Sky's Good Matches Thread (formerly You Decide What Sky Watches)

[Sky]

Match #61
Great Muta vs. Bob Sapp
AJPW Wrestle-1 - November 17, 2002​

Before we start, I want you to watch Bob Sapp's original music video. Look at it.



That's how over Bob Sapp was. He got his own music video just by being a big, loud dude who could knock you out legit. This is actually one of his first steps into the world of wrestling, given that Wrestle-1 was meant to be a "wrestlers vs. K1/Pride guys" show (and a name that Mutoh himself would nick when he created his own promotion 11 years later). I'm not expecting a miracle, given that and the fact that Sapp's matches were never great anyway. Here we go.

Sapp comes out to Madonna's Holiday with a full complement of dancing girls. He's actually just a fighting game character, holy shit. Muta gets an absolutely fantastic entrance too, as he appears in the ring in a cloud of red mist, and everyone's selling it like they saw the gates of Hell itself open in front of them. Are the entrances going to be the highlight of this match? Probably, but we soldier on.

Muta unleashes red mist into the air and immediately starts trying to take Sapp's legs out from under him, with low dropkicks and a dragonscrew. Sapp, however, manages to get Muta up in the air for a one-handed powerbomb! Sapp just starts pounding Muta, taking him to the corner and plastering him with big forearms and stomps. The referee tries to hold him off from doing more but is knocked down... so Muta can STEP OFF THE REF FOR THE SHINING WIZARD! That's a great spot. Muta clotheslines them both to the outside and tosses Sapp into the guardrail. The guardrail actually buckles. Once they've gotten back into the ring, Muta takes a moment to stare down Masahiro Chono who's on the outside (I'm sure this is relevant in story but I don't know the story) before hitting his special elbow.

Muta gets Sapp's arm in a keylock but Sapp lifts Muta up and slams him out! Sapp then does a three-point stance (please don't make me think about Jim Duggan) before charging Muta through the ropes. And then he hits a SLINGSHOT PLANCHA?? He then gets an elbow drop of his own on Muta on the outside. Sapp looks very gassed already, but this is entertaining. The Beast hits a couple of weak-looking clotheslines that Muta sells like death anyway. Sapp tries to lift Muta into a powerbomb but gets a faceful of green mist! This lets Muta hit 2 Shining Wizards in a row... SAPP KICKS OUT AT ONE?? A moonsault then gets only two. Muta tries for another Shining Wizard but Sapp catches him, hits a powerbomb, then a dropkick, and goes to the top rope for a diving headbutt and the win!

Wow, who put this really good sports entertainment showcase in my Wrestlers vs. MMA Guys show? Absolutely not a technical masterclass (obviously not, it's Bob Sapp) but an absolute sprint through things that should be silly but actually work. Muta is the star of this show, really selling this big dude and putting him over huge. I did not expect to actually enjoy this.

 

[Chris]

Prime Sapp was something else

Not good or bad, but something else entirely

 

[Sky]

I actually put it 11th. Maybe I'm on a high today

 

[Alexa]

Whoever suggested the Tiger Honey mtach, you have good taste that a is deep cut in Joshi

Post Edit: If anyone didn't know Tiger Honey is Azumi Hyuga

 

[Storm Trooper]

Whoever suggested the Tiger Honey mtach, you have good taste that a is deep cut in Joshi

Post Edit: If anyone didn't know Tiger Honey is Azumi Hyuga

I... feel bad that not only did I not know who Tiger Honey is, but I don't know who Azumi Hyuga is either...

 

[Alexa]

I... feel bad that not only did I not know who Tiger Honey is, but I don't know who Azumi Hyuga is either...

Don't feel bad. Knowing that stuff or who they are is a deep cut

 

[Sky]

Match #62
Trio Fantasia vs. Los Diabolicos
2/3 Falls Match
CMLL Leyendas Mexicanas - November 17, 2017​

This one could be interesting. Last time we saw Trio Fantasia they had a pretty mediocre match in all honesty with the Thundercats. That was 26 years before this, and now they're being wheeled out for a legends show. I'm most concerned for Super Pinocho who is in his mid-60s by this point. None of the others are spring chickens either. Let's hope this doesn't suck.

Trio Fantasia come out to the Star Wars theme for some reason. Raton looks like he's in absolutely atrocious shape. Pinocho has emojis on his shirt. The Diabolicos line-up for this match is El Gallego, Mr. Condor (Romano Garcia) and Rocky Santana.

We start with Pinocho against Rocky Santana, who is apparently the "Mexican Onita". I find that hard to believe, he doesn't even have the limp. The very first spot is a weird one where Pinocho apparently has no idea that Santana is behind him. Santana gets a drop toe hold, and rolls it with a bodyscissors into a sunset-type pin attempt. Sadly this sequence is pretty much in slow motion. I appreciate the effort, but I feel that would have been a lot more fluid about 30 years before. An exchange of leg locks sees Pinocho roll Santana's attempt into a crucifix. Again, it's all quite sluggish. They finally get the idea of showing off how Santana is the (slightly) more athletic one with Pinocho giving him armdrags and mares.

Then some fairly slow tags, and it's now Gallego vs. Raton. My assessment of Raton's ring shape appears to be correct, as they seem to be doing much to hide him, with the majority of the action being a lock-up and the rest being staredowns and appealing to the crowd. Finally Gallego gets Raton down with a cruceta invertida (like a Figure Four, but the guy taking it is facing down). Raton for his part does try to work Gallego's left leg, with an elbow to the back of the knee followed by a leg whip. At one point Gallego flips over Raton's prone body, seemingly just to prove he can.

Then comes Muneco, who runs the ropes and plays for the crowd, and gets the biggest pop so far this match (of course). Condor looks like he's going to be facing off, but he tries to slingshot into the ring, falls on his back, and briefly starts fighting with his own partner Gallego. They make up... at which point Condor gets on the ring ropes to taunt the front row and falls on his back again. I gave a bit of stick to Raton, but honestly Muneco is the weakest-looking of the lot in terms of remaining athleticism. Best thing he does is kick Condor's leg out while he's running the ropes to cause a third comedy Condor pratfall in about a minute.

Gallego comes, stops Muneco from breaking out an octopus hold, and gets into a fight with Raton. Raton breaks out a headscissors takedown, and honestly at his age and size how the fuck did he do that? This leads to a spot where each Diabolico comes at him one after the other and he dispatches them all. Back to Pinocho, against Condor. The next part is just weird, as Pinocho whips Condor in and out of the corner as the other Diabolicos run in and then away. Then, Gallego finds himself back body dropping his own partner, thinking Condor sent Pinocho and not the other way around. Santana armdrags Condor, and Pinocho runs the ropes as the rudos stand dumbfounded unable to do anything.

Muneco comes in and gets triple teamed for about 5 seconds. His offense consists mostly of, like his partners, getting the Diabolicos to hit each other. Santana forgets to sell axe handles from both his partners. Raton hits a double crossbody, the rudos get lined up, and the members of Trio Fantasia take turns to splash all three of their opponents at the same time. Eventually they're all stacked up in a heap (with Muneco on the top because it means he doesn't have to bend as much) and that is, finally, the first fall after 10 minutes. At this rate, this is going the full hour.

Second fall begins with Condor against Raton, who refuses a handshake. Raton gives a slap to Condor's stomach, and Condor sells it like he's been hit in the balls. Diabolicos use the argument over whether or not that's a DQ to take control and the match descends into three brawls. The one in the ring is Santana against, sadly, Muneco. Santana applies an illegal rope armlock for VERY close to the 5-count. I was hoping the ref would just give the DQ there so this match would be over. They all roll Muneco to the outside for a good kicking, then start to triple-team Pinocho when he comes in too. They do probably the best move of this match: Santana and Condor both wrench a seated Pinocho's arms, then Gallego stands on his partners' knees to enhance the pressure. I'd have loved to see that from guys who weren't all over 50. They give Raton a Shield-esque triple powerbomb and then come together to lock all his limbs until he gives up. How is that legal?

Okay, final fall. This is now just all three Diabolicos waiting for one of Trio Fantasia to come into the ring and wrecking him. Muneco responds to one attempt by falling on his face and letting himself be booted. They go for another triple submission until Raton breaks them up, and the tecnicos are able to fight back again. With some un-tecnico-like tactics, like a Muneco eye rake and a Pinocho punt to the plums. They all start slap fights, and at least all have the decency to sell except Muneco. He then pulls off one of THE worst attempts at a headscissors takedown I've ever seen. Pinocho pulls off a Tope Suicida on Gallego!! That's a bit of a shock given he's all of 65 when this match happens. Raton gets a crossbody and then rolls Santana up for the finish.

That was very not good. Weirdly paced with the highlights being the comedy spots. Diabolicos showed themselves to have aged miles better than their opponents, especially Muneco who was dire. Raton, despite being horribly out of shape, did the best in-ring in this match among his team.

 

[Sky]

Match #63
Aja Kong (c) vs. Yumiko Hotta
for the WWWA World Single Championship
AJW Ota Ward Champion Legend - January 21, 1994​

After a brief hiatus, I've decided to pick this up again. Because what better time could there be to explore non-WWE wrestling than this? And we're going back to AJW, a promotion we last saw in this thread's top rated match! Can this top it? Let's find out!

Whoever uploaded this has had the decency to subtitle the pre-match promos. Kong on Hotta previously getting a win over her: "The Kong has no memory of that". A woman of few words. Hotta's built up confidence over the past year with strong performances and big wins. Guess she's the face here. And on top of that, before the ring announcements even start, these two are squaring up! I get the feeling this is going to be an intense one. Kong flips Hotta off

They're at each other right from the offset with strikes, and Kong manages what can only be described as a Hundred Hand Slap in the corner. The referee's trying desperately to break up the cornered attack... but Kong shoves him right away and starts attacking Hotta again! GREAT heelery. When they're finally broken up, Kong comes out with the URAKEN out of nowhere and pretty much kills Hotta. She then takes her on a tour of the outside to PILEDRIVE HER THROUGH A TABLE!! And it's a Japanese table on top of that, so there's zero give. She's not even done, tossing the table at Hotta and then giving her a nasty chairshot. One more piledriver back in the ring, and Kong punishes Hotta for even trying to get up by giving her a rope choke before unleashing a THIRD piledriver. Jesus.

And yet somehow, Hotta manages to recover! Maybe because Kong's used a sequence that could finish a match only 3 minutes in. She blocks another Uraken, gets a few stiff looking palms followed by a punt to the face and an elbow that she gets ALL of... but that isn't going to stop a monster like Kong! Piledriver count reaches 4, but that only gets a two count. It's at this point that I notice that Hotta's left hand, of all things, is busted open! Apparently trying to attack Kong hurts you more than it hurts her. Hotta tries to get out of a headlock by kicking Kong in the head, and the camera angle tells you that Kong is legit being kicked in the head. Considering that, maybe the headbutts aren't a good idea. Hotta catches a Kong kick and slaps her down!

The action goes to the ground, where Kong attempts a guillotine but Hotta gets out and starts kicking her completely legit. Like, there's no work there. That is just a woman, kicking another woman in the face. And it's AWESOME. Finally, Kong has got some of her own blood on her face after sporting Hotta's for most of the match so far. Hotta's going for a piledriver of her own, but needs one more knee to the face to be able to lift up Kong (piledriver count: 5). Kong doesn't even let the referee count 1, though, and puts on a chinlock that really seems to wrench Hotta's neck. More stiff kicks, until Kong whips Hotta... and Hotta hits an enzuigiri! Then a top rope enzuigiri, which only barely gets a 2!

We get a fairly long headlock spot, which Hotta sells really well. She's got good facials, her eyes rolling back in their head as this just feels like a real choke. When Hotta won't give, Kong gets up, kicks her in the back of the head, and tries again! Eventually we get a rope break, but Kong goes into a DRAGON SLEEPER! She must REALLY hate Hotta's entire head and neck area. The rope break is a struggle for Hotta, which gives me time to muse how there's a lot of blood on the ring like there was in Hokuto/Kandori, but in this case, most of it's from Hotta's hand. Kong slams Hotta into the turnbuckle in an inverted version of how Scott Steiner always used to do it. God, I must sound like a philistine saying anything a Japanese woman does is like an American wrestler. Joshis invented all the moves, after all. BIG corner splash by Kong, to a Hotta who's hung on the ropes upside down. Pretty sure there was no space given, she just legit crushed Hotta.

Kong does something that is so logical but I never saw coming... she starts to work Hotta's bleeding hand!! I LOVE that. She tries her hardest to break Hotta's fingers, and even tries to scupper the ringside workers' efforts to tape the hand up. The referee has to clamber over Hotta to stop Kong from getting to her, which is a very fun visual. Finally, Kong grabs a mic and taunts Hotta, causing the challenger to get up and engage her again with an only partially taped-up hand... so Kong starts to try and break it again! Stomps, cranking the hand on the ropes... this is a masterful display of working an underrated body part. Rumour has it Kong taught Pete Dunne everything he knows. Kong goes for a pin off the suplex... and continues crushing the hand, resulting in the referee scrambing trying to jerk Kong's hand away! Beautiful chaos. Daichi Murayama, you are a true talent of refereeing.

Kong tries to go to the top rope, but Hotta stops her, getting her arms up for a DRAGON SUPERPLEX that drops Kong right on her head!! Pin, but Kong grabs the ropes! Hotta tries to go for another piledriver but Kong charges her in the corner! A running spin kick by Hotta gets two! She can't lift Kong up, though, so she charges... and gets back body dropped! Kong lifts Hotta to the buckle, but is pushed off... Hotta misses an enzuigiri! A NASTY neck-smashing back suplex almost wins it for Kong! And another! Kong goes for a piledriver but Hotta fights it off and hits a back elbow! Hotta tries to lift Kong up... almost, but Kong falls on top of her! An Uraken, a back drop from the top rope, and it's over!

That was STIFF. No give in any of their moves, just two women smashing each other hard. If I have one complaint it's that most of the awesome stuff was completely front-loaded, and the latter part felt like it was tamer. Still, GREAT match.

 

[Sky]

Match #64
Tommy End vs. Raymond Rowe
AIW Against the World - August 26, 2016​

No I didn't remember to do a review on this thread because it got me an unexpected nomination for Best Interactive User, shut up. This is a nice one to see, an indie that I wouldn't have found otherwise. Both men would go on to go to WWE after this, of course. It'll be interesting to see how Rowe fares in singles, as I mostly know him as a tag guy. Here we go!

Tommy End's billed in kilos but Rowe's in pounds... interesting. Eddie Kingston's on commentary for this one! Nice!

You can see the difference in styles before either of them's landed a move, with Rowe trying to out-grapple and Tommy trying to out-strike with kicks. Eventually Rowe does get Tommy into the corner and that gets applause from the crowd. Test of strength is broken up by a high Tommy End kick. An exchange of holds, and Rowe's able to power Tommy up, but gets an elbow pressed into the top of his head. Not thrust, pressed. Maybe it's a kickboxing thing, I don't know. Both men at one point exchange some nice mirrored strikes that make it feel like one of those "fighting a clone of yourself" situations in fiction. Tommy's done a good job so far countering the size advantage, I feel.

Tommy eventually sends Rowe to the outside with a jumping knee out of nowhere! He goes to the apron for a crossbody, but Rowe catches him (love me a good crossbody catch). Tommy fights out of it, sends Rowe to the barricade, and kicks his face right off! Wonder what would have happened if they'd hit a fan right there. I wonder that again, as they go to another barricade and Rowe hits a knee of his own! They clash on the outside, then move to the other side as Rowe sends Tommy SLIDING with a jumping forearm. The outside-of-the-ring adventure concludes as Rowe hangs Tommy on the apron, strikes him in the chest, and then knees him right in the back of the head! As Kingston says, that is something that should knock out a man, and yet it only gets two.

Still, Rowe's got the edge, and gives a corner pounding followed by a delayed vertical suplex that the crowd counts to 10 for. Nice touch. Tommy's now trying to fight back against this power, and gets a sick back elbow, but gets himself T-Bone suplexed anyway. Rowe then tries to suplex him from the apron, but on the lift he gets kneed in the head and is then booted in the face. Double foot stomp by Tommy End misses, but he trips Rowe and nails him with a big knee that flashes itself across Rowe's face. This doesn't get the pin, though, as Rowe's grabbed the rope.

Back to the outside, Rowe gets put on to the chair next to the timekeeper's chair (the timekeeper's like "right, guess I'll head out" ) before Tommy smashes him in the face again with a big running knee. More knees, Rowe starts to no-sell and flip Tommy off... but Tommy just hits him with a knee again and puts that idea to bed. Eventually they're back in the ring and Tommy is just punishing Rowe in the corner. We get a bit of insight from Kingston on how Tommy pulls off his knees and the technique behind it all, which is nice to hear. Tommy's using his educated feet for pretty much everything, dodging an attempted Rowe corner attack and countering all attempts to grapple. He's so fucking clean. Until he gets hip tossed (at shoulder height!) and kneed. A Rowe powerbomb gets two. This is end-to-end stuff!

"This one's for you, Amy", says Rowe before... failing to toss Tommy. That's actually quite funny when you think about it. Who is Amy, by the way? Surely someone here was watching AIW at the time and can provide context. Tommy elbows his way out of another powerbomb attempt and then hits a double stomp... and SPRINGS off! Apparently that takes the wind out more, according to Kingston, but all I know is it looks cool. Still only a 2-count though. Tommy tries to get a waistlock... but Rowe rolls through to get an ankle lock! Unfortunately, he's dumb enough to try and get in a standing position (just grapevine it!) which lets Tommy get the ropes. Tommy kicks Rowe right between the shoulderblades, and hits a top rope double stomp. Rowe gets up... but into a spin kick and German! I was going to complain about burying the stomp, but that's a sick sequence, can't argue with it.

Rowe's able to break Tommy's flow with a forearm, and now both men are down. Tommy's back to his feet first, nailing more kicks and knees ("HIS JAW LEGIT MOVED!" -Kingston) until Rowe gets a dropkick that draws a 2-count. Tommy manages to get on to Rowe's back and put all his weight on him in a way that's reminiscent of how Gail Kim or AJ Lee used to get submissions while clinging their whole selves on to larger opponents. I've never seen it done by a man his size though. Rowe gets another big forearm but again can't capitalise.

An exchange of forearms is broken by a Tommy End enzuigiri... then a Rowe jumping forearm... then Tommy hits a jumping knee strike against the rope! Tommy goes to the top rope but Rowe meets him and suplexes him right on to his hip! Rowe hits Death Rowe!! He follows up with a double knee for a close two! Tommy almost wins it with a rolling knee but Rowe grabs the rope again! Rowe gets another powerbomb for 2, but wastes no time in lifting Tommy up to a second Death Rowe for the three!

Good match, Tommy End was really impressive (naturally). That's not to take anything away from Rowe who proved he can certainly put on a compelling singles match.

 

[Sky]

Match #65
Necro Butcher vs. Samoa Joe
IWA-MS Something to Prove - June 11, 2005​

My first proper foray into deathmatches for this thread. At least, into deathmatches that aren't going to be embarrassing. Really interesting clash of styles potential here, with Joe's actual wrestling acumen seemingly a mismatch for Necro and his "extreme" style. How will this go? Let's find out!

Joe looks so young and not injury prone here. CM Punk and Eddie Kingston on commentary! They immediately decide they're not waiting for the bell, both tossing around the ref, with Joe sending him out of the ring so they can toss forearms at each other. Joe hits a sick suicide forearm to cap it off. They go into the crowd, hitting each other again and again, powering through so they can retaliate. It's in the middle of a flurry of Joe headbutts that Necro suddenly starts bleeding. He got opened hardway by headbutts... if that isn't an express train to Concussion Central, I don't know what is. Necro responds by tossing every chair in the vicinity at Joe before lifting him back over the guardrail... then lifting him over the other guardrail to the other side of the crowd.

Joe hits an exploder suplex on the floor, which impacts Necro's head and seemingly nothing else. He then props Necro up against the guardrail before booting his head off. Necro's probably fucked up for real. Even the way he's selling looks really uneven. Back in the ring, Joe goes for a pin. I didn't recall the bell ever being rung? Necro manages to recover, hitting a headbutt (ouch) before sending Joe out. The guardrail abuse continues as Necro grabs a bit of guardrail and tosses it in the ring. He tosses it at Joe a couple of times and does a senton... I won't say "on" the guardrail, it was nowhere near. "In the general vicinity of" the guardrail. They're brawling on the apron... until JOE GOES FOR ANOTHER EXPLODER SUPLEX AND DROPS NECRO ON HIS HEAD AGAIN. FUCK ME THAT'S ROUGH.

Necro is absolutely gushing blood on the outside, so Joe decides what he needs is a chair to the head. He then props the guardrail on the corner and powerbombs Necro on to it. Again, mostly on the head and neck area. Joe goes for a disrespectful foot-on-the-chest pin but Necro kicks out. Punk explains his strategy if he were Necro at this point: he'd sign with the WWE and run away. And this is literally seven days before he becomes ROH World Champion as a future WWE wrestler and starts off the first Summer of Punk. Joe hits a German suplex on a folded-out chair (Necro's entire head is probably mush at this point). Necro kicks out, though, and eventually manages to get one last flurry of punches before Joe hits some deadly knee lifts and an enzuigiri. Necro fails to make the ten count - it's over! Joe wins by KO, caked in his opponent's blood!

Post-match, Necro drags himself up and tries to attack Joe again before they're separated by staff. Ian Rotten (ugh) comes out and puts over Necro for being willing to destroy his brain cells.

Really not sure how I feel about this one. A really brutal match, fun to watch, though the head-destroying offense is uncomfortable. Apparently this is one of the best IWA-MS matches but... I thought it was good rather than great. Maybe this just isn't my thing.

 

[Alexa]

I am about to add a bunch of matches until one of mine gets picked, lol

 

[Sky]

Match #66
The Briscoe Brothers vs. Kota Ibushi/Naomichi Marufuji
Nippon TV Cup Junior Heavyweight Tag League Match
NOAH Summer Navigation - July 1, 2007​

I hope you don't mind that I picked one out specifically this time - with the recent tragedy, I thought the next match could only be a tribute to Jay Briscoe. This was the only Briscoes match on the wheel, and comes fairly early in their careers, when they were in Japan for a tour. Let's go.

We start with Jay and Ibushi in the ring. The initial struggle for control is similar to most Japanese matches I've seen on the wheel so far, but is quite smooth and ends with an Ibushi dropkick right to the face. Jay replies with a big headscissors and a dropkick of his own. He brings Ibushi into the corner and tags in Mark, but Ibushi then charges him into his own corner and brings in Marufuji. Ibushi, like the good babyface boy he is, lets Mark go, because forget pressing your advantage, there's RULES to be had! Marufuji does manage to keep control with a hammerlock and a knee pressed into the head for good measure. Mark rolls through and gets the first pin attempt of this match, getting a two-count, but only barely.

Marufuji grabs on to the ropes while running them and smacks Mark in the face with a forearm when he comes to meet him. Mark dodges a slingshot elbow and hits a slingshot double stomp which gets two. Back to Jay, who tries to weaken the arm, but gets his leg scissored. He does manage to break out and try for an armbar, but Marufuji turns him around for another pin attempt. He brings Jay into the corner and tags in Ibushi - and notably, unlike his partner, does not leave the ring right away. I don't know about you, but I think this Marufuji lad is a bad influence. While Jay's in a headlock, he tags Mark, hits Ibushi with a facebuster, and then Mark comes in with a LONG range springboard knee drop! Unfortunately he wastes time wiping out Marufuji before going for the pin, which means it doesn't get a three.

Mark goes for a lariat, Ibushi drops down to dodge, kips right up, and kicks Mark right in the face! Fuck your Matrix dodges, that's 10 times more awesome. Now Jay's in, taking out Marufuji again, but Ibushi's able to take both of them on with kicks to the chest for a while. This doesn't last, though, and we get some crisp double-team Briscoe offense before Mark finally hits that lariat that turns Ibushi inside out! Mark establishes what appears to be a Figure Four neck lock with arm trap, which has Ibushi fading until he gets the rope break. Another knee drop, this time from a standing position, gets two again.

Jay comes in with a big back elbow that also gets two. He then takes the logical step of continuing to weaken Ibushi's neck, using stretches and a kick to the back of the head. Mark comes in, hits an awesome step-up dropkick in the corner, then Jay hits a big boot and JESUS that sell from Ibushi. He looks like he really has been turned inside out. Marufuji breaks up the resulting pin. Mark fails to lift up Ibushi for the vertical suplex, and Ibushi whips out one of his own. He then gets hit by Mark's sliding kick, and the camera angle is interesting as it's from the point of view of Ibushi's face as it gets kicked in. Jay joins Mark to toss Ibushi high and drop him on the mat, then hits a sliding leg drop which forces Marufuji to break the pin again. Don't corrupt Ibushi, please. He's a good boy.

An exchange of forearms ends in an eye rake from Jay. He then makes the classic mistake of cornering Ibushi and Irish whipping him to the other corner - of course, Ibushi dodges, hits an enzuigiri, and drops Jay with a spin kick! BIG pop as Marufuji comes in! He wipes out Mark, and starts to go to town on Jay. Even though Mark recovers and slows Marufuji's roll with a kick to the back, he still manages to beat the Briscoe double team. Big lariat to Jay gets two. Marufuji calls a powerbomb, but Jay fights out of it... then Jay mockingly calls "POWERBOMB" and goes for one of his own! Still, Marufuji counters... and hits Jay with a Tiger Driver! And transitions it directly into an armbar! He then brings it into a triangle choke, which Mark has to break up! It really looked like Jay was about to tap there.

Jay hits Marufuji with a Russian legsweep into the turnbuckle. He then rolls into tagging in Mark! Talk about unnecessary style. Mark then decides to go full martial arts movie mode, making Bruce Lee sounds while kicking and chopping both Ibushi and Marufuji! A belly-to-belly on Marufuji gets two, as does a springboard corkscrew splash! Marufuji gets the edge back with a HIGH jump into a knee facebuster. In comes Ibushi, who treats Mark to some of his favourite kicks. Standing SSP out of nowhere by Ibushi gets two!! Mark gets Ibushi with a moonsault and brings back Jay, who springboards off Ibushi to dropkick Marufuji in the corner! Mark comes in for a double team, and they hit the Redneck Boogie on Ibushi! Marufuji breaks up the pin a third time, so Mark goes to the outside to brawl with him... and gets whipped into the guardrail!

Back in the ring, Jay's going to the top rope, but a big flipping kick from Ibushi hits him in the head and drops him down. Marufuji is back in, hits Jay with a German suplex, Ibushi runs over to stop Mark from breaking it up, but it still only gets two. Now Ibushi's joining Marufuji for some double teaming of his own... Ibushi goes for a moonsault, misses, lands on his feet, and hits a standing moonsault! AWESOME. Marufuji follows with a frog splash, and Mark has to break up the pin. Now it's Ibushi and Mark on the outside.

Marufuji sets up the Shiranui but Jay pushes him off and hits a Death Valley Driver! Mark with a Shooting Star Press! Jay pins but Ibushi breaks it up! Huge double hiptoss on Ibushi. Briscoes go for a springboard Doomsday Device but Marufuji pushes Jay into Mark! Ibushi hits a SPRINGBOARD MOONSAULT to Mark on the outside!! And then Marufuji hits a Tiger Suplex for the three!!

What a match that was, really end-to-end, built up really naturally, and the finish was full of big pop moves. All four of these men are just huge talents.

RIP Jay Briscoe

 

[Sky]

Match #67
Big Show (c) vs. Rob Van Dam vs. Bobby Lashley vs. CM Punk vs. Test vs. Hardcore Holly
Extreme Elimination Chamber Match for the ECW World Heavyweight Championship
WWE ECW December to Dismember - December 3, 2006​

This one probably isn't going to be that bad, it's just going to be... really sad. Like, look at what they did to ECW. Big Show - probably the least ECW wrestler on the planet, except for the fact that he uses a chokeslam - is your ECW champion, and he's defending against an actual ECW guy (RVD), a young up-and-comer who's exactly the type ECW would have brought in had they survived (CM Punk) and three random WWE lower-to-midcarders. Sabu was going to be in this one, but he was randomly taken out and replaced by Hardcore Holly. No wonder this PPV sold like shit.

And to show how little they regarded the atmosphere of ECW around this time, they turned Paul Heyman into a cheap Mr. McMahon wannabe. Out he comes, flanked by riot police to hold off the 4800 in attendance who at this point don't even care enough to hate him. He puts over having created ECW (probably legit not happy at how Vince had run it into the ground). Big "bullshit" chants for Sabu, and hatred for the fact that most of the ECW originals are out of the picture right now. And to think the fans initially popped for having an Elimination Chamber on this show. As far as I can tell, the only thing Extreme about this Elimination Chamber is that there are weapons in the pods.

Notable things from the entrances: RVD, Punk, and maybe Show are the only ones who get any reaction. Holly and Lashley get pretty much nothing, but they still get more than Test, who gets absolute anechoic-chamber level silence from the crowd. It has to be heard to be believed.

Starting off are RVD and Holly. Really nothing doing initially, it's all very generic, but what do you expect from Hardcore Holly? I get the impression that Holly's underselling, or RVD's phoning it in. Probably both. The booking's probably designed to make the ECW Original look stupid, because he has Holly dodge his flying moves twice in a row (the first time having him cling on to the chain-link) and leave him a dope bouncing off the ropes. Somehow, this gets ECW chants! Holly slams RVD's body against metal again and again, then goes for a flying nothing, but RVD gets a foot up. This lets RVD get Rolling Thunder over the ropes on to the steel. RVD tries to suplex Holly on to the steel, but Holly reverses it and suplexes RVD back into the ring. All very un-extreme so far. Big CM Punk chants as the timer ticks down. Back in the day when chanting for Punk while he wasn't wrestling wasn't a sign of protest. Though in a way, on this show, it is.

For the first and last time on this show, fans get what they want as CM Punk enters at number 3 to a BIG pop! He tosses his steel chair right at Holly's head before hitting a big springboard forearm on RVD. Punk tries to toss the chair at RVD now but gets it thrown back right in his head. RVD then hits a monkey flip on Punk so he lands on the chair. Punk grabs the chair, throws it down, jumps over RVD's legsweep and leg drops him on to the chair! Punk continues to abuse RVD's head, propping the chair on the corner and sending him head first into it. RVD's busted open. Punk tries to jump at Holly but Holly catches him and swings him into the steel. Holly's offense here is just like before: slow and uninteresting. After a bit of cookie-cutter attacking of both Punk and RVD, he mounts Punk on the turnbuckle, smashes him into Lashley's pod behind him, and hits a superplex. RVD and Holly both try to pin Punk but he kicks out. RVD smashes both Punk and Holly with a single kick as the clock runs down.

Fourth is Test, who has a crowbar. He at least seems to have an idea of what extreme is, even though no one else has any idea why we should care about him, as he tries to split open RVD's head with the end of the crowbar. He then chokes Punk with it until Punk drops out. The bloodied RVD is fighting off Holly with kicks before smashing Test and Holly with the chair. He gets a mini-Van Terminator (no coast-to-coast sadly) on Punk before hitting a Five-Star Frog Splash. One, two, three, CM Punk is eliminated. The crowd does not like that at all.

The booking is very telling here: CM Punk, who was reportedly Heyman's choice to win the whole thing, gets eliminated first by the supposed top face, so he just looks like a loser. And then Test tries to pin Holly, it's a two-count, but the referee says it's three. Everyone's confused. Was that accidental? Would fit this PPV overall. Holly's out!

RVD tries to go high off a pod... but it's Big Show's pod, who drags him down through the chain link so Test can take out his knee with the chair. Another chair shot to the head, and RVD is tossed down. Test sets up the chair on RVD, then climbs up on Big Show's pod himself and hits a flying elbow! I've got to admit, that's a good spot. That gets a three-count, and RVD's gone, and with him any reason to care. And number five hasn't even entered the ring yet, so you just get an extra minute of Test lying in the ring while everyone breaks out in "bullshit" chants or decides to beat the traffic. "Where's our refund?" is the call from the crowd as the third 5-minute period dies away.

Number 5 is Bobby Lashley... or at least it would be if the ref that was meant to unlock his pod weren't taken out by Heyman's riot police. More "bullshit" chants until Lashley uses the table to break the chain link above him and climbs through. Big flying clothesline from Lashley, who then smashes Test's body into the steel. Test wrests control back with a rake and chokes Lashley in the corner with his foot. He brings in the chair but Lashley kicks out of the corner. Lashley gets the crowbar, and in the battle of chair vs. crowbar, crowbar wins. One spear later, Test is gone.

Heyman, not happy with the way this is going, tries to hype up Big Show for Lashley before his entrance with a barbed wire bat. He points the bat at Lashley as Sting would... which happens to coincide with a TNA chant! That KILLED me.



Who says bad booking can't be fun? Lashley blocks Show's bat shots with a steel chair, before dodging so the bat hits the ropes and then gets caught in the chain link. Lashley smashes Show with the chair and sends him into the Chamber wall. He then sends Show through a pod! Show's busted open! He smashes out of the plexiglass (why couldn't he do that from the start?) and tosses Lashley back into the ring, as Heyman screams at him to win the match. Show goes for a chokeslam but Lashley counters it into a DDT! He then counters a powerslam attempt by Show, and hits a spear, and it's over. Lashley is your new ECW Champion! We at least get some semblance of a pop as a babyface wins, but it quickly dies off. Lashley gets a big firework display to mask the space where the cheers should be.

Not a bad match in structure, and had some good spots, but I can't look past the downright insulting booking. No wonder Heyman left the day after.

 

[Chris]

Poorly booked but agreed, not a bad match. It's made a million times worse if you watch the entire show leading up to it tho lol the opening tag starts great and then it's pure shit until that chamber

 

[Alexa]

Sky finally reviewd one of my matches in a round about way, I can leave happy