Cena, Bork and LOLVINCE

WWE Night of Champions 2014

(2014/9/21)

WWE Championship: John Cena vs. Brock Lesnar ©

This was great, although I'd love it even more if not for the FACT they made Rollins a total jerkoff idiot who ruined the night for everyone. Seriously, why wouldn't he wait until the match is over? This makes no fucking sense. Now, onto the match - loved it once again. Cena evolved both mentally and tactically since SummerSlam, the first AA was a sign of things to come that he may actually damage Lesnar here. That's exactly what happened and he'd probably win the match if not for Rollins. From a booking standpoint, it'd be a disaster, but it'd make sense within the context of the match and how the story was handled. There was few nice details where Cena exploited Lesnar's past MMA weaknesses to gain some offense, I dug that.

****

 Cena/Lesnar series:

that 2003 match bad
Extreme Rules 2012 ***3/4
SummerSlam 2014 ****3/4
Night of Champions 2014 ****

Two Swell Matches From LOLTNA

Well, fuck me sideways, I just watched two TNA Impact matches I loved. Keep in mind that up until this point my TNA MOTY was rated ***1/4, so sitting through MVP/Low-Ki and Aries/Knux was a blast, it really made me forget what a mess this fed is. MVP and Low-Ki worked for NJPW at the same time few years ago but both in different weight classes, so I knew they might come up with a vivid heavyweight/Junior story, and that's exactly what happened. It was a great match and honestly it felt like apart of a New Japan Korakuen show, with the crowd being hot and all that jazz. ****

Aries/Knux was good, the thing of beauty with Aries is how believable and compelling he looks against big guys, when he beats them it doesn't feel like a stretch at all. It helps that he's jacked, but I'm talking about all the little twists and details he uses, not to mention supreme psychology (not my favorite word) via mind games and super cockiness. Usually small guys use a plethora of kicks against big men, but Aries is just something else. Tons of fun here, Knux deserves credit too. ***3/4

Destruction '14 in Kobe: Two Marvelous Matches

Destruction 2014 in Kobe

(2014/9/21)

1.      Bullet Club (Yujiro Takahashi, Matt Jackson, Nick Jackson) vs. CHAOS (Tomohiro Ishii, Rocky Romero, Alex Koslov)

Fine opener with Ishii GOATing as the rabid hot tag. Nice to see the Bucks back in Japan.

***1/4

2.      Suzuki-gun (TAKA Michinoku, Taichi, Desperado) vs. Alex Shelley, Maximo, BUSHI

These two teams had a good match on 9/13, so I already got what I wanted from them days ago, therefore I wasn’t upset about the lack of an actual match here, this was more of an angle to sell the evil SZKG trio as vicious evildoing pricks, I quite dug it, swell little segment.

N/A

3.      Yuji Nagata, Manabu Nakanishi, Tiger Mask, Cpt. New Japan vs. Hiroyoshi Tenzan, Satoshi Kojima, Jushin Liger, Tomoaki Honma

I don’t understand why they separated Liger and TMIV here, but oh well… I guess it’s because they didn’t want two complete underdogs (Honma and Captain) on the same page. Ha, I just remembered they did it few days ago too. *** 10 minutes later *** Yep, it makes even more sense now, because – HONMA WON! HONMA WON! HONMA WON! Short, but very eventful 8-man tag with a nice, feelgood ending.

***1/4

4.      Minoru Suzuki & Takashi Iizuka vs. Toru Yano & Kazushi Sakuraba

Thankfully, MiSu and Sakuraba were in the main roles here, so much heat and HATE between them, Suzuki didn’t give a shit about Yano or the outcome, all he wanted is to brawl with Sakuraba and possibly murder him, there was an obligatory post-match annihilation of the Young Lions and all the other mad stuff MiSu does regularly. This was a strong build to their inevitable Sumo Hall singles match and I’m really looking forward to it.

***

5.      IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship: Ryusuke Taguchi vs. KUSHIDA ©

If you told me six months ago these two would work a match like this, I’d call you batshit insane. But things change, this was a GLORIOUS Jr. title match that felt like a beautifully done throwback to the 90s and the time of Samurai/Liger/Pegasus/Otani, I got those vibes. I’m a sucker for a focused, minimalistic style of pro-wrestling, these two did a wonderful job in that department.

****1/2

6.      Tetsuya Naito & Kota Ibushi vs. AJ Styles & Tama Tonga

Decent, but that’s about it. It had its moments of potential greatness, but it never quite materialized properly, they held back and it was obvious, especially in the finishing run.

**3/4

7.      IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team Championship: Kazuchika Okada & YOSHI-HASHI vs. Karl Anderson & Doc Gallows ©

Very good shit, borderline great, my man YOSHI-HASHI delivered again in the role of a ballsy underdog against the big bad wolves. There was a fantastic nearfall that cemented fucking Yujiro as the most hated man in puroresu, good shit all over the place, really nice tag match.

***3/4

8.      Hirooki Goto vs. Togi Makabe

Well, this sucked, and I had some hopes for this because their G1 match was good and their prelude interactions were heated and looked promising. Unfortunately, this one was bollocks. Plus, Goto lost… again, another big show, and another Goto loss.

bad

9.      Katsuyori Shibata vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi

After watching the first time, I thought this was good, but not great. But then I got this feeling, my gut was telling me to watch again because I missed something, and it was right, this match was fantastic. It feels like a complete match, like something’s come to an end, like the stage one of the rivalry is now over, that post-match handshake is big, and it affects the bell-to-bell action too, that handshake was a significant part of the whole story they told here. These two have a tremendous chemistry together, they really upgraded and build on the first two matches, so like I already said, it felt like a complete match and there was this tangible sense of closure. I loved how Tana was booked here, one part of the story was that his style of puroresu is better than Shibata’s style, it was clear cut storytelling and you could feel it every time Tana made transitions from Shibata inspired stiffness to his own arsenal of signature spots. “First I’m gonna stand toe-to-toe with you in YOUR OWN puroresu, than I’m gonna finish you off with mine, SUPERIOR puroresu, ergo, I AM A BETTER MAN!” Fantastic stuff all around.

****1/2

10.  IWGP Intercontinental Championship: Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Bad Luck Fale ©

Good, satisfying main event with a surprising result, did not see the big man dropping the belt back to Shinsuke on his first defense, not to mention Shinsuke won their last match, at G1. This was another good match between these two, probably the best after the NJC Finale. Fale is a good big guy, but can be great when he has someone on the opposite side to bump and sell for him, and Shinsuke did exactly that. They played off their earlier matches, it was nice, overall this was a strong enough main event.

***3/4

CMLL 81 Aniversario: End of an Era?

 

CMLL 81 Aniversario

(2014/9/19)

1.      Blue Panther, Cachorro, Dragon Lee vs. Dinastia Casas (Felino, Tiger, Puma)

First two caidas were good, but tercera was kind of messy and all over the place, it was unnecessary long, but thankfully the finishing stretch was swell and saved the match from mediocrity. Blue Panther doing THREE dives in a row was an awesome sight, totally giving Dragon Lee and Cachorro a run for their money.

***

2.      8-WOMEN TORNEO CIBERNETICO for Copa 81 Aniversario: Princesa Sujei vs. Goya Kong vs. Estrellita vs. Marcela vs. Zeuxis vs. Dalys vs. Tiffany vs. Amapola

This was a decent, action packed sprint and they did just about fine, I guess. It seems to me that the right gal won this.

**3/4

3.      Volador Jr., Mascara Dorada, Valiente vs. Mr. Niebla, Euforia, Thunder

Had no faith in this match due to Niebla being part of it, but fuck me, he was very good here, he didn’t go overboard with the comedy and was just a relentless wild fuck who does weird shit all the time, and it fucking worked. I wish this match got the time of the opener, because it ended kind of abruptly with the rudos being disqualified… in segunda. Everything before it was full of blitz & glam, in a good way. Thunder and Volador were rocking some rather cool outfits.

***1/4

4.      Cabellera vs. Cabellera: Rey Cometa vs. Cavernario

This was FANTASTIC, CMLL's got themselves something truly special in Cavernario, dude's already the Top 10-15 material, world wide, if they don't fuck him up he might become a huge draw, the Mistico levels I dare to say, he's just that talented and charismatic. Rey Cometa impressed as well, crafty little high-flyer with slick techniques and big balls.

****1/2

5.      Campeonato Mundial de Parejas CMLL: Rush & Mascara vs. Negro Casas & Shocker ©

Not on the level of the apuesta matches, but excellent nevertheless. Tercera was smashing. This is will be remembered as an epic rivalry that produced so many good/great matches, including two apuestas and multiple parejas and trios. Mascara was pretty damn good here, the best edition in a long time I think. It was nice to see Negro Casas getting some revenge on Rush after losing his hair to him in August.

****1/4

6.      Mascara vs. Mascara: Atlantis vs. Ultimo Guerrero

My reaction for this historic main event and the aftermath:

This is why I love lucha libre. In Mexico, pro-wrestling is religion indeed. One of the most emotional moments in a looong time, I shed a tear or two. The whole history and bigger-than-life meaning of masks summed in those 45 minutes. Main event was cinematic, incredible and immensely emotional, such a rollercoaster of feels, the whole aura of the match was bigger than life. Technically, the match WAS NOT perfect, but this is not gymnastics where you grade moves and execution, no, this is pro-wrestling - a complicated yet so simple art of performing and entertaining the crowds. Ultimo escaping Atlantida TWICE made for such a drama.

****3/4

Such an enjoyable show with three amazing matches, two good and harmless trios and a solid ladies match. Production, presentation, fans… Madness! One of the best shows of the year.

Little Bit of New CMLL

CMLL 2014/9/2

Gallo, Fuego, Cachorro vs. Okumura, Kamaitachi, Puma

For some reason, tercera is missing from the video, and now I feel like I could murder someone, because primera and segunda were some good lucha.

N/A

CMLL 2014/9/2

La Mascara vs. Mephisto

Short two caidas, doh of course, but it was for better, as evidenced by tercera where shit was quite unremarkable.

**3/4

CMLL 2014/9/2

Guerreros Laguneros (Ultimo Guerrero, Euforia, Gran Guerrero) vs. Atlantis, Rush, Valiente

Basic prelude trio to the huge apuesta match, yet the tensions and heat are so high it’s impossible to fuck it up. Strange to see Rush as a rudo in Guadalajara, but whatever. Recently I’ve noticed Valiente is quite a workhorse. When I watch Ultimo Guerrero, I feel bad for not paying closer attention to his career, I feel like I’ve missed some wonderful things, he’s quite great.

***1/2

CMLL 2014/8/18

Campeonato National de Peso Ligero: Espiritu Maligno vs. Electrico ©

Primera was bad, it looked like two wannabe luchadors trying to exchange cool moves, the sloppiness was unacceptable at places. Segunda was just as short as primera, but much better. Tercera was good, there were some big moves and it felt somehow important. The finish was pretty damn nice. So overall, I’d say this was a rock solid match, not bad.

**3/4

CMLL 2014/8/18

Volador Jr., Valiente, Maximo vs. Shocker, Rey Escorpion, Polvora

First of all, this was not balls-to-the-walls, no, it was rather based on Escorpion and Shocker being total dicks, they didn’t care for grace or flash, they were too busy looking like a million bucks by mauling the tecnicos, i.e. Shocker getting tired of Maximo’s gayness and punching him silly, or Escorpion harassing Valiente like a rabid freakin’ badger. Second, Valiente’s and Volador’s comebacks were awesome, both guys have completely grown on me this year. There’s nothing like finding a “hidden” lucha gem on internet.

****