I should note how surprisingly professional the building looks. ROH actually has a ramp and video screens for the entrance structure. This is Bryan Danielson’s entrance at this show for an idea of how the stage is set up:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LNwfN_mL8gM&e
Lynn vs. King
I was really into this. This was Lynn’s first match as a member of the official roster, and for it to be in the ECW Arena was pretty cool. If I could use one word to describe this, it’s be “Refreshing.” They went in there with a clear objective of old vs. new and for Lynn to beat King while making King look good. Nothing super flashy that you haven’t seen before, but the way the match was laid out made this all the more investing. Lynn is twice as old as King btw, just thought I’d throw that out. I’m really digging what I’ve seen from Jerry so fan in his ROH run. I’ll admit that hasn’t been much, but it’s always serving a purpose. Nice promo from Lynn a few matches later in the back where he says he has one last run in him and just downs a Miller Lite.
***
Albright vs. Pearce (NWA Title)
Their DBD match from 2 months prior is one of the best matches I’ve ever seen, so my hopes were a little high for this. It doesn’t even touch that match, but for what this was it was really good. Pearce and Albright have such great chemistry and they match up so well. Pearce is a classic 80s NWA heel and Albright is a Magnum TA type of bad ass face. Albright was legit injured here and the flow and crispness of what they were going for suffered a little, but this was still another great effort from the two.
***1/2
Shiozaki vs. Steen (FIP Title)
Fun back and forth match that really fits the mold of what ROH does well.
***
Danielson vs. Nakajima (GHC JR Title)
Yeah, like this could suck. I marked for the NOAH title music before the match. Anyway, Danielson is all “Who is this douche?” and Naka’s like, “Let me show you.” And he throws a kick at Dragons’ head and Danielson’s like, “The fuck was that?!?!?” Naka targets the leg and Danielson sells like…..a salesman? I don’t know. Anyway, I can’t remember who said this but when I saw this spot I thought the same thing. They go into FIGHTING SPIRIT~ mode and start with some headdrops, but as Naka tries to German Danielson, Dragon lands on his feet and SELLS THE LEG. That’s why he’s the best in the Milky Way, folks. Amazing match and the reason to get this show.
****
Stevens vs. Titus
Right after intermission so this is squash city. It’s a great squash though as Rhett uses his cock as a weapon and Stevens gets his nose busted, so he goes STIFF on Titus. About as entertaining as a 3 minute squash can be.
*1/2
Hero/Hagadorn/Edwards vs. Strong/Ruckus/Jigsaw
Standard stuff here. Probably could have been a little shorter too.
**1/4
Claudio vs. Sasaki
Very underwhelming. Claudio works best with guys under 6 foot and Sasaki was pretty much here for the check and his student, Nakajima. Had no real personality to it and the less said the better.
**
Nigel vs. Generico (ROH Title)
This was pretty much a squash for the first part of the match. Then it kicked into high gear where you almost felt Generico could win the title before Nigel Lariats his head off. Not as solid as their first match in August (****) but still really good, which was like bare minimum for Nigel matches in 2008.
***1/2
Briscoes/Aries vs. AOTF vs. Necro (Steel Cage Warfare)
Necro is by himself here, btw. Not sure what to think about this. It never bored me, but a lot of it was meaningless weapon shots that really went no where. Crowd was dead for pretty much the whole thing, in fact they were for most of the entire night bar the opener. Still not really worthy of main eventing arguably the biggest show of the year
**1/2
Overall, this show was strange. On paper it looked like it could be in the class of SOH III, Northern Naviation or DBD VI, but it was really a dissapointment. I've heard McQueen refer to this as one of the worst ROH shows ever, and while I certainly wouldn't go that far, it did leave a bitter taste in my mouth. There's still a lot of quality here, along with important matches, which is something that I look for in my ROH purchases now. I wouldn't go out of my way to see this, though.
Sunday, June 21, 2009
TNA Slammiversary 2009 Review
Lethal/Creed/Young vs. MCMG/Bashir
This was pretty damn good. The MCMG may be my favorite team on the planet atm. Just nonstop fun in their matches. Everyone else was pretty good too, including my least favorite wrestler in the world, Consequences Creed. Went a tad too long for what they were shooting for, but it was still damn good.
***1/4
Daffney vs. Taylor (Monster's Ball)
Meh. 4 minutes of mediocre weapon shots.
1/2*
Suicide vs. Daniels (X-Division Title)
Could have been better actually. I mean, overall this was solid, but it had the potential to be great. Crowd was pretty flat, and that didn't help.
**1/2
Love vs. Kong (Knockouts Title)
Pretty much what you would expect. Kong kills, then Love takes over for a little before Kong gets back on the rampage, and then Love finds a way to retain via SHEENANIGANS~! Entertaining enough.
*1/4
Joe vs. Nash
Definitely not as good as their awesome match at Turning Point last year, but Joe's gimmick doesn't seem to be about putting on ***+ matches anymore. This was still pretty good for a Nash match with the right guy going over.
**1/2
British Invasion vs. Beer Money (Team 3D Tag Tourney Finals)
More greatness from Beer Money. It's pretty hard to hate on this team as they constantly give strong performances every time they're out there. Hopefully their match with Team 3D is as good as it could be.
***
Styles vs. Booker T (I Quit match for the Legends Title)
One of Booker's best matches in TNA, which isn't saying much. He seemed more motivated than normal tonight, so that's probably the reason. Stupid finish but what you gonna do?
***
Angle vs. Sting vs. Foley vs. Jarrett (Ultimate Sacrifice Match)
This shocked the Hell out of me. I was expecting something OK and this ended up being MOTN. The stipulation really got me more into the match than if just the World title was on the line only. I had no clue who was taking the fall. Kind of a strange choice for a finish, but I guess I see where they go with it.
***1/4
Overall, this was probably the best TNA PPV of this year so far. No MOTYC, but they haven't had any since Genesis and that was fine for tonight. Looking forward to Slammiversary next month.
This was pretty damn good. The MCMG may be my favorite team on the planet atm. Just nonstop fun in their matches. Everyone else was pretty good too, including my least favorite wrestler in the world, Consequences Creed. Went a tad too long for what they were shooting for, but it was still damn good.
***1/4
Daffney vs. Taylor (Monster's Ball)
Meh. 4 minutes of mediocre weapon shots.
1/2*
Suicide vs. Daniels (X-Division Title)
Could have been better actually. I mean, overall this was solid, but it had the potential to be great. Crowd was pretty flat, and that didn't help.
**1/2
Love vs. Kong (Knockouts Title)
Pretty much what you would expect. Kong kills, then Love takes over for a little before Kong gets back on the rampage, and then Love finds a way to retain via SHEENANIGANS~! Entertaining enough.
*1/4
Joe vs. Nash
Definitely not as good as their awesome match at Turning Point last year, but Joe's gimmick doesn't seem to be about putting on ***+ matches anymore. This was still pretty good for a Nash match with the right guy going over.
**1/2
British Invasion vs. Beer Money (Team 3D Tag Tourney Finals)
More greatness from Beer Money. It's pretty hard to hate on this team as they constantly give strong performances every time they're out there. Hopefully their match with Team 3D is as good as it could be.
***
Styles vs. Booker T (I Quit match for the Legends Title)
One of Booker's best matches in TNA, which isn't saying much. He seemed more motivated than normal tonight, so that's probably the reason. Stupid finish but what you gonna do?
***
Angle vs. Sting vs. Foley vs. Jarrett (Ultimate Sacrifice Match)
This shocked the Hell out of me. I was expecting something OK and this ended up being MOTN. The stipulation really got me more into the match than if just the World title was on the line only. I had no clue who was taking the fall. Kind of a strange choice for a finish, but I guess I see where they go with it.
***1/4
Overall, this was probably the best TNA PPV of this year so far. No MOTYC, but they haven't had any since Genesis and that was fine for tonight. Looking forward to Slammiversary next month.
Extreme Rules 2009 Review
Kofi vs. MVP vs. Matt Hardy vs. Regal
Just a bunch of spots that you’ve seen a million times. Not bad per se but not anything that I’d want to watch again.
**
Jericho vs. Rey
A little better than last month’s match. Really fast paced with a nice ending. I think just saw this particular ending somewhere not too long ago but for the life of me I can’t remember where. I’m all for another match between these two.
***1/2
Punk vs. Umaga
Standard strap match. These guys have enough chemistry to where even their “standard” stuff is at least watchable…and this was.
**1/2
Dreamer vs. Christian vs. Swagger
The term “fun match” gets thrown around a lot, but I thought this was exactly that. They played with the hardcore elements well and the finish was satisfying, even for me, someone who has never been a fan of Dreamer. The smart mark fans in attendance on camera were, in general, annoying as shit, but here they made the moment a little more cool because when Dreamer left I thought that no one would really care, but those guys did.
***
Santina vs. Vickie
Fast forwarded and never saw it. Really couldn’t care less because Santino has never been that funny to me. I’d assume this was negative a billion stars or something.
Batista vs. Orton
Wow. Hope these guys never have another match. Both guys need someone great to carry them, of that I have finally come around on. Going 6 minutes or how ever long it was didn’t help, but I’d rather see that then them going 20 in a kid friendly WWE. No idea where Orton goes but his reign was just strange and forgettable. I’d assume we get the same from Batista. Just put the title back on Cena at Summerslam and be done with it I say. Cena/Batista II would interest me more than anything Raw can pump out. This show is starting to spiral.
*1/2
Cena vs. Big Show
I’m basically the only person alive that liked their match last month. I think Invincible and Bo Bo both thought it was good, but I loved it. I was actually really looking forward to this, although having only submissions hinder the match I think, especially since neither guy is known for that style. You could pretty much guess the formula they were going to use before the match even started, but I’m homo for that formula so this still was interesting to me. Not even close to being as good as last month’s match for me, but it was still solid. Really dull middle portion with one of the deadest Cena crowds I can remember. Finish would have been cool if Show’s foot didn’t slip out. Again, solid but I could have lived without seeing it and not cared.
**1/2
Edge vs. Jeff Hardy
Again, what you’d expect from these two. Not a huge story but it worked well enough. That TOF counter of the super ladder spear was swank as Hell I must admit. Edge losing the title again boggles my mind. I thought he should have at least gone until Survivor Series.
***1/4
Punk vs. Hardy
2 for 2! That being that I saw what happened before I saw the match. When Punk cashed in the first time I was FF through Raw and saw Punk run down and cash in in just seconds. Still marked out though. I’m pretty solid at keeping away from spoilers now, but sometimes I go to a site with usually no spoiler match ratings, and this time it had the Punk/Hardy rating as – BOW DOWN TO HEEL PUNK~! I was not pleased at seeing a spoiler but fuck it, Punk is the champ. Not sure he’s even heel either, but needless to say I hope he does. No matter what, I’m glad he’s getting a push.
Overall, I'd say the ending pushed this PPV into "good" territory, but for some reason I still feel a little dissapointed with it. Not awful, but lackluster.
Just a bunch of spots that you’ve seen a million times. Not bad per se but not anything that I’d want to watch again.
**
Jericho vs. Rey
A little better than last month’s match. Really fast paced with a nice ending. I think just saw this particular ending somewhere not too long ago but for the life of me I can’t remember where. I’m all for another match between these two.
***1/2
Punk vs. Umaga
Standard strap match. These guys have enough chemistry to where even their “standard” stuff is at least watchable…and this was.
**1/2
Dreamer vs. Christian vs. Swagger
The term “fun match” gets thrown around a lot, but I thought this was exactly that. They played with the hardcore elements well and the finish was satisfying, even for me, someone who has never been a fan of Dreamer. The smart mark fans in attendance on camera were, in general, annoying as shit, but here they made the moment a little more cool because when Dreamer left I thought that no one would really care, but those guys did.
***
Santina vs. Vickie
Fast forwarded and never saw it. Really couldn’t care less because Santino has never been that funny to me. I’d assume this was negative a billion stars or something.
Batista vs. Orton
Wow. Hope these guys never have another match. Both guys need someone great to carry them, of that I have finally come around on. Going 6 minutes or how ever long it was didn’t help, but I’d rather see that then them going 20 in a kid friendly WWE. No idea where Orton goes but his reign was just strange and forgettable. I’d assume we get the same from Batista. Just put the title back on Cena at Summerslam and be done with it I say. Cena/Batista II would interest me more than anything Raw can pump out. This show is starting to spiral.
*1/2
Cena vs. Big Show
I’m basically the only person alive that liked their match last month. I think Invincible and Bo Bo both thought it was good, but I loved it. I was actually really looking forward to this, although having only submissions hinder the match I think, especially since neither guy is known for that style. You could pretty much guess the formula they were going to use before the match even started, but I’m homo for that formula so this still was interesting to me. Not even close to being as good as last month’s match for me, but it was still solid. Really dull middle portion with one of the deadest Cena crowds I can remember. Finish would have been cool if Show’s foot didn’t slip out. Again, solid but I could have lived without seeing it and not cared.
**1/2
Edge vs. Jeff Hardy
Again, what you’d expect from these two. Not a huge story but it worked well enough. That TOF counter of the super ladder spear was swank as Hell I must admit. Edge losing the title again boggles my mind. I thought he should have at least gone until Survivor Series.
***1/4
Punk vs. Hardy
2 for 2! That being that I saw what happened before I saw the match. When Punk cashed in the first time I was FF through Raw and saw Punk run down and cash in in just seconds. Still marked out though. I’m pretty solid at keeping away from spoilers now, but sometimes I go to a site with usually no spoiler match ratings, and this time it had the Punk/Hardy rating as – BOW DOWN TO HEEL PUNK~! I was not pleased at seeing a spoiler but fuck it, Punk is the champ. Not sure he’s even heel either, but needless to say I hope he does. No matter what, I’m glad he’s getting a push.
Overall, I'd say the ending pushed this PPV into "good" territory, but for some reason I still feel a little dissapointed with it. Not awful, but lackluster.
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