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New Reviews!

Hey guys back again.

I'm finally back to reviewing wrestling and I'm doing a year in review for 2004.

Use the link below to keep checking the site for new reviews. The first Smackdown one is up.

Thanks for reading.

http://rosscoreviews.blogspot.co.uk/

New Page

Hey everyone!

I have no idea if anyone still comes to this blog so this may fall on deaf ears.

I wanted everyone to know that I'm coming back to reviewing with a brand new blog, this one will be combining my movie reviews (most of which will be up soon) and wrestling reviews will be starting again so I can alternate between the two.

The movie side will feature new releases and reviews from my blu ray collection.

The wrestling side will feature all new PPVs, PPVs and shows from the past, and maybe some current shows thrown up there soon.

So far I've only got a review for Phantom Menace up as I review every Star Wars movie, and you can expect to see Summerslam 2016 up there soon.

I hope everyone can have a look and hopefully enjoy.

Here's the link: rosscoreviews.blogspot.com

Thank You.

NXT February 17th 2016

NXT February 17th 2016 Review


Time for another episode of NXT, and tonight we have the hotly anticipated match between Sami Zayn and Samoa Joe. Let's get to it.


We're still at the CFE Arena this week.


Enzo & Cass, & American Alpha vs Blake & Murphy, & Dash & Dawson
It seems like every time NXT goes away from Full Sail, they have a big multi-man tag match, not that I'm complaining since they're always fun. Blake & Murphy are still in the Krueger gear.
This was the tag team formula down to the letter, but damned if it wasn't a lot of fun. Gable played the face in peril fantastically and had the crowd right behind him. Cass and Jordan showing their intensity at the finish was a sight to behold as well. I do wish it had been a bit longer though. Enzo gets the pin on Dash to hopefully set up another Tag Title match. **1/2



Deonna Purrazzo vs Asuka
Out of all the squashes on NXT, Asuka's are easily the one's I look forward to the most.
I loved the chants of 'You fucked up' when Deonna slapped Asuka. That was probably a mistake. Another fun squash here as we get to see Asuka demolish another diva. The submission moves looked great and those kicks were just brutal. Asuka hits the roundhouse kick for the win. *1/4



Tye Dillenger vs Alex Riley
I am enjoying the new look and attitude of Riley, even he weirdly looks like a younger Triple H. Fans get a 'Lets go Riley/Riley sucks' chant going. Short match, but it wasn't bad. Nothing really great about it though. I was surprised that Tye got the win, but I suppose it continues the story of Riley trying to get some redemption. *



Sami Zayn vs Samoa Joe
The winner becomes the No.1 Contender for Finn Balor's NXT Championship. I think it's fair enough to say that this a dream one on one match in NXT between two indie darlings.
The crowd was definitely behind Sami. It's no wonder since he's the master of selling and looked like he was getting the crap kicked out of him here. Great main event match here with both guys trading their signature moves back and forth and getting some really stiff shots in there too. The story was great with Joe hitting Zayn with everything he had but Zayn got up every time and fought back. I did think the same fake out finish as the triple threat was a bit lazy, but if it get's us another match between these two, I'm all for it. Great match overall. ***3/4


Another very good show from NXT as we move closer to Takeover Dallas. The main event is definitely worth checking out, and the first two matches are pretty fun too.

Here's a link to my movie blog: casualmovies.blogspot.co.uk

FastLane 2015

FastLane 2015 Review


We're coming up pretty fast for the 2016 edition of the FastLane PPV and it could end up being pretty interesting. Until then, let's have a look at last year's edition.


The build for this one was less than spectacular and fans thought it would be an early contender for worst show of the year. Would that statement be true? Let's find out.

Also it doesn't help that this show came right after the amazing NXT TakeOver: Rival show.



Dolph Ziggler, Erick Rowan & Ryback vs Seth Rollins, Kane & The Big Show
I don't remember this match being built at all so it must have been a last minute edition to get these guys on the card. The feud goes all the way back to the Authority being fired at Survivor Series after the three faces were fired and then brought back. I thought this match might have been an apology for the Rumble match after Show and Kane eliminated all the up-and-comers, but unfortunately this was not the case.
This was a pretty decent tag match. Rowan was playing the face in peril most of the time, but the crowd was just not invested in him at all so it was boring to watch. Once Ryback was tagged in it fired the crowd up and Ryback looked impressive. The finish could have been better as Show hit Ziggler with the knockout punch and deflated the crowd in doing so. Decent opener. **1/2

After the match, Randy Orton returns and makes the save by taking out the Authority. Rollins escapes the building before Orton can get his hands on him. It looked like we would get a great build for their Mania match but it became stupid with some idiotic story moments.


Stardust vs Goldust
I was actually really looking forward to this one as I liked the story of Goldust trying to stop Cody from going too deep into his character and willing to beat the crazy out of him to kill the idea of Stardust. I think a Mania match may have originally been on the cards, but I think they may have been cancelled pretty quickly.
This was just a complete mess and I have no idea what happened. The crowd was not into this at all and both guys seemed lost at quite a few points in the match. I'm guessing it was meant to be a lot longer considering how the match was structured and the botched pin at the end. It looked like Stardust kicked out so I'm guessing the ref was told to call an audible and just end it. We should probably forget that this ever happened. DUD


The Usos vs Cesaro & Tyson Kidd
The Tag Team Championships are on the line. This feud mostly seemed to revolve around Naomi and Natalya's dwindling friendship as we need Total Divas to make storylines. Although who would have known that the thrown together team of Cesaro and Kidd would become as big a team as they did.
The crowd was once again pretty quiet, but they did get into the last five minutes when the action kicked into overdrive. This was a very good tag match with everyone playing their part well. The double team moves were great and there were even a few good close calls towards the end. Kidd hit one of the Usos with a swinging neckbreaker to win the Titles. Best of the night so far. ***


Now it's time for the confrontation between Triple H and Sting. HHH tries to lure Sting to his side by offering him tributes on the Network and a future Hall of Fame spot. Sting decides he doesn't want that and a brawl breaks out. We get the Bat vs the Sledgehammer. Sting points to the Mania sign to make the match official and hits HHH with the bat and a Scorpion Death Drop for good measure.

Fun segment and it led to one of the most gloriously overbooked matches in Mania history that would turn out to be a ton of fun.


Nikki Bella vs Paige
The Divas Championship is on the line. Yes we're still in the reign of Nikki as WWE decided she had to beat AJ Lee's Championship record so they could erase her from history. The storyline here is that Nikki and Brie stole Paige's ring gear and forced her to wear a fairy outfit during a match. Truly riveting stuff.
Decent match here that I was starting to enjoy until the abrupt finish. The crowd wasn't into it but they've not been into anything tonight. You could tell Nikki was improving and she hit some cool moves like the sunset powerbomb in the corner. Paige was her usual good self and managed to actually get some support from the crowd. Nikki wins by holding the tights with a roll up. **



Dean Ambrose vs Bad News Barrett
The IC Championship is on the line. Ambrose said that he decided he wanted the Title after visiting WWE headquarters and wanted his name on the wall next to the other great IC Champions. He wouldn't get the Title until December 2015. Ambrose tied up Barrett the week before and forced him to sign the contract for the bout. Seems like a pretty heel thing to do.
Once again the crowd is silent which is pretty unusual for an Ambrose match. The match wasn't too good though. It did seem to be building up to a nice finish after some close nearfalls, but it ended with a dumb DQ because Ambrose wouldn't let go of Barrett. Bullshit and you could tell the crowd was pissed with the decision. *1/2

Ambrose steals the Title to start the build to the Ladder match at Mania.


The lights go out and we have druids with a casket in tow. The crowd immediately thinks this is The Undertaker and the commentators are building it up too. Turns out it's Bray Wyatt in a pretty cool reveal shot. Wyatt cuts one of his crazy promos and promises to take Undertaker's soul at Wrestlemania. The fake out for the crowd was great.A good segment to set up another Mania match.


John Cena vs Rusev
The US Championship is on the line. For some reason the story here is that Cena is getting old and a shell of his former self. They probably should have just went with the USA vs Russia story. I also don't know why they didn't just wait until Mania to do the match as it felt like old news once Mania came around. At least Cena made the US Title great again even if this feud went on WAY too long.
Good match here as Rusev was made to look like he could easily match Cena, at least until the finish that is as Lana had to distract the referee so Rusev could hit the low blow and pass Cena out in the Accolade. I suppose they did need a reason for a rematch. Still it was a good power match and probably the best in their series. ***1/4



Roman Reigns vs Daniel Bryan
The winner of this one goes on to face Brock Lesnar for the WWE World Title at WrestleMania. This was easily the most anticipated match on the card as no one knew how it would go. Would WWE hit the reset button like the year before and add Bryan to the main event? Would Reigns win clean? Would Bryan win clean? So it was pretty interesting to watch and see what would happen after the disaster that was the 2015 Royal Rumble.
I did enjoy the story of the match with Bryan using his technical skills and submission tactics to try and match Reigns' power, which didn't quite work out for him. Bryan carried Reigns to a terrific match and made him look like a million bucks, even if the fanbase didn't agree. A great back and forth encounter with some great nearfalls and tension. An awesome way to close out the show. ****


Overall I'd say this is a pretty middle of the road show with a great main event and not much else. The tag match might be worth a bit of your time and the US Title match if you haven't seen it before. The matches holding the show back aren't too long, except for the Rhodes Brother's match which seemed to go on for ages. Still there's some fun to be had and it was a pretty good build for WrestleMania.


Here's a link to my other blog where I review movies old and new. Coming soon; every Batman and Superman movie reviewed! casualmovies.blogspot.co.uk

NXT February 10th 2016

NXT Review: February 10th 2016

Time for another anticipated episode of NXT. Tonight we're getting a Women's Title match which I'm looking forward to watching.

Let's begin.


Tonight we're in the CFE arena for the show and that's quite a big crowd.


Baron Corbin vs Johnny Gargano
Corbin is still pissed off that he's not in the rematch between Zayn and Joe since he was the one who tapped at the end of the Triple Threat. Gargano gets a big reaction from the crowd. Pretty good match here which surprised me as I was expecting a squash. Gargano got some great offence in here and looked like he about to come away with the win which amazed me. Corbin managed to outsmart Gargano though and hit the End of Days for the win. **1/4



The Hype Bros vs Skyler & Hollis
I guess it's nice to see The Hype Bros getting a win after their loss to the Vaudevillains last week, even if it's against Walter White's wife and a guy named Hollis. Short but fun squash match. Hype Bros get the win with the Hype Ryder. *


Next week is Sami Zayn vs Samoa Joe. I cannot wait.



Alexa Bliss vs Cameron
Oh God this can't be good. Poor Alexa. Alexa has new music and looks to have a Nightmare on Elm Street-inspired outfit tonight. Strange they went for heel v heel here. Cameron's getting the same reaction Eva Marie got on her return. Bliss was definitely treated as the face here. Not a very good match overall as Cameron looked lost out there and Bliss looked like she was struggling to carry her. Cameron could use a TON more work. Bliss wins with the top rope splash. 1/2*



Elias Samson vs Jesse Sorensen
I'm still not sure where they're going with Samson as a character as he's not really that impressive in the ring either. Jesse is more well known in his time at TNA. Just a squash here as Jesse got no offence at all. It felt longer than it was. Elias wins with the swinging neckbreaker. 1/4*



Bayley vs Carmella
The NXT Women's Championship is on the line. I like the way they've been making this a big deal for the past few weeks and the show has been building it up with interview segments. The awesome show 'Breaking Ground' definitely helped with this and has made the match feel that more personal. This was a great match and Carmella really surprised me with her performance. She has really improved and this is easily her best match yet. Her two suicide dives were awesome and let to a good nearfall. Bayley was her usual terrific self and got the win after trading pins. Great main event. ***1/2

After the match, Eva Marie and Nia Jax come out for the assault which leads to a couple of leg drops on Carmella. Eva is a heat magnet. Asuka comes out to make the save and kill everyone. Asuka sends Jax and Eva running off and has a staredown with Bayley to give us a Holy Shit moment to end the show.


That main event and ending is definitely enough to make this show a recommended viewing, even if a couple of the squash matches weren't that interesting. Check out the ending for sure.

As usual, here's my plug for my movie blog, featuring a review of Deadpool: casualmovies.blogspot.co.uk

NXT February 3rd 2016

NXT Review: February 3rd 2016


God I've missed reviewing NXT.

Also before I start, I've noticed a new 'Collections' menu on the Network which I may review at some point.

Anyway, let's begin.



The Vaudevillains vs The Hype Bros
Great to see Gotch and English back in action once again. Also a rare match-up that NXT always seems to deliver is it's face vs face here. Short, but fun tag match here that did well to show a potential heel turn for the Vaudevillains while also giving the Hype Bros some good offence in defeat. Good stuff to start the show, and Aiden's taunt of "We're not hyped, we're men!" was awesome. **


We recap Carmella earning a shot at the Women's Title.

Next week we get the Title match between Bayley and Carmella. Looking forward to it.


Carmella vs Emma
Dana Brooke is in Emma's corner. It's great to see Carmella getting more attention and moving up on the card as you can see she is improving in the ring. Emma does seem to be the go-to girl for divas that need more in-ring training. Not the best match here but it wasn't too bad. Carmella's pacing does need a bit of work, but she's getting there. Carmella picks up the win with a backslide. *1/4


Enzo & Cass vs Jobber 1 & Jobber 2
Nothing much to say about this one. It was just short squash with the team of jobbers getting zero offence. Enzo & Cass get a win to make them look good going into a future Title match. 1/4*


William Regal announces a rematch between Sami Zayn and Samoa Joe for the winner to face Finn Balor for the NXT Title


Asuka vs Santana Garrett
I don' think I've talked about Asuka on here before, but I fucking love her. She's like the women's division's version of Brock Lesnar. Very short match which was a lot of fun while it lasted. It wasn't exactly a squash as Santana got a few good moves in there. Asuka comes out on top while looking like a total badass with the crossface chickenwing. *3/4


Finn Balor vs Apollo Crews
Non-Title match and I've been looking forward to this since their first match for the Title. It's really hard to pick a winner here as they both have a good chance of victory. I love it. Great showing for both men, especially Crews who showed once again that he can easily hang in the main event. He came close to beating the Champion and that's all you to make yourself look good. Good back and forth main event with Balor hitting the Brainbuster for the win. ***1/4



Another hour flies by on NXT while Raw continues to drag on. Once again they gave us a very entertaining show while giving us tons of stuff to look forward to in the future.


Here's a link to my movie review blog, Casual Movie Reviews, for those who enjoy movies. Later tonight I'm hoping to have a review of the first Paranormal Activity in the bag.

casualmovies.blogspot.co.uk

Coming Back and Something New

Hey everyone, been a while since I've posted on here.

I came back on here out of curiosity and was surprised to find that the views are still pretty high and I want to thank anyone that has taken the time to read any of my posts.

I'm gonna start coming back here a bit more often with some more wrestling reviews and might start doing more DVDs.

I still need to finish off that damn Jericho DVD.

They may be a bit rarer though as I'm also working on a newer blog that I'm gonna plug here. I'm gonna be doing movie reviews from whatever is in theatres and whatever I have on Blu Ray.

Here's the link as I already have two movie reviews on there of Triple 9 and The Babadook, with a review of Pride + Prejudice + Zombies coming soon. http://casualmovies.blogspot.co.uk/

I might try and get a new wrestling review up tonight.

Thanks for your time.

The Road is Jericho: Disc 1

The Road is Jericho: Disc 1 Review

It's been quite a while since my last DVD review. I've missed doing them and I'll definitely be doing more in future, and might even do-over some old ones!

This is one I bought quite recently as I'm quite a big fan of Jericho's. So let's get started with this first disc.

The format of this set is mostly just a match compilation with Jericho telling stories in between them which works pretty well. Before I start I would absolutely recommend Jericho's first set as it has an excellent documentary feature and a match list to die for. Here's a link to the review I did for it a while ago; http://prowrestlingtvreviews.blogspot.com/2012/08/breaking-code-behind-walls-of-chris.html


Chris Jericho vs Pitbull #2
From ECW Hardcore Heaven 1996 and the TV Title is on the line. Jericho has only had around twenty matches in ECW, so it's always nice to see one and they're usually good. Jericho says that Pitbull was one of his favourite opponents in ECW. Pitbull looked impressive, and I especially liked the Gorilla Press turned into a Tombstone. Good match, but the outside shenanigans with Shane Douglas and Francine with no explanation was a bit distracting. Still I liked the match as it had a good power vs speed dynamic which always works. The finish was impressive too. ***


Chris Jericho vs Ultimo Dragon
From WCW Bash at the Beach 1997 and the Cruiserweight Title is on the line. I would easily say that Dragon is one of Jericho's best ever opponents. I've only seen a few matches between the two but they were always fantastic. There's one on Jericho's other DVD that takes place in Japan which is worth the price of the disc alone. The agility of both guys here can only be called outstanding. This was one hell of a match as they seemed to counter every move that the other guy had. So many nearfalls and false finishes that made it so exciting to watch with no dull moments at all. The dead crowd didn't help, but this was a crowd conditioned to only care about the nWo. Still an awesome match that was a show stealer. ****


Chris Jericho vs Dean Malenko
From Uncensored 1998 and the Cruiserweight Title is on the line. This storyline was excellent with Malenko taking time off from wrestling and Jericho humiliated him on a weekly basis until Malenko returned in an amazing surprise reveal and beat him for the Title. This is the start of the feud. I loved the '1004' on the back on Jericho's tights. Jericho was hilarious with his heel mannerisms like telling the ref to ask Malenko if he gave up even though he was on the ropes. A good match with Jericho dominating most of it. Malenko fought back when he could but Jericho proved he was the better man here with Malenko tapping to the Liontamer. ***1/2


Chris Jericho vs X-Pac: Steel Cage 
From No Mercy 2000. Jericho and Pac fought quite a lot at the start of Jericho's WWE career. According to Y2J, Vince McMahon hand-picked Pac to work with Jericho and improve his WWE style in the ring. I think it worked out pretty well for him. You can only win this match by escape. This was a pretty entertaining match with the cage used well. Jericho trying to get the Walls of Jericho on top of the cage was a cool visual and his fall looked brutal. The finish was cool with X-Pac landing balls first on the door to give Y2J the win. This was fun but could have been way longer. Still I enjoyed it while it lasted. ***


Chris Jericho vs Kane: Last Man Standing
From Armageddon 2000. Yes this feud started over a cup of coffee spilled over Kane. I think that's the most memorable part of this feud. This one started off straight away with both guys fighting in the entrance-way. Even though Kane was on offense most of the time, this was still a very entertaining match to watch, mostly thanks to Jericho's great 'face-in-peril' routine that made him very sympathetic to the crowd. This wasn't a very brutal match but it was still a lot of fun and Kane's best match in a while. ***1/4


Chris Jericho vs Stone Cold Steve Austin
From Raw June 4th 2001 and the WWE Title is on the line. Mick Foley was the outside referee here. This was at the point where Jericho and Benoit were being elevated towards the main event. Didn't really get the point of Foley being there since he saw Austin hit the low blow and Earl Hebner did nothing about it. It was inevitable that Hebner would be knocked out forcing Foley to take charge. Foley accidentally hit Jericho with a chair, leading to the Stunner and a win for Austin. Fun match with a bit too many shenanigans for my liking. Still it was a good match overall. ***1/4


Chris Jericho vs Booker T
From Raw July 16th 2001 and the WCW World Title is on the line. Of course this took place during the critically acclaimed Invasion angle. Jericho mentions having some nice chemistry with Booker in his WCW days. Damn good, short match here that had the crowd going nuts by the end even though it only lasted about five minutes. Nick Patrick did make me laugh here with the way he avoided handing Jericho the win, even if it didn't make Booker look very good. Still I had fun with it. **3/4


That's the end of the first disc and it was a good way to start with some fun matches from Jericho's early career. The next disc has some rarer matches and what I remember as an excellent match with The Rock. See you next time.

NXT Takeover: Brooklyn

NXT Takeover: Brooklyn Review

Here I am with my first review since Money in the Bank earlier this year. It's been a while and I have missed it, so what better way to start than with the latest special offering from NXT?

This Takeover special was way more anticipated than any other edition which is saying a hell of a lot. Does it hold up almost two months later? Let's have a look and see.

Triple H talking to the camera with no mic and all the lights coming on with the crowd going nuts was just the perfect way to start this. The revolution has truly begun.

Tyler Breeze vs Jushin Liger

Breeze's entrance was just awesome. How is this guy not on the main roster yet? Actually scratch that last comment, keep him on NXT so Vince doesn't ruin him. It's also really weird yet cool seeing Liger in a WWE ring. This was a hard one to predict before the event and I would have thought Breeze would have came out on top. I don't mind Liger winning since Breeze still looked good even just being in the ring with him. I did like the story they were telling of Breeze trying too hard to show off against the legend, but Liger's veteran skills put him away. Damn good match that fired the crowd up and gave us a rare match at the same time. Good stuff. ***1/4

The Vaudevillains vs Blake & Murphy

The NXT Tag Titles are on the line. I love the way that NXT got us to the point where we were just dying for anyone to take the Tag Titles from B&M. Those guys were going nowhere until they got Alexa Bliss involved who made them slightly more tolerable. The inclusion of Blue Pants is excellent. Great tag match here that just got better as it went on with some great nearfalls and false finishes towards the end. The stuff with the two girls was well done too. A great effort. ***1/2

Apollo Crews vs Tye Dillinger

I do love Dillinger's new Perfect 10 gimmick. No wonder why it got over so fast. Apollo is just an amazing specimen though. He has the size of a heavyweight and can move around better than most cruiserweights. That gorilla press and standing moonsault combination is just deadly. Impressive debut as Apollo got to totally show off his stuff and that's all you can really ask for. **

Samoa Joe vs Baron Corbin

I wasn't looking forward to this one initially, as Corbin had yet to really impress me in a match. This ended up being the biggest surprise of the night and it's easily Corbin's best match yet. Either Corbin's gotten way better or Joe is just a miracle worker. Nice, hard hitting match as Joe gave Corbin a lesson in how to work a longer match with surprisingly good results. All action, no dull moments. Great finish too with Joe countering a pin attempt to lock in the clutch. ***1/4

Sasha Banks vs Bayley

The NXT Women's Title is on the line. I can't remember the last time I was this excited for a Title match. The build up to this was spot on and the video package was just perfection. Bayley is a great character who has been built up as underdog in the same vein as Sami Zayn. She couldn't have had a better opponent than Sasha Banks who was just a mega bitch. The match was amazing and easily the best of the NXT women's matches so far which is saying so much. Sasha was a fantastic heel and managed to turn the crowd against her when she focused on Bayley's injured hand. The drama was built brilliantly and it even looked like Bayley would lose at some points. I said Cena/Owens at MITB was my MOTY. Well this has easily beaten that and is my new MOTY. The best women's match I've ever seen and it'll be hard to beat. THIS is the women's revolution. Take note WWE. *****

Afterwards, the Four Horsewomen of NXT come together for maybe the final time. A total tearjerking moment and it made the match just that bit more special. Just awesome.

Finn Balor vs Kevin Owens: Ladder Match

The NXT Championship is on the line. I felt kind of sorry for these guys having to go on after that emotional rollercoaster, but it's Balor and Owens so of course they still put on an awesome match. I've grown kind of tired of ladder matches, but this one proved that they can still be hard-hitting spectacles. There weren't really any high-flying, OMG moments until the end with the Coup de Grace from the top of the ladder, but this match didn't need those at all and it was all the better for it. Some of those ladder moments did look stiff as hell though. Great main event to a fantastic show. ****

9.5/10: This show had just about everything you could want from a wrestling show. Nothing was bad or dragged, and everything was entertaining in it's own way. Easily the best of the Takeover shows so far and I doubt it'll be topped any time soon. Definitely recommended.

Remember to comment on the post and send me a request of a show you would like to see reviewed in the future! Also check out my podcast known as the Crossface Podcast on these links.

https://m.mixcloud.com/edradio/

www.podomatic.com/podcasts/crossfacepodcast

Itunes Crossface podcast

https://itunes.apple.com/gb/podcast/crossface-podcast/id1018787548

A New Beginning?

It has been a long time since I reviewed anything here. I only had a look back here recently and saw that the page views were still coming in. I thought I only had an audience with Facebook links, but apparently that's not the case.

I've missed reviewing, so I'm gonna upload a new review either today or tomorrow and see how it does with views. I'll go with TakeOver Brooklyn since I never got a chance to do that one. 

Thanks to everyone who's ever viewed the page and I hope my latest one will be up to scratch.

Money in the Bank 2015

Money in the Bank 2015 Review



To start off the show, the entire roster comes out for ten rings of the bell in honour of Dusty Rhodes. I was tearing up here and you can just see how much respect everyone had for the American Dream, especially the guys and girls from NXT. RIP Dusty.



Time for a ladder match!


Roman Reigns vs Sheamus vs Kane vs Neville vs Randy Orton vs Dolph Ziggler vs Kofi Kingston: Money in the Bank
The MITB match is almost always the perfect way to kick off any show and this one was no exception. Ziggler is one more piece of 80s clothing away from becoming Patrick Swayze. I've heard a lot of people complain that there weren't really any big spots like there usually is, but I'm personally glad they're keeping the wrestlers safe, especially with all the recent injuries we've been hearing about. I think everyone and their dog thought Reigns was winning this, but surprisingly he lost yet another big match, but this one thanks to Bray Wyatt in an upcoming feud I look forward to seeing. Sheamus ended up winning the thing and I look forward to seeing what he does with the case in the future. Overall this was a fun match that kept things simple and it worked out in the end. Great start, ***3/4



Paige vs Nikki Bella
The Divas Title is on the line. It feels like these two have been feuding for ages. I was really surprised by this match, and it's the first time I'll say I agree with some people that Nikki has really improved in the ring. This match got around eleven minutes which is long for a divas match, but this was entertaining all the way through. I even liked the Rampaige nearfall towards the end. Don't get me wrong, the twin magic stuff was still stupid and the referee looked like an idiot because of it, but this was a damn good back and forth match up until that point. Good stuff from the divas. ***



Ryback vs The Big Show
The IC Title is on the line. What the hell happened here? I was looking forward to a fun power match and they ended it like that? The five minutes of action we got was actually pretty damn good and I was enjoying it until they blew it with an awful DQ finish that would even look embarrassing on Raw. Just a total forgettable fail here. *



John Cena vs Kevin Owens
Why isn't Owens World Champion yet? Seriously why isn't he? This match was just amazing and judging by everyone else's reaction, I'm definitely not the only that thinks so. I thought this was going to be an exact carbon copy of their match at the Chamber show, but they changed up almost every aspect of it. Owens going for the five moves of doom was just spectacular and he just looked like a total star the entire time he was in there. I know a lot of people are pissed that Cena won, but it took him everything he had to take out Owens and Owens still got the bigger win in my opinion. The stuff after the match was just the icing on the most delicious cake with Owens being a total dick and taking out Cena with the apron powerbomb and just laughing at him. Amazing stuff and this is my new Match of the Year and I don't see it being beaten anytime soon. Just fantastic pro wrestling. *****



The New Day vs The Prime Time Players
The Tag Titles are on the line. Now this one really confused me. I thought New Day were going to stay the champs up until SummerSlam until the Lucha Dragons take the titles from them. That could still happen as I don't see the PTPs being the champions for long. It was nice they finally achieved a title reign, it's just a shame it happened in a slightly dull and heatless match. Still it wasn't bad and New Day was awesome as usual. **



Seth Rollins vs Dean Ambrose: Ladder Match
The WWE World Championship is on the line. It feels like this match has been built up for a year and that's awesome. There is a lot I loved about this match. I loved that there was not one single bit of Authority interference which felt so refreshing. I loved how great Ambrose was made to look. He took so many brutal powerbombs at the end and he still managed to get up and attempt to stop Rollins. I didn't like the fact that he sometimes no sold his leg injury but at least he went back to it some of the time. Rollins finally looked like a true champion that could do things on his own without any help which I loved. Just a great match that didn't need to be a spotfest and instead felt like a war. Ambrose said Rollins would have to kill him to beat him and that was almost true. Awesome match and a great main event for the show. ****



8.5/10 Great show here and one of the best of the year so far. I was only looking forward to the three main matches, and all three of those delivered with Owens/Cena going way over my expectations. This show is worth seeing for this match alone and there's still more enjoyment to be had with a good divas match and a decent Tag Title match. Only the IC match lets things down, but that's only about five minutes long anyway. Great show worth checking out.

Ross' NXT Review 10/06/15

NXT Review: 10/06/15 or 06/10/15



It's been almost a month since I've reviewed NXT, so I'm glad to be doing it again especially after a boring Raw episode earlier in the week. Last week Rhyno attacked Finn Balor after their match, and this week Samoa Joe looks set to debut. Let's get going shall we?



Zack Ryder & Mojo Rawley vs Mike Rallis & Elias Samson
Finally they're putting Zack somewhere he can actually shine and can do some good things, and it's nice to see Mojo Jo Jo back as well. Their opponents didn't even get an introduction and I had to do some digging around the IWC to find their names. Pretty obvious who's winning then. This was almost a squash match, but Elias got some offense in. Fun, short match though as Ryder and Mojo just work as an entertaining duo and the crowd loved both of them. Good stuff here. *1/2



We get a vignette for Finn Balor arriving at the July 4th Tokyo show. Awesome video and I love the idea of Balor embracing his demonic side only when he needs to.


Evil Emma vs Blue Pants
Holy shit, Blue Pants got one of the biggest pops I've ever heard in NXT for an entrance. That girl is over. Strange what some weird gimmicks will do but it works. Apparently it's her birthday too so, Happy Birthday! Fun match with Blue Pants looking like she had a chance to win, and the crowd was way into it too. Emma looks good with a nice submission win and the NXT women's division is still leagues better than the main roster's. *3/4


Next week we're getting a Six Person Tag Match featuring Enzo, Big Cass & Carmella vs Blake, Murphy & Alexa Bliss.



Bull Dempsey vs Tyler Breeze
Man, Bull quickly went from an undefeated force to a major jobber quickly didn't he? Damn that Baron Corbin. Funny moment during the match as Bull chases Breeze around the ring and he runs out of breath quickly. Very short match, but it was pretty entertaining and Breeze looked clever in the way he defeated Bull by tiring him out and then hitting the Beauty Shot. 1/2*


We have footage from Unstoppable showing the crowd respecting Becky Lynch after her epic match with Sasha Banks. I have that match rated at ****1/2 by the way.



Becky Lynch vs Jesse McKay
Great to see Becky back in action and nice to see that she still has her awesome attire of a leather jacket and steampunk goggles. Also love the new 'Lass Kicker' shirt. Good, short match here that got to showcase Becky and she even got to debut a new signature move that looked pretty cool. I wish this had been longer as these girls had a good rhythm going. Good stuff. **


Backstage, William Regal talks to Bull Dempsey about his cardio and eating problems. Regal is an awesome GM.


I've only seen about 30 seconds of Chad Gable but he may be one of my favourite things already.


Baron Corbin vs Angelo Dawkins
I'm not a big fan of Corbin, but if he was to answer John Cena's US Challenge, I'll admit I'd go apeshit with excitement. This was just like every other Corbin match: he gets some offense then hits End of Days. His pinning towards the hard camera is getting a bit distracting though. SQUASH



Our Hope and Savior Kevin Owens joins us at commentary.


Samoa Joe vs Scott Dawson
It's amazing to finally see Joe in a WWE ring, and I can't wait until he hits the main roster. Immediately the crowd goes with a 'Please Don't Die' chant. Good luck Scott. Of course this was basically a squash but it was here to show off Joe and he looked awesome. He showed some great intensity in there too, and of course we got to see the musclebuster in action. Cool debut. *1/2


After the match, Joe calls out Owens and they have an awesome talking segment with Owens amazing line of 'You can't just challenge for the NXT Title after only one match'. Owens is the best thing about wrestling today. Regal comes out and announces Samoa Joe vs Kevin Owens for next weeks NXT! Holy shit! Next Wednesday can't come fast enough.



Great episode of NXT as it just absolutely flew by and while there weren't any great matches, it still felt like they were progressing down the right path and next week sounds like an awesome episode.

Ross' Raw Review 08/06/15

Ross' Raw Review 09/06/15 or 06/09/15



I'm gonna be honest and say that this is the first full Raw I've watched in a long time. I think the last time was in October last year. The three hour Raws were just becoming so tiring and since then I've only been watching the highlights on YouTube, but now that I'm reviewing again I'm gonna have to start watching the whole thing again.

I'm not expecting much from the show although it is the go-home show for Money in the Bank so we might get some desperate selling. I'm also hoping to see our Lord and Saviour, Kevin Owens taking someone out, whilst we wait for our other Lord and Saviour, Brock Lesnar to return.


Better get started.



And we're starting off with John Cena. Well it's better than the Authority anyway. Byron Saxton is replacing Booker T tonight. Oh joy. Trading shucky ducky quack quack for a boring bastard. Great.

The hard selling begins quickly with Cena promoting the MITB ladder match on Sunday as well as his rematch with Owens. We get the usual Cena schtick as he says he also fights for those who chant 'Cena sucks' which starts a half-assed chant from the crowd. Thankfully that brings out Owens. Why is Owens even in a rematch? He proved himself against Cena.


Owens says what we're all thinking and says that we're all tired of Cena coming out at the start of Raw. And he also wants to issue an NXT Open Challenge right now instead of a US one. Hell yeah! Cena agrees and tries to accept the challenge. Owens calls him delusional and Cena cuts a promo. Cena starts his US Open Challenge. Owens isn't interested and wants the next wrestler to come down to choose which Title he wants to fight for.

That brings out Neville. Neville's had awesome matches with both of these guys so I'm fine with either. Neville chooses Owens and it looks like the match is happening right now! The promos didn't really go anywhere but this match should be good.



Kevin Owens vs Neville
The NXT Title is on the line. This'll be Owens first official Raw match then. I'm pretty sure Owens was the one that put Neville out of commission in NXT so I don't know why they didn't use that as a small backstory that could have made it a bit more interesting. This was a great match with Owens getting to show his dominance while Neville got to show off his high flying skills. There was some great drama towards the end as it looked like Neville would hit the Red Arrow, but Owens got the better of him and retained the gold. ***1/2


Owens invites Cena into the ring and then leaves the ring holding the NXT belt up high. Great way to kick off the show.


We get a recap of the Ambrose/Rollins match at Elimination Chamber. I know I've not reviewed that show so here's the quick ratings.


Tag Team Chamber: ***1/2
Divas Title Match: *1/2
Cena vs Owens: ****3/4
Bo Dallas vs Neville: **
Intercontinental Chamber: *1/2 (Worst Chamber match ever, so congrats to the ECW Chamber finally being beaten)
Rollins vs Ambrose: ****


Rollins is backstage embarrassed by the fact that Ambrose is parading around with his WWE Title belt. Rollins is looking for help from HHH and Stephanie and they aren't interested in giving it due to what Rollins said last week about not needing anyone's help. Rollins is allowed to pick his own opponent tonight.


We get a recap of last week's Divas Title match with the stupid twin magic move even though Brie barely looks the same as Nikki anymore. Good god just bring in the NXT women already.

We're getting Nikki vs Summer Rae tonight. You can just hear my excitement can't you?


Summer Rae vs Nikki Bella
Nikki starts doing press ups in the ring for no reason. I've seen a lot of people praising the Bellas for improving but I don't see much improvement, and while the NXT girls exist, they are always going to look like low level workers in comparison. The match here was about a minute long and not much happened until the finish with Nikki hitting the rack attack. 1/4*


We get a recap of all three of Reigns' matches last week where Bray Wyatt took a completely unnecessary loss.


Roman Reigns is here but not for action, just to talk. Reigns once hated that briefcase but now it doesn't seem so bad and he wants to cash in against Ambrose once he beats Rollins. Yeah Reigns is totally winning this thing. This brings out Kane to explain his place in the MITB match. Why the hell is Kane in there? Wasn't there anyone more entertaining available? Speaking of entertaining, here's Dolph Ziggler. He's here to insult Kane with tool jokes.

After Kane talks back to Ziggler (more tool references) out comes R-Truth even though he's not in the match. Weird comedic moment there. And here comes the New Day. I love these guys. The power of positivity will lead Kingston to the top of the ladder to retrieve the briefcase. Before Kane can comment, out comes Sheamus. He's one Brogue Kick away from winning the briefcase.

Finally we have Randy Orton. And we cut to an ad break. Freaking weird segment. I'm not sure that it accomplished anything except to tell us who's in the MITB match on Sunday.


Randy Orton vs Sheamus
This is a rematch from last week where we got a shitty DQ finish. And in this rematch we yet again get almost the exact same finish except it's Orton hitting Sheamus with the chair. Up until that finish though the match was going good with some nice finisher countering towards the end. **1/4


We get more Instagram pictures from Ambrose going around the town with the belt.


J&J Security want to go back to Rollins but Rollins ain't having it. Jamie goes on a tirade about Seth and even calls the team Shield 2.0. Rollins picks J&J for his opponents tonight.


Kane vs Dolph Ziggler
Neither guy got entrances here. For goodness sake just let Kane have his mask and gear back. He looks ridiculous with work trousers on and I just cannot get used to it. The crowd's more interested in Lana than the match. Ziggler is distracted by Lana falling off the stage thanks to Rusev and takes a chokeslam from Kane to take the loss. Boring match. *1/2


God three hours is just way too long for this show. I'm bored already and next up we have Miz TV. Oh no.


Here's Miz TV with Ryback and Big Show. It has the potential to be a fun power match at MITB. Ryback says if he fought Miz last week he would have taken years off his career. Shoot comments that aren't supposed to be shoot comments everyone! I'm sure CM Punk would've laughed at that. Ryback's actually not too bad on the mic. I'm kinda looking forward to this match now. Miz is an idiot and tries to attack Show which earns him a beating, and Ryback hits an impressive Shell Shock on Show. Not a bad segment at all.


Harper & Rowan vs Los Matadores
Well I wonder who's going to be winning this one? Basically just a squash match here to put Harper & Rowan over here. When did they start using the 3D as a finisher? They need to bring the Dudleys back for a match with them. 1/2*


Kane is backstage with Rollins and tells him that he'll cash in his MITB briefcase on either Ambrose or Rollins to become the new champion. He's also going to be in J&J's corner tonight.


Titus O'Neil vs Big E
I like a good power match. By the way why is Xavier credited as one half of the Tag Champs? Is the Freebird rule a thing now? Pretty fun match while it lasted but it was only two minutes long. Big E hits the Big Ending after a distraction from the rest of New Day for the win. *1/4


No time to celebrate though because here comes Roman Reigns,


Roman Reigns vs Kofi Kingston
It feels like they're just trying to race through these matches tonight. Kofi's a good pinball for a big guy like Reigns. Xavier's reactions outside the ring are just awesome. Good match here as Kofi got in a lot more offense than I was expecting and I liked the finish with Reigns hitting the Superman Punch while Kofi was in the air. Good stuff. ***


Reigns grabs a seat and here comes Dean Ambrose as a member of the audience, with a huge bag of popcorn and a drink in tow.


Seth Rollins vs J&J Security 
I was kind of hoping that J&J would have found some ring gear, but their stuck looking silly in their suits just like Kane. Joey Mercury still has some moves! A weird match but it was kind of fun with J&J trying everything to beat Rollins, but it took the distraction of Ambrose to roll up Rollins for the upset win. **



This Raw started off amazingly well with Cena, Owens and Neville, but it took a major nosedive after that and didn't really become good until the Reigns/Kingston match and a surprisingly fun main event. Not a good Raw as there was just way too much crap and filler, and not enough good stuff.

NXT 13/05/15

NXT Review: 13/05/15 or 05/13/15



It's been a while since I last reviewed NXT, and it was at a point where I wasn't paying too much attention to it, whilst now I can never miss an episode and Raw's the one I'm not paying attention to.
All I do with Raw now is watch the highlights on YouTube the morning after. You guys should try it too. Only takes about twenty minutes to get the main points across.

Anyway let's see what's going on in NXT this week as we head towards Unstoppable.


We start off with a video package which shows us John Cena's US Open Challenge on Raw as it led to Zayn's injury which will keep him out for a while, unfortunately. Looks like he may still be facing Owens at Unstoppable though.



Solomon Crowe vs Baron Corbin
Holy shit. I have no idea who's winning this one. That's awesome! Crowe has a new hairdo and it sounds like he has new music too. Rhyming. I'm still waiting for him to really impress me, but I've only seen him a couple of times so I can be patient. I thought the fans were chanting 'boring' but it sounds more like 'Corbin'. This was really short but it was high impact and stiff while it lasted. I liked it. Corbin hits End of Days for the win. *

Here comes Rhyno. By the way I totally marked out when he came back. Definitely an underrated worker. Corbin accepts his challenge for Unstoppable and a brawl breaks out. Security comes to break it up and Rhyno gores a couple of them. Looking forward to that match.



Sasha Banks vs Black Shorts
I call her Black Shorts because that's what it sounded like the crowd was chanting, plus she didn't get an intro. Black Shorts and Blue Pants immediately need to become a team. It's really hard to boo Sasha because she's just so amazing at what she does. They better use her well when she eventually heads to the main roster. Just a squash match for Sasha here but it was fun to watch. 1/2*


Sounds like we're getting a women's tag match at Unstoppable featuring Charlotte & Bayley vs Dana Brooke & Emma. The more divas the better.



Carmella vs Alexa Bliss
Yeah I'm really not a big fan of Carmella. They need to get her away from Enzo & Big Cass as soon as possible. During the match, Blake & Murphy come down to watch Carmella. This was a bit longer than the last women's match, but this one was much sloppier. I think that was mostly due to Carmella and you could tell that Bliss was walking her through the match. 1/4*



I'll admit that I liked Carmella talking after the match as she sounds more natural when she's doing the Sawft spelling. Loved the crowd's 'Creepers' and 'No means no' chants towards B&M.



Finn Balor & Hideo Itami vs Tyler Breeze & Adam Rose
I believe this is tonight's main event. Great to see Balor in action again for what seems like the first time in a while. He's definitely my favourite talent at the moment and I can see him being a huge star in the future, as long as they don't fuck him up on the main roster. The triple threat match at Unstoppable should be awesome and if we don't see a GTS I'm gonna punch someone. Entertaining match with a nice finish as Hideo and Balor fight over the chance to win the match and show the other up and it cost them the victory. **1/4

Breeze takes out everyone afterwards, including Rose.


We get some comments from Sami Zayn after his match with Cena on Raw.



Sami Zayn comes down to the ring for a Face to Face confrontation with Kevin Owens. I think there was a little editing work done here as the camera totally focused on Owens while Zayn was talking about injuring his shoulder against Cena. I forgot that these shows are taped in advance. Zayn wants to know why Owens attacked him. Zayn mentions Owens' son and he looks very annoyed at that mention. He says his son would rather wear a Zayn shirt to school than an Owens' shirt. Ouch low blow. Owens' walks away and says that after Takeover, Zayn won't come back again.



Good show and the build up to Takeover has been awesome and I cannot wait for it. NXT is the place to be.

Random Network Review: Bad Blood 2003

Bad Blood 2003 Review


Here we are with the first of many Random Network Reviews. Before I start, I just wanted to say that I finally have my new laptop so the uploads will be way more frequent.

I thought I'd go with this show because it is one of the shows I remember having on DVD as a kid, but it has been such a long time since I've watched it. I don't remember it being a particularly good show but it has that nostalgic factor for me.

I believe this was the first Raw brand PPV, not including the UK shows like Insurrextion. Smackdown had the amazing Vengeance 2003, and Raw had this. Let's see if this show holds up at all.



The Dudley Boyz vs Rodney Mack & Chris Nowinski
I only remember Rodney Mack from the Smackdown: Here Comes the Pain video game and the fact that no one ever used him. This is a storyline I don't remember as it looks like D-Von is having trouble taking orders from Bubba and the fact that he's white makes it worse for him. Okay then. Pretty standard tag match that was good up until the deflating finish. The Dudleys were doing their thing and the crowd was solidly behind them until that weird storyline came up and Nowinski managed to hit Bubba with his metal mask for the win. Almost a good opener if not for the bad finish. **1/4


Coming up tonight we have the Redneck Triathlon between Stone Cold and Eric Bischoff. Oh God I don't have good memories about this!


The first event of the Triathlon is a burping contest. This was about as entertaining as you think it would be. Austin wins the contest.


Test vs Scott Steiner
The winner of this match wins Stacy Kiebler's managerial services. No matter who wins, she loses. I think the only thing everyone remembers about this match is Steiner's glorious botch as he tries to jump on Test outside of the ring and just completely misses and falls on his ass. It's worth checking out for that alone. The match actually wasn't that bad and was kept short. There was even a nice nearfall at the end. Test totally carried the whole thing though. Not a bad match and pretty entertaining. **1/4



Christian vs Booker T
The IC Title is on the line. This is the first IC Title singles contest on PPV since No Mercy 2002, when they removed the Title from the company. They eventually brought it back for Judgment Day 03 when they realised it was dumb not to have a midcard championship. This is also Christian's first PPV with his new haircut. This was a good match up until the crappy finish with Christian getting himself intentionally DQ'd. The fans were rightfully chanting 'Bullshit' at that one.Still though it was a good match up until that point and the crowd was red hot with Booker being in his home town. **3/4



It's time for round 2 of the Redneck Triathlon and it's a Pie Eating Contest. Not cherry pie or apple pie mind you, but poontang pie. I think we could all see where this joke was going. Of course it leads to Mae Young coming out and I won't write what she does. Austin gives her a Stunner and we're one a piece on the triathlon.


This show has just been like an episode of Raw so far.



Rob Van Dam & Kane vs La Resistance
The World Tag Titles are on the line. This would end up being Kane's last PPV with his mask on until the 2012 Royal Rumble nine years later. Just another standard tag match but it wasn't as fun as the last one and it deflated the crowd again with La Resistance getting the win and becoming the new champions. Not much to say about this one, just very forgettable. *3/4



Goldberg vs Chris Jericho
Well these guys certainly have a bit of history. In fact I think it was Jericho's feud with Goldberg in WCW was the catalyst that sent him to the WWE, as he hated the way that the booking staff at WCW booked the feud and thought it was PPV worthy. These guys also had a backstage fight in WWE that Jericho apparently won and I believe that took place before this match. Pretty good match here and the best of the night so far, but Jericho carried the entire match and it looked like Goldberg didn't know what to do at some points. At least Goldberg sold his arm injury well. This is probably one of Goldberg's better matches. ***



Shawn Michaels vs Ric Flair
I think this was just about a dream match at this point and they were only five years away from putting on the most emotional match in WrestleMania history.The storyline here is Ric accusing Shawn of being a 'Ric Flair Wannabe' and turned on him on an episode of Raw. I was really digging this one up until the table spot which kind of came out of nowhere seeing as this match was built as the two best technical wrestlers ever going at it and it just felt out of place. The ending was fine though with Orton costing HBK the match and setting up their program for the next couple of months. Overall it was a fun match that probably should have been longer. The best of the night so far. ***



It's thankfully finally time to end this damned Redneck Triathlon. Eric Bischoff badly sings his theme song and Austin stops him because he sucks. Austin spins the wheel again and it lands on Pig Pen Fun. We all know how this is ending. That's what you get for WCW Eric. Of course Austin destroys Bischoff and throws him into the pig crap, finally ending this big pile of shit.



Triple H vs Kevin Nash: Hell in a Cell
The World Title is on the line. Mick Foley is the guest referee as they needed something to make this match seem interesting aside from the Cell itself. Foley was pretty much the main focus of the video package before the match and made Kevin look like an afterthought. The Cell really wasn't needed for a feud like this and that's probably why this one isn't as well remembered as others. If someone at this time said that HHH and Nash would have a Ladder match nine years after this, I'd consider them insane. It wasn't too bad of a match, as the weapons definitely helped it, and it got better as it went on. Foley did seem to be the main story here and how he would factor into the finish, but at least it kept the match a little more interesting. There was also an awesome nearfall towards the finish as HHH kicked out after taking a Jacknife Powerbomb. Better than I remembered and the best of the night overall. ***1/4


4/10. This was almost the definition of a mediocre show as there was nothing really terrible (outside of some of the Redneck Triathlon) but there was nothing worth going out of your way to see either and even the Cell match would be a stretch. Definitely not a show worth watching unless you're a Goldberg fan.

Extreme Rules 2015

Extreme Rules 2015 Review



I've never done a live review while a show is actually going on, but it should be fun so let's get started.

I didn't see the whole pre-show match between Neville and Barrett, but it looked like a **3/4 match to me.


Dean Ambrose vs Luke Harper: Chicago Street Fight
We're in Chicago so the crowd is very hot tonight. A hot crowd is always awesome. This feud is continuing from WrestleMania when Harper put Ambrose through a ladder and took him out of the contest. This match was pretty awesome while it lasted and they took the fight all the way to the back where Harper hijacked a car and drove away with Ambrose inside as well. I have no idea if the match is over or not so I'm not sure if I should rate it. What I saw was about **1/2. Hopefully we'll see more.



Dolph Ziggler vs Sheamus: Kiss Me Arse
I was really cringing when I saw the name of this match, but it turned out to be pretty damn good. At first I wasn't sure about Sheamus taking a loss seeing as he just returned, but I was fine with it once the aftermath took place. Hitting Dolph in the balls and then with a brogue kick to make him kiss his arse was a great moment for his bully character. So Sheamus looks good in defeat and Ziggler got a nice win. Plus it helps that the match was good with Sheamus dominating and the crowd begging for Ziggler to make a comeback. Good stuff all around. ***1/4



New Day vs Cesaro & Tyson Kidd
The Tag Titles are on the line. I'm actually starting to love New Day's gimmick of intentionally getting the crowd to boo them. It's entertaining and I hope it goes on for a while. Cesaro & Kidd get a face reaction from the audience. Cesaro managed to catch Big E in mid-air. His strength always amazes me. The fact that he isn't a star always amazes me. This was an insanely fun tag match with not one dull moment to be had and a hot crowd to go with it. Cesaro & Kidd work very well as a face team and I'm not mad that they lost the Titles here. I'm hoping the plan is for New Day to keep the Titles for a little while until The Lucha Dragons are ready to take them. Great tag match. ***1/2



New Day are interviewed backstage by Renee Young until Ambrose and Harper return to the building for their match.


Dean Ambrose vs Luke Harper cont.
Both guys get back to the ring and about two dozen chairs are brought into the ring. After a bit of brawling and a nice nearfall with a powerbomb on a chair, Ambrose hits Dirty Deeds and gets the pin, and also his first PPV win in almost a year. I'll put the rating up to *** since it was a fun idea and a fun match overall.



John Cena vs Rusev: Russian Chain Match
The U.S. Title is on the line. I'd say Rusev has a 0,5% chance of winning this. I've liked Cena's run as U.S. champ so far as he's given a few midcarders a chance to show their stuff on TV, even in a losing stance. This is a four corners kind of match which I hate as they're rarely good. Unfortunately, this wasn't an exception. It was pretty dull all the way through up to the predictable ending with Cena hitting the AA and retaining. I have to wonder where both Cena and Rusev go after this. At least Rusev has still only been pinned once so he still looks like a monster. The first disappointing match of the night, although I wasn't expecting much to begin with. **



Nikki Bella vs Naomi
The Diva's Title is on the line. When the hell did the Bellas start getting face reactions? I can't wait for Charlotte to get called up to kick both of their asses. Naomi's heel turn kind of came out of nowhere, but the again so did AJ Lee's retirement. This was a pretty good match. I've always liked Naomi with her athleticism, and it looks like Nikki's been training and learning some new stuff. Looks the the 'Give Divas a Chance' movement is working out. Nice match. **1/2



Roman Reigns vs The Big Show: Last Man Standing
Oh please God let this be the last match that these two guys have together. It's getting to ridiculous Kingston vs Ziggler in 2010/11 levels. This was either gonna be surprisingly good or as dull as I expected. Fortunately it wasn't surprisingly good; it was surprisingly great. It was mainly a spotfest, but it was a fun one in which both guys were motivated and the crowd was hot for it. The table spots were all well done, especially the finish with Reigns lifting up the announcers table to bury Show. Great match and Reigns is really growing on me. ***1/2



Bo Dallas is here as I guess we need to waste some time. He basically just shits on the audience and it is glorious. This brings out Ryback for the beatdown. One Shell Shock later and this segment is over.



Lana and Rusev are backstage as she informs him that he will face Cena at Payback in an I Quit match. This feud is really continuing? Sorry Rusev but you have no chance. Cena never loses that match.



Randy Orton vs Seth Rollins: Steel Cage & RKO Banned
The WWE World Title is on the line. Oh yeah I've been looking forward to this one. I really enjoyed their WrestleMania match and Orton getting the win was the right idea as it immediately made him look like a Title threat and gave Rollins something to prove. Not sure how I feel about Kane being inserted into the story, but if it ends with him getting his mask and wrestling gear back then I'm all for it. This started off quite slowish, but once they started hitting the big moves things really got going. Orton hitting a pedigree was awesome and a great nearfall. The finish was dramatic as I couldn't tell who Kane was going for. Rollins hitting an RKO was a great ending and I'm sure the feud will continue. A great main event here. ***3/4



7.5/10. A damn good show here and much better than what I expected. The two main events delivered and the undercard was very good. The only disappointment for me was the Cena/Rusev match, so skip that one. All in all a very good show that's worth a watch. Nothing groundbreaking but it's a good waste of time.

WrestleMania XXXI

WrestleMania XXXI Review

It has been so long since I posted anything here, but I've got the bug for writing again and I thought the latest Mania was a good place to start on.

I'll also include the pre-show matches since I haven't watched them yet, and only saw the end of the battle royal.

By the way, I watched this event in a bar full of wrestling fans, and apart from being at the event itself, it is definitely the premier way to watch Mania, as the atmosphere is just electric and everyone has their own personal favourites. I don't think I could ever watch a PPV live from home again.

This Mania hardly had the best build but neither did Mania 19 and that's considered one of the best ever. So without further ado, here we go with the Showcase of the Immortals.


Pre-Show

The Usos vs Cesaro & Kidd vs Los Matadores vs New Day
The tag titles are on the line. Surely the Ascension would have been a better choice over Matadores? Cesaro & Kidd definitely got he best pop and reaction from the crowd. This started off like a simple tag match, but once everyone started getting involved, it turned into a a non-stop thrill ride. The action was all over the place and it was glorious to witness. The best spot of the match was the double electric chair into superplexes. I would say that this was good enough for the main show. A great tag match and good work from everyone involved. ***1/2



Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal
This didn't feel like as big a deal as the last one was since it's on the pre-show. Everyone stopping to eliminate Curtis Axel was a pretty funny moment. Hideo Itami got a big reaction from the crowd and had a nice moment, but I was disappointed that he wasn't in there longer. Cesaro had another great
showing and had the crowd behind him. Mizdow's moment was amazing and received a huge reaction from the crowd. Big Show then ruined it by winning the thing. Good battle royal though. ***1/4


WrestleMania 31

Let's skip all the intro stuff and get to the matches.


Daniel Bryan vs Luke Harper vs Stardust vs Bad News Barrett vs Dolph Ziggler vs R-Truth vs Dean Ambrose : Ladder Match
The IC Title is on the line. I still have no idea what Truth was doing in there. I don't think I enjoyed this one as much as everyone else did. It's still a good match and the great thing about these kinds of matches is that you can go back and watch them over again quite easily. Bryan did seem like the obvious winner here, but I'd say that Ziggler and Ambrose were favourites too and Ziggler did come close with his awesome headbutt battle with Bryan at the end. The only moment that shocked me was Ambrose taking a powerbomb through a ladder which did look very painful. A good car wreck match which it was intended to be. ***1/2



Randy Orton vs Seth Rollins
I'll admit that I like Orton's new look with the elbow pads. Before the show I thought this would be the show stealing match and while it didn't exactly do that, it was still one of the better matches of the night. I think the point of this match was to make Rollins look good even in a clean defeat and I would say mission accomplished on that one. Rollins looked like a star here and that he belonged in
the ring with a veteran like Orton. Hell, he even got to kick out of an RKO and not many people can say that. Overall this was a great match with a great finish as Orton hit one of the biggest and best RKOs I've ever seen. Great stuff. ***3/4



Sting vs Triple H
As a fan of the Terminator movies, I did enjoy HHH's entrance no matter how cheesy it was. I freaking loved this match. It had that same feel as Rock vs Hogan, where the in-ring stuff wasn't that great but the atmosphere and the entertainment value was just off the charts. DX and the nWo interfering was awesome and just brought more entertainment to the match. The nearfalls were great and I love just about everything in this match except for two things: the ending and the aftermath. Sting should have definitely won this and I don't get the point of HHH winning and it just about deflated the crowd. Why the hell would Sting shake his hand afterwards too? Just some weird storytelling there. However I do love this match and I'm probably overrating it, but I'd call it must-see. ****1/2

We got a mini concert after the match and I'm skipping it because it's very boring.


AJ & Paige vs The Bella Twins
Does this count as AJ's final match? If so then I think it makes it quite historically significant for the future. The match wasn't anything special but it was better than most divas matches you see on tv (obviously outside of NXT). Why the hell was AJ knocked out for so long though? A weird part of the match. Anyway let's hope that the divas start getting more attention in the future because it could really do them some good. So-so match. **



John Cena vs Rusev
The U.S. Title is on the line. I loved Rusev's entrance coming in on a tank. Looked awesome. However I would call Cena's cringe worthy as someone who isn't American and I heard that a lot of American fans found it cringe worthy as well. The match was pretty good but I was disappointed that it wasn't as good as their Fastlane match which I found to be a great match. Plus Rusev only took one AA and it pinned him? Quite the anticlimactic finish but Rusev still looked like a beast up to that point. Cena's springboard Stunner was awesome and the bar I was in erupted in a 'Holy shit' chant until dying down and calling Cena a wanker once again. Still, a good match and I like Cena as U.S. Champ so good stuff all around. ***1/4



I won't go over the Ronda Rousey segment since everyone knows what happened, but yes it was great and everyone in the bar (myself included) went nuts as soon as Ronda jumped over the barricade. The Rock was in good form as well, as was Stephanie McMahon. A cool segment that will hopefully set up something for next year's Mania.



The Undertaker vs Bray Wyatt
Let me just pre-face this by saying that I am a huge Undertaker mark and a match between him and Wyatt is something I dreamed about for two years, so no matter how this went I was always gonna enjoy the hell out of it. And it actually wasn't a bad match at all. The match was only fifteen minutes so it didn't last too long and Taker was looking good for fifty and I have confidence that he'll look good next year too. A good match here with Wyatt looking good in defeat, and that moment where he did the spider walk and Taker sat up was just awesome. Good match and great to see the Deadman back in action. 22-1! ***1/4



Roman Reigns vs Brock Lesnar
The WWE World Title is on the line. This is a match I wasn't looking forward to up until the point when Lesnar signed a new contract. After that it felt unpredictable and that either guy could walk away with the belt. The match was fantastic with Lesnar living up to all the names that Heyman gave him and gloriously destroyed Reigns. Reigns looked good too, especially towards the end when he looked so close to winning. Rollins' cash-in was fantastic and I lost my voice from shouting too much when he pinned Reigns. A brilliant finish to an amazing match that made everyone look good coming out of it. A Wrestlemania classic and one of the better Mania main events in history. It's the Match of the Year for me. ****3/4



9.25/10. An amazing Mania event and I don't think anyone thought it would be anyone near as good as it was. It had just about something for everyone like the car crash Ladder match, entertainment matches like Sting/HHH and Taker/Wyatt, a brawl in the main event, good wrestling matches in Orton/Rollins and Cena/Rusev, a decent divas match, and even great non-wrestling segments outside of the concerts. Hell, even the pre-show was awesome! One of the better Mania's of the past decade and it'll definitely go down in history as one of the best. Highly recommended viewing.

Royal Rumble 1999

Royal Rumble 1999 Review


After last Sunday's very controversial Rumble event, I thought I'd go back to this one as it was originally well known as having the worst Rumble match in history. A lot of people have now named the 2015 Rumble as the worst one ever, so I wanted to go back and see which one was indeed the worst, and I thought I might as well review the rest of the show too.


Ok let's get on with it.


Jerry Lawler and Michael Cole are the announcers for the night. Weird to think that they're still there sixteen years later. Feels longer.



Road Dogg vs The Big Boss Man
Speaking of acts that for some reason still around today, here we have Road Dogg defending his Hardcore Championship. For some reason this isn't a hardcore rules match. What the hell is the point then? This was a mostly boring match with only Road Dogg's comeback being the most interesting part and that only lasted about thirty seconds, with Boss Man hitting him with the big side slam to win the Title. Bad opening match. *



Billy Gunn vs Ken Shamrock
The IC Title is on the line. I believe this is the first of many of Billy's failed singles pushes. Shamrock was pissed at Billy as he mooned his sister while she was in the crowd. I'm pretty sure mooning was all Billy was good at. This started off with an energetic pace but it slowed down considerably as it continued. Another boring match with Shamrock controlling almost the entire match and Billy didn't look that strong since he couldn't even beat Shamrock with Val Venis' help. Another forgettable bout. *1/4



Gangrel vs X-Pac
The European Title is on the line. Two minutes in and this one is already more entertaining than the last two matches. X-Pac was pretty good around this point and was always able to give us a good match. The only thing that really brought it down was a botched three count by referee Teddy Long. Better stick to making tag matches Teddy. This one was way too short though and I was really enjoying it whilst the last two matches were long and boring. A short but sweet match that could have been better with more time. Best of the night so far. **



Shane McMahon enters the ring so he can introduce Luna Vachon. He wants Sable to forfeit her Title to Luna and out comes Sable with a back injury. The match will go on.



Luna Vachon vs Sable : Strap Match
The Women's Title is on the line. Luna is looking very strange tonight. Just like every night. This is the kind of strap match you have to touch all four corners to win. I prefer when it's pinfall and submission rules. A short match that didn't really feature much except for the strap being used as a choking device. This ended like all other strap matches, with the face touching the corners after the heel, only to hit the last one and win. 1/2*



Mankind vs The Rock : I Quit
The WWF Title is on the line. This is one that is much harder to watch now that we know what chair shots do to people. If you think chair shots to the face should still be allowed in wrestling then just watch the Beyond the Mat documentary and you'll why it's a good thing that they're banned. The chair shots are just so hard to watch and I have no idea why Mick would bring his kids to watch this one. Although before all the chair shots began, this was a pretty fun match and still featured some big spots like Mankind's fall into the electrical equipment or a nasty fall on the announce table. Plus when Rock was on the mic it was never not entertaining. But then the chair shots arrive and things get uncomfortable. It's hard to rate this match like any other match, but I'd recommend it even just to see why safety measures are necessary in wresstling. I'll go with  ***1/2



One thing I can note at this point in the show is that laser pointers are a real pain in the ass.



The Royal Rumble Match
I only know of a couple of storylines going into this match like the $100,000 bounty on Austin's head or the fact that Chyna is #30 and will be the first woman in a Rumble match. Steve Austin and Vince McMahon are the first two entrants. I think Austin was the only likely winner of this one which did hurt things quite a bit even if he didn't end up winning which he probably should have. Austin kicking Vince's ass at the start was probably the funnest part of the match. Nothing much else happened in the match but it wasn't really boring as it had a sort chaotic feel to it. I actually enjoyed this more than I thought I would. McMahon as the winner was an awful decision but the entire match was pretty fun to be honest. It's still one of the worst but it's not bad. I'll give it  **1/2




4.5/10. Yeah this wasn't a very good show. The Rumble was pretty average overall, the WWF Title match was good but disturbing, and everything else was just completely forgettable. I did review this to compare this Rumble to the 2015 Rumble, so I'll say that the 2015 is the worst one ever. A bad show here.

Royal Rumble 2015

Royal Rumble 2015 Review


The last time I reviewed a show was for Night of Champions 2014. Since then my interest in the current product has sort of dwindled. Not that I haven't been watching wrestling as I still enjoy many classic shows and matches on the Network on a daily basis.


This event is easily the most controversial since last year's Rumble event, but how good was this one overall? Let's find out.


I won't completely review the pre-show match since I wasn't paying too much attention but it looked like a  **3/4 to me.



The New Age Outlaws vs The Ascension
WWE had such a great run of fun opening matches but that streak ended with this one. Hopefully after this victory the announce team will stop referring to the Ascension as wannabes. I really fear for anyone coming up from NXT after the way Ascension were treated. The match was nothing special with nothing particularly memorable about it and it probably should have just been a complete squash for Viktor and Konnor. Pretty bleh way to start the show. *1/4



The Usos vs The Miz & Damien Mizdow
The Tag Titles are on the line. I really hope the Ascension are fine after this show because if they're not then the Usos will have no challengers for their Titles. These two teams may have faced off far too many times in the past couple of months, but this was probably their best one yet. It featured some nice nearfalls and false finishes. I could never really tell who the winner was until the very end. It was kind of annoying that the Miz was in the match the entire time, but at least it keeps the fans behind Sandow. Good stuff. This probably should have been the opener. ***



The Bella Twins vs Natalya & Paige
What the hell is with all the tag matches on this show? This was one I wasn't looking forward to at all in the lead up to the show, but it actually wasn't that bad. It wasn't good but at least it wasn't terrible. It could have been pretty damn good if Paige had gotten the hot tag or if the finish hadn't terrible. A forearm for the pin? Really? Well at least it was better than most diva matches (not including the awesome NXT matches). A forgettable, overlong match. *1/2



John Cena vs Seth Rollins vs Brock Lesnar
The WWE World Title is on the line. It's weird to think that this is Lesnar's first defense since September last year. And now we'll probably have to wait another two months for the next one. This match was so much better than I was expecting. Everyone performed magnificently here, especially Rollins who looked very comfortable in the main event spot. If Lesnar's performance didn't turn you into a fan of his then nothing ever will as he looked like a complete tank here that looked as if he could take on a whole army of men. The nearfalls were fantastic and I was never sure of who would come out as champion as the nearfalls were very well done. A terrific match and an early MOTYC. ****3/4


The Royal Rumble Match
What the hell happened here? The sad thing is that this one showed real promise in the first 20 minutes and I was expecting it to be one of the best ever, but obviously that didn't exactly happen. Bubba's return and DDP's surprise entry were brilliantly done and DDP hitting a ton of Diamond Cutters was just awesome. The Boogeyman's return was pretty underwhelming outside of a funny staredown with Bray Wyatt. Speaking of the (literal) devil, he was a real highlight of this match and looked very impressive with many eliminations and managed to stay in the match for about a half hour. And then everything changed when Bryan was eliminated. It totally deflated the crowd and probably everyone watching at home including myself. That was followed by an influx of wrestlers than no one was interested in until Mizdow came in and then he was eliminated quickly, resulting in an even angrier crowd. Only Ambrose and Ziggler got good reactions from the crowd after that. The reactions turned venomous once it came down to Reigns, Show and Kane. I wouldn't call this the worst Rumble ever but it's definitely close as it seems that Vince decided to say 'Fuck you' to the audience rather than putting together a fun match. **



5/10. This one had it's moments like the fun Tag Title match and an amazing World Title match, but the rest was either bad or just forgettable. If it wasn't for the Triple Threat match then this would easily go down as one of the worst PPVs ever and possibly the worst Rumble event ever. I'm totally disappointed with the booking but not enough to cancel my beloved Network subscription. It'll be interesting to see how we look back at this one in one year's time, but I will say that this one makes the 2014 event look like Money in the Bank 2011.