Last Wrestling Match Watched 2.0

[Gimmick]

Triple H vs. The Rock - Judgment Day 2000
Arguably Rock's finest match. May not have had the same intensity as his match against Stone Cold at WrestleMania X-7, or that big match feel like his match against Hogan at X-8, but in terms of actual wrestling this tops it for me. Rock and Triple H put on an extremely entertaining match that had a very nice pace throughout and some choice moments as well. The chemistry between these two was also a joy to watch, and it's a credit to both men that they kept it engaging for the full hour.

Granted, the ending is what people will remember about this match the most, but I refuse to let it devalue the whole match completely. For 58 minutes or so this match was absolutely flawless. It's just a shame that the last 2 minutes were such a mess. ****1/2

 

[AZUCAR!]

The Osirian Portal vs The Colony - CHIKARA Caught in a Cauldron of Hate

 

[AZUCAR!]

Eddie Kingston vs Johnny Gargano - CHIKARA Caught in a Cauldron of Hate

 

[AZUCAR!]

The Batiri vs Mike Quackenbush & Jigsaw - CHIKARA Caught in a Cauldron of Hate

 

[Crippler]

ROH Empire State Showdown - CM Punk vs. Steve Corino (w/Bobby Cruise)

This whole match was fantastic with the story being Steve and Punk the one-upmanship in the ring, to attempt to out-heel each other during the match, everything had a point and it made this match seem like a huge deal. Corino’s fake on the ear injury was classic. ***1/2

 

[Crippler]

ROH The Conclusion - Steel Cage Match: CM Punk vs. Raven

THIS IS THE END OF THE FEUD, Great to see this feud go out on the right note, although they never did reach the heights of that first match back at Expect The Unexpected. The cage seriously limited what they could do, but they made the absolute most of what they had. A lot of people point to the Dog-Collar Match as the high point of the feud, but I thought this was every bit as violence and well-thought-out as that match and just as much intensity. I'm not a fan of escape rules for matches like this, but it worked to put Punk over as a weasel. ***1/2 - ***3/4

 

[Crippler]

ROH Second Anniversary Show - Pure Wrestling Title Tournament: CM Punk vs. Doug Williams

The story here is Williams power and technical acumen against Punk's mind games and treachery. Punk does everything he can to avoid Williams and frustrates him into opening himself up as chases after Punk. Punk cockily was great here cause the crowd was shitting on him from the start. I enjoyed this allot until the finish even if it showed Punk picking apart a knee injury, which is significant given that he might face AJ Styles in the final, who already has an injured knee before he even faces Matt Stryker. Great psychology. ***1/4

 

[Crippler]

ROH At Our Best - ROH Pure Wrestling Title: AJ Styles vs. CM Punk

Ricky Steamboat is your special guest referee because last time out, Punk was screwed out of a few ropebreaks. The rules for Pure Wrestling (for the uninitiated), you can use the ropes three times to save yourself and no more, no closed-fists or you lose a ropebreak, 20-count on the floor. Got it, GOOD! okay this match was excellent The sleeper stuff at the end was cool due to the neck work earlier in the match, but I hated AJ's arm falling three times and then the match continuing. Otherwise, I have nothing else to complain about. I bumped the rating up a little bit for the post-match awesomeness. ***3/4

 

[Crippler]

ROH Reborn: Stage 1 - CM Punk vs. Bryan Danielson

Steamboat comes out prematch and says that since ROH paid him to referee a match and he didn't get a chance before he's going to referee this one. The Steamboat vs. Punk angle threatened to overwhelm the match early, but once Steamboat faded into the background, the match turned into the classic fans knew it could be. Most importantly, though Punk didn't display the same level of move-set, this match showed he could hang with a main-eventer like Danielson. I love that Danielson capitalized on Punk's mistake, changed his strategy and won by working the abs. But damn, that camel clutch by Punk was so long. Post-match Punk once again gets in Steamboat's face and won't let him leave the ring. Cabana sneaks behind Steamboat, and since he doesn't hear the fans chanting "look behind you" he gets destroyed. The Briscoes save. **** The OTL match this year is way better then this.

 

[Gimmick]

Davey Richards vs. Michael Elgin - Showdown in the Sun: Day 2
Yep, still holds up. It took a while to kick off but once it did it became a hugely entertaining match. People will complain about the amount of no-selling throughout the match, but I think it suited Elgin's 'Unbreakable' character down to a tee, and for Davey it was kept to a minimum (for his standards anyway). It also brought some great drama and excitement to the match as well, especially near the end when Elgin kicked out of one of Davey's kicks at the count of one. It's not often you come across a match where the atmosphere is that good and the action is that engaging. A gripping bout and a tremendous effort from both men. *****

 

[Crippler]

WWE Survivor Series 2008 - Traditional Survivor Series Match: Shawn Michaels, Cryme Tyme, Rey Mysterio, & The Great Khali vs. JBL, MVP, Kane, The Miz, & John Morrison

This match was all over the place, but this was a great way to open the show. The crowd was on fire everyone was getting pops and boo's in the right places. Rey, Shawn and Khali being the last 3 standing were weird well HBK/Rey were a given seeing how WWE books them but Khali C'MON. I also didn't like the quick eliminations but once WWE got that out of the way it picked up for shore, with the booking and story telling. ***

 

[Crippler]

WWE Survivor Series 2008 - Traditional Survivor Series Match: Beth Phoenix, Candice Michelle, Mickie James, Kelly Kelly, & Jillian vs. Michelle McCool, Maria, Victoria, Natalya, & Maryse

A diva's match that went 10 minutes, HOLY SHIT. Outside of Maryse's heel tactics, it was repetitive and uncreative. It's just a collection of moves and a glorified group of singles exhibitions with each one taking a pin after a minute. *1/2 the ending with Beth and Maryse was great tho.

 

[Crippler]

WWE Survivor Series 2008 - Casket Match: The Undertaker vs. The Big Show

The Undertaker and the Big Show have shown that they have great chemistry together and can put on great matches with each other, but this was not the night. They started off well, and it made sense to go right for the big spots in a match where there are no pinfalls, submissions, disqualifications, or count-outs. But things really started to drag after the table spot, and then got just slow and predictable after the Big Show broke the first coffin. From that we just got a slow match with a underwhelming finish. **1/2

 

[Crippler]

WWE Survivor Series 2008 - Traditional Survivor Series Match: Batista, CM Punk, Kofi Kingston, Matt Hardy & R-Truth vs. Randy Orton, Cody Rhodes, Shelton Benjamin, Mark Henry, William Regal

So 11 seconds into the match Punk hits Regal with the Go 2 Sleep for the pin and then Layla throws her shoe at Punk, and it connects sweetly (Regal was pinned sp quickly because he was really ill at the time). Outside of Regal's elimination, they didn't succumb to the quick eliminations, and it allowed them to be more creative in the match ups they had, even with a shorter amount of time. The teased feud Orton/Dave feud which would happen next month and Punk/Regal as well. ***1/4 Hot match especially once it was Batista against the Heels.

 

[Crippler]

WWE Survivor Series 2008 - WWE Championship Match: Triple H vs. Vladimir Kozlov vs. Jeff Hardy EDGE

So the story leading to this match is Jeff has been scratching and fighting his way to a WWE title shot on a PPV just to get attacked in his hotel room and for Edge just to make his return win the title, then drop it to Jeff at the next PPV. Just to have Edge win it back the month after that because Jeff's own brother Matt SWERVED him and turned heel. But wait I have more Edge would drop the title in 5 minutes in the elimination chamber match but win the world title on that same PPV. Lose that title to Cena at WM in a 3-way that had a hilarious build, but he does win the title back from Cena in a FUCKING AMAZING LMS match, but loses the title to Jeff the next month in a Ladder match, Oh and Punk would cash in so Jeff would have the title for 2/3 minutes best SHIT I got a little of topic okay this match. Well this was fucking awful HHH/Kozlov did nothing until the SWERVE EDGE return, it was like HHH said i'm dropping the belt so fuck this match. I personal don't mind Edge winning but i would of had Kozlov had been found at the bottom of the stairwell and Hardy had been on the verge of winning the title only to get screwed out of it once again by Edge. That would have accomplished the same thing and not been tedious. (But that's just me) **1/2 maybe *** just for THE SWERVE and EDGE's BEARD.