Thursday 16 February 2012
Jon and Colin's Quintessentially English Wrestling Show
ere is Jon and Colin's Quintessentially English Wrestling Show.
It's a wrestling show with some comedy and stupidity from two English pro wrestling fans.
In the show:
Tribute to DPW
$5 Wrestling
TNA Live in UK reviews
TNA Against All Odds
WWE bullshit
Ring Ka King
Wednesday 15 February 2012
TNA Against All Odds - predictions revisted
This was not a good show. Jesse really hurt himself, and from what I can gather is in a pretty bad way: broken neck, can't feel legs. Next day on Raw we had Ryder in a goofy neck-brace, fuck you WWE.
Anyways, let's see how I did:
"TNA World Heavyweight Title Match
James Storm vs. Bully Ray vs. Jeff Hardy vs. Bobby Roode
This match feels like bad booking. This should be a three-way at most, TNA should hold off on Storm FFS.
I can see Roode holding on until Lockdown, will probably get a pin on Bully Ray. Some kind of ref bump will stop both Storm and Hardy from winning."
1-0 it was a pin on Hardy after bullshit with Sting.
"TNA Tag Team Title Match
Samoa Joe & Magnus vs. Matt Morgan & Crimson
The tag team division is on fire at the moment. It’s great to see the only teams in the tag division going against each other for about the 5th time in as many weeks. Based on the losses, I’d say Magnus and Joe to win. Probably with Magnus pinning Morgan. Just trying to think like Russo here."
2-0 Boring match, right team won... who's next?
"TNA X Division Title Match
Alex Sheley vs. Austin Aries
This should be a great match, and there’s no obvious choice. I think Shelley should probably get the strap, but using Russo logic, he’s not had enough losses to get the title. I predict Aries will retain here, but then Shelley will get a rematch on TV and win the belt there."
3-0 This was an awesome match, probably best match so far this year. Highlight of the show.
"TNA Knockouts Title Match
Tara vs. Gail Kim
This could be an okay match. I hate the way Tara always sets up for her moves too early, thus making it look staged (I know it is, but it should at least look like it’s fluid).
Kim will retain."
4-0 This match was okay, the ending made no sense (Kim worked on Tara's bad knee for a while and then hit with her finish).
#1 Contender's Match
Zema Ion vs. Jesse Sorensen
The X-Division really is in a shit state these days. I’ll go with Sorensen, he’s decent in the ring, Zema Ion is a bit of spot-monkey.
4-1 I was wrong, but under the circumstances I wish I wasn't. I've watched the replay a few times and I can't see that either guy fucked up, it was just a bad accident.
Garret Bischoff with Hulk Hogan vs. Gunner with Eric Bischoff
Just give up already. Send Garret to OVW for a year and let him learn how to wrestle. I predict a short match with Garret doing a dozen hip tosses and then getting screwed in some way. Gunner is better than this.
5-1 I was right about the hip tosses, there was arm-drags too! The match sucked and went on far too long. But Gunner won clean in the middle of the ring.
Kazarian vs. AJ Styles
Pointless feud, match should be pretty decent. AJ versus Daniels would be better, AJ in the main event would be even better.
Kaz will win with interference from Daniels.
6-1 Kaz won, the match was pretty flat, apart from the ending which was awesome.
On the whole, a mediocre PPV which had a really nasty injury and a terribly booked ending.
Anyways, let's see how I did:
"TNA World Heavyweight Title Match
James Storm vs. Bully Ray vs. Jeff Hardy vs. Bobby Roode
This match feels like bad booking. This should be a three-way at most, TNA should hold off on Storm FFS.
I can see Roode holding on until Lockdown, will probably get a pin on Bully Ray. Some kind of ref bump will stop both Storm and Hardy from winning."
1-0 it was a pin on Hardy after bullshit with Sting.
"TNA Tag Team Title Match
Samoa Joe & Magnus vs. Matt Morgan & Crimson
The tag team division is on fire at the moment. It’s great to see the only teams in the tag division going against each other for about the 5th time in as many weeks. Based on the losses, I’d say Magnus and Joe to win. Probably with Magnus pinning Morgan. Just trying to think like Russo here."
2-0 Boring match, right team won... who's next?
"TNA X Division Title Match
Alex Sheley vs. Austin Aries
This should be a great match, and there’s no obvious choice. I think Shelley should probably get the strap, but using Russo logic, he’s not had enough losses to get the title. I predict Aries will retain here, but then Shelley will get a rematch on TV and win the belt there."
3-0 This was an awesome match, probably best match so far this year. Highlight of the show.
"TNA Knockouts Title Match
Tara vs. Gail Kim
This could be an okay match. I hate the way Tara always sets up for her moves too early, thus making it look staged (I know it is, but it should at least look like it’s fluid).
Kim will retain."
4-0 This match was okay, the ending made no sense (Kim worked on Tara's bad knee for a while and then hit with her finish).
#1 Contender's Match
Zema Ion vs. Jesse Sorensen
The X-Division really is in a shit state these days. I’ll go with Sorensen, he’s decent in the ring, Zema Ion is a bit of spot-monkey.
4-1 I was wrong, but under the circumstances I wish I wasn't. I've watched the replay a few times and I can't see that either guy fucked up, it was just a bad accident.
Garret Bischoff with Hulk Hogan vs. Gunner with Eric Bischoff
Just give up already. Send Garret to OVW for a year and let him learn how to wrestle. I predict a short match with Garret doing a dozen hip tosses and then getting screwed in some way. Gunner is better than this.
5-1 I was right about the hip tosses, there was arm-drags too! The match sucked and went on far too long. But Gunner won clean in the middle of the ring.
Kazarian vs. AJ Styles
Pointless feud, match should be pretty decent. AJ versus Daniels would be better, AJ in the main event would be even better.
Kaz will win with interference from Daniels.
6-1 Kaz won, the match was pretty flat, apart from the ending which was awesome.
On the whole, a mediocre PPV which had a really nasty injury and a terribly booked ending.
Saturday 11 February 2012
If we're uploading wrestling pictures...
...I might as well throw my hat into the ring. Besides, Smackdown was so uneventful it's hardly worth a whole post all to itself.
Bear in mind these were taken over the course of five separate wrestling events, I managed to get just five shots I'm actually happy uploading. Taking good shots of wrestling from the crowd is HARD, especially if your kit sucks (like mine did...)
Click for big.
TNA: Against All Odds - predictions
TNA World Heavyweight Title Match
James Storm vs. Bully Ray vs. Jeff Hardy vs. Bobby Roode
This match feels like bad booking. This should be a three-way at most, TNA should hold off on Storm FFS.
I can see Roode holding on until Lockdown, will probably get a pin on Bully Ray. Some kind of ref bump will stop both Storm and Hardy from winning.
TNA Tag Team Title Match
Samoa Joe & Magnus vs. Matt Morgan & Crimson
The tag team division is on fire at the moment. It’s great to see the only teams in the tag division going against each other for about the 5th time in as many weeks. Based on the losses, I’d say Magnus and Joe to win. Probably with Magnus pinning Morgan. Just trying to think like Russo here.
TNA X Division Title Match
Alex Sheley vs. Austin Aries
This should be a great match, and there’s no obvious choice. I think Shelley should probably get the strap, but using Russo logic, he’s not had enough losses to get the title. I predict Aries will retain here, but then Shelley will get a rematch on TV and win the belt there.
TNA Knockouts Title Match
Tara vs. Gail Kim
This could be an okay match. I hate the way Tara always sets up for her moves too early, thus making it look staged (I know it is, but it should at least look like it’s fluid).
Kim will retain.
#1 Contender's Match
Zema Ion vs. Jesse Sorensen
The X-Division really is in a shit state these days. I’ll go with Sorensen, he’s decent in the ring, Zema Ion is a bit of spot-monkey.
Garret Bischoff with Hulk Hogan vs. Gunner with Eric Bischoff
Just give up already. Send Garret to OVW for a year and let him learn how to wrestle. I predict a short match with Garret doing a dozen hip tosses and then getting screwed in some way. Gunner is better than this.
Kazarian vs. AJ Styles
Pointless feud, match should be pretty decent. AJ versus Daniels would be better, AJ in the main event would be even better.
Kaz will win with interference from Daniels.
On the whole, not too much to get too excited about. The X Division title match should be good, apart from that, we’ll see.
James Storm vs. Bully Ray vs. Jeff Hardy vs. Bobby Roode
This match feels like bad booking. This should be a three-way at most, TNA should hold off on Storm FFS.
I can see Roode holding on until Lockdown, will probably get a pin on Bully Ray. Some kind of ref bump will stop both Storm and Hardy from winning.
TNA Tag Team Title Match
Samoa Joe & Magnus vs. Matt Morgan & Crimson
The tag team division is on fire at the moment. It’s great to see the only teams in the tag division going against each other for about the 5th time in as many weeks. Based on the losses, I’d say Magnus and Joe to win. Probably with Magnus pinning Morgan. Just trying to think like Russo here.
TNA X Division Title Match
Alex Sheley vs. Austin Aries
This should be a great match, and there’s no obvious choice. I think Shelley should probably get the strap, but using Russo logic, he’s not had enough losses to get the title. I predict Aries will retain here, but then Shelley will get a rematch on TV and win the belt there.
TNA Knockouts Title Match
Tara vs. Gail Kim
This could be an okay match. I hate the way Tara always sets up for her moves too early, thus making it look staged (I know it is, but it should at least look like it’s fluid).
Kim will retain.
#1 Contender's Match
Zema Ion vs. Jesse Sorensen
The X-Division really is in a shit state these days. I’ll go with Sorensen, he’s decent in the ring, Zema Ion is a bit of spot-monkey.
Garret Bischoff with Hulk Hogan vs. Gunner with Eric Bischoff
Just give up already. Send Garret to OVW for a year and let him learn how to wrestle. I predict a short match with Garret doing a dozen hip tosses and then getting screwed in some way. Gunner is better than this.
Kazarian vs. AJ Styles
Pointless feud, match should be pretty decent. AJ versus Daniels would be better, AJ in the main event would be even better.
Kaz will win with interference from Daniels.
On the whole, not too much to get too excited about. The X Division title match should be good, apart from that, we’ll see.
Friday 10 February 2012
iMPACT, Feb 9th, 2012
It turns out that the Blogger android app is a piece of shit, so I'm going to be using Twitter for my 'wrestling fan yelling at the TV' stuff, but I will make an effort to recap the shows here.
The show started out pretty well, Daniels and AJ was a pretty good way to start the show. The Kaz situation is a little silly, TNA seems to have a fondness for 'Oh, what is this big mystery all about? Find out in 3 months after we're done drip-feeding you enough information that you don't forget about it, but not enough that you actually care' storylines (Winter/Angelina, Garrett's trainer, etc.) but I don't think the fans really care. I certainly don't, all I know is AJ is being kept away from the title picture by a feud with Daniels again. I don't care what Kaz's deal is. I just want it over so we can see a storyline that actually matters.
Magnus gave a really good promo, better than anything I've seen him do before on TV (he did a great one in Dublin, but live is live and TV is TV), I really hope him and Joe get the belts at the PPV. I'm not sure they will though, TNA have made a rod for their own back with Crimson - they can't give him the belt because nobody gives a shit about him, and he can't be beaten because all he has going for him is his winning streak...so what do you do? Give him a belt that nobody cares about and forget about him, and hope people start to take notice. Problem is, they've lumbered him with Morgan who has also failed to win over the fans even after being with the company for several years. If they'd brought back Amazing Red to team with Crimson it would have been a different story, but it doesn't seem Morgan can get the job done.
Then we had Aries v Shelley v Doug in a great 3-way. It's good to see Doug back, he's one of the best in TNA. I don't really care who wins at the PPV, I'd prefer Aries but the X-Division is a shadow of its former self. It's still good, but it used to be amazing and groundbreaking...I'd love to see it come back to prominence again.
The second half of the show was pretty much what you'd expect from TNA, too much Hogan/Bischoff, too much talking, a screwjob in the main event. Velvet got a clean win over Mickie though, which I didn't see coming...although, since Kharma returned to WWE at the Rumble, the only womens wrestling I really want to see is her actual comeback.
I'd give my predictions for Against All Odds, but I can honestly only remember 2 or 3 matches so there's no point. Too much screen time for Hogan/Bischoff, not enough time building up matches. TNA in a nutshell.
Monday 6 February 2012
ROH TV - 4th February - KEVIN STEEN returns!
Show opened with clips from the TV Title match between Lethal, Generico and Bennett from Final Battle 2011. I didn’t see this one because I’ve had problems with IPPVs before and though better of it.
Kelly and McGuinness introduced the show from Baltimore. Every time I here Baltimore it makes me think of the Wire, which in turn makes me think of the Urban Wrestling Federation (yes, I know it’s based in Philly, but that’s how my mind works). They hype up the TV title match between Bennett and Lethal. Bennett did a promo saying how he was going to be the next champ, and how the audience could be proud to have him as a TV champ. Mike Bennett’s not the best worker in the world, his talents pales in comparison to the likes of Edwards and Lethal, but I think he makes a great heel and he’s got a great gimmick.
The first match saw Lethal beat Bennett by pin-fall with a crucifix to retain the title. This was a good TV match, good pace, commentary told a great story and Lethal looked like a star.
Next up was an interview with Eddie Edwards. I really like Edwards, in-ring this guy is easily one of the best workers outside of Japan. I can imagine that if he was to go to TNA or WWE he’d just bob around the lower-mid card for a few months before getting dropped. I’m just not convinced by him in interviews, and I think if he went to another promotion, this would be bad for his drawing power.
Tonight’s ROH is, however, the TV return of Kevin Steen. Unlike WWE or TNA where a firing angle will be resolved within a month (or not even a week if you’re John Cena), ROH had Steen away from the promotion for a year. In the big picture, it takes a little away from the ‘loser leaves town stip’, but at least they followed it through for a good while and had a build up to Steen’s potential return.
Steen came down to the ring and Kevin Kelly noted that Steen had been re-instated but at what cost. They really put over that Steen was a dangerous guy to be near, this was awesome. Steen responded by asking why ROH would keep down their best wrestler for a year. He said it was because he wouldn’t suck up to Cornette – this was a great promo. They seem to be hinting at doing what could have been the CM Punk holding the WWE title hostage angle, but they’ll probably have the guts to do it right. Cornette came out and laid into him. I love Cornette, not sure about him as a babyface GM, but the heel GM thing has been done to death. Steen ended by saying he was going to kick Richards’ ass, become the new champion and be the bane of Cornette’s life. Great stuff.
Next match was for the tag titles: Haas and Benjamin versus the Young Bucks. They had a decent TV match, but it felt a bit stilted a points. Bucks won via DQ, when Benjamin used a steel chair.
I quite like the way the Bucks have evolved lately. They are still doing their crazy high-spots, but they make sense in the matches now rather than just being some nice acrobatics with no real context.
Kelly and McGuinness introduced the show from Baltimore. Every time I here Baltimore it makes me think of the Wire, which in turn makes me think of the Urban Wrestling Federation (yes, I know it’s based in Philly, but that’s how my mind works). They hype up the TV title match between Bennett and Lethal. Bennett did a promo saying how he was going to be the next champ, and how the audience could be proud to have him as a TV champ. Mike Bennett’s not the best worker in the world, his talents pales in comparison to the likes of Edwards and Lethal, but I think he makes a great heel and he’s got a great gimmick.
The first match saw Lethal beat Bennett by pin-fall with a crucifix to retain the title. This was a good TV match, good pace, commentary told a great story and Lethal looked like a star.
Next up was an interview with Eddie Edwards. I really like Edwards, in-ring this guy is easily one of the best workers outside of Japan. I can imagine that if he was to go to TNA or WWE he’d just bob around the lower-mid card for a few months before getting dropped. I’m just not convinced by him in interviews, and I think if he went to another promotion, this would be bad for his drawing power.
Tonight’s ROH is, however, the TV return of Kevin Steen. Unlike WWE or TNA where a firing angle will be resolved within a month (or not even a week if you’re John Cena), ROH had Steen away from the promotion for a year. In the big picture, it takes a little away from the ‘loser leaves town stip’, but at least they followed it through for a good while and had a build up to Steen’s potential return.
Steen came down to the ring and Kevin Kelly noted that Steen had been re-instated but at what cost. They really put over that Steen was a dangerous guy to be near, this was awesome. Steen responded by asking why ROH would keep down their best wrestler for a year. He said it was because he wouldn’t suck up to Cornette – this was a great promo. They seem to be hinting at doing what could have been the CM Punk holding the WWE title hostage angle, but they’ll probably have the guts to do it right. Cornette came out and laid into him. I love Cornette, not sure about him as a babyface GM, but the heel GM thing has been done to death. Steen ended by saying he was going to kick Richards’ ass, become the new champion and be the bane of Cornette’s life. Great stuff.
Next match was for the tag titles: Haas and Benjamin versus the Young Bucks. They had a decent TV match, but it felt a bit stilted a points. Bucks won via DQ, when Benjamin used a steel chair.
I quite like the way the Bucks have evolved lately. They are still doing their crazy high-spots, but they make sense in the matches now rather than just being some nice acrobatics with no real context.
Friday 3 February 2012
My guilty pleasure that I'm not at all guilty about...
Anyone that knows me knows that I am not generally an enthusiastic person but in life there are a few things that even people like me can enthuse about.
One of the things that can get me lively and acting like an obnoxiously excitable tool is professional wrestling. I did however get a bit of a shock recently when an acquaintance dropped the bomb – he told me that it wasn’t real. This did come as a bit of a shock as I didn’t realise that there are simpletons like him in the world. Of course it’s real, on the 26th of January 2012 for the fourth year in a row I was in attendance for the TNA impact tour, sitting three rows from the front and shouting like a twat it felt pretty real to me.
I’m not stupid, I know that it’s simulated violence but does that make it any less real? No, of course it doesn’t. I don’t know how each match is going to finish and I don’t know what each wrestler is going to do or how they are going to act (act being the operative word).
It really irks me when people tell me that it’s not real on the basis that they are not really fighting as if they’re telling me something that I just can’t grasp. I don’t turn round to people and say that Tom Cruise wasn’t really being shot at in Mission Impossible (unfortunately) or that Paul Newman wasn’t really trying to con someone in The Sting yet to anyone who hasn’t seen these films it comes as a surprise. When I see AJ Stiles Vs. Christopher Daniels squaring up in the four-sided-six-sided-squared circle then anything can happen.
It’s theatre, pure and simple and people need to realise that just because there’s no ground and pound and just because they aren’t recognised actors doesn’t take anything away from the passion and the sense of drama that I get when shout whatever stupid slogan I can think of at the time like a complete and utter twat.
Long may it last.
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