Wrestlemania 32 Review

Some pre show thoughts, Not gonna break it down just give some thoughts.
Corey Graves may have the worst suit I have ever seen.
Where does this loss put Ryback? He didn't look real great and he doesn't seem like a natural heel. everything he does is feeling forced.
A championship match should never be a pre-show match. If you have a champ that you don't think is good enough to be highlighted on the main card then he shouldn't be champ. To have the US title defended on the pre-show just reinforces how far the mid card has fallen.
The Diva's put on an ok match. nothing to write home about but it was decent non the less. They went a long way to give Brie the spotlight.
The fact that the Uso's got boo'd out of the stadium when they put the super kicks to the Dudley's shows just how stale they are. And someone tell Mauro Ranallo that not every win is a Wrestlemania moment.

Time for KOmania

Ladder Match for the Intercontinental Championship

Dolph Ziggler, The Miz, Sami Zayn, Stardust, Sin Cara, Zach Ryder and Kevin Owens

Highlights:

Everyone leaves the to get a ladder leaving Owens alone in the ring.

Zach Ryder is sporting a really creepy beard

Sami Zane through the ladder over the top rope onto 5 of the competitors

Sin Cara gets pushed of the ladder and springboards onto the 4 guys on the floor

Stardust pulls out a yellow polka dot black ladder

Owens and Ziggler hit a super kick on each other

KO with a frog splash onto Zayn on a ladder

Sin Cara with a splash from the top of the ladder onto the floor where Stardust was laying on a ladder drapped from the ring to the barricade

Winner: Zach Ryder?????

Grade: 2 stars

Thoughts:

What the Hell did I just see? The match itself was weak with to many high spots and not enough original drama. Zach Ryder winning the belt is more proof that the WWE just really doesn't care about the mid-card. What a terrible swerve.

AJ Styles vs Chris Jericho

Highlights:

Styles with a kip up into a head scissors take down.

Styles with a Jericho like springboard drop kick on Jericho off the apron

Jericho with a neck breaker on the second rope to the floor

Styles with a drop kick on Jericho. Styles and Ziggler have the best drop kicks in the business

Styles with a front flapjack of the top rope

Jericho caught the Pele kick and turned into the Walls of Jericho

Jericho fights out of a Styles Clash

Jericho tries to do a Styles Clash that Styles fought out of

Jericho kicks out of a Styles Clash 

Styles with a springboard 450 splash

Jericho counters a Phenominal Forearm in to a Code breaker

Winner: Jericho by pinfall after a code breaker

Grade: 3 Stars

Thoughts:

I expected a lot more out of these two. They had a match of the year contender at Fastlane and then not so much here. I like how they sold The kick out of the Code Breaker by having Jericho take his time. Having Jericho kick out of the Styles Clash was a bad decision.  I really love the fact that they are showing Styles as a tough guy. He always seems to fight out of submission moves. But this was again a bad decision. Having Jericho win AJ's first feud was a poor decision. Two matches in and two really bad decisions.

New Day vs League of Nations

Highlights:

New Day busts out of a Big box of Booty o's 

Xavier has a tail and they are wearing Dragon Ball Z costumes.

Rusev angerly kicked Booty O's out of the way

6 man Tag Team Match? I thought it was a 4 on 3 handicapped match. Why is Barrett not wrestling

Unicorn stampede by all three of the New Day

Kofi with a boom drop on both Sheamus and Rusev

Big E dives through the ropes to take out Sheamus, Rusev and Barrett, Big E looks like he landed on his neck funny

Winner: League of Nations by Pinfall on Xavier Woods after a Brogue Kick

Grade: 2 1/2

Thoughts:

Another interesting call here but predictable. Yet another championship that the WWE didn't feel comfortable with having a title defense. The match was pretty lackluster, really not a Wrestlemania quality match but I think it was done just to set up the after match segment

Shawn Michaels, Mick Foley and Stone Cold interrupt a post match promo by League of Nations

The Three Hall Of Famers clear the ring by hitting their finishers Wade Barrett took all three finishers to end the beat down. New Day comes in to dance with the Hall Of Famers and Austin stuns Xavier Woods. The after match antics couldn't save what was really a run of the mill tag match.

Dean Ambrose vs Brock Lesnar

Highlights

Suplex City Count 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10-11-12-13

JBL calls Ambrose the Energizer Dummy 

Ambrose with a low blow and then a suicide dive onto Brock

Ambrose hit Brock with a lap top

Lesnar with a belly to belly suplex from the top rope

Ambrose with a hesitation dropkick to a chair on Lesnar in the corner

Lesnar kicks out of a Dirty Deeds onto a chair

Winner: Lesnar by Pinfall after an F5 onto a pile of chairs

Grade: 2 1/2

Thoughts:

Making Dean look weak leading into this really didn't help sell the match and the fact that he got very little offense in the match made it worse. This was a match that should've stolen the show and it was really underwhelming. I never once felt that Ambrose had a chance in hell. So far this has been a very poor Wrestlemania  with a few very questionable decisions.

Charlotte vs, Sasha Banks, vs Becky Lynch

Highlights

Blown spot where Sasha missed a sunset flip.

Rude Awakening from Charlotte on Lynch off the top turnbuckle

Sasha has spent a little to much time on the floor selling moves that weren't that painful

Sasha with a suicide dive on Charlotte who was on the floor

Ric Flair and Banks in a WHOOOOO contest

Charlotte with a moonsault of the top turnbuckle onto Banks and Lynch on the floor

Double Natural Selection on both Lynch and Banks

Winner: Charlotte by Submission with a figure 8 on Lynch and the new WWE Woman's Champion

Grade: 2 3/4

Thoughts:

This was a tough match to buy into, Sasha Banks spent way to much time on the floor in the beginning making this a one on one match between Charlotte and Lynch. Very little of this match was between all three and the person we all wanted to see spent the majority of the match on the floor and selling injuries. Flair keeping Banks from entering the match drew some more cheap heat. Another match that had match of the year potential that really disappointed

Shane McMahon vs The Undertaker

Hghlights:

Shane no sold the Snake Eyes and hit a flying elbow

Shane turns a Hells Gate into a Sharpshooter

Shane pulls out an aluminum garbage can from underneath the ring. Where does the WWE get aluminum garbage cans? I never see them when I am shopping

Shane goes Coast to Coast and now has officially had more offense then Dean Ambrose did

Shane took out bolt cutters and clipped some bolts holding the cell together, then the Undertaker drove Shane through the wall. Seemed like a blown spot where we weren't supposed to see Shane doing that

Undertaker cleans off multiple announce tables

Shane counters a Tombstone into a sleeper

Undertaker dives into the French announcers table to break the sleeper hold

Shane hits the Undertaker with a tool box

Shane misses an elbow on the Undertaker who was lying on an announce table from the top of the cell. Taker rolls out of the way and Shane crashes through the table.

Winner: Undertaker by pinfall after a Tombstone 

Grade: 2 3/4 stars

Thoughts:

Awkward placing for the match that should have been the main event. I'm not really sure why the WWE thinks that we want to see Underdogs get their asses handed to them but that is exactly what we saw twice tonight. Shane fought out the Hells Gate, you know the same move that made Brock Lesnar pass out at Summer Slam. Truly makes no sense why you would make a 46 year old business man look stronger then the Beast. Maybe it's just me but I can't get into a match that is so ridiculously unrealistic

.

Andre The Giant Memorial Battle Royal

Highlights

Shaquille O'Neil is a surprise entrant in the match

Kane gets a double chokeslam from Shaq and Big Show

Fandango dances in between Shaq and Show and was eliminated by Show

The Sandow tries to get in the middle and Shaq eliminates Sandow.

Shaq and Big Show are both eliminated by the remaining guys in the match

Halfway through the match they finally point out that Tatanka and DDP are in the battle royal. Very horrible job by the WWE not pointing it out earlier that a couple old school guys were in the match.

Social Outcasts do a victory lap inside the ring that is stopped by Kane. They reverse it and are caught by Baron Corbin.

Winner: Baron Corbin

Grade: 1 1/2 Stars

Thoughts:

It's nice that they went with an NXT guy to win the match which makes them look more legit but I would have rather seen anyone but Corbin. The WWE should be ashamed of themselves for not letting people know that DDP and Tatanka were in this match. What was the point of the Big Show/ Shaq standoff? very disappointed in this Wrestlemania so far. 

The best part of the night so far was watching Bray Wyatt and the Rock. Bray proved that he is on par with the Rock as far as mic skills

The Rock vs Eric Rowan

Highlights:

The Rock beat Eric Rowan in 6 seconds

Winner: The Rock

Grade: 4 Stars (this grade is a cumulative grade for the pre-match weirdness, microphone stand off between Bray and the Rock, 6 second match and return of Cena)

Thoughts:

So far this is the best part of the night. Bray Wyatt is a superstar and it was nice to see the fans agree with the Rock's assessment of Bray. I don't understand what they are doing with Eric Rowan, why is he always the one sent to the wolves. He's the first thrown out of battle royals he's the first eliminated in survivor matches. and here he lost to the rock with no offense in 6 seconds. He really does come across as the weak link. John Cena coming back injected some much needed life into this show. 

Triple H vs Roman Reigns

Highlights:

Reigns is getting boo'd out of the stadium as soon as his music hits
Terrible spot with him cocking and loading the punch to the floor. Took way to long after he hit the floor for the fireworks to go off. What was the reason for the fireworks around the outside of the closed stadium? People that were on the street got a fun little thing.
Wow!!!! I have a feeling if Reigns wins people will riot. Trips is getting more cheers the Reigns during the introduction.
Reigns is getting boo'd every time he has an offensive move
"Roman Sucks" chant. WWE you are really risking this kids future if he wins here
It's almost like Reigns does't hear the fan's booing. He plays to the audience that is booing him after every big move
Triple H with a low blow that made the audience cheer
Reigns speared Trips through the barricade
Triple H counters a superman punch into an armbar
Steph pulled the ref out of the ring to break the count and the fans cheered
The only cheer of the night Reigns got was when he speared Stephanie
Running knee by Triple H to counter a spear attempt
Stephanie hands Trips a sledgehammer and the fans cheer 

Winner: Roman Reigns by pinfall after a spear to a chorus of boo's

Grade: 2 1/4 Stars

Thoughts:

Having this match last is risky, you are threatening to send the fans home on a down note. The entire show has been lackluster and this match has been predictable since the Survivor Series. I have never heard a guy get boo'd the way that Reigns was throughout this match. Every big spot he had he was boo'd. The match relied to much on making Reigns look tough and people weren't buying it.

Final Thoughts:

I realize the WWE is more about entertainment now then wrestling but why did anyone think some of this would be entertaining. The Rock with a Flamethrower? Underdogs getting their butts kicked? The fan favorites loosing the majority of the matches? Wrestlemania went more than 45 minutes over time which means between the pre-show and main event and post show's the WWE expected us to commit 7+ hours for this show and they really failed to deliver. This show was really disapointing. I realize it was going to be tough to beat what NXT did on Friday night but it was almost like the WWE just threw in the towel. There were a lot of matches that should have been amazing and just under performed. The fireworks outside the stadium was a little much especially since the people on the inside didn't even see them.

That's all I have for now, Click the links to the right of this article and follow me on Twitter. Be sure to check out my other articles for movie and TV reviews, sports commentary also wrestling reviews and commentary for many different wrestling promotions, such as WWE, TNA, NXT, ROH, NJPW, Lucha Underground, and GFW. Also be sure to check out my articles on The Sportster. 

March 2016 Match of the Year Candidates

I'd like to give a little background into match grading. For the most part match grading is subjective, some people look for flawless execution of a story while others look for consistency and a feel of realism. Others view the match as a single entity while other people include the story into the grade.

I want to tell you my grading system. The story is huge to me, if the story is great, then that can raise a grade of a match a whole 1/2 star, and vice versa if the story sucks it can also drop the grade a 1/2 star. I'm also huge into realism, if a guy takes a DDT and lays on the floor for 15 minutes only to come flying in at the last second to save the match, that's a little to much for me. also a blown spot or two isn't a deal breaker if the blown spot results in a realistic feel. Lets face it, when you are doing a back flip of the second rope into a reverse DDT where you need to catch your opponent who is standing a few feet behind you, isn't always going to work out perfectly. In a real fight that move would actually hit perfectly 1 out of every 100 times. I will also give a guy a break if he kicks out of a finisher simply because finishers aren't as devastating as they used to be. While standing in the middle of the ring trading punches while the crowd yells Yay/Boo. That move is so over done and usually is placed at a point where a guy took a DDT that he jumped back up from but is trying to make us believe the strikes are really hurting him.

So the things I look for while grading matches are the story leading up to the match, whether the execution in the ring was believable and how enthralled I was by the match. Did I get sucked in? Did I at any moment utter the words Holy S!%#? Did I look forward to the match because of a great build? Was the action in the ring a great story being told?

Keep that in mind as you read what I believe are the match of the year candidates.

Beer Money vs The Wolves

March 8th 2016

Promotion: TNA

Story:

James storm recently returned to TNA, after a weird moment in NXT, to reform Beer Money with Robert Rhoode. After Kurt Angle's second to last match the week before against Bobby Rhoode, Beer Money and the Wolves both came to the ring to celebrate and pay their respects to Angle. Kurt said that he wants to see the two teams face each other for the titles so here it is.

Winner: Beer Money by pinfall after the DWI to win the TNA Tag Team Championship.

Grade: 4 1/4

What made it great:

After a slow start they really picked things up nicely with both teams hitting double team cooperation moves. and good individual story telling. Both Teams showed great chemistry not only with each other but also with the other team. I really didn't know who was going to win since no team dominated the match for very long. Not having a real story behind it hurt the match a little but the match itself was phenomenal.

Pentagon Jr. Vs Prince Puma Vs Mil Muertes

March 9th 2016

Promotion: Lucha Underground

Story: 

Lot of hatred between the three, Pentagon Jr. broke Mil's arm and there is just a strong dislike between Puma and Pentagon that has increased through a long running rivalry and Pentagon's recent turn to the dark side. Mil also defeated Puma for the title. Pentagon and Puma put on a classic the week before that Mil interfered in and left both men in a pile.

Winner: Mil Muertes by pinfall on both opponents after a double Flatliner to Retain the Luch Underground Title

Grade: 5 stars

Reason it was Great:

All Three men felt like they had a legitimate chance at winning, They never no sold each others moves making everyone look strong and they never oversold each others moves making the moves seem ridiculous. There was no laying on the outside for a ridiculously long time and then getting back into the ring in the nick of time. I also liked the fact that they didn't over due the pinfalls. We didn't get the first one until halfway through the match. The back and forth super kicks between Puma and Pentagon on Mil towards the end was phenomenal. The fact that Mil made the cover on both men was fantastic because there was no denying who the true champ is.

Dean Ambrose vs Triple H

Roadblock March 12th 2016

Promotion: WWE

Story:

After a storyline beating so Reigns could have surgery, Ambrose was thrust into a feud with Triple H. The Story was fantastically told with only a couple weeks buildup having Ambrose goading Triple H into giving him a title shot. A sit down in the ring on Smackdown gave us a great match between Owens and Ambrose too. The basis of the story was that Triple H was "scared" to face Dean and the build up was brilliantly told with both men looking intelligent and strong. They traded beat downs and left each other lying in the ring at different times. They traded one liners and fantastic face to face promos. Much like the Owens vs Ambrose Last Man Standing match. this is the way you build a rivalry.

Winner: Triple H to retain the WWE Heavyweight Title after a Pedigree

Grade: 4 3/4 stars

Reason it was great:

This may be one of the few times I have ever liked the whole feeling out process. The slow start to the match actually worked very well and showed Ambrose as a savvy cerebral wrestler while he was picking his spots and getting into "The Games" head. Incredible ring psychology and Ambrose truly seemed like a threat. Both men looked strong not only in this match but in the build up to the match.

Mil Muertes Vs Fenix

March 16th 2016

Promotion: Lucha Underground

Story:

This is the best feud in wrestling. They have built this feud correctly over the last couple years and have made it so it still doesn't feel over. What started of as a mysterious kiss by Katrina to Fenix has led to some of the greatest matches in wrestling.

Winner: Fenix by pinfall with a surprise roll up to win the LU Championship

Grade 5 star

Reason it was great :

Hard hitting and fast paced, both these guys came across as warriors who would do anything to win the championship. You could almost feel the hatred in their rivalry through the TV. Great story telling in the ring, great high spots, they sold moves brilliantly. This is the second straight week that Lucha underground has had a 5 star match. They are quickly becoming must watch TV.

Aztec Warefare 2

March 23, 2016

Promotion: Lucha Underground

Story:

After Fenix beat Muertes last week this scheduled number #1 contender match became a match for the Lucha Underground Championship

Winner: Matanza Cuerto by pinfall on Rey Mysterio Jr. to become the new LU Champion

Grade 4 3/4 Stars

Reason it was great:

Third straight week with a match of the year contender. An hour long match that I watched 3 times. The match held my interest from the opening bell. Everyone had a chance to stand out and show what they could do and they were able to continue all the current feuds seamlessly. The match had comedy, hard hitting action and a lot of what makes the Lucha style great. A couple of surprise returns didn't hurt either. Cuerto's no selling was done perfectly to sell himself as an unstoppable force. It lost a little because of the mid ring stand offs but gained because of great drama and story telling. any match that can hold my interest undivided for an hour through three viewings was a very good match.

That's all I have for now, Click the links to the right of this article to follow me on Twitter. Be sure to check out my other articles for movie and TV reviews, sports commentary also wrestling reviews and commentary for many different wrestling promotions, such as WWE, TNA, NXT, ROH, NJPW, Lucha Underground, and GFW. Also be sure to check out my articles on The Sportster. 

Wrestlemania 32 Preview

Sunday night the WWE is going to grace us with their 32nd annual edition of Wrestlemania. This Wrestlemania like all 31 before it has a chance to be great but is also so full of story line holes that it can make you tear your hair out thinking about it. I read somewhere earlier this week that if we truly wanted to enjoy wrestling again we would shut our brains off and watch what is happening on the screen with out analyzing how we got to that point. My only question is why should we have to? Why should we have to ignore all the massive plot holes and story line inconsistencies so we can enjoy the product?

I wonder, would we let movies and television shows behave this way. How many people would still be Star Wars fan's if Luke Skywalker all of a sudden started working for the Emporer just because Palpatine told him he wouldn't be allowed to be in the next star wars movie? Would the Gotham season finale be something to look forward to if every episode saw Jim Gordon getting his butt kicked by Mister Freeze with out showing any offense at all? Would we continue to watch The Original's if we absolutely hated Klaus? The quick answer is no, and the studious wouldn't allow that to happen. It's not uncommon for a occasional bit player to become the star of the show. When a character test bad he gets less and less lines or recast and a sub character starts to receive more. So why then with wrestling do we need to just ignore it and enjoy the show.

Personally I do still enjoy it, I think it's more like the TV show Lost. Half the time I am overly confused by what I am seeing, but the characters are so enthralling that I need to watch every week to see what Jack and Sawyer are going to do next. 

Wrestlemania 32 has the chance to be great. There are five matches on this card that have the chance to be match of the year contenders. With only 8 matches on the main card (the pre-show I'm just not even going to acknowledge) The stories leading up to it could've been great to with a few minor tweaks here and there. So lets take a look at the 8 matches, possible outcomes and how I would have altered the story to make it a must watch show.

Andre the Giant Memorable Battle Royal

Predicted Winner: I don't really care

How I would fix the story:

Not have it period. This match makes no sense and shouldn't be anywhere near a Wrestlemania. Usually when a multi man gimmick match is on a PPV there is a payoff. Two years ago we thought Cesaro's win would propel him up the card it didn't. Last year Big Show won, I don't even want to comment on that. This match is literally here to get as many roster members as possible on the biggest show of the year.

The New Day vs League of Nations

 Predicted Winner : League of Nations

The story:

Once this match was made non- title it became obvious that the League is going to pick up the win. The lead up to this has been horrid, at Fastlane, The New Day turned face during a promo with Edge and Christian when the League of Nations came out to interrupt them. They then spent the next couple weeks having New Day play heel to forward other story lines and have absolutely zero contact with the League. Then for some unknown reason Sheamus and Wade Barrett received a title match at Roadblock.

How I would fix the story:

Take out the League of Nations and plug in Enzo and Cass, Keep the New Day heel and let them both work their magic on the mic.

Ladder Match for the Intercontinental Championship.

Predicted Winner : Kevin Owens

The Story: 

First of all I can't get behind any match where a contender for a major title hasn't won a match on Raw in over two years. Any way lets look at the set up Sami Zayn appeared to continue a feud with Kevin Owens that was started on another brand. Dolph Ziggler doesn't want to leave the title picture even though he lost at Fastlane. Zach Ryder, Calisto, and Stardust thought KO was a big meanie head by making fun of them on Raw.

How I would fix the story:

This should be a four corners ladder match with Sami Zayn, The Miz, and Dolph Ziggler against Owens. Instead of just telling us that he and KO have heat why not show us. All the bad blood started on NXT and that's great for the fans that watch both shows but otherwise it doesn't make sense. Following the Raw after Zayn's return at the Royal Rumble KO should have had a one on one match against Zayn (where the announcers could have sold the feud) that ended in a double countout. For the next few weeks they should have been attacking each other every chance they got. At Fastlane we could have had a revenge match where Zayn picked up the win to get his retribution. That win would lead to a number one contenders match between Zayn, the Miz (who has been on fire lately) and Ziggler at Roadblock that Owens interfered with setting up the four corners match.

Charlotte vs Sasha Banks vs Becky Lynch

Winner: Sasha Banks

The Story:

With the talent in this match, this could easily be a match of the year contender. After Sasha turned tweener at the Royal Rumble they have had a story about respect between all three women. Sasha vs Becky has been a fun ride with the two battling trust issues with each other while competing to be number one contender. 

How I would fix the story:

I wouldn't, this has been the best told story on the entire card. In the beginning I felt they weren't pushing Banks vs Charlotte enough but in the end this was a very well told story.

AJ Styles vs Chris Jericho

Winner: AJ Styles

The Story:

This is not only a match of the year contender but could easily be the match of the night. After a post Rumble match on Raw, that was won by Styles, they had a second match on Smackdown which Jericho won. They had a rubber match at Fastlane, won by Styles, then they became a tag team? Then they got a title shot? (which I will be doing an article soon about title shot's and why they shouldn't be handed out) Then Jericho had his second heel turn in a matter of weeks against Styles because he was jealous since he was basically the Marty Jannetty of team Y2AJ.

How I would fix the story:

Never have the two of them become a team in the first place. They should have had their first match on Raw a second match at Fastlane which would be where Jericho turned heel by attacking AJ after a match in which he cheated to win. The jealousy angle would have still worked with out insulting us by trying to add emotion of betrayal in a rushed narrative. Then the rubber match could have been this weekend at Wrestlemania.

Triple H vs Roman Reigns

Winner: Roman Reigns (ugh!!!)

The Story:

Here's another match of the year contender. Triple H is the big bad boss and Roman Reigns is the new hand picked face of the WWE. Much like Wrestlemania 22, where Triple H faced John Cena, in a match that pitted the evil game against the hand picked future of the WWE, Triple H is tasked with getting the crowd to cheer for a man that the fans are rebelling against because they want to cheer for who they want not get told who to cheer for. In 2003-2004 John Cena got a little bit of a mid card fan following and was then pushed to the moon and back right down our throats to become the new face of the company. Ten years later, having not learned their lesson, they are doing the same thing with Roman Reigns.

How I would fix the story:

Make Reigns a real man and not superman, have him earn the title shot. At the Royal Rumble maybe skip the beating the League gave him. Instead have Vince come out and say at number two is the entire League of Nations. Roman could fight through the adversity by quickly eliminating Barrett and ADR. then he could survive the match after being beaten down the whole match, and selling that beat down by only eliminating a few people and slouching in the corner, only to be the first person eliminated by Triple H. The following night on Raw, the Authority could have announced a number one contender's match at Fastlane featuring the winners from that night. Kevin Owens, AJ Styles and Dean Ambrose. Brock Lesnar could have been added since he was eliminated by someone other than a legal participant in the Royal Rumble and Chris Jericho who talked his way into the match/ Roman Reigns would have to earn his way into the match by winning 10 straight matches before Fastlane. He could then go on to barely pull out the victory at Fastlane. Then a few weeks of being a silent warrior on TV and the fans may have been behind him a little more going into this match.

Dean Ambrose vs Brock Lesnar

Winner: Brock Lesnar

The Story:

This one is a match of the year contender as well. Dean has challenged the Beast to a match because he is crazy and won't stay down after a beating. 

How I would fix the Story:

The only thing I would have done differently would be to have Ambrose look strong against Brock at Fastlane and not a cartoon character who was two weak to lift him and had no offense against him.

Shane McMahon vs The Undertaker

Winner: Shane McMahon by proxy when a returning John Cena beats the Undertaker

The Story:

Another match of the year contender. Shane returned, said he is the true boss, challenged Vince for control of the company and the Undertaker is Vince's proxy because if he doesn't win Vince will fire him. Which honestly may be the worst explanation ever since he wouldn't have the power to fire the Undertaker if Shane wins. But at least it's an explanation instead of what we were given up until that point which had everyone wondering why the Undertaker would fight for a man he doesn't like.

How I would fix the story:

When Shane returned he should have taken control of Raw at that moment and made a decree that anyone who want's to be at Wrestlemania needed to show up and compete each week at Raw. The Undertaker, who is the longest tenured wrestler at the company, finally goes to Vince to see what can be done about what he feels is unfair treatment. Vince then challenges Shane to the Hell In a Cell match at Wrestlemania against the Undertaker. 

Hopefully the card will make the lack of quality story telling a little bit respectable.

That's all I have for now, Click the links to the right of this article and follow me on Twitter. Be sure to check out my other articles for movie and TV reviews, sports commentary also wrestling reviews and commentary for many different wrestling promotions, such as WWE, TNA, NXT, ROH, NJPW, Lucha Underground, and GFW. Also be sure to check out my articles on The Sportster. 

Batman vs Superman Review

Before I really get into the meat of the movie I want to say, do not go to this expecting to see the Avengers. A couple things you need to know about the differences between DC and Marvel is that DC is a lot more story driven. Marvel is more about real people becoming super heroes and the stories usually don't get to deep into what makes the character a hero. Villains aren't usually fleshed out and the stories are based on action and dragging you through the feeling of how anyone, if the circumstances are right, could be a super hero. For the most part a marvel character is the way he is because that is the way he is. Marvel has no problem killing off villains so they tend to be a little more one dimensional.

DC, on the other hand, is more about the story then the action. A DC super hero is complex. They delve more into the moral compass and fully admit there is a thin line between hero and villain. A DC character usually has a past or an upbringing or a moral dilemma that makes them good or evil. Superman is the way he is because his parents instilled good morals. Batman is the way he is because he witnessed his parents being killed in front of him. DC is more about bringing the bad guys to justice so that tends to lend it self to deeper more drawn out characters.

Keep all that in mind when you go to this movie and realize that you are seeing the first chapter of a bigger picture. Like most DC stories, this is not to be taken as a stand alone action packed joy ride. This is not going to be that "oh hey look, there's a bad guy so lets all band together and fight the bad guy cause that's what we do", type of feeling. This is the first chapter in a major story. This is a group of people that believe in similar things who got to that belief by different paths and they need to prove each other to one another to earn the right to fight together.

Ben Affleck played the part of Bruce Wayne to a tee. He may be the best variation of an adult Bruce Wayne I have ever seen. I am a little saddened they decided to continue using the "Dark Knight" microphone to do the Batman voice but at least they didn't try and hide it since it was explained as part of the costume.

I do enjoy Henry Cavill as Superman as well. I think he brings a certain dimension to the character that we have only seen in the comics. He comes across more as the guy who questions himself and what he is doing more so than other variations have in the past.

This paragraph may be a bit of a spoiler so if you want to see it with no info and be surprised by every turn, jump to the next pharagraph. I don't feel it is, however, since it happens so early in the movie. I was a little worried about Jesse Eisenberg playing Lex Luthor but I am glad they explained it as him being the psychotic son of the original bad guy. Jesse was brilliant in his casting playing the genius who orchestrates all of the terrible things and the fun loving psychopath son of a super villain.

Amy Adams is great in her role as Lois Lane which is no surprise since she was great in The Man of Steel. and Gal Gadot was fantastic in the role of wonder woman.

The story moved slow but it was done very well since it's goal was to play the opening act of a much larger production. The interactions between Clark, Bruce, and Lex was just plain brilliant and if you go to see this for any reason at all. Jesse Eisenberg's portrayal of Lex Luthor is the reason to go. There was not really an origin story, which was a nice surprise, Most people are going to think that the opening was one but in reality it was just a way to show the dark turmoil that Batman goes through.

At times I also got the feeling that they were trying to out dark the Dark Night trilogy. It seemed like this Batman was a little closer to the edge of killing people than any other Batman has been.

I think this movie needs to be graded on a scale. If you go into thinking it is a stand alone movie and you need your fix right away you will be disappointed. However if you go into the movie realizing that much like Harry Potter, the Hunger Games and Star Wars this is the opening act in a much much bigger story. The movie lends itself to great story telling by the way it shows the differences between Batman and Superman and how they can come together and earn each others respect, and the action sequence's were well done.

As a stand alone movie I give it a 3 out 5 stars simply because it tended to drag at times and the fight scenes weren't as satisfying as they could have been.

As the opening act to the continuing story I give it a 4 1/2 stars out of 5 because it brilliantly introduced us to characters while still leaving them room to grow. It also told a very engaging story of misunderstandings making resentment build, but when the truth is discovers trust between them grows.

That's all I have for now. Be sure to click the links to the right of this article and follow me on Twitter. Also check out my other articles were you'll find movie and TV reviews as well as commentary on sports and music. You'll also find wrestling commentary and results for WWE, NXT, TNA, ROH, NJPW, GFW and Lucha Underground. Also read my articles on The Sportster.

This Week in Wrestling 3/25/2016

Unlike other websites,and lets face it there are literally thousands, I'm not gonna waste your time with results. Those you can get anywhere. Instead I'm going to breakdown the week that was in all the major wrestling promotions and give my feelings on the product as a whole.

WWE

In order to clarify things with the Undertaker and Shane McMahon, Vince came out to tell us that if Undertaker lost he would never wrestle at Mania again. That revelation makes no sense considering Vince would not have the authority to fire him anymore since Shane would be in charge. the only part of this match that I am even slightly excited about is that it may lead to another brand extension.

There are going to be a handful of really good matches but the booking leading into them is horrible. The only match on this card that is not filled full of holes is the triple threat for the Diva's championship. WWE has one week to make this make sense but at this rate it will rival Wrestlemania 29 as the worst booked event ever.

NXT

As much as the NXT brand has been enjoyable lately, however, this week did nothing to build towards Takeover. There were a couple of good matches but even Asuka and Emma put on an underwhelming performance. NXT is far and away the better marketer of their women but this match was not worthy of a main event spot. Somoa Joe made a statement which was a welcome sight and helped his feud with Finn Balor. The way they are booking things, Takeover looks like it may be the better of the two events Wrestlemania weekend.

TNA

The announcement of Robert Roode and Eric Young leaving is a horrible turn of events for TNA especially considering on screen they are both current champions. The insistence on making the Hardy Boyz main eventers is really bringing down the over all feel of the show. At this point Drew Galloway, EC3 and Mike Bennet are about the only people that make this promotion watchable. TNA is really struggling to stay relevant especially since other promotions are really putting on great progaming

ROH

Nothing new this week. There was no weekly show and nothing came out about any new developments. Some of their talent is working in NJPW getting ready for their Invasion Attack PPV. But nothing to report since the crowning of new #1 tag team title contenders last week.

NJPW

This week NJPW kicked off it's road to Invasion Attack in style by having a show every day except Wednesday. Roppongi Vice spent the majority of the week taking on Kushida and a partner of his choosing which is an odd way for Kushida to be spending his time. Bullet Club continued feuding with Michael Elgin, having traded victories against him and various partners through out the week, On Saturday we had a title change with Steve Anthony defeating Tiger mask to win the NWA World Junior Heavyweight Championship. Word came out also that NJPW is upset with WWE since they tried to buy the rights to Bullet Club. 

Lucha Underground

If the WWE want's to learn the proper way to handle the Royal Rumble in the future they should watch this weeks episode. Aztec Warfare 2 was a great story that highlighted each individual talent and every current feud got it's spot in the sun. Lucha Underground is quickly becoming much watch TV for me especially after 3 straight weeks with a match of the year candidate. 

GFW

Nothing New happened this week as they didn't have any shows

That's all I have for now. Be sure to click the links to the right of this article and follow me on Twitter. Also check out my other articles were you'll find movie and TV breakdowns, commentary on sports and music. You'll also find wrestling commentary and results for WWE, NXT, TNA, ROH, NJPW, GFW and Lucha Underground. Also read my articles on The Sportster.

Lucha Underground Aztec Warfare 2 review

We start the show with a promo from Catrina, Fenix and Pentagon Jr. where we learn that Pentagon Jr. was not invited to compete this year.

Aztec Warfare Match.

The LU Championship is on the line. Every 90 seconds a new entrant and the only way to be eliminated is by pinfall or submission.

Entrant #1 Fenix

Rey Mysterio Jr. is the surprise entrant at #2 his first match in LU

Fenix steps back to allow Rey to get his proper admiration from the crowd

Fenix countered a 619 with a superkick

# 3 King Cuerno 

#4 Argenis

Argenis kicks Rey  Mysterio in the butt as he lands after a jump over attempt

Rey pins Argenis after a 619 and a frog splash

#5 Johnny Mundo 

Johnny Mundo back body drops Rey Mysterio over the turnbuckle. Rey catches himself by draping his leg over the ring post.

Fenix attempts a a splash and catches a kick attempt by Mundo he then throws Johnny's leg into Mysterio who is on the ring apron

Cuerno is standing on Rey on the floor

#6 Joey Ryan comes out and handcuffs himself to the barrier so he can't be pinned

Cuerno superkicks Joey Ryan while he is handcuffed to the barrier

#7 Prince Puma

Puma with a springboard shooting star press to everyone on the floor

#8 Jack Evans

Cuerno is eliminated by Rey Mysterio by tap out with an armbar

Fenix, Mysterio and Puma are all three putting the boots to Johnny Mundo

Jack Evans attempts a springboard crossbody and misses when everyone moves out of the way

the three then put the boots to Jack Evans as Mundo rolled out

Matt Striker says that all of Mexico is stomping on Jack Evans

Mundo comes in to join in and starts kicking Jack Evans as the other three stand around confussed

the three then attack Mundo and throw him from the ring

Rey with a splash on Jack Evans from the shoulders of Fenix

#9 Taya

#10 Cage

Mundo throws Cage through a window at ringside

#11. Mascarita Sagrada

Matt Striker says to call him a paragraph because he is to short to be an essay

Johnny Mundo catches Sagrada as he dives through the ropes

Johnny uses Sagrada to do some curls

Cage hits Weapon X on the floor the throws Mundo in the ring where Prince Puma hits a shooting star press for a pinfall

#12 Marty "the Moth" Martinez

#13 Drago

Sagrada hits a DDT on Marty The Moth, Mysterio hits a splash on The Moth and he a Sagrada double pin Marty

#14 The Mack

The Mack with a Stone Cold Stunner on the Moth on the floor

Fenix throws Sagrada into Joey Ryan

#15 Chavo Gurerro Jr.

Drago Powerbombs Jack Evans on the steps

Sagrada submits to a Camel Clutch by Chavo

Johnny Mundo Returns to break a cinder block on Cage's head and Taya gets the pinfall

#16 "The Darewolf" PJ Black

Taya was eliminated by pinfall after a German bridge suplex by Fenix

#17 Aerostar to a huge pop

Aerostar hits a top rop DDT on Jack Black and PJ Black with a Bloody Sunday

Jack Evans and Drago are pinned at the same time by Aerostar and Black as the ref counts with both arms

#18 Dragon Azteca Jr.

Azteca Jr with a seated senton over the ringpost to The Mack on the floor

#19 Texano

PJ Black eliminated by Texano by pinfall after a sit out powerbomb

#20 Mil Muertes

Pentagon Jr. attacks Muertes with a chair during his entrance, then throws Muertes into the ring where Mysterio hits a top rope splash and then Muertes is pinned by both Mysterio and Puma

Muertes then chases Pentagon Jr. while Catrina calls out Vampiro and slaps him.

the clock continues to count down and Dario Cueto makes his return to take control back from Catrina and announces a surprise extra entrant, his brother

#21 The Monster Matanza Cueto

Cueto pins Fenix after a spinning powerslam 

Cueto no sells a stunner and then pins The Mack after a bridging German suplex

Cueto pins Aerostar after another bridging German suplex

Cueto pins Texano after a sit out power bomb

Cueto rips the handcuffs out of the barricade and pins Joey Ryan after 3 rolling side suplexes

Chavo attacks everyone who is still on the outside and throws Azteca Jr in to the ring

Cuerto pins Azteca after a spinning choke slam

Chavo tries to make an alliance with the Cueto's Chavo enters the ring and Cueto attacks

Cueto pins Chavo after a standing back flip

Cueto pins Puma with a bridging German suplex

Cueto blocks a 619

Cueto pins Mysterio with a spinning powerslam after catching him coming off the top turnbuckle

Grade 4 3/4 stars

Final thoughts

An hour long match that I watched 3 times. The match held my interest from the opening bell. Every one had a chance to stand out and show what they could do and it was fun to see Jack Evans in a match like this. The match had comedy, hard hitting action and a lot of what makes the Lucha style great. A couple of surprise returns didn't hurt either. Cuerto's no selling was done perfectly to sell himself as an unstoppable force. Every feud got the spotlight too which was a smart way to extend them.

That's all I have for now. Be sure to click the links to the right of this article and follow me on Twitter. Also check out my other articles were you'll find movie and TV breakdowns, commentary on sports and music. You'll also find wrestling commentary and results for WWE, NXT, TNA, ROH, NJPW, GFW and Lucha Underground. Also read my articles on The Sportster.

This week in wrestling 3/17/2016

Unlike other websites,and lets face it there are literally thousands, I'm not gonna waste your time with results. Those you can get anywhere. Instead I'm going to breakdown the week that was in all the major wrestling promotions and give my feelings on the product as a whole.

WWE

After putting a match of the year candidate with Triple H at Roadblock, I’m just waiting for the time when Ambrose gets his top billing as the companies # 1 baby face and they finally turn Reigns heel to capitalize on the hatred he already has against him. I will not be holding my breath since the WWE has had many opportunities to do that and they are so hell bent with having Reigns become the new face of the company there are ignoring the obvious.

I can’t imagine the WWE wanted the reaction they got from the audience when Reigns returned to attack Triple H. The boo’s that were raining down on him were a sign that the fans are sick of his push. He is not being utilized all that well and they need to figure out his character before he starts getting X-Pac heat. Make him what he was at TLC and the Monday after, he is a very good silent ass kicker, take the mic out of his hands and just let him beat people up. If he is that guy he may be able to turn some of this around and the fans may start cheering him. If the WWE continues pushing him he will never get to where they want him to go and he'll be out of the company in 5 years.

They are building the Y2J and AJ story perfectly especially since we have already seen these two wrestle 3 times. We got robbed out of a great AJ Styles vs Kevin Owens match that probably should have waited until a PPV. A screwy, way over done, distraction ending on Smackdown is no way to end the clinic that KO and AJ were putting on.

NXT

Kind of a rushed show this week Emma won in another squash match and the announcement of Bayley defending her title against Asuka should make for a great match and one that could be a match of the year candidate. American Alpha is set to collide with The Revival since they were named the new #1 contenders. Look for both of those matches to happen at Takeover.

TNA

Again they are just hit and miss. There is some good especially with the Drew Galloway cash in and anything that Beer Money does. I don’t know that building the show around Jeff Hardy was a wise Idea. However, getting the belt off Matt Hardy was great call. Matt was never heavyweight title material in his prime. forcing it on him and the fans now is just insulting. Now turn EC3 heel again so we can get a Galloway/ Carter feud.

ROH

The entire episode this week was dedicated to a tag team gauntlet match which was very exciting. Roppongi Vice picked up the win over the Young Bucks. ROH has some of the best tag teams in the world, especially when you team them up with NJPW. Red Dragon, the Young Bucks, Roppongi Vice, Motor City Machine Guns and the Addiction I could literally watch every day. The news that Christopher Daniels is thinking retirement is sad but he has given us a lot of enjoyment over the years and if he is going to hang it up I want to say thank you.

NJPW

We got the finals of the New Japan Cup and the prediction I had was wrong,although we got the match up I predicted just a little earlier. Michael Elgin lost in the Semi-finals to Hirooki Goto. Goto went on to lose to Tetsuya Naito in the finals. On the 4/10 show it looks like it will be Naito vs the “Rainmaker” Kazuchika Okada. The Invasion Attack 2016 card is shaping up to be a good one.

Lucha Underground

Solid show this week, Lucha Underground is quickly becoming a must watch show for me. A couple of title changes the first being the Trios Championship that was won, in a very fun match by Son of Havoc, Ivelisse and Angelico. Then Fenix beat Mil Muertes to become the new Lucha Underground Champion in another really good match to end the show. Mil was a great champ hopefully Fenix can fill his shoes. We had a Chavo Guerrero sighting which is always fun but still no Jack Evans. I’m going to have to pull out my old ROH and Dragon Gate tapes to get my Jack Evans fix since this is three straight weeks he hasn’t given us a televised match.

GFW

The only thing noteworthy this week was Nick Aldis stating that he was a wrestling free agent which if that is true will really deal a blow to GFW since he is a must watch wrestler.

That's all I have for now. Be sure to click the links to the right of this article and follow me on Twitter. Also check out my other articles were you'll find movie and TV breakdowns and commentary on sports and music. You'll also find wrestling commentary and results for WWE, NXT, TNA, ROH, NJPW, GFW and Lucha Underground. Also read my articles on The Sportster.

February 2016 Match of the Year Candidates

I'd like to give a little background into match grading. For the most part match grading is subjective, some people look for flawless execution of a story while others look for consistency and a feel of realism. Others view the match as a single entity while other people include the story into the grade.

I want to tell you my grading system. The story is huge to me, if the story is great, then that can raise a grade of a match a whole 1/2 star, and vice versa if the story sucks it can also drop the grade a 1/2 star. I'm also huge into realism, if a guy takes a DDT and lays on the floor for 15 minutes only to come flying in at the last second to save the match, that's a little to much for me. Also a blown spot or two isn't a deal breaker if the blown spot results in a realistic feel. Lets face it, when you are doing a back flip of the second rope into a reverse DDT where you need to catch your opponent who is standing a few feet behind you, it isn't always going to work out perfectly. In a real fight that move would actually hit perfectly 1 out of every 100 times. I will also give a guy a break if he kicks out of a finisher simply because finishers aren't as devastating as they used to be. While standing in the middle of the ring trading punches while the crowd yells Yay/Boo will drop the grade. That move is so over done and usually is placed at a point where a guy took a DDT that he jumped back up from but is trying to make us believe the strikes are really hurting him.

So the things I look for while grading matches are the story leading up to the match, whether the execution in the ring was believable and how enthralled I was by the match. Did I get sucked in? Did I at any moment utter the words Holy S!%#? Did I look forward to the match because of a great build? Was the action in the ring a great story being told?

Keep that in mind as you read what I believe are the match of the year candidates from February for 2016.

AJ Styles vs Chris Jericho

Fastlane February 21st 2016

Promotion: WWE

Story:

After AJ debuted to a huge pop and strong showing at the Royal Rumble these two traded victories on Raw and Smackdown. Jericho teasing a heel turn refused to give AJ the rubber match until AJ beat him into it.

Winner: AJ Styles wins by Submission when Jericho taps to the Calf Crusher

Grade 4 1/2 stars

Reason it was great:

These two have really good chemistry between them. The story leading up to the match was really good pitting the newcomer to the WWE, who may be the best wrestler in the world, against the war torn veteran of the WWE. A lot of high spots and impressive moves were done. There were a couple of missed moves which didn't take away from the match because of there realism. All in all it was a great story told in the ring with an even better build and mutual respect shown by both men and I had an honest feeling that both men could have won the match.

Kushida ACH, Matt Sydal vs Kenny Omega and the Young Bucks

14th Anniversary Show February 26th 2016

Promotion: ROH

Story:

After winning the championship at Honor Rising just a week earlier Kenny Omega makes his return to ROH wrestling for his first match in more than 5 years. The Young Bucks continue their rivalry with Matt Sydal and ACH. The last time these two teams met was on ROH TV where Sydal and ACH were victorious. Kenny Omega and Kushida also have a long standing rivalry in NJPW having traded the IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Championship over the last year and Omega lost the title to Kushida at Wrestle Kingdom 10 just over a month prior.

Winner: Matt Jackson by pinfall after a One Winged Angel to retain the 6 man NEVER Openweight Championship

Grade: 4 3/4 stars

Reason it was great:

This match was awesome from start to finish. High spots every where and the ending had so much going on I needed to watch it 3 times. Moves were believable and they all had really good chemistry together. I enjoyed the way that The Elite for Bullet Club played with the crowd and were able to draw up some really good heel heat. ACH is also a man possessed, he makes almost every move look effortless. All six men packed a lot of action in just over 16 minutes of ring time.

Jay Lethal vs Adam Cole Vs Kyle O'Reilly 

14th Anniversary Show February 26th 2016

Promotion: ROH

Story:

Adam Cole turned on his partner Kyle O'Reilly and will do anything he can to keep O'Reilly from winning the top belt in ROH. Cole is also trying to become the third man in ROH history to win the title twice. O'Reilly recently made Lethal tap out in a non title match.

Winner: Lethal by Pinfall on Cole after a double Lethal Injection on both men to retain the ROH Heavyweight Championship.

Grade: 4 1/2 Stars

Reason it was great:

You could feel the animosity between Alex Cole and Kyle O'Reilly through the TV set. The sheer hatred they showed towards each other brought a very unique dynamic to the match. All three had great chemistry and the move set was very believable. I got sucked into the match and really bought in to all three men having a legitimate shot at winning the belt. 

That's all I have for now, Click the links to the right of this article to follow me on Twitter. Be sure to check out my other articles for movie and TV reviews, sports commentary also wrestling reviews and commentary for many different wrestling promotions, such as WWE, TNA, NXT, ROH, NJPW, Lucha Underground, and GFW. Also be sure to check out my articles on The Sportster.

January 2016 Match of the Year Candidates

I'd like to give a little background into match grading. For the most part match grading is subjective, some people look for flawless execution of a story while others look for consistency and a feel of realism. Others view the match as a single entity while other people include the story into the grade.

I want to tell you my grading system. The story is huge to me, if the story is great, then that can raise a grade of a match a whole 1/2 star, and vice versa if the story sucks it can also drop the grade a 1/2 star. I'm also huge into realism, if a guy takes a DDT and lays on the floor for 15 minutes only to come flying in at the last second to save the match, that's a little to much for me. also a blown spot or two isn't a deal breaker if the blown spot results in a realistic feel. Lets face it, when you are doing a back flip of the second rope into a reverse DDT where you need to catch your opponent who is standing a few feet behind you, it isn't always going to work out perfectly. In a real fight that move would actually hit perfectly 1 out of every 100 times. I will also give a guy a break if he kicks out of a finisher simply because finishers aren't as devastating as they used to be. While standing in the middle of the ring trading punches while the crowd yells Yay/Boo. That move is so over done and usually is placed at a point where a guy took a DDT that he jumped back up from but is trying to make us believe the strikes are really hurting him.

So the things I look for while grading matches are the story leading up to the match, whether the execution in the ring was believable and how enthralled I was by the match. Did I get sucked in? Did I at any moment utter the words Holy S!%#? Did I look forward to the match because of a great build? Was the action in the ring a great story being told?

Keep that in mind as you read what I believe are the match of the year candidates.

Tomohiro Ishii vs Katsuyori Shibata

Wrestle Kingdom 10 January 4th 2016

Promotion: NJPW

Story:

Who really needs a story, this is just two bulls going toe to toe so they can see who's best. The reason Shibata got the match was because of a pair of pinfalls he scored on Ishii during the World Tag League event.

Winner: Shibata by pin fall after a Penalty Kick to become the New NEVER Open weight Champion

Grade: 5 star

Reason it was great:

Both Wrestlers told a fantastic story in the ring with neither of them having the advantage for long. They sold moves and also no sold moves at the perfect time, and also kept the crowd engaged through out the match. I always felt that the match could go either way and it had a big fight feel from the opening bell. What helped that along was they stuck with strikes through the majority of match which helped it with the big fight feel.

Shinsuke Nakamura vs AJ Styles

Wrestle Kingdom 10 January 4th 2016

Promotion: NJPW

Story:

After Nakamura defended his belt at Power Struggle, he issued an open challenge to any member of Bullet Club for Wrestle Kingdom. That challenge was accepted by AJ Styles. This match was billed as the  first ever meeting between the two and was considered a dream match.

Winner: Shinsuke Nakamura by pinfall after a Bomaye to retain the IWGP Intercontinental Championship

Grade: 4 1/2 stars

Reason it was great:

An incredibly compelling story in the ring left us not knowing who was going to win. What makes that even more special is these two were able to make us suspend that disbelief even though we knew that AJ Styles was leaving NJPW after this match. Also the mutual respect shown after the match was a feel good moment.

Dean Ambrose vs Kevin Owens

Last Man Standing Match, Royal Rumble January 24th 2016

Promotion: WWE

Story: 

This rivalry got kick started at Survivor Series when Ambrose and Owens met in the semi finals of the WWE Title tournament. They met again at TLC in an incredible match with Ambrose leaving with the gold and then a double count out on an episode of Smackdown to set up this match. The build up was done to perfection with them trading beat downs and verbal jabs and not meeting in tag team matches and singles matches every show  Because of that it actually felt special when they did meet in the ring.

Winner: Dean Ambrose when Owens couldn't answer the ten count after going through a table outside the ring from the top turbuckle. Ambrose retained the Intercontinental Championship.

Grade 4 3/4 stars

Reason it was great:

Back and forth action making both guys look incredibly strong. I like the fact that Owens was going for the moonsault  to end the match instead of trying another pop up power bomb since Ambrose kicked out of the first one. There were a ton of high spots with a great lead in story and great selling of the injuries after the match when they both came into the rumble match bandaged and obviously hurting. I was on the edge of my seat not knowing who was going to win because it seemed at times like they both might. Just a great telling of a hard fought match.

That's all I have for now, Click the links to the right of this article to follow me on Twitter. Be sure to check out my other articles for movie and TV reviews, sports commentary and wrestling reviews and commentary for many different wrestling promotions, such as WWE, TNA, NXT, ROH, NJPW, Lucha Underground, and GFW. Also be sure to check out my articles on The Sportster.

WWE Roadblock Review

New Day vs League of Nations (Sheamus and Wade Barrett) for the Tag Team Titles

Highlights:

The New Day comes out to a huge pop, clearly playing the faces tonight.

New Day is up to their usual antics before revealing the packaging for Booty O's cereal

Crowd gives a Booty O's chant

New Day double teams Wade Barrett in the corner with quick tags that JBL calls a unicorn stampede

Kofi drop kicks Sheamus in mid air as he jumps off the top turnbuckle

Kofi counters a Cloverleaf into a pinfall

S.O.S by Kofi

Scary spot where Kofi landed on the back of his head in what looked like a missed spot when he was coming off the top rope.

Xavier Woods distracts the ref while Barrett has Big E pinned. Michael Cole calls it like a face would and JBL calls him out on it by saying "a week ago you had a problem with that"

Winner: The New Day Retains by pinfall when Big E hits the Big Ending on Sheamus

Grade: 2 1/2 Stars

Thoughts:

It was an okay match that I still don't understand. What did Sheamus and Barrett due to deserve a title match. New Day is still one of the highlights of WWE programming so it's no surprise that they had the majority of the highlights in this match. The story was horrible. This match had no build up and had New Day not been involved, it would have been a match better served for Smackdown.

Paul Heyman gives a very good Promo talking about Lesnar looking for revenge against Bray Wyatt.

Then we get highlights of Chris Jericho's turn on AJ Styles

Chris Jericho Vs Jack Swagger

Highlights:

Jericho comes out to put down Toronto and continued with his reason's for turning on AJ

The crowd gave us probably the first ever asshole chant after Jericho called Toronto the Anus of the country

Beautiful standing dropkick by Jericho

Jericho counters the Swagger Bomb with knees to the chest

Jericho misses a lionsault then Swagger hits the Swagger bomb

Swagger counters a Code Breaker into a side slam from his shoulder.

Winner: Chris Jericho by submission when Swagger taps to the Walls of Jericho

Grade: 3 1/4

Thoughts:

What a waste of a great match by not advertising this. Incredible effort by Swagger and I actually felt like he would win more than once. Jack Swagger did show in this match that he is a great in ring performer. It's really to bad he has never been able to connect with the crowd. Although this is another match that really had no explanation or lead in. So far this show has felt more like Monday night Raw then a special event.  When it's a Special Event which is what these shows on the WWE Network are, I wouldn't call any of them PPV's anymore, They need to put a little more effort then what they normally do for a Raw or Smackdown.

The Revival vs Enzo and Cass

Highlights:

Enzo has a new haircut maybe he could spare some of his hair so Dawson's head doesn't get cold

Cass throws Enzo intp Dawson then throws Dash into Dawson

Cass launches Enzo over the top rope onto Dash and Dawson who are on the floor

Dawson shoulder tackles Enzo to keep him from tagging Cass

Hot tag to Cass who gives the biggest splash I've ever seen to Dawson then to Dash

Big boots by Cass on boot members of the Revival

Dawson trips up Enzo to prevent the Rocket Launcher

Dash and Dawson hit a Shatter Machine on Cass on the floor

Winner: The Revival retain their belts  by pinfall on Enzo after a Shatter Machine 

Grade: 3 3/4 Stars

Thoughts:

So far the best match of the night, both teams gave a great performance. If Enzo and Cass do come up to the main roster Carmella needs to come with. It's to bad the New Day are face now, a verbal war between them and Enzo would be great TV.

Natalya  has a back stage segment and manipulates Charlotte in to putting the title on the line

Natalya vs Charlotte for the Divas Championship

Highlights:

Nattie and Charlotte swap submission moves early on.

Natalya spanks Charlotte while setting up a surfboard

Charlotte gives a Flair strut

Natalya reversed the figure four

Charlotte made it to the ropes and out to the floor while still holding the figure four

Natalya hits a sit out powerbomb

The crowd explodes when Natalya puts on the Sharpshooter

Winner: Charlotte retains by pinfall with a roll up and her feet on the ropes when Flair distracts Natalya

Grade: 3 3/4

Thoughts:

Another unadvertised match that really shows the WWE just doesn't care about the Diva's or the Mid Card. Charlotte is really starting to come into her own as a heel. I really wanted to give this a much higher rating since they really worked their buts off. However, there were a few to many rest holds and submissions for my liking early on. Of course it looses a 1/2 star because of the toe to toe exchange in the middle of the ring. and the screwy distraction ending that is way over done also hurt it. All in all though they were given plenty of time to work and really did put on a good showing.

Brock Lesnar vs Bray Wyatt and Luke Harper

Highlights:

Luke Harper has a clean shirt, I wonder if the other one just finally fell apart

Bray announces that this is now a handicap match. 

Bray backs away from Brock up the ramp.

A pair of super kicks to Brock and then a discus clothesline for a quick pin

Brock takes Harper to Suplex City while Bray backs away up the ramp.

Winner: Brock Lesnar by pinfall after an F-5 on Luke Harper

Grade: minus 1 star

Thoughts:

What the Hell was that??? it was supposed to be Bray vs Brock and Bray never even got into the match and looked like a scared little kid the whole time. if this was somehow going to lead somewhere I may be okay with it but this was the blow off to their less than exciting feud. I feel so sorry for Bray. He is the best talker in the business and an incredible worker and it's like the WWE goes out of their way to make him look weak. A handicap match does nothing for the credibility of Bray and it was made even worse by him looking like a scared child the whole time.

Sami Zayn vs Stardust

Highlights

Stardust hits a straight right to the jaw of Zayn when he tries to dive in over the top rope.

Winner: Sami Zayn by pinfall after a Helluva Kick

Grade: 1 Star

Thoughts:

Another unadvertised match that just continues to make this show feel like a Raw. So far this show has been an incredible disappointment. Please end this Stardust gimmick and bring back Cody Rhodes. He was on the cusp of the main event and now he's a joke. Very uneventful match that went on way to long and only served as a way to make Zayn look like a tough comeback kid, and just made Stardust look worse. I never once bought into Stardust as a credible threat.

Triple H vs Dean Ambrose WWE Heavyweight Title Match

Highlights

Ambrose chewing gum reminds me of Shawn Michaels. Shawn's the only other one I've ever seen still chewing after a big hit.

Ambrose lays across the top turnbuckle

Ambrose grabs Hunter's nose

Triple H kicks Ambrose into the ringside steps

Triple H hits a front suplex on the barricade

Ambrose with a flip flop and fly on the top turnbuckle followed by an elbow from the top rope

Ambrose turns a face buster into a rebound clothesline.

Triple H hits a clothes line on a running Ambrose

Triple H hits a straight right as Ambrose dives through the ropes

Ambrose puts on a Sharp Shooter and the crowd boos when he reaches the ropes

Ambrose scores a three count after a Dirty Deeds but the ref waves it off saying Deans feet were under the ropes

Ambrose mocks the DX crotch chop while laying on the floor

Ambrose walks the barricade and goes through the table when Triple H rolls out of the way to avoid the flying elbow

Winner: Triple H to retain the title after a Pedigree

Grade: 4 3/4 stars

Thoughts:

This may be one of the few times I have ever liked the whole feeling out process. The slow start to the match actually worked very well and showed Ambrose as a savvy cerebral wrestler while he was picking his spots and getting into "The Games" head. Even though the fans in attendance didn't seem to care this was a great match. Unbelievable ring psychology and Ambrose truly seemed like a threat. I also really liked the fact that neither of them kicked out of each others finishers. I wish wrestling would get back to that because it really makes the matches stronger. This is easily a match of the year candidate. Ambrose looked incredibly strong and main event material.

Final Thoughts:

An absolutely horrible show was saved by a match of the year contender. This entire show felt rushed and terribly booked with the only highlights being The New Day, the NXT Tag Team Match, the Divas match and the main event.nothing about this show felt special until the end when Triple H and Ambrose were given almost 30 minutes to tell a fantastic story. This is also the second time Ambrose has won the title only to get screwed out of it.

Wrestlemania 32 and Beyond, What I Would Like To See

With Roadblock coming up this weekend I wanted to map out a perfect scenario (well perfect in my opinion anyway) of how things should unfold.

I would like to see Ambrose win this match and take home the WWE Heavyweight title giving his rematch to Triple H at Wrestlemania. Roman Reigns, who already earned his title match, is also included into the main event making it a triple threat.

Ambrose goes into Wrestlemania set to do double duty, initially wrestling in his No Holds Barred Street Fight against Brock Lesnar. That match being a brutal match on par with his match against Kevin Owens at the Royale Rumble with Brock picking up the win and having Paul Heyman force his way into the main event, since he pinned the champion, turning it into a fatal four way.

Reigns wins the fatal four way by pinning Ambrose to become the New WWE Heavyweight Champion. Ambrose then goes on to feud with Triple H, trying to get his rematch clause enacted. After finally earning his way into a Payback main event match against Reigns where the latter turns heel to retain his title. Reigns then aligns himself with the Authority as a carefully planned way to screw Ambrose over while making Vince McMahon look like a fool. All in an effort to gain control of the company.

Now I see you kind of trying to figure out how all that will work so let me tell you……

Let’s go back to the events leading up to the Survivor Series. Triple H, Stephanie and Roman Reigns devised a plan to lure Vince back to the WWE by having Reigns shun Triple H. They convince Sheamus to cash in his Money in the Bank contract causing Reigns to lose the title. Then at TLC Sheamus retains the title while Roman gets essentially screwed again this is causing him to go off the deep end and take out Triple H. That beat down by Reigns is the reason for Vince to return and feud with Reigns over the treatment of his son in law. We saw how all that played out but in this carefully conceived plan by the “Cerebral Assassin” we missed a few things.

The League of Nations were never officially a part of the Authority even though it may have seemed that they were somewhat aligned. Vince, believing that they were, used them to help eliminate Reigns at the Royal Rumble. All the while Triple H was just manipulating the league to “help” Vince.

Reigns was then graciously added to the Fastlane main event, which we all thought was stupid because Vince went to all that work to get the title off Reigns. That’s the thing, Vince went through all that trouble, not Triple H. Triple H then returns the beat down favor on Reigns to buy some time for Ambrose to work his way into the mix.

Meanwhile Shane returns to feud with his father and in a strange move Vince chooses the Undertaker to defend him. All of this was also carefully planned by Triple H who reached out to Shane for a little help in getting Vince to put his company up for grabs. Triple H and Shane, knowing the stakes, Figured that Vince would want to defend his honor with the Undertaker who is the biggest of big stage stars at Wrestlemania.

Wrestlemania, is where the plan starts to unfold when Shane turns heel with a little help from Triple H who interferes in the match causing Shane to defeat the Undertaker. Reigns, being the final peace of the puzzle, turns heel at Payback when Triple H and Shane help him defeat Ambrose completing the puzzle and making Vince look like a fool who was just played by his family to give up control of the company. Shane then signs over his shares for a very healthy sum and goes back to being a boardroom genius.

I know this whole thing is a long shot and WWE creative doesn’t have it in them to pull the trigger but it would be a fantastic swerve and a satisfactory pay off to a few really confussing and un compelling story lines. This would also be a story that catapults Ambrose into the main event star he should be and makes Reigns the big time heel he should be.

That’s all I have for now, be sure to check out my other blogs for movie and TV reviews, sports commentary, and wrestling commentary and event  reviews. Follow me on Twitter using the links to the right. Take a look, also, at my articles on The Sportster.

WWE Roadblock Predictions and Thoughts

I don’t expect too many surprises to come out of Roadblock, much like Fastlane, so I’m just going to give quick match predictions. Triple H will retain his title, the New Day will win and so will Brock Lesnar. Also winning but not leaving with the titles will be Enzo and Cass. Check out my Review article on Saturday night after the event where I will break down the Good, the Bad and the God Awful. Now on to thoughts about this event.

The Brock vs Wyatt match should be fun, hopefully Bray will be treated respectfully and put up a strong showing against Lesnar. Enzo and Cass, I believe, are set to make their main roster debut to feud with The New Day so I don’t expect them to win the titles but I can see them winning by outside interference or a DQ.

It’s good that Ambrose is getting shot at main eventing another special but they need to pull the trigger at some point and give him the title. He has earned it by putting on classics for the last two years with a number of different opponents and has a ridiculous connection with the fans. I’ve been hard on the WWE’s treatment of Ambrose and Reigns and unfortunately I don’t see it changing anytime soon. Ambrose is the guy they will continue to plug in to the main event when it needs a little jolt and Reigns will continue to be the top dog.

I'm confused by the WWE. How did Sheamus and Wade Barrett earn a title shot at Road Block? Wade Barrett hasn't been in the ring for months, with the exception of this last week, and he is leaving the company soon. The only build to this rivalry is the New Day making one liners against the League of Nations on TV and a few Youtube video’s trashing them. Then to add insult to more insult after the New Day’s supposed face turn at Fastlane they have been playing heels again by facing Y2AJ, Lucha Dragons and The Uso’s.

It's almost like the WWE just doesn’t care about their story telling unless it is a main event match. Back when I was younger, people would shell out lots of money to see their favorite tag team or the Intercontinental Champion. I for one was a huge Macho Man fan and could’ve cared less about Hulk Hogan. I was a big fan of Jake Roberts, The Hart Foundation and Rick Rude because they were great in the ring and on the mic. These were midcard acts that held secondary titles and were in engaging feuds with good story telling. There is so much more than just the Main Event and the WWE needs to do a better job showcasing all the titles. If they do fans may not be so upset when guys like Neville, Cody Rhodes, Cesaro, Damian Sandow and so many more don't get bumped to the main event.

That’s all I have for now, be sure to check out my other blogs for movie and TV reviews, sports commentary, and wrestling commentary and event  reviews. Follow me on Twitter using the links to the right. Take a look, also, at my articles on The Sportster.

This Week in Wrestling 3/11/2016

Unlike other wrestling results pages, after all let’s face it there are literally thousands of them. We aren’t going to focus so much on the results but give a rundown on what we feel the product is looking like for the week.

WWE

Thank God we finally got a couple of matches that have me excited about Wrestlemania, AJ Styles and Chris Jericho can put on a 5 star match and Zayn vs Owens should be fun too. I hope the WWE resists the urge to have Zayn win, Kevin Owens is a rocket ship they need to get on and ride to the top of the WWE and a lengthy strong IC title run could go a long way.

The Owens vs Neville match was magical. If the WWE can’t realize that Neville needs to be more involved after this match then they should just let him go so he can catch on somewhere else and have a great career.

The Y2AJ vs New Day was a fantastic match with a great heel turn by Jericho. This is going to make a fantastic Wrestlemania match and could very well, when mixed with the story, be the match of the year.

Ambrose again shone under the spotlight and proves time and time again that he is deserving of the spot as the top face in the company. His fan support, and connection with the fans, is off the charts and he has really good chemistry with Triple H. Chemistry was something that was seriously lacking with Triple H and Reigns.

On Smackdown it was really nice to see a heel Jericho again. I wish they would've explained why he aligned with AJ to begin with. That really made no sense for them to be partners for a couple weeks when he admitted Jericho admitted he didn't like AJ to begin with. Thankfully though it is over and we can move on with AJ in a singles match where he's going to shine a lot better.

NXT

The number one contenders match was fantastic and was able to hold our excitement the full hour which was good. But WWE ruined the ending by having Sami Zayn fight Kevin Owens on Raw. We knew all along that Joe was going to win. The Announcement of Austin Aries having his first match against baron Corbin at Takeover was nice move and something to really start looking forward to Wrestlemania weekend.

TNA

I go back and forth a lot with TNA. Beer Money and the Wolves had an amazing match with Beer Money winning and becoming the new tag team champs so there was the good. Now the bad is a confusing heel turn by Lashley. It’s confusing for a couple of reasons, number 1 didn’t he turn heel two weeks ago at Lockdown when he interrupted and cut a heel promo on Angle and number 2 didn’t he cut a heel promo on Drew Galloway earlier in the night. Hey TNA how about you hold the secrets in a little. Maybe Lashley building up Angle at Lockdown and building up Galloway in the backstage segment would have made this heel turn actual mean something and feel like a surprise

Also it was announced earlier this week that Ken Anderson is officially done with TNA having failed a drug test after a taped match with Eric Young. It'll be interesting to see if this is it for him or if he'll be popping up in the independents soon.

ROH

A fairly weak episode this week. Daniels vs Castle was really the only thing to take away from this show with Castle and Silas Young continuing their feud.

Lucha Underground

Entertaining show this week Marty the Moth may be a waste of air time and we didn’t get enough Jack Evans with only a back stage segment for him. That doesn’t mean that the rest of it was bad though. Cage showed a vicious side in his no DQ battle against Taya and even more so after Johnny Mundo interfered. The Main event was a master piece where Mil Muertes retained his LU Title  against Puma and Pentagon Jr. in what is the first 5 star match I’ve ever seen in Lucha Underground.

NJPW

Big week for NJPW with events in three straight days. On Tuesday Tanahashi, Goto and Elgin defeated Okada Ishii and Yoshi-Hashi with Got and Okada continuing their weird little handshake bit. On Wednesday The New Japan Cup rolled on with tag team matches Tanahashi and Goto getting the win over Okada and Ishii while Michael Elgin found himself on the losing side.  Then on Thursday Elgin got back in the Win Coloum and we had our third straight night of pitting Tanashi and Goto against Okada and Ishii in 6 man tag matches. Okada at the end of the night stated he wants the winner of the New Japan Cup to come and challenge him.

There were also rumors swirling that the WWE is looking to take a run at signing Okada. It's rumored that "The Rainmaker" signed an exclusive 5 year deal with NJPW but that hasn't been confirmed. We'll have to watch that and see where it goes

Global Force Wrestling

Nothing to note in GFW either. Seems like they haven’t done much since the announcement of the TV deal last week. Hopefully that announcement will start to pay off because GFW has some talent that really needs to be on TV.

That’s all I have for now, be sure to check out my other blogs for movie and TV reviews, sports commentary, and wrestling commentary and event  reviews. Follow me on Twitter using the links to the right. Take a look, also, at my articles on The Sportster.