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[The Cum Doctor]

CZW Night of Infamy V

 

We go to November 2006, which surely means we're close to the Cage of Death.

 

Jay Fenix vs. Michael Elgin

 

Elgin looks a bit like Rhino, meaning he gets abuse from the crowd. The fans ask for a Gore and, amazingly, they get one from Elgin, who seems happy to play along. After that, the fans are right behind him. Apparently the two guys have never faced off before, and you can tell, as some of the exchanges are really awkward, and a couple of big spots are blown. Other than that, the match goes along fine, even if it does seem a bit too "planned".

 

Beef Wellington vs. Player Uno

 

Nothing wrong with this, other than it's length. Liked the comedy spots with the pause button, and the Irish Whips on the outside. The problem was that this match had nothing outside of these spots, so the two guys are basically wasting time untill the next move.

 

The Jersey All Stars and Cheech vs. Team AnDrew and Cloudy

 

I'm a big fan of six man tags. Put decent talent in there, and you can usually get something worthwhile from it, and this is no exception. It seems clear to me that the two tag teams involved are pretty good. I'm particularly fond of Andy Sumner of Team AnDrew, and his freaky strength. Cheech is someone who has never impressed me, and I have to say that he doesn't do much for me here either. So, this is your usual, with the dives, triple teams and hot finish. Nothing wrong with that so long as there's some good action and they get me involved. Check on both counts.

 

Kenny Stigma vs. Hallowicked vs. Ryan McBride vs. Trik Davis

 

So why were Stigma and McBride in there ? They didn't even have the chance to show off a single thing from their arsenal, and you usually expect that to happen in a four way. Hallowicked and Davis have a good exchange to finish the match off, but the match really does seem really rushed.

 

Nick Gage vs. DJ Hyde vs. Necro Butcher - #1 Contender to the UV Title

 

A really dull and boring brawl from the three guys. I wasn't sure what to expect going in, but this match as the pace of a snail that has been stomped on by Low Ki. The big spots really don't do much for me, and the crowd brawling is seen far too much in this promotion.

 

BLK OUT vs. The Kings of Wrestling - CZW Tag Team Championships

 

This basically turns into a handicap match, with Kingston taking out Hero, so it's Moreno(?) and Sabian against Claudio, and the talent here just isn't good enough to make a handicap match work. Some of the stuff between Sabian and Claudio is pretty neat, but you can TELL his partner doesn't get into the ring a lot, and he brings the standard down purely by walking into the ring.

 

Niles Young vs. Gran Akuma vs. Max Boyer vs. Sexxy Eddy

 

Rather than the rush job of the initial four way, this is actually a lot of fun, and all four guys get a good chance to shine. Gran Akuma probably stands out more than most because of the quick fire nature of what he was doing in there. He didn't get over with the crowd. Boyer got over by pure effort alone, while Young and Eddy are mainstays anyways. Young has the "Same Old Shit" chant aimed his way. Makes me look forward to seeing more of him.

 

Danny Havoc vs. Drake Younger - Barbed Wire and Ladders for the Ultraviolent Title

 

Lots of brutality and sickness from these two guys. Younger comes across to me more and more as a Nick Mondo for the present. A bad thing for the man himself, but a good thing for those who watch him. He's an utter bump machine, as evidenced by the Northern Lights Bomb spot in this match. Of course, Havoc also has a few screws loose, so he can hold up his end just fine. Don't expect any expert wrestling from this one, although there is some not bad stuff at the start. Just expect two guys to put on a fun brawl with sick spots. MUCH better than the UV match earlier.

 

Eddie Kingston vs. Justice Pain - CZW Heavyweight Championship

 

Not the epic that these two guys were clearly aiming for. It certainly wasn't bad, but it was bland and boring most of the way. It opened well, and had a decent final stretch, but the middle part dragged like hell.

 

OVERALL

********

 

This definately provides something for everyone, apart from people looking for a technical masterpiece. The show has no standout matches, but there are three matches that are really good fun, and there's only one match which is really poor. A decent show.

[John Stephens]

Watching WCW Nitro all of October 1995. Just finished watching september 1995.

[d-d-d-dAz]

I've just bought 'The Ultimate Ric Flair Collection' on dvd, and am getting through a chapter a day.

 

Watched the Harley Race piece yesterday, and will watch the Dusty Rhodes chapter when I get in from work. I flicked through various chapters, aswell, watching Flair's promos...simply because I can't get enough of him on the mic.

 

So far I have realised the following;

 

- Whilst Race/Flair in a cage was an awesome match, were they to re-enact that match (or something similar to that match) today it'd get booed out of the building. It's a shame but such is the nature of the way in which the modern wrestling fan is conditioned, for the majority anyway. The only problem I had with this match was Kinizki, primarily because I don't like referees to play such an interactive role in a match...especially when said match is billed as no DQ (though, again, i'm putting this opinion down to my own conditioning as a wrestling fan, rather than any fundamental flaw with Gene's role).

 

- If, and when, Flair is retired I really don't think I'll be able to handle his retirement speech. His 'emotional' promos never fail to put a lump in my throat, I imagine his retirement speech will be the tip of that iceberg.

[corino_mark]

watching roh: transform

[Dearly Devoted Dexter]

Watching ROH : RTTT Night 2. Some amazing stuff on there - Quack/ CC, Richards/ Generico. Still got some to watch

[hitman89762000]

watched the pillman dvd...brilliant

[The Cum Doctor]

CZW When 2 Worlds Collide

 

We now go to March 2006, and we're in the midst of a fued between ROH and CZW.

 

Sonjay Dutt, B-Boy and Adam Flash vs. Nate Webb, Sexxxy Eddy and The Messiah

 

More six man matches. This match is better than the one on the last show I reviewed, as there's some minor stories running through it. Webb and B-Boy spend most of the time in there, as they battled in a Loser Leaves CZW match at some point before this. As you can see, that match was effective. Once it breaks down though, it becomes the usual. Good fun.

 

Larry Sweeney vs. Hallowicked vs. Jigsaw vs. Andy Sumner

 

Another disappointing four way, this time mainly from the CHIKARA guys. The start with the three CHIKARA lot throwing Sumner to the floor was fun, but after that, it broke down, and never really recovered from that.

 

El Generico vs. Justice Pain

 

A match which goes a long way to showing how good Generico is. This is a really good outing, which is different from most other good matches that Pain has had. Okay, so it has the crowd brawling and stuff, but that is kept to a minimum, and the pace is kept fast and the whole thing is actually pretty well held together. Usually in a good Pain match, it's a bit messy but heated. This match revolves around Generico fighting back against the dominant Pain, and it definately works.

 

DJ Hyde vs. Nick Gage vs. Danny Havoc - Ultraviolent Title Match

 

No crowd brawling, not much time given and three hard hitters. So this is more like it. It's not great though. DJ Hyde is someone who has grown on me. Gage doesn't seem to do much in these matches, and it's mainly left to Havoc and Hyde to do some cool stuff.

 

Niles Young vs. Sabian vs. Heretic vs. Derek Frazier vs. Cheech vs. Cloudy - Ladder Match

 

Just a crazy, crazy spotfest from these guys. There isn't much else to say about it really.

 

Austin Aries, Roderick Strong and Matt Sydal vs. Ruckus, Eddie Kingston and Necro Butcher

 

The first few minutes of this match made it seem promising, as it lived up to the war it was supposed to be, but beyond that it never really kicked off. The heat segments from Gen Next just took FAR too long. This is the first time that Kingston has impressed me, as his exchanges with Strong REALLY got the crowd into things.

 

OVERALL

********

 

This is a VERY good show. Three of the seven matches are very good, and the other four matches are decent, without being amazing or anything. A definate recommendation and thumbs up.

[Phil Austin]

Currently watching some random matches-just watched a match with Jushin Liger/El Samurai & Norio Honaga against Shinjiro Ohtani/Koji Kanemoto & Takaiwa. I think from around 1992 New Japan.Next up: Ohtani/Kanemoto/Takaiwa against Liger/El Samurai & some dude called Benoit.Yes!

[bAzTNM#1]

I've just bought 'The Ultimate Ric Flair Collection' on dvd, and am getting through a chapter a day.Watched the Harley Race piece yesterday, and will watch the Dusty Rhodes chapter when I get in from work. I flicked through various chapters, aswell, watching Flair's promos...simply because I can't get enough of him on the mic.So far I have realised the following;- Whilst Race/Flair in a cage was an awesome match, were they to re-enact that match (or something similar to that match) today it'd get booed out of the building. It's a shame but such is the nature of the way in which the modern wrestling fan is conditioned, for the majority anyway. The only problem I had with this match was Kinizki, primarily because I don't like referees to play such an interactive role in a match...especially when said match is billed as no DQ (though, again, i'm putting this opinion down to my own conditioning as a wrestling fan, rather than any fundamental flaw with Gene's role).

Kiniski is all over the place in that match. Must be worst "Special Guest Referee" ever?

[gadge]

I just got done with WWE Heat on Sky Sports 3. It was nice to hear Josh Mathews on commentary with Todd Grisham, I always liked Mathews back when he was regular host of Velocity. Anyway...'Hacksaw' Jim Duggan beat Charlie Haas with the three point stance into a clothesline. What IS the point of Haas' mask gimmick? He wrestles the same either way, there's no comedy value, and he still loses. The match was quite a bit better than the average Duggan effort, and as it would have been the first match for the live crowd, they were pretty hot for it. Paul Burchill beat Val Venis by submission with the horse collar/stratch muffler/Brock Lock. Burchill and Katie Lea would have been better off doing their brother/sister gimmick on the ECW/Smackdown side, as they just aren't going to appear on TV regularly enough to get over on the Raw brand. This match featured Burchill dissecting Val's leg, Bret Hart style, but unless you're already over, that kind of thing isn't going to draw much crowd reaction. All of this is a shame, as Burchill does have the attributes needed to be at least a midcard player. Another thing - Burchill had overdone the fake tan, and the ridiculously pale Val ended up with some yellow blotches by the end here.D H Smith pinned Robbie McAllister with a beautiful German suplex. One nice move for the finish aside, Smith may as well have been wrestling this match in a vacuum, as while he was technically alright, he did absolutely nothing that would give anyone in the crowd a reason to care. I was surprised that Robbie seemed almost as big as Smith physically, as I've seen Smith in person and know how big he is, whereas the Highlanders have looked smaller than most of their tag team competition back when thay made it onto TV semi-regularly. Finally, Melina pinned Mickie James with a rollup, after Beth Phoenix distracted her at ringside. It was obvious the WrestleMania-bound Melina and Phoenix were going to get the better of Mickie here. They got about six minutes of actual ring time, which featured some different stuff to the regular Mickie-Melina Raw matches from a few months back. Melina was clearly having a lot of fun out there, mocking Mickie as she did her ring entrance and comically overselling some work on her hand in the early going. Beth, sadly, looked a bit awkward as Melina's second, and didn't do much at all until the finish, then dropped the Women's title as she was supposed to be helping Melina celebrate her victory up the ramp on the way out.

[Count Calibla]

Making my way through The Legacy of Stone Cold Steve Austin. I tell you what, Austin can fucking work. The early part of the DVD skims over his time in WCCW and the USWA, moving onto his emergence in WCW as Stunning Steve Austin. We then see a Hollywood Blonds match, Austin/Pillman after a seperation Austin was clearly unhappy with, and then a nice match vs. Steamboat. He really is a great wrestler. I suppose the Austin legacy, in reality, centres on his WWF '98 onwards money run, and rightfully so. You can't expect to laud the skills of a WCW undercard match and one of the most lucrative main-event runs of all time. Nonetheless, you can see how Austin has progressed through the ranks. I think his selling is stellar - he moves, he bumps, he really puts his opponent over. His rope-running in the Austin/Pillman alone makes the match worth watching.So you have in '92/'93 a great undercard wrestler who is obviously over with the crowd to some degree, but he's questioning what he can do to move up the card. He goes to the WWF, shows off a world-class brawling style that generally creates the mould for WWF main-events for the next few years, regardless of whether Austin's involved or not. Add on top of that the promo work, the confrontation with Tyson - I really think Austin is the best all-round wrestler we've ever seen. Just within the ring, to have two completely contrasting styles which both have the ability to create ****+ matches. Austin's wrestling circa '92 would never have worked in '98, and vice versa. Take Flair - gone from being arguably the greatest wrestler of all time, to low blows and chops. He used to have ***** matches, and had many, but how he wrestles today he couldn't. Bret Hart had great in-ring ability, and his brawls with Austin were compelling, but even he didn't have the versatility to change so drastically. Austin in 92 and Austin from 1998 onwards are two completely different wrestlers, it's fantastic.

[Meldrew]

I'm watching WM 10 at the minute. Been slowly working through my WWF/WWE PPV's in order over the past couple of months. Currently mid Bret v Owen match

[Jun Kasai]

Toshiaki Kawada vs Jun Akiyama from AJPW Champs Carnival 95, great little match with Akiyama playing the underdog and having Korakuen Hall solidly behind him, he gets a few nearfalls from some Exploders but the result was never in doubt, the Stretch Plum gets Tosh' the win.KOBASHI VS TAUE UP NEXT!!!

[SK8_WAR]

In Your House 11; Buried Alive.At the moment it's Owen & Bulldog vs. The Smoking Gunns.Was strange to see HHH vs. Stone Cold as the opening match! But JR was right on the money when he said he saw those two as 'possible future world champions'

[Jun Kasai]

Kenta Kobashi vs Akira Taue AJPW Champs Carnival 95, man did I enjoy this one, match is pretty even up until Kobashi misses the Moonsault Press, then the lanky bastard takes over, Chokeslam from the apron to floor!!! but Kobashi somehow kicks out, another chokeslam this time in the ring but Kobashi rolls out to the floor, BAD MOVE, Powerbomb on the floor!!! Kobashi gets back in but it's academic at this point another chokeslam followed by a Dynamic Bomb and thats all she wrote.Why in the hell has it took me so long to watch old All Japan stuff it's all f'n brilliant. And look whats nextMISAWA VS KOBASHI