and decks him with a closed fist. Shibata drops. He tries to stand so Kawada kicks him in the side of the head. Kawada adds a knee drop for good measure. He makes the cover and gets three.

Match Rating: **1/4 Fun little sprint but nothing worth writing home about. Kawada showed a bit too much ass for my liking. I enjoyed Shibata's shtick of stealing Kawada's offense.

ROH TV Episode 134

ROH pimps Supercard of Honor VIII hard out gate. Lethal hypes his showdown with Tommaso Ciampa for the ROH TV title in a best two out of three falls match. Lethal had Ciampa beat twice but for some unfortunate circumstances. Can he do it again? Let's find out.

This week's episode is a highlight reel form Supercard of Honor VIII, in fact. Looks like ROH got a quick turn around on this after some problems getting the Video on Demand up.

Silas Young vs. RD Evans (w/ Veda Scott & Ramon)

The crowd loves RD Evans. Silas tries to take care of business early on, going straight for the Nagasaki roll. Evans escapes that and boots Silas in the face. Not that it does much to slow Silas. Silas vertical suplexes Evans when Veda pulls his foot out from under him, letting Evans collapse onto him. Now he's pissed. Silas gives chase around the ring. Ramon tries to stop Silas. Silas backs him into a corner when Evans comes flying off the ring apron, wiping out the both of them. 

Evans rolls Silas back into the ring. He goes to the top only for Silas to cut him off. Silas throws him to the middle of the ring then lays in the boots. He screams at Evans as he chokes him, "I'm the last real man!" Silas is big on that. 

Evans and Silas do battle on the ring apron, trading blows. Silas ducks under a wild right that spins Evans around then scoops him up on his shoulders in an electric chair position. Silas drops back, slamming Evans into the ring apron and then down to the mats outside. Evans scrapes himself off the ground as the ref counts him out. It gets all the way to nineteen before Evans gets in. 

Frustration mounts for Silas. He kicks the bottom turnbuckle in rage. He approaches Evans but the wry lawyer pulls him into a small package. Two count, a shade away from three. Silas punts Evans in the face for that one. Silas puts Evans up on his shoulders again and Veda Scott is there like before. She gets up on the apron, distracting the referee. Ramon tosses Evans his belt. Evans swings for the fences but Silas ducks under it and boots him in the gut. 

Silas grabs the belt up from the ground. The ref is still dealing with Veda, so he's oblivious to the wrestlers behind him. Thinking fast, Evans claps his hands together and flops around in pain, acting like Silas just whipped him.  The ref turns around to see Evans writhing in pain while Silas has a belt in his hands. Silas pleads his case, saying he didn't do it. Evans sneaks up behind him and rolls him into a schoolboy pin. Two count again.  Silas, strap still in the hand, swings for Evans. Evans ducks and referee Paul Turner gets a strap to the face. 

Evans drops Silas with a hangman's neckbreaker. He makes the cover and the crowd chants the pin. One, two, three, four, five, six, seven. The ref never makes the count. Silas gets Evans up on his shoulders again. He hits the Nagasaki roll, pops up to his feet, and nails the Pee Gee Waja plunge. A second ref storms in and makes the count. One, two, three! The streak is over! Only Paul Turner is back up. He says no. Turner reverses the decision, disqualifying Silas. The streak goes on, 83-0!

Match Rating: **1/2 Tons of fun. Evans bumps around for Silas. Silas looks like a pure ass kicker up to snuff with his moniker. Evans' near falls get the crowd every time. The finish is a bit messy/anti-climactic with the referee's reversal, but it's for the best. Evans keeps his streak, Silas is the better man.

Truth Martini cuts an ominous promo on Taven. He says he doesn't walk alone for long, so Taven better be ready for a surprise. The House of Truth is getting a new member. 

Matt Taven vs. ???? (w/ Truth Martini)

Truth comes out before his charge does. He's all alone, leaving us in suspense as we wait for the next House of Truth member. Truth calls Kevin Kelly into the ring. Corino figures Kelly must be the mystery opponent. Kelly is as confused as Taven. Truth opens up his book, giving some parting words. Taven cuts him off, slamming the book shut, saying no one wants to hear this. He sets the Book of Truth on fire. That puts Truth into a rage. He blindsides Taven with a swift low blow kick. 

Taven searches the back of the building, desperately looking for Truth. He goes into the men's restroom, where you hear Taven screaming in pain. Truth comes out, cool as a cucumber. "I'm not fired, you're fired." ROH personnel yell for a paramedic. 

ROH shows highlights of Tommaso Ciampa's European excursion, defending the TV title in WXW and Preston City Wrestling. The Ciampa-Lethal match is next.

Best Two Out Of Three Falls - ROH TV Title- Tommaso Ciampa (c) vs. Jay Lethal

Ciampa takes his knee brace off and puts it in Lethal's outstretched hand instead of adhering to the Code of Honor. The two lock up. Lethal pushes Ciampa back until they break in the corner. Lethal shoots Ciampa off the ropes; Ciampa shoulders him down. They aren't exactly feeling each other out early on. Lethal tries a La Magistral cradle only for Ciampa to catch him and pin his shoulders to the mat. Two count, but Lethal rolls through and takes it into a pin of his own for two.  

Ciampa ducks under Lethal's leg when the latter tries a springboard kick. The two keep countering and evading each other, showing how much they learned in previous encounters. Lethal hits his signature dive to the outside. He hits it again when Ciampa rises. The crowd chants for one more time. He goes back in, lines up a third try and hits it. Ciampa bowls over the railings and into the crowd. 

Lethal chops Ciampa across the chest outside of the ring when a commercial break ends. Ciampa shoves him into the ring post to cut that out, then sits Lethal down in the corner. Ciampa goes to the far end of the ring, makes a mad dash at Lethal, and hits him with a hard rising knee with so much momentum that Ciampa rolls over the railings and into the crowd again. Ciampa brings Lethal back into the ring for a pin attempt that gets two. Lethal reverses an irish whip, hip tosses Ciampa, cartwheels, then drop kicks him in the face. He chops Ciampa hard across the chest. Lethal continues to target Ciampa's chest with drop kicks, chops, and an elbow drop. Lethal hits an enzuigiri out of nowhere that buckles Ciampa's knees. Lethal tries a surprise Lethal Injection , only for CIampa to pull him down into a lungblower. It doesn't land cleanly at all. Ciampa holds his knee in pain.

Both men try to suplex each other with little success. Lethal finally gets Ciampa up, suplexing him to the outside, but Ciampa held on and takes Lethal with. The ref counts both men out while they trade blows, ignoring it entirely. They both jump in at nineteen. Lethal goes for another Lethal Injection. It's short. Ciampa gets a waistlock, pushes to the ropes, and rolls back for an O'Connor roll. Lethal pops throw it, bridges into a pin, and gets three! Lethal takes the first fall. 

Lethal puts up three fingers, taunting Ciampa. Ciampa boots him right in the face. Lethal counters a powerbomb into a hurricanrana. Ciampa kicks out of the pin and rolls into one of his own that gets two. Both men rise up. Ciampa gets there first and crushes Lethal with a rising knee. Lethal barely kicks out in time. 

Lethal pops Ciampa with a Lethal Combination that goes into a Koji Clutch. Ciampa slips out of the submission and goes right into a Sicilian Stretch. Lethal spins his body around to get a foot on the rope, barely. Both men try to hit the ropes, only for the other to cut them off. Ciampa hits a surprise ace crusher for two. No one bought it as a nearfall. Ciampa takes Lethal up top, trying to get him on his shoulders. Lethal slips off of him and pulls Ciampa out of the corner. He drops Ciampa with Project Ciampa! Ciampa kicks out at two. Lethal goes to the corner as the crowd chants "Randy Savage." He wastes too much time, letting Ciampa get up. Lethal springs off the ropes with a back elbow. Ciampa ducks it, meaning referee Todd Sinclair eats that Tajiri special. 

Ciampa hits three rolling German suplexes while Sinclair is down. Four actually, releasing on the fourth. Lethal gets right up after that, because why wouldn't he? Ciampa flattens him with a lariat to make sure he stays down. Truth Martini comes down to the ring. He slides the knee brace to Lethal. Ciampa stumbles up to his feet. Lethal smashes the hard brace against Ciampa's head and makes the cover as Sinclair gets up. Two count! That shocks Lethal but he hasn't given up. He climbs to the top turnbuckle and drops an elbow on Ciampa. Lethal makes the cover. Ciampa kicks out at one. He fires up, full of fighting spirit. Lethal superkicks him but Ciampa won't go down. Another superkick, Ciampa still won't go down. Lethal kicks Ciampa in the knee. That drops him down. Lethal Injection. Cover. Three count. Lethal wins the ROH TV title two falls to zero. Truth Martini celebrates, raising Lethal's hand in the air. 

Match Rating: *1/2 Many will rate this much, much higher than I did. There was good action in there and some nice spots. That said, they killed it for me after the second fall. Both men, especially Lethal, stopped selling. Lethal got up after four German suplexes like it was just a clothesline early in the match. Ciampa kicked out at one. Some people love that. I'm on the "I hate this" side of the coin. 

Final Thoughts

Loved the opener. RD Evans and Silas Young play off each other perfectly. Silas is 100% serious and here to kick ass. Evans being the goofball that he is has to luck his way into a victory, but it works. The main event was disappointing. All this talk about Ciampa's knee an the only time Lethal goes at it is the very end. At least he got that right. The selling was egregiously bad at times. I can't stand the kick out at one that late in the match either. I don't like fighting spirit, hulking up babyfaces as a rule, but the one count makes it that much worse. This was not a bad episode of ROH TV, just disappointing. 

AAW TV Episode 7

Eddie Kingston starts us off in his street clothes, talking up his showdown with Silas Young. Tonight's the night they meet in the ring.  

Phil Colvin appears alone in the booth after the intro rolls. Derek St. Holmes is on vacation, meaning Dave Prazak will be in on commentary.

AAW Heavyweight Championship - Shane Hollister (c) (w/ Scarlet Bordeaux) vs. Juntai Miller

Not only is Scarlett there, but Markus Crane and Dan Lawrence came out too. Juntai Miller clears Markus Crane out of the ring as the match starts. That gives Hollister the jump on Miller. Scarlett distracts Miller next, setting Hollister up for a slingshot elbow. Miller rolls out of the way before it lands. Hollister maintains his dominance early on, grinding Miller out. 

Hollister taunts Miller as Miller crawls around in pain. He eggs Miller on before grabbing a hold to work Miller's shoulder. Miller powers out of it. He follows up with high knees until Hollister cuts him off with a chop. Miller dodges a superkick and seizes the opportunity to bulldog Hollister. Hollister doesn't let that train get rolling. He stops Miller in his tracks with a spinning back elbow. Hollister charges Miller in the corner; Miller gets his knees up, putting Hollister down.

Miller gets behind Hollister and fights for a dragon suplex. Hollister squats to avoid it and locks his hands together, not letting Miller get the leverage he needs. Repeated back elbows get Hollister out of that predicament. Even more elbows slam Miller until he drops. Hollister tries to lift Miller for Shug's Last Gift, this time it's miller who won't be lifted. He rolls Hollister into a small package, getting a two count.

Hollister finds himself daze and facing the corner after a drop toe hold. Miller drives Hollister's head into the bottom turnbuckle with a hard curb stomp. Miller pulls Hollister up and lands the dragon suplex he wanted before. Miller waits for Hollister to get up. The champion looks hurt. Miller rises to charge but Hollister pulls the trigger first, flying across the ring with a hard drop kick.

They exchange forearms. Both wobble. Hollister throws knee to Miller's head; Miller returns the favor. Hollister catches Miller's leg on his last attempt, scoops him into the air, and power bombs the young challenger. Hollister lines up a super kick, goes for it, misses, then eats a hard slap on the counter. Miller throws a flurry of elbows and a backfist. He hits the ropes. Hollister cuts him off with a superkick. Next he lands a German suplex that bridges into the pin. It's good for two. 

Miller slips out of another Shug's last gift. He gets behind Hollister, scoops the arms, and hits a second dragon suplex. Hollister gets up right away, fired up, looking to fight.Miller lands a BIG boot. Hollister screams, Miller BIG boots him again. Hollister finally drops to his knees, letting Miller land a second curb stomp of the night, this one square in the middle of the mat. He wants to go for the pin but Dan Lawrence and Markus Crane get involved, leaping onto the apron. Miller has to swat them away like flies. Hollister gets the chance to recover, pulling himself up. Miller hits a running kick and goes up top. Double knees land on Shane. He covers. Two count! 

Miller tries the double knees from up top again. Hollister moves and Miller rolls through. He charges at Hollister. Hollister superkicks him square in the jaw. Miller staggers so Hollister adds a second. Hollister drags Miller in. He lifts the challenger up and drops him square on his head via Shug's Last Gift. Hollister rolls that into a cradle. The champion retains his title.

Match Rating: ** Not the best match from either guy, nor a real stand out for AAW TV. It's not bad but there are definite flaws. Miller has a lot of potential though at the same time he still looks green. His offense looks like it should be stiff and hurt like hell. The problem is that he doesn't always lay it in. As a result, some of it looks bad, particularly the Muay Thai knees. The fighting spirit spot from Hollister was odd. He's not a babyface, so the champion getting amped up and no-selling struck me as weird. On the bright side, as I watch AAW I find myself enjoying Hollister's finisher more and more. They protect it a lot, it doesn't have a crazy set up, and he can take it straight into a cradling pin. 

Silas responds to Hollister in another pre-taped video. He can't wait to get his hands on Kingston and show him who's actually the coward. 

Silas Young vs. Eddie Kingston

Silas barrels into Kingston before the match even starts. He slams his fists into Kingston's side and drives him into the corner. He chokes Kingston, forcing the New Yorker to escape to the outside. Kingston tries to fight back out there, not that it works much. Silas beats him from corner to corner, throwing Kingston into the guard rails, choking him with his boot. Kingston begs for mercy. He gets a couple of shots to Silas' gut then whips the Last Real Man into the rails. Silas remains undeterred, getting back at Kingston with a boot to the gut so that the ass whoppin' can go on. 

Silas finally rolls Kingston into the ring. That gives Kingston the opening he needs to rake Silas' eyes. Silas comes back at Kingston with a ton of fire. They start slapping each other. Not hard slaps, more like little shows of disrespect. Silas whips Kingston into the corner. He charges but Kingston tosses him over the ropes and back outside.

Kingston tries a vertical suplex but Silas isn't letting it happen. He punches Kingston in the side then counters it, suplexing Kingston on the hardwood floor. They take it back to the ring where Silas lands a double ax handle from up top. Kingston and Silas throws stiff, stiff chops into each other. Young drops Kingston with the last of those. Silas is up on the middle rope with Kingston in the corner, starting the 10-punch combo, but Kingston inverted atomic drops him to cut that off. 

Kingston throws Silas with an uranage that gets a two count. Kingston hits the sliding D, an elbow to the back of Silas's head while seated, but that only gets two. Kingston keeps upping the ante. He tries a backdrop driver but Silas gets out. Silas throws high kick then springs off the corner. Some miscommunication happens but the end result is Kingston going down. Silas starts to look for the Pee Gee Waja Plunge when Kingston slips off his shoulders. Kingston backdrop drivers Silas. Two count. 

Silas ducks under a spinning backfist. He scoops Kingston onto his shoulders, rushes the corner, and hits a Nagasaki roll, a/k/a the Finlay roll. Silas calls the finish, slapping the corner. Alex Colon comes out from back and distracts Young before he can try the Pee Gee Waja Plunge. Those precious seconds let Kingston get to his feet. He backfists Young once, then twice, dropping Silas. He makes the cover. Silas kicks out at two. 

Silas has Colon go looking under the ring for a chair. The two high five, so clearly they have something together. Val Malone sprints out and grabs that chair away from Kingston before he can dome Young with it. She slaps the hell out of Kingston too, getting a bit of retribution. Kingston is about to go after her when Silas makes the save with a Killer Combo. Kingston kicks out at two on the pin. Young puts Kingston in the stock lock, a full nelson stretch, right in the middle of the ring. Kingston refuses to tap. Luckily for him Colon jumps onto the apron, distracting Silas. Colon grabs Val, forcing Silas to go after him. He gets Colon into the ring and crushes him with a Nagasaki roll. Silas boots Colon a few times for good measure. Kingston rises up. He stalks behind Silas and low blows him with a swift kick. Silas eats another spinning backfist. He collapses to the mat. Kingston makes the pin and defeats Silas in the main event!

Match Rating: **1/2 Better than the opener and there was quite a bit going for it. The two do a fine job brawling, especially outside the ring. There are a few slip ups and awkward transitions that drag down the match. This may not be an all time great match but it does an excellent job continuing the feud. 

Final Thoughts

One okay match and one pretty good match tonight. Neither match is tearing down the house this week. Silas and Kingston see their feud get bigger and bigger now, especially in the promo Silas cuts after the match. The Kingston-Young feud is the highlight of these initial AAW episodes. The blow off is coming up soon, May 2, and the TV is setting it up wonderfully. 

ROH TV Episode 133

No Kevin Kelly or Steve Corino at the top of the show. It's ROH correspondent Larry Mercer, whose name sounds like a guy the WWE would give to someone with a boxer gimmick. Mercer is all decked out in a tux too. Why? Because it's ROAD RAGE this week. Raising the Bar Nights 1 and 2 in Milwaukee and Chicago provide our matches, so we get Roderick Strong vs. Chris Hero and reDRagon vs. The Young Bucks. I'm pumped, you should be too, let's watch.

Roderick Strong vs. Chris Hero
Footage from earlier in the night precedes the match. BJ Whitmer and Jimmy Jacobs, the other members of Decade, offer Adam Page a spot. He accepts, though doesn't exactly look thrilled about it. Decade stays in back for now with only Roderick Strong out for the match. The crowd is roaring before the bell even rings. Milwaukee might have great acoustics, but no doubt this crowd is hot.

Jimmy Jacobs interrupts Corino and Kelly as Strong and Hero work the mat. Hero looks like he picked up a lot from William Regal based on how he works Strong's joints. Strong tries to leapfrog Hero. Hero anticipates it and boots him in the chest. Jacobs on commentary distracts me. He sounds out of breath and the announcers aren't calling the match either. Hero tosses Strong to the ropes and lines up a big boot. Strong catches himself and slides outside to avoid that. Hero runs at Strong, who moves out of the way when Hero dives. Hero braced for that too, diving over the top rope, springing his hands off the apron, and completing a front flip unscathed. Now he boots Strong in the face.

Hero tries to senton Strong from the apron into the ring. Strong gets his knees up. Strong smells blood. He takes Hero outside and whips him into the barricades. Hero collides back first. There's almost no room to maneuver out there. It looks like the set up has half the space between the ring and barricades that it usually does. Strong beats on Hero outside the ring then takes him back in for a two count. He keeps working Hero's back with a chinlock stretch. He puts the boots on hard and uses the ring post to stretch Hero more. Hero boots Strong in the face as he gets back in the ring, stopping Strong for now.

Hero doesn't get to do anything else before Strong dropkicks his face. Strong continues to work the back. Hero powers out of a hold and chops Strong across the chest. Strong nails Hero with an enzuigiri to cut him of once again. Here come the stiff chops. Hero fires back with chops of his own. A hard right backs Strong into the corner. Hero comes at him, Strong whips his leg up for an enzuigiri again, this time Hero ducks under it and boots Strong in the jaw.

Hero alternates between big boots and hard elbows. He's got Strong reeling now. Hero tries to lift Strong into the electric chair position. Strong fights out. Hero gets it on a second attempt though Strong slips out again. Strong lands an Olympic slam, a running knee into the corner, and then eats yet another boot from Hero as he tries a second running knee. Hero goes for another boot. This time Strong slips under it, catches Hero's leg in a cradle, and drops the lanky striker over his knee.

Strong cinches in a backslide that gets a two. Hero comes back with a la magistral that gets two. Both throw desperation blows. Hero brutalizes Strong with a stiff elbow. It gets a two count; I bought it as the finish. Hero gets Strong in the electric chair again. Strong slips out again but fails at an O'Connor roll. He gets a big jumping knee instead and an even stiffer Sick Kick. Hero kicks out at two and Strong immediately takes him into a Stronghold. Hero twists to escape and pulls Strong into a cradling pin for a two. Hero crushes Strong with three discus elbows. He gets Strong up in the electric chair again, drops him to his feet, and throws a great discus elbow. Strong drops, dead to the world. Hero puts him in the Stretch Plum. The referee calls for the bell right away. There was no tap out, the ref had to stop it for the unconscious Strong.

Match Rating: **** Wow, I loved this. Hero is killing it since he went back to the indys. Strong looked great. He worked the back smartly and kept cutting Hero off at the right time. I could gripe about not enough selling if I wanted to but instead, I'm going to point out that they weren't exactly no-selling either, plus this was more of an elongated sprint. Hero's striking is one of my favorite things going right now.


ROH Tag Team Championship - reDRagon (Kyle O'Reilly & Bobby Fish) (c) vs. The Young Bucks (Matt Jackson & Nick Jackson) 
I was lucky enough to be in attendance for this one. The Young Bucks came out to a huge face reaction, despite being heels everywhere else. Nick Jackson superkicks a streamer out of the air, getting a pop from the crowd. Scarlett Bordeaux introduces them as IWGP Junior tag champs, but only the ROH titles are on the line tonight.

Nick Jackson and Kyle O'Reilly start. O'Reilly tries a cross armbreaker very early. Nick counters it into a pin. O'Reilly kicks out but almost eats a superkick as he rises to his feet. Nick wrings O'Reilly's arm and tags his brother in. Bobby Fish makes an early save, probably unnecessary, which Nigel McGuinness notes on commentary. Fish tags in next. Matt takes it to the mat and then focuses on Fish's elbow. His brother helps out after tagging back in. They add one of their trade mark, over-the-top back rake spots.

Fish works over Matt when we return from a break. He tags in O'Reilly, who boots Matt but gets a boot to the gut of his own. O'Reilly overpowers Matt and takes him down, squeezing his head. Matt fights out of that, hits the ropes, and tries a sunset flip. O'Reilly never drops. Instead he takes the arm and goes for another cross armbreaker. Matt squirms out, so O'Reilly tries the other arm. Matt desperately fights out of it.

Fish isolates Matt in the corner. He steps on Matt's casted hand while O'Reilly hits two running knees to the ribs. reDRagon don't really work over the hand, despite the obvious injury. The commentary harps on that but the champs clearly have another plan. They keep Matt from getting near his brother, try though he may. Matt lands a spear out of nowhere, knocking over O'Reilly. He crawls to his brother and finally gets a tag, just as O'Reilly brings his partner in. Nick is full of fire. He dropkicks O'Reilly off the apron and takes it to Fish until we head into another break.

Nick tags out to Matt when the match returns. O'Reilly throws Nick into the corner of the barricade. He lines up on the apron, takes off, and falls prey to the first superkick of the night. Matt drapes Fish over the middle rope while Nick hits a springboard 450 splash on him. Two count follows. The Young Bucks isolate Fish now. He wipes Fish out with a superkick but the cover takes too long. O'Reilly makes the save.

Now the Young Bucks double team O'Reilly. They Irish whip him into the corner. O'Reilly dumps Nick over the ropes and onto the apron. Matt charges O'Reilly, who moves out of the way as his brother attempts an enzuigiri, so he bites it instead. reDRagon return the double team favors. Matt rolls out of a double backdrop. He throws O'Reilly into Fish, buying himself some time. Matt sidekicks O'Reilly. Fish backdrop driver's Matt. Nick comes in and spinning high kicks Fish, but O'Reilly avenges his partner with an ax kick and a hard, hard elbow. Matt finishes the circle with a superkick, leaving all four men on the mat.

The Chicago crowd chants for the Young Bucks, willing them to their feet. Fish charges Nick, who drops and pulls the top rope down, spilling Fish outside. O'Reilly takes another boot to the face. Nick goes out to the apron, where Fish yanks him down and then drives him into the corner of the barricades. O'Reilly gets his second chance at a jumping knee from the apron, landing this time. Fish rushes at Matt in the corner. Matt gets his boots up. O'Reilly grabs Matt by the ankle before he can take off from the top, giving Fish time to get back up. Fish hits a top rope falcon arrow. Matt kicks out at two. Fish and O'Reilly start to set Matt up for Chasing the Dragon when Nick grabs Fish by the ankle. Matt slips out of the suplex and rolls behind O'Reilly, pulling him into a school boy pin. O'Reilly kicks out in the nick of time.

Matt elbows and knees O'Reilly until O'Reilly cuts him off with a blow to the injured hand. O'Reilly tries to sweep the leg. Matt hops over it and superkicks O'Reilly. Nick adds a second. O'Reilly stumbles around. he whips his mouth guard at Matt, who teases a superkick but instead cracks O'Reilly with his cast while the ref isn't looking. Fish gets on the apron, so the Bucks double superkick him back off.

Matt covers the still-down O'Reilly, but he kicks out at two. Nick dives over the top onto Fish, taking him out again. Matt sets O'Reilly up for a tombstone. Nick gets on the apron, springboards in, and finishes the spike tombstone piledriver. Nick makes the cover. One, two, no three! Bobby Fish dives into the ring and shoves Nick off just in time. All four men look exhausted. The crowd chants "this is awesome." Nick dumps Fish outside. They set O'Reilly up for More Bang for Your Buck. The Finlay roll lands. Nick tries a 450. O'Reilly turns and catches him, taking Nick straight into a triangle choke. Nick squirms around and reaches for the ropes with his legs but he's too far. Fish grabs Matt, keeping him from saving his brother. Nick keeps fighting the hold. He pushes his legs off the mat, rolling over O'Reilly, flipping him into a pin as O'Reilly keeps the hold locked in. The ref spots the pin, drops down, and counts the three! O'Reilly's shoulders were beneath his own weight and Nick's, he couldn't kick out. New tag champs! The crowd can't believe it. Bobby Fish and Kyle O'Reilly believe it even less. But the Young Bucks get to walk out with the titles.

Match Rating: **** If you're looking for a fast-paced, all action ROH tag, look here. These four start at a slower pace but build into a frantic scrum at the end with the four wiping each other out repeatedly. O'Reilly catching Nick into a triangle choke looked like it was the end, especially when Fish grabbed Matt. I know I thought it was over when I was there. This one held up from how I saw it live, though ROH did not do the best job capturing the noise of a very raucous crowd.


Final Thoughts
Whew. ROH TV really turned it up this week. Two blistering matches that are very different from each other. Strong and Hero tried to beat the hell out of each other with stiffness while the tag match was built around high spots and high flying. Both excel at what they did. ROH can add another strong episode to its run of solid TV this year.

AAW TV Episode 6

AAW comes back to its home base, the Berwyn Eagles Club, for tonight's action. We've got two matches on the docket tonight, so let's get to it.

L.O.S.E.R.S. (Moondog Bernard & Seaman) vs. Keith Walker (w/ Nikki and Kevin Harvey)
Handicap match. I guess Keith Walker is in for a world of hurt tonight. Luckily for him he's built like a brick shithouse. The LOSERS don't look so inspiring. Seaman clenches his fist and forearms Walker to start. Walker doesn't move. Moondog tries to rescue his partner. He gets a chokeslam for that.

Walker slaps the hell out of Seaman's chest in the corner. Moondog comes running for the save again, but Walker moves. Both LOSERS are in the corner. Walker slaps Moondog's chest now, worse than he did to Seaman's. Walker slaps the hell out of Seaman a bit more then throws him onto his right shoulder with a release German.

The LOSERS get a second to shine when Moondog hurls his partner off the top rope and into Walker. Walker gets up after a short respite. He lariats both LOSERS, one after the other, then covers each with one hand.

Match Rating: 1/2* "I can't wait to see the star rating online for this," said Phil Colvin during the match. Where there you have it. It's a squash, so I'm almost obliged to give it a N/R, but it went long enough tht I can give it something.


The cameraman finds the LOSERS backstage somewhere for the next segment. They're hurting bad, but they survived. For them, that's cause to celebrate.


Colvin and St. Holmes talk about the last ten years of AAW history. Last month was AAW's tenth anniversary and they showed a great video package to open it up, which they rerun here. Very well done video showing the talent who have come through AAW over the previous decade.


AAW Tag Title Three Way Elimination Match - Kung Fu Manchu (Louis Lyndon & Marion Fontaine) (c) vs. Men of the Year (Michael Elgin & Ethan Page) vs. Zero Gravity (CJ Esparza & Brett Gakiya) 
Ethan Page found Elgin backstage and hustled him into a tag team since his usual partner, Josh Alexander, is out. Elimination rules tonight, starting with Lyndon and Esparza grappling. Page can't help but heel it up while the honest Elgin watches with dismay. Esparza and Lyndon clear out the interloping Page so they can go back at each other. Fontaine tags in. Elgin tags in next. Page immediately tags his partner on the shoulder, so he's going in instead.

Fontaine bulldogs Page. He gives Page the run around while they're matched up, so Elgin has to tag in and save his partner. Gakiya tags Fontaine out while he's near the rope, meaning Elgin gets to face off with Brett "mini-Alvarez" Gakiya. Elgin works as the base for Zero Gravity. Zero Gravity and MOTY trade momentum between each other. Kung Fu Manchu are on the outside for a long while, 7 minutes or so, while Men of the Year and Zero Gravity hog all the action. Zero Gravity receive most of that action, forcing Gakiya and Esparza to bump and sell for their bigger opponents. Esparza finally tags in both Kung Fu Manchu members at the same time, so they come in with a slew of double teams, taking out Page and then Elgin. Kung Fu Manchu look for a dive outside onto MOTY, but Zero Gravity cut the champions off before they can both dive.

Esparza gets to be the first one who successfully lansd a dive to the outside, taking out Page. Kung Fu Manchu run to the corners and hit springboard moonsaults to the outside. Elgin climbs to the top turnbuckle but Gakiya dashes up the ropes and jumps off of Elgin's back onto the men outside.

Kung Fu Manchu have a long run where they take out Zero Gravity and start to work over Elgin. Page urns the tide. Elgin spinning backfists Fontaine, buckle bombs him, and hits the Elgin bomb. Elgin eliminates the champions and guarantees that the next fall determines AAW's new tag champs.

Elgin has Esparza up in a delayed vertical suplex when Page comes in and tries to give him a hand. Elgin wants to do it alone and pinches Page's belly. Page is unflappable. He hugs it out with Elgin, not letting the insult get between them. Zero Gravity land a flippy cup 2.0 on Page/ Elgin breaks the pin up. MOTY toss Zero Gravity all over the ring for the next few minutes, but the little flyers come back with sheer determination.

Zero Gravity try an assisted moonsault on Elgin. Elgin gets his knees up, then Page dumps CJ Esparza off the top and into the railings below. Elgin stops Page from using the ring bell on Gakiya, then gives him a stern talking to. Elgin does a backfist and a buckle bomb, but Page cuts in front of him to finish Gakiya off with an uranage. Page makes the cover and MOTY are the new AAW tag champs.

Match rating: *** Good match, very entertaining. Some really great spots in here though there is a bit of nonsense too. Elgin and Page make for an unusual pair. Elgin wants to win but wants to do it the hard, fair way. Unlike Page, he's not a cheater and won't take the low road. Elgin shakes hands with Zero Gravity after the match while Page looks on with disgust. Kung FU Manchu came into the match as champs but were out for a lot of it. Between standing on the apron and getting eliminated first, this match was mostly Zero Gravity vs. MOTY.


Final Thoughts
AAW TV goes by fast, I'll say that. It helps that episodes clock in at under an hour, instead of 2-3 like so many others. The video package is probably the highlight of the show this week. I liked the main event more live than I did on rewatch, but my tastes change and I notice more that I'm too caught up in live to complain about.

Speaking of live AAW. They've got a show this Friday at the Berwyn Eagles Club. Come check it out if you're in the Chicagoland area.

ROH TV Episode 132

Apologies for the delay, but a hectic schedule sometimes will do that. No worries, ROH TV Episode 132 is still up for another couple of days. Catch it while you can. Or read this and get the gist of it. Either way, let's get to the show.

Brutal Burgers (Cheeseburger and "Brutal" Bob Evans) vs. reDRagon (Bobby Fish and Kyle O'Reilly)
reDRagon have been picking on Cheeseburger recently, trying to humiliate him in arm wrestling and in the debut episode of The Fish Tank. He gets a chance at revenge here. Not at the ROH Tag Titles though, which reDRagon come to the ring with.

O'Reilly starts with Cheeseburger. O'Reilly can throw the little guy around, no problem. Cheeseburger tries a German suplex on O'Reilly but isn't strong enough to pull that off. O'Reilly keeps toying with him, slapping Cheeseburger in the face, until Cheeseburger gets some comeuppance and returns the favor. O'Reilly lunges at Cheeseburger. Cheeseburger slips past him and gets a tag to Evans.

I never noticed how big Bob Evans is. He dwarfs Bobby Fish, who tags in for O'Reilly. That size doesn't prevent Fish from wrestling him down to the mat. The two trade armlocks. Evans outwrestles Fish, showing his experience, and Fish resorts to strikes to get his momentum going.

Cheeseburger tags back in and tries his luck at a vertical suplex. He's a bit small for that too, but Evans igives him a boost. Fish and O'Reilly both try to come at Cheeseburger, who rolls away once again to tag Evans back in.

Fish gets the better of Evans until a hard lariat. Evans falls back and tags Cheeseburger in. The underdog tries to stand up to Fish and O'Reilly, but they double team him. reDRagon catch Cheeseburger on a crossbody attempt until Evans charges in and shoulders the lot of them down. Cheeseburger lands a stunner on Kyle O'Reilly. That gets him a two count. Evans and Cheeseburger take O'Reilly up for a chokeslam, getting a second two count. reDRagon dump Evans outside and go back to doubling up on Cheeseburger. Evans has to make a save before they can get a three.

reDRagon pick apart Evans and dump him outside yet again. O'Reilly lifts Cheeseburger up and the tag champs finish him off with by chasing the dragon.

Match review: ** Really enjoyable match to start. reDRagon get to play prick heels who beat up on Cheeseburger. Cheeseburger, the undersized hero, tries to stand up to them but that's just not going to work. Evans is trying to help him out. Individually, Evans might have been able to handle one of reDRagon. As a team, him and Cheeseburger fall short.


"Unbreakable" Michael Elgin vs. AJ Styles
ROH World Heavyweight Champion Adam Cole joins Kevin Kelly and Steve Corino in the commentary booth. The tale of the tape hilariously lists Elgin as an inch taller than Styles, who is at least an inch taller than him when they face off. Both men adhere to the code of honor and we are off.

Elgin drives Styles back into the corner twice. Maybe locking up isn't the way to go. Styles has to use speed instead, which he does when he gets around Elgin, grabs a waistlock, and then transitions into a headlock. Elgin uses his strength advantage to keep ahead of Styles. Styles smartly refuses a test of strength and instead takes it back to the mat. Down there he gets the best of Elgin.

Styles and Elgin trade forearms. That's in Elgin's wheelhouse too, so Styles takes Elgin to the mat again. Styles works over Elgin's back. The announcing team talks up how strong Elgin is, saying he's physically ROH's strongest competitor ever. Styles works over Elgin, cutting him off with a dropkick after Elgin tried an Irish whip.

Elgin gets his delayed vertical suplex in. Styles pops a shoulder up at one. Elgin hurls Styles into the corner with a hard Irish whip, leading us to a commercial break. Don't fret! The ROH action continues even in the break. J.G. Wentworth must be a new corporate sponsor, because Jay Lethal is here to tell us about their wonderful business.

Elgin has Styles sitting in the corner by the barricades outside when the wrestling resumes. He plants a big boot square in Styles' jaw. A shoulder off the top levels Styles. Styles ducks under a discus forearm. He Pele kicks Elgin, though it didn't land too hard. Elgin cuts Styles off before Styles can get on a roll. Styles moonsaults onto Elgin, who's outside, and drops him with an inverted DDT. It wasn't one smooth motion, but an impressive sight nonetheless.

It takes until the count of seventeen before Elgin can drag himself in. Styles is full of fire. He drops the big guy with a springboard forearm. Elgin has to drive Styles back into the corner to kill this run. Styles catches Elgin facing away on the turnbuckle. He throws on a torture rack submission, though he can only hold it for a few seconds before he drops Elgin. Styles knees Elgin in the face twice when Elgin goes for another delayed vertical suplex. Styles bounces off the corner, trying another moonsault into an inverted DDT. Elgin catches Styles on his shoulder this time then spikes Styles with a tombstone piledriver! Two count and the match goes on.

The commentary puts over how Elgin landed weirdly on his knee there. Styles goes after it. He rolls Elgin onto the mat to cinch in a knee hold. Elgin grabs Styles by the hair and slams his head down repeatedly until Styles has to let go. Elgin finds himself up in the corner again. Styles tries a hurricanrana. Elgin stops him. He lifts Styles up for a superbomb. Now Styles counters, tossing Elgin with a hurricanrana. Elgin is down. Styles goes out to the apron. He launches himself back into the ring, springing off the ropes, hitting Elgin with a frontflip leg drop. Styles goes for a pin, Elgin kicks out at two. He wants to keep going but we're at 30 minutes. The time keeper rings the bell. We have a draw!

The crowd chants for five more minutes. Elgin, still on the mat, gets a mic. He says Styles couldn't beat him in 30 minutes and he can't beat him in 5 more minutes. Elgin will go all night long. Styles wants it, Elgin wants it, and the crowd wants it. Only Adam Cole wants nothing to do with this. He's a man of action too. Cole snatches the bell away from the time keeper and throws it aside. He slides into the ring with his title belt, which he uses to drop Styles and Elgin. Jay Briscoe comes running out. Cole escapes the ring before Jay can catch him. Cole tries heading up the ramp, but that's where Kevin Steen is there to stop him. Cole has to make a break for it, hurdling the barricade, escaping through the crowd.

Match Review: *** I liked this match a lot more than I like most Elgin matches, especially one going this long. Styles was great in there and he made Elgin look like a monster. Any time they went toe-to-toe, Elgin got the best of it. Elgin didn't fall into his routine spots, save for one delayed suplex that was only twenty seconds or so. Big thumbs up for ending on a draw too. Sometimes it's got to happen.


Final Thoughts
Another good hour of ROH TV. I normally prefer episodes with three matches instead of two, particularly when one of those takes the bulk of the hour, but Elgin and Styles did well. Next week's episode comes from CHICAGO, from the Raising the Bar Night 2 event. I was at that one live, so I'm looking forward to watching it again on TV. Until then watch wrestling.

AAW TV Episods 4 and 5

Double review today! To save you all fromdroning, I'll have more concise thoughts instead of full recaps. As for the wrestling, AAW is developing some storylines through the first three episodes, so let's see how that continues in these two. 

AAW TV Episode 4

Colvin and St. Holmes start us off with a little intro to tonight's action. They kick it out to the opener. Looks like we've got AAW TV's first ever ladies' match to start. 

"Miss Natural" Heather Patera vs. "The Punk Rock Rag Doll" Heidi Lovelace

These two have a long-lasting feud in AAW, so long that this match, taped almost a year ago, already was part of an old rivalry. Patera's twice the size of the diminutive Lovelace. Heidi is all energy; Patera is a powerhouse. 

Patera tosses Lovelace around the ring and into barricades like a rag doll, so she earned nickname. Lovelace goes for quick roll ups and surprise pins multiple times. Patera is more of a tank in there, smashing through Lovelace with tosses, suplexes, slams, and just about whatever she wants. Lovelace's durability must have been too much for Patera, who resorts to pulling on her opponent's shorts to seal the win. 

Match Rating: ** Lovelace bumps like crazy for Patera and it looks great. Patera serves as a solid base for Lovelace to work off of too. These two have solid chemistry.

"Dirty" Dan Lawrence vs. Colt "Boom Boom" Cabana

It's a match between one wrestler who makes his opponents look like clowns and another wrestler who always looks like a clown. Lawrence has this great way of screwing up when he should succeed and pulling through when he should fail. Cabana is a total enabler. 

This match isn't about a bitter feud or rising up the ranks in AAW. It's a midcard comedy match with two guys pulling out tricks to one up each other over and over. Or in Lawrence's case, to keep falling on his face. Cabana gets Dirty Dan in the middle of the ring with the Billy Goat's curse.

Match Rating: **1/2 Stars can't adequately rate this match. It's not a technical wrestling showcase or something like that, but these two were made for each other. Superbly enjoyable and I've watched it three times in the past week. 

Markus Crane vs. Alex Colon

Crane goes for an immediate roll up that Colon reverses. Colon takes a little bit of punishment from Crane, but finishes him off in under two minutes. 

Match Rating: N/R Barely a match for Colon here. He got the W, but that's not enough for him, so Colon cuts a short promo after. 

Alex Colon vs. Silas Young

Silas Young comes out and grabs a mic to challenge Colon. Young is there to represent the very special AAW fans. Young and Colon open with chain wrestling. Neither is able to get a real edge, even with the major size difference. Young gets to show that size difference, and the power that comes with it, while Colon is keen on making things dirty.

Young gets to be an asskicker in this match, which he excels at. Colon and Young continue tonight's apparent theme: good chemistry. No noticeable mishaps in there, no mistiming of note, just solid wrestling. Young taps Colon out to end a fast-paced match.

Match Rating: **1/2 This one's a real sprint of a main event. Colon and Young work at a blistering rate. There's not a lot of selling or building off of work in the match, two things that up a rating in my book, but I can see a lot of people giving this more love than I do. It's a good piece to build up Young. 

AAW TV Episode 5

Silas Young gets up close with the camera somewhere backstage as episode 5 starts. He's looking for revenge and can't wait to beat Eddie Kingston's face in. 

Colvin and St. Holmes gives us our obligatory opening. Today's matches come from outside the Berwyn Eagles Club for the first time. Instead, we go down to Bourbon Street. 

AAW Heavyweight Championship - "Sugar" Shane Hollister (c) (/w Marcus Crane & Scarlett Bordeaux) vs. Flip Kendrick

AAW announces Hollister at 180 pounds. This is probably my personal fascination, but announced weights catch my interest. Hollister's is probably accurate. Kendrick is even smaller. Hollister uses that size advantage to push Kendrick into the corner at the start. Hollister can bully Kendrick around when he grabs a hold of him. Kendrick avoids letting that happen at all costs as he flies around the ring, into the ring, out of the ring, wherever he can. 

Hollister relishes in hurting Kendrick, like when he gets him in a seated stretch and starts to grind his thumb into Kendrick's ribs. He lays the boots into him after that, then tries a Jericho pin for good measure. 

Hollister looks like a confident champ. Kendrick has to be the upstart, which is hard enough without Markus and Scarlett there to distract him. He flies as well as anyone I've seen in AAW. Good thing for that, since most of his offense involves going through the air. Things get a bit sloppy in the latter stages here. Scarlett and Markus keep interfering too, possibly saving Hollister that night. Hollister closes out Kendrick with a great finishing sequence that I'll leave you to watch since I don't want to do it misjustice.

Match Rating: ** Hollister looks great when he controls the match and that's when things flow best. Kendrick can do some impressive flying, but he got too much in for my liking. Hollister flipped between looking like a dominant champ and a guy who was vulnerable, but not in a good way. 

Eddie Kingston responds to Silas Young. This won't be the last we see of him either. Kingston is in the main event today against Rhino, who gets some camera time of his own. 

Eddie Kingston vs. "The War Machine" Rhino

Kingston hurls a chair at Rhino from outside the ring before the match starts. Not content with having one opponent tonight, Kingston decides to get into it with the fans too. The match starts out with a bit of wrestling. Can't say that I expected that. With these two, I was thinking we would have a pure brawl on our hands. One stiff chop too many kills that. Let the punches fly! 

Kngston and Rhino trade hard chops outside the ring. Kingston parts the crowd to throw Rhino into the sea of chairs, PWG style, only for Rhino to turn the tables. The brawl goes into the crowd for a while until returning to the ring. They trade bombs back and forth as momentum trades between the two. Kingston lands a hard discus elbow then an exploder, but Rhino kicks out at two. 

Rhino's toughness gets the best of Kingston, who digs some chairs out from under the ring. He sets two up, facing each other then lays a third on top. Kingston starts climbing the ropes when Rhino cuts him off. Rhino grabs Kingston and powerbombs him through the chairs. That's a two count too. 

Rhino spears Kingston in the corner, but it's not a full gore. So he bides his time in a far corner, waiting for Kingston to get up. A full force gore follows, but that's not enough to end it. Rhino tries a second gore but Kingston gets a knee up. Kingston gets a chain from under the ring now. He wraps it around his fist and socks Rhino, but that doesn't get the three. A spinning backfist doesn't put Rhino down either. A second one makes him wobble. A low blow and a third backfist finally wrap things up.

Match Rating: ** There are things to like here. Both are adept at brawling and those segments of the match go well. Rhino gets put over huge here even in a loss. He ate so much punishment. The real problem is that things went too long. Going five minutes less would have helped a ton. 

Kingston cuts another promo that night after his match. Super intense. 

Final Thoughts

Two very different shows. The first one had four matches, three of substance, all of which went by in a flash. All three were smooth and enjoyable in their own ways. That was probably AAW TV's best episode yet. Episode 5, on the other hand, had two matches, both of which were significantly longer than anything on Episode 4. Both could stand to trim some fat from the matches. Not a great hour of TV, but the Kingston-Silas Young feud keeps building, so its worth watching. 

ROH TV Episode 130

And we're back! Episode 130 of ROH TV, pre-taped from ROH's ancestral home in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Tonight's main event is Tommaso Ciampa vs. Jay Lethal for the TV title, but that's some ways off. Let's go to the start.

Team Benchmark (Bill Daly & Will Ferrara) vs. Hanson & Raymond Rowe
Team Benchmark make their ROH debut. They must be looking for some Observer love, since they're bringing a banner full of sponsor ads down ringside. Hanson and Rowe look like badasses compared to these guys. Hell, they look like badasses next to anyone on the ROH roster. Hanson takes it to Ferrara from the get go. Rowe keeps that going after a tag. Daly has to make a save after a Hanson German suplex.

Daly tags in and throws a pretty mean right cross at Hanson's jaw. He follows it with a chop, but Hanson isn't exactly reeling. Daly ducks a clothesline by Hanson and tags Ferrara back in. Ferrara gets to take it instead. Rowe comes in and tosses Ferrara with a hard fallaway slam. He got real snap to that one. Ferrara keeps serving as their punching bag and does his job well enough, save for whacky selling on one spot. Daly gets in again and goes right at Rowe. Kevin Kelly equates him to Johnny Manziel with his antics. Steve Corino doesn't get the reference, he's a baseball guy. Ferrara tags back in. Daly is too busy screaming in excitement to notice Hanson. Hanson's boot greets him upside the head. Rowe grabs Ferrara and ends it with Death Row.

Michael Elgin comes out after the match while Rowe and Hanson are still in the ring. Neither 'prospect' is afraid of him, but Elgin isn't playing the intimidation card. He talks up both guys, saying they represent the best wrestling in the world. Rowe and Hanson got his respect, now he has their back.

Match Rating: * Okay squash match to open things up. It could have been a bit shorter if they wanted a pure squash. Rowe's finisher still looks vicious and like it's going to cripple someone in the shoot way. Elgin hinted at them having tag team gold. Hopefully that means ROH is pushing these two as a team. I'm all for that.


Kevin Steen is in the ring after the break, mic in hand. Outlaw, Inc. come out before he can get a word in. They say that they took care of his Cliff Compton problem, now they want him to become an outlaw. Steen says it didn't work out too well last time he did something like that, and with all due respect, those guys were better men. Outlaw, Inc. try an ambush, but Steen fends them off while Nigel McGuinness and a crew of refs come running. Impromptu match time!


Kevin Steen vs. Homicide
Homicide answers the fight, so Kingston gets on commentary. Steen's has the best of Homicide at the start 'til Homicide gets a dropkick in. The two go outside, where Steen throws Homicie into the boards. They take it back to the ring so Steen can casually slip a clothesline and continue the beating. Homicide hits a swinging DDT and goes straight for the cover, but it's just a two.

Homicide puts Steen up in the corner until Steen bites his way free. Steen sentons Homicide from up top. He has Homicide in position for a cannonball in the corner, but Kingston leaves the announcer's table and saves his wounded partner. Why not kill two birds with one stone? A Steen cannonball from the apron to the outside does that.

Steen tries for a package piledriver. Homicide slips out and tries to counter with an ace crusher. Steen shoves him into the ropes, pops him into the air, and powerbombs him back down. He gets ready for a package piledriver when Kingston enters the ring. He hits a spinning backfast on the unexpecting Steen, ending the match via DQ.

Homicide takes the ringbell afterwards and goes after Steen. Him and Kingston are about to get the duct tape out when Cliff Compton comes flying out of nowhere, chair in hand. Outlaw, Inc. head for the hills while Steen and Compton stare each other down. Compton still has a chair in hand, but he never attacks.

Match Rating: * DQ ends an unremarkable match. Homicide and Steen really weren't clicking in there. Their timing seemed a bit off, neither guy looked particularly smooth either. Watchable but skipable if you're in a hurry.


Nigel addresses the crowd when the show returns from another break. He's goin to say something about the New Orleans show when Jay Briscoe interrupts. Jay appreciates being a 'credible contender', but he beat Adam Cole cleanly in San Antonio. As far as he's concerned, no one ever beat him, so he's still the champion. Two men claim they're champions and that's one too many. Nigel wants to do away with the controversy. There's only one way how. LADDER WAR FIVE.

Cole comes out to respond. "Absolutely unbelievable" are the first words from his mouth. He's disgusted with Nigel's matchmaking, but if this is how it has to be, this is how it has to be. Cole keeps talking while Michael Bennett sneaks int othe ring, gets behind Jay and low blows him. Mark comes running ut for the save, but Cole and Bennett walk away with their hands in teh air.


ROH Television Championship - Tommaso Ciampa (c) vs. Jay Lethal
Lethal got a visual pinfall last time these two met, but Ciampa walked out with the championship. Matt Taven, the distant third in this television title trio, joins the commentary team. Bobby Cruise is about to get in the ring when Ciampa lunges at Lethal. The two start to trade blows, no introductions, they're going right to the fight. Inside and out of the ring, they're trading forearms and fists. Neither guy is willing to back down. Lethal starts to wobble but he throws an enzuigiri that brings Tommaso down first.

Lethal hits a missile dropkick and Ciampa rolls out onto the arpon. He follows with a springboard kick that finds nothing but air after Ciampa moves. Ciampa drags Lethal to the ring apron, takes him by the leg, and throws him HARD into the boards outside. Lethal hit shoulder first, so Ciampa picks Lethal up and throws him shoulder first into the boards again. Lethal sits there, sucking air, while Ciampa comes charging with a rising knee. He throws Lethal into the boards again. Ciampa gets some space and comes running back for another knee until Lethal surprises him with an armdrag. Lethal cartwheels after that, placing himself in front of Ciampa so he can hit a dropkick.

Lethal drags Ciampa into the ring and covers. One count. Lethal suplexes him then goes for another cover. Up to two now. Lethal throws stiff chops at Ciampa. He bodyslams Ciampa then hits a diving dropkick to Ciampa's head. Cover gets another two. Ciampa bounces off the ropes and kicks Lethal in teh chest when he bends over for a back body drop. A hard chop of his own flips the match around.

They're up in the corner next with Ciampa hammering away at Lethal with elbows. Lethal almost falls off the top to the outside. Ciampa hits the rarely seen superplex as we go to commercial break. He's putting boots to Lethal when the match continues, but not for long. Lethal shoots up to his feet and hits a flurry of strikes. He tries a Lethal Injection; Ciampa pulls him down into a lungblower. Two count after that.

Ciampa gets flipped onto the ring apron. As he rises, Lethal springboards off the middle rope and hits a dropkick. Lethal's got a burst of energy, enough for three straight suicide dives. The third sends Ciampa crashing into the audience. Lethal rolls Ciampa back into the ring while he goes up top. Lethal lands an elbow drop but it's not enough to end it.

Lethal wants the lethal injection while both men are on the apron. Ciampa cracks him with a rising knee then slams him hard. Both men tumble outside. The ref starts the count but the cameras turn to the ring entrance, where Truth Martini has come out. Taven is on commentary still, but they refuse to acknowledge each other. Ciampa and Lethal barely get back in the ring as the ref counts nineteen.

Both guys are working hard to one up each other. Lethal stops Ciampa with a lethal combination which he rolls into a koji clutch. Ciampa works his way out of that and goes straight into a Sicilian stretch. Lethal gets a foot to the ropes while Truth Martini starts to berate Taven. Taven's had enough of that nonsense, so he takes Truth by the lapels and throws him onto the ring apron. The ref tries to sort that out while Lethal and Ciampa continue. Ciampa goes for a sunset flip that Lethal reverses it into a pin of his own. He clutches Ciampa's legs and gets another visual pinfall, nearly a six count, but Ciampa gets out by the time the ref turns. Ciampa deadlifts Lethal up from the mat and shatters his back with the project Ciampa. Ciampa makes the cover and gets the three count.

Match Rating: **1/4 Both guys go for the classic, all action, fast-paced style. Ciampa had some good moments in there where he shows his anger with Lethal, after all, it was Lethal who hurt his knee. The match could have used more of that, more visceral actions between the two.


Final Thoughts
Next week is a six man, Decade vs. Adrenaline Rush and Andrew Everett. This week wasn't as strong as last week, but that doesn't mean it was weak. This was a pretty exposition heavy episode, which you need from time to time. The two prospects have some direction now, Steen is going in a new one, and the main event kept both guys looking good.

AAW Pro Wrestling - Episode 3

AAW has no introduction this month, so neither do I. Let's go.

Danny Cannon vs. Marek Brave vs. Knight Wagner vs. Ty Colton
It's a fatal four-way. No tags, no count outs, no DQ, all action. Action so fast that I'll stick to the highlights. Brave lands a high cross from the top corner on to all three outside less than a minute in. That should tell you what kind of match this is. Danny Cannon joins the fun with a springboard corkscrew. Him and Colton work as fast as they possibly can in the ring after that. Tons of moves until Colton puts Cannon out of commission with a double stomp as Cannon lays across the middle rope.

Marek Braves goes at Colton until Knight Wagner pulls Brave off the top rope and drops him with an elbow. Colton gets to his feet. Him and Wagner shake hands, making a little truce, until Colton backstabs Wagner a heartbeat later and tries a school boy. Wagner repeats the process. Mini-Davey ends the feudin' and fightin' with a double DDT.

Cannon is caught in a tree of woe while Brave goes up top. Colton and Wagner join them, standing on the ropes until they superplex Brave and free Cannon. Cannon launches Colton with a dropkick. Knight Wagner running knees Cannon. Marek Brave spears Wagner and goes straight into a pin. Colton makes the save.

Colton misses a phoenix splash on Brave but Cannon lands a rotating splash on Colton. Both are hard to pull off here. The ceiling at the Berwyn Eagles Club is obnoxiously low. Cannon gets to shine a bit until he goes overboard. Brave flattens Cannon with a super kick as he comes off the top, then gets the pin.

Match rating: ** Really fast paced opener. It's a pure spotfest, but it did it's job: it got the crowd excited and plenty warmed up as the night opened up. It should do likewise on TV.


More Eddie Kingston after the AAW opening video. Kingston recaps what he did last week and loves every moment of it, to say the least. But tonight his attention turns to Juntai Miller.


Eddie Kingston vs. Juntai Miller
Kingston's got a mic before the match can start and he goes right for the cheap heat, ripping on the Blackhawks. The mic dies on him for a minute, giving the crowd a chance to chant "New York sucks!" A fan pegs him in the head with a streamer, a second almost gets him, and Eddie is pissed. Miller is cool as a cucumber over in the corner, waiting for Kingston.

Kingston arm drags Miller to start. Kingston throws one chop before Miller turns the tables with a half dozen of his own, chopping Kingston all around the ring. Miller arm drags Kingston and puts him in a hold until Kingston pushes him back into a corner and breaks the hold with a face wash. Kingston has to roll outside to escape Miller's offensive barrage, but Miller follows him out with a corkscrew dive.

Kingston grabs the ref and pulls him into Miller as Miller gets back in the ring. Kingston chokes Miller on the ropes, then gives Miller an eye poke when he tries to fight back. Kingston starts to work Miller's neck with with a cravate. Miller almost escapes with a few gut shots, but Kingston neckbreakers him before that can happen.

Miller finds himself back in the corner where Kingston chops him again and again. Miller sells how beat down and hurt he is while the bully Kingston throws him around. Kingston takes too long taunting the crowd, giving Miller enough time to raise a knee to Kingston's jaw when Kingston charges. Miller chops Kingston once before a Kingston forearm puts him down. He fires up, full of spirit, but another Kingston elbow drops him again. Miller keeps on fighting. He drives Kingston's head into the mat with a hard stomp. Kingston kicks out at two. Miller charges, Kingston catches him with an overhead suplex. Then a lariat. And a tiger suplex to boot, but Miller kicks out at two.

It's all Kingston now. He puts Miller down with a back suplex, then a running forearm as Miller sits up. Again a two count. Miller shows a ton of heart, but no amount of heart saves him from Kingston's spinning backfist. Kingston doesn't bother going for the pin. He lets Miller writhe around in pain. The ref checks on Miller, who is barely able to stand. Kingston goes to drag Miller up, but Miller's been playing possum. He enzuigiris Kingston, high kicks him, and big boots him. All of that is still only good for two.

Kingston is the one staggering now. Miller goes to the top. Kingston moves before Miller can land a double knee. Kingston spinning backfists Miller again, but before Kingston can get a pin, Silas Young interferes. He attacks Kingston until the undercarders, AAW's resident security guards, break the two up. Kingston backfists Silas while some of them hold him back.

Match Rating: * I like both guys a lot, but this wasn't the best I've seen of either. It's mostly sloppy and plodding, but there are some definite pluses. In particular, I think Miller does a fine job selling and looking like he's taking a beating. Plus there was no finish to the match. Miller disappeared, Kingston walked away. More important than the match rating is that the Silas-Kingston feud gets hotter.


Zero Gravity (Brett Gakiya & CJ Esparza) vs. Monster Mafia (Ethan Page & Josh Alexander)
"Big guys versus little guys" as Phil Colvin calls it, and he's spot on. Monster Mafia look like their combined weight would double Zero Gravity's. Alexander powers out of a headlock almost immediately by simply throwing Esparza across the ring. Esparza tries working holds until Alexander just smacks him away.

Esparza and Gakiya have to use trickery and high flying to their advantage. Alexander tags out to Page. Brett Gakiya catches him with a crucifix into a pin, but Page kicks out. Gakiya wrestles more like a high flying gymnast, but it's working against Page. Until Page knees him right in the gut, then it stops. Gakiya tags out to Esparza, who tries to dive onto Monster Mafia. Alexander stops that with a hard forearm. As he gets back into the ring, Gakiya comes charging, flips over Alexander and the top rope, and lands on Ethan Page. And the guard rail. Had to hurt.

Alexander has Gakiya  on the ground, grabs him by the neck, and throws him overhead with a fall-away slam in one hell of a physical spot. Alexander and Page lay the hurt on Gakiya. At one point, Alexander tries to drag Gakiya around by the ankle. Gakiya kicks the bent-over Alexander in the head, so Alexander stomps right on his chest. Monster Mafia double team Gakiya. Page goes for a pin, but Esparza saves his partner.

Alexander toys with Gakiya, sticking a boot in his face. Gakiya kicks Alexander's thigh, buying himself some space, but Alexander elbows Esparza off the apron. Gakiya rolls past Alexander, dives for the hot tag and gets... nothing. Except a deadlift backdrop when Alexander finds him. Gakiya keeps trying to sneak his way past the Monster Mafia, but they're throwing him around like a toy. Gakiya finally gets his much needed tag. Esparza comes flying in. He hits a cross body on Page, dropkicks Alexander, then flying clotheslines Page.

Page tries to dump Esparza outside, but he clutches the rope. Page puts him down with an enzuigiri instead. Monster Mafia double team Esparza until Gakiya can make the save. Zero Gravity get Flippy Cup 2.0, but Alexander kicks out. They drag him over to the corner, looking for an assisted moonsault, which lands. Esparza never gets to come off the top; Page pulls his teammate away. Gakiya flips over the top rope again, but Monster Mafia catch him and double powerbomb him into the ring apron. Esparza launches himself from the top, splashing the two big men.

Esparza tries going to the top yet again. Page yanks on the rope to stop that. Monster Mafia take Esparza and crush him with a double styles clash. That's a lot of weight coming down on a little guy, and it's enough to get the pin.

Match Rating: **3/4 There was a lot of good to this one. Zero Gravity eating Monster Mafia's offense, mostly by flying around the ring on tosses and slams, looks great. Zero Gravity resort to tricks and high flying to level the playing field. There's some sloppiness and I think Monster Mafia probably sold a little too much if anything, but they still looked like, well, Monsters, while Zero Gravity were hard fighting but undersized heroes.


After another break, we get some more revealing footage of Scarlett and an outro from Colvin and St. Holmes. They close it out, but Kingston gets the last word. I'm cool with this trend. Kingston wants AAW to send someone tough and bad at him. He's just getting started here.


Final Thoughts:
This hour of TV flew by. It's a really strong showing in AAW's main event. Every match did what it should. The opener is all action. The second match develops the main story on AAW TV. The main event is the best match they've shown yet. Thumbs up.

Best of 2000s Japan SUPER FRIDAY

It's the last real day of spring break, so naturally I'm sitting on the couch watching wrestling. I'm trying to participate in the Best of the 2000s Japan wrestling project, but I've fallen behind my original schedule of one match a day. This is due in August, so it's time to start binge watching. Today I start 2002. Let's settle in for the long haul.

Satoshi Kojima vs. Genichiro Tenryu - AJPW - Feb 24, 2002
Tenryu has been a top three wrestler in this project for me. I love mean old bastards roughing up younger guys and Tenryu is the pinnacle of that. Kojima plays the unfortunate youngster this time. At about 31 years old, Kojima is hardly a kid, but next to Tenryu he might as well be. Kojima came back at Tenryu with tons of fire. The lariats Kojima hit on Tenryu looked killer, but Tenryu wasn't going to lose that easily. I loved Tenryu beating Kojima into the ground with chops but then falling back into the ropes, grimacing in pain once he saw Kojima wouldn't see it.

Match Rating: ****3/4


Jushin Liger & Wataru Inoue vs. Yoshinobu Kanemaru & Tsuyoshi Kikuchi - NOAH - Feb 17, 2002
Liger and Inoue jump Kanemaru and Kikuchi as the bell rings. The four brawl for the next few minutes until things settle down. The crowd roars their disapproval whenever Liger or Inoue interfere. Liger is such a phenomenal dickhead. The NOAH fans want their guys to win so badly that they don't even care when Kanemaru puts his feet on the rope for a pin attempt. The wrestling match breaks down into a straight up fight for a few seconds here and there, really cementing the animosity. Liger flops around like crazy when Kikuchi gets him in an armbar and he makes his desperate attempts to get the ropes so dramatic. Kanemaru even uses one of Liger's finishers on Inoue to seal a victory.

Match Rating: ****1/4 and the best juniors match so far in the set. As if I didn't like this enough, there's a twenty man brawl at the end. I can't resist a big brawl while the timekeeper furiously wails away on the bell.


Mitsuharu Misawa & Kenta Kobashi vs. Jun Akiyama & Yuji Nagata - NOAH - Feb 17, 2002
Another huge tag match from the same night. This one is a "SPECIAL MATCH" if the signs are being honest with me. Misawa and Nagata start it off but it's Akiyama vs. Kobashi the fans are dying to see. Nagata works a more methodical pace than Akiyama, who's going full bore at Kobashi and Misawa. That is until Kobashi and Nagata start smacking and chopping the crap out of each other. Interesting how the ref didn't care at all the Akiyama was in the ring, standing watch over Misawa when Nagata had Kobashi in a leg lock. I guess it doesn't matter if he doesn't attack Kobashi? The closing stretch is good, but today is the odd chance that I can say there was a better tag match on the same card. Akiyama getting the pin on Kobashi seems huge, but the crowd went silent for it.

Match Rating: ****


Masato Tanaka (c) vs. Shinya Hashimoto - ZERO1 - Mar 2, 2002
Tanaka already dropped a lot of his ECW baby fat. He's not as ripped as he is today, but the transition is starting. Tanaka kicks the belt away at the start, which infuriates Hashimoto. Hashimoto is bent on punishing Tanaka with an ass whooping. Tanaka bumps and sells more and more as Hashimoto continues the beat down. Tanaka pounces on Hashimoto for a pin the moment he gets Hashimoto down. He obviously wants nothing to do with this fight. Tanaka gets this look of "I'm sorry, please stop kicking my ass." Hashimoto finally obliges with a sick brainbuster.

Match Rating: ***1/2 but one of the stand out matches for what it is. Plays like a very extended squash.


Yuji Nagata (c) vs. Yoshihiro Takayama - NJPW - May 2, 2002
This must have been a TV broadcast, because there are a couple of Japanese commercials cut in before the match starts. Takayama is legitimately huge. At 198 cm, he towers over Nagata. Nagata starts wearing down Takayama early. Nagata makes every blow Takayama lands seem like it could be the end. I'm a fan of that. Nagata flinghing himself at the ropes when Takayama sets up for a German got a laugh out of me, but it emphasized how dangerous Takayama is. Nagata howls to show his fighting spirit but has to clutch the top rope to even stand at the same time. Nagata and Takayama start trading forearms. That evolves into trading rights. Nagata wins with two high kicks, the second smashing into the side of Takayama's head.

Match Rating: ***3/4

Genichiro Tenryu vs. Satoshi Kojima - AJPW - Jul 17, 2002
I skipped a few matches that I'll have to go back and see just so I could get to the rematch right away. The crowd chants "Kojima" while Tenryu looks as stoic as ever. Tenryu cornered Kojima early on in the first match with strikes and chops. This time Kojima evens the score. Tenryu drives Kojima back into the corner during a test of strength not long after. The crowd knows what's going to happen. Kojima knows what's going to happen. Kojima pushes back with all his might to get out of that. What a tease. Kojima starts targeting Tenryu's knee. Tenryu throws a great jab, probably because he's punching Kojima square in the face.

Kojima keeps going back at Tenryu's knee whenever he gets in trouble. Tenryu actually has to roll out of the ring and take a moment to let the pain subside. Tenryu's favorite spot on the other hand is throwing Kojima into the corner then jabbing and chopping the hell out of him. I love it way more when he does it than when Kobashi does it his style. Holy hell Tenryu just did a suicide dive through the ropes. Kojima returns that with a plancha of his own. Tenryu's selling of his knee is phenomenal. He limps across the ring as he runs from an Irish whip. Kojima won't stop targeting it with stomps, a figure four, and then a sharpshooter.

Kojima mimmicks Tenryu's chops and punches in the corner. Unlike the first match, he has to sell this time around and he isn't hiding his pain. He fixes his knee pad every chance he gets. Tenryu's mannerisms never cease to amaze me. The little things he does get the crowd going, like the face and gesture he makes when Kojima falls over as he tries to stand after a German suplex.

The crowd wants Kojima to win this one so badly. Tenryu tries a brainbuster, which ended the first match, but Kojima slips out and counters with an Ace crusher. Tenryu hits the brainbuster on the second try, but he's too hurt to get the cover quickly. He stumbles over and flops onto Kojima, who kicks out at two. Tenryu sets Kojima up for the spider German like the first match. It lands, but Kojima rolls away from the back elbow drop that follows. Kojima lands an avalanche Ace crusher. Tenryu gets a foot on the rope before the three.

Tenryu chops Kojima before he can hit a lariat. It stuns him for a second, but Kojima comes right back with it a moment later. Both men are down and have to slowly scrape themselves up. They trade hard, hard shots. Especially Tenryu's chops. Another brainbuster. Tenryu immediately brings Kojima back up. A second brainbuster in a row. Kojima kicks out!

Tenryu clenches his fist, sizing Kojima up for a lariat. Kojima blocks it. He shoots Tenryu into the ropes and lariats him on the rebound. Two count. The crowd buys every nearfall and so do I. The camera keeps switching to an overhead angle when both men are down, which is a visual I love. Tenryu boots Kojima's arm when Kojima tries another lariat. More chops, then a fourth brainbuster. And a fifth! Kojima gets up, filled with fighting spirit. He stumbles into the ropes and springs back with a lariat. Tenryu kicks out at two. This is nuts.

Both men trade chops again until a SIXTH brainbuster puts Kojima down. Tenryu has to slowly roll onto him. Kojima kicks out at two. Tenryu's pissed. He chops the hell out of Kojima. No more brainbusters. It's powerbomb time. He plants Kojima back into the mat and folds him in half. Kojima can't kick out of this one.

Match Rating: ***** Superb. Not perfect, but the complaints I have feel more like nitpicks when weighed against the intensity and drama of the match. There's a fighting spirit spot, which I'm not a big fan of by nature, but I think Kojima does it about as good as it can be done. He gives up going after Tenryu's knee, but after a while he clearly wanted to put the old man away. The near falls were about to get excessive at the end but Tenryu picked the right moment to finish the job and he did it with something different to boot. Loved it. Best match of the set so far.

ROH TV Episode 129

ROH goes straight into a match so I don't have much to open with. We've got Silas Young vs. Matt Taven to start and the world championship match between Chris Hero and Adam Cole for the main event. Let's begin.

Silas Young vs. Matt Taven
Silas came out with a strap, whipping it into the boards and against the ring. He doesn't bring it into the ring though, so Taven can breath easy. The two lock up. Silas drives Taven into the corner. Taven fires at Silas with hard punches. Silas blocks an O'Connor roll attempt but can't dodge the follow-up arm drag. Taven lands a standing moonsault that gets him an early two. Silas rolls out of the ring to take a breather.

Taven is looking away, distracted by something. Silas hurries back into the ring and ambushes him. Turns out that Truth Martini came out from the back, which caught Taven's attention. Silas and Taven trade momentum back and forth until Silas grabs the ref and pulls him between them. The show goes to a break, returning with Silas holding Taven in a chinlock. Silas drops Taven on the top rope between his legs. A springboard clothesline knocks Taven out of the ring. He crawls back and Silas immediately gets on him. Taven rolls past Silas, who puts on the breaks to avoid crashing against the corner, but Taven enzuigiris Silas to change the flow of the match.

Taven is on fire, knocking Silas down again and again. He lands a springboard moonsault that gets a two. Silas tries a killer combo, but Taven ducks under the lariat. Taven lifts Silas for the angel's wings, but Silas gets out of it and immediately counters with a hard lariat. Silas hits the Finlay roll, goes into the corner headstand and then the springing moonsault. Taven rolls out of the way, Silas lands on his feet. That looks familiar. Big spin kick from Taven, flooring Silas. Taven goes up top and hits a frog splash. Three count follows. Silas shakes Taven's hand before a sucker punch. Truth wants Silas to join him once Silas stops putting the boots to Taven. Instead, Silas walks right past Truth, disinterested.

Match Rating: ** Fast paced action. Taven could benefit from slowing it down a little, at least in my book, but he put on a fine show. Very clean match too, I saw no noticeable missteps in there.


ROH Television Championship - Tommaso Ciampa (c) vs. Hanson
Hanson won the top prospect tournament, giving him this title opportunity. Philly loves Ciampa. The two charge right at teach other and trade blows. Hanson bullies Ciampa into the corner with hard forearms and fists. Ciampa fights back, first booting Hanson then following up with blows of his own. Ciamapa dumps Hanson outside with a back drop then dives onto the big man. It looks like he hit the top rope on the way out, so it wasn't a smooth dive.

Ciampa sits Hanson down and hits running knees. Ciampa catches Hanson on a jump and slams him down in an impressive show of strength. The two of them go back and forth with hard forearms. They bounce off the ropes and come back with a forearm about a dozen times. Hanson throws a cartwheel in for good measure then clotheslines Ciampa with all his might. The struggles continues until Ciampa catches Hanson with a rising knee as Hanson stands up.

Ciampa looks for the Project Ciampa. Hanson knows it, so he drives Ciampa into the corner. He elbows Ciampa again and again. Then a big splash. Hanson goes up top and moonsaults onto Ciampa. Ciampa kicks out at two. Ciampa immedately brings Hanson into the Sicilian Stretch. Hanson rolls over and to his feet. He re-positions Ciampa on his shoulders, breaking the hold. Hanson tries to dump him but Ciampa lands on his feet. Spin kick of doom! Ciampa wisely rolls to the ropes and holds on for dear life.

Ciampa climbs onto the top rope again before Hanson cuts him off. Ciampa fights out of a precarious position and drops behind Hanson. Ciampa pulls Hanson off the top rope. Project Ciampa! Two knees right into Hanson's back. Ciampa gets the pinfall and retains his TV title.

Match rating: **3/4 Fun sprint of a match. Hanson's agility is really impressive for such a big guy. His moonsault isn't quite a Vadersault, but kudos for even trying it. Ciampa wisely doesn't try to toss Hanson around too much. When he stands toe-to-toe, Hanson gets the best of him, so he has to rely on big impact shots and counter blows.


ROH World Heavyweight Championship - Adam Cole (c) vs. Chris Hero
Hero got the pin on Cole in an elimination tag, giving him the right to challenge for Cole's title. Cole is anything but eager to lock up with Hero tonight. Hero turns Cole around within seconds and gets a neck crank. Cole grabs the ropes to escape.

Nigel is on commentary for the main event. He actually makes a rare statement in pro wrestling: giving a wrestler's real height. He mentions Hero as 6'2-6'3 and Cole as 5'10. This is critical for Hero being able to get leverage, he notes. Hero makes it look easy on the mat as he out wrestles the champion. Cole keeps backing away, scared. He manages to shoulder Hero down one time and immediately shouts his own name with the height of hubris.

Cole finds himself in another cravate until he shoulders Hero into the corner. Cole steps out of the ring, calling a time out. Referee Todd Sinclair starts the count, so Cole rolls into the ring for a brief second to stop that. He won't go near Hero, so Hero chases him around the ring. Hero changes directions when Cole isn't looking and surprises the champion with a big boot. Cole has a reason to run now as Hero boots him in the face two more times.

Cole cuts Hero off and takes control for the first time in the match. He taunts the crowd, teasing a PK on Hero but instead he drops down and throws on a chinlock. Hero fights back until Cole hits a shining wizard. He made a weird, guttural sound as he did it and the crowd imitates it en masse as the show goes to break.

Cole kicks Hero's knee when the match continues. The crowd mocks him again. Hero clothelines Cole and follows with a neckbreaker as Cole gets back up. Hero catches Cole's foot as Cole tries to boot him. Instead it's Hero who lands a kick, once again right into Cole's face. Cole dodges a springboard curb stomp but not the rolling elbow that came after. Hero keeps going after Cole's neck, landing a cravate suplex. Hero sits Cole up top and puts on a cravate. He boots Cole in the face once more when Cole resists. Cole finally lands a boot of his own on Hero and changes the tide.

The crowd will not stop mocking Cole for the sound he made. Cole has this amazing look on his face, a mixture of being disgusted and pissed off. He tries to yell at Hero but the crowd cuts him off. Cole taunts Hero, who isn't going to stand for that nonsense. Hero decks Cole with a beautiful right. He gets Cole up in the electric chair position and drops him to his feet. Rolling elbow, right into the back of Cole's head. Cole drops forward and out through the ropes. Hero KO'd him and he has to deadlift Cole back up to get him in the ring. Cole immediately rolls back out, buying precious time. Cole takes another boot. When Hero tries to toss him back into the ring, Cole reverses it and gets Hero with a waistlock. Cole Germans suplexes Hero on the mats outside. Now the champion seizes the moment. He brings Hero back in the ring for his suplex into a neckbreaker. Hero kicks out at two.

Cole cannot believe that didn't finish the job. Cole struggles with Hero, trying to get a straight jacket German. Hero fights out of it with hard elbows, but an errant blow smacks the referee, knocking him out. Hero lands a downward spiral and then a big neck crank on Cole. Cole has to tap. He quits right there, clean in the middle of the ring. He's slapping his hand on the mat. But Nigel McGuinnes is busy tending to the unconscious Todd Sinclair, so no official sees it. Hero brings Cole up for another neck breaker. Cole steps away and lands an enzuigiri. Cole hits the ropes; Hero boots him. Hero hits the ropes; Cole boots him. Cole lands a super kick and goes right into a straight jacket German. Hero kicks out at two. Cole doesn't let go. A second Florida Key, as he calls it. Cole rolls over, still straight jacketing Hero, and lands a third one. One-two-three, and the champ will leave with his title.

Match rating: **** I liked this match a lot. A whole lot. Hero's offense looks great and I'm a big fan of his big boots, straight rights, and rolling elbows. He's crisp on the mat and knows how to work the neck. Cole is a top notch chickenshit heel. He knows the Philly crowd will love Hero, so he refuses to engage him and does everything he can to play up their animosity. His facials and mannerisms are elite for someone his age. I heard complaints about the ending, but I have no problem with it. Yes, it's a tainted win, but that fits perfectly for the situation. Hero made Cole tap so he's the better wrestler. The entire match was about him being a better wrestler. Cole is the winner though, and that's all he cares about.

Final Thoughts
Probably the best ROH TV episode that I've reviewed yet. Great main event and two strong undercard matches. Make sure you watch it. Next week is Jay Lethal vs. Tommaso Ciampa for the TV title. Lethal calls out Ciampa for what hapened in their last match: Lethal had Ciampa out cold and in a pin but the ref wasn't there to make the three count. We'll see if he can get the job done this time.