Category: Written Reviews

WWE Roadblock Part 2

Click here for Part 1!

Natalya vs Charlotte (c) for the Diva’s Championship
A rematch of Charlotte’s first main roster bout! I expected Nattie (whom I love) to complement Charlotte well but it was a pretty nothing match. Loved Nattie’s New Gen Bret & Owen shirt. Annoyed with Nattie absolutely no-selling a figure four, robotically shouting “no” at Charlotte. John Cena/Cinder block levels of no-selling! Something I did love was Charlotte keeping the F4 on whilst going out of the ring, which is reminiscent of what Bret used to do in the corner on the outside. Nattie hit a nice powerbomb for a 2 and applied a perfect surfboard. Nattie looked like a real idiot from the finish – releasing the Sharpshooter of her own accord to jaw-jack with Naitch, and got rolled-up for her troubles in 13:37. Fine but disappointing.

Brock Lesnar vs Bray Wyatt
A huge fuck you to the audience, Bray got Luke Harper added to the match, and then did not wrestle himself (so it was like a substitution). He fobbed it off as “making a deal with the devil”, and Lesnar allowed it, battering Harper with little resistance (winning in 4:03) and walking after Bray, who went to the back. Fuuuuuuuuuuck you Ontario! I’ve no idea why they’re saving Brock/Wyatt (especially after advertising it) as Brock is facing Ambrose at Mania. Odd. Shit.
Worth noting that Harper is actually a very underrated wrestler – he was in ROH and Dragon Gate before WWE. He hit a nice whirlwind clotheline and suicide dive to Brock.
Earlier in the night Heyman cut a babyface promo about Suplex City. It’s so weird that characters don’t change their personas and change between heel and face (as with Lesnar here). You could say they’re 3 dimensional complex characters, or more accurately, it’s just a bit of a mess and WWE can coast because he’s a star.

Sami Zayn vs Stardust
Happy to see Sami Zayn, wrestling in front of his countrymen. I haven’t mentioned it but I love Stardust’s theme. It’s one of the best wrestling themes WWE have produced in years. It’s definitely Goldust’s brother, but his own character. Anyway, the crowd died for some reason (probably seeing Stardust!) and we got CM Punk chants. The disinterested crowd really does hurt things (but it is up to WWE to get you to care!). Zayn hit the Helluva kick and got the 3 in 12:33.

Main Event: Triple H (c ) vs Dean Ambrose
Shocked to see Aitch come out first, I assumed it was to cut a promo but no, he let Ambrose come out last (as H is the champ, he should always come out last). I find it odd that Triple H has reduced his on-air time since becoming champion – he’d cut 20-minute opening RAW promos beforehand, but now he’s both staying away from the Vince/Shane storyline, and is appearing much less on TV (it’s the opposite of how it usually works being champion!). Perhaps he has an ego that had to be filled with TV time, but now doesn’t need it as he’s got the belt. It’s good to see him actually defend his belt once before dropping it to Reigns, solidify his 14th championship reign.
The crowd was somewhat split between the two (Aitch will be roundly cheered at WrestleMania against Reigns) but got behind Ambrose. It was refreshing to see an in-ring contest between H and Ambrose (as opposed to brawling on the outside, using weapons etc) and Ambrose got a lot of offense. Hilariously JBL and Cole made a point about Ambrose having a gameplan (to attack Triple H’s knee) but Saxton hadn’t a clue and was talking about Ambrose having weeks-long gameplan to get himself this match. Aitch applied the Cripper Crossface (even trapping the free arm) but no Benoit chants, but we got more CM Punk chants.
As a televised house show you expect no titles to change hands (well, not the world title under a month out from Mania anyway); there was a holy shit false finish, where Ambrose hit the Dirty Deeds DDT and got the three count. The ref immediately waved it off as Ambrose’s foot was under the rope (which isn’t true, dick ref!). It took everyone by surprise and after Ambrose missed an elbow drop to Aitch through the table, he got pedigreed upon re-entry to the ring and Aitch retained in 24:43 in a very good match.

Overall, an easy watch, but inconsequential to WrestleMania. Biggest fuck you was not getting Bray vs Lesnar, and it’s great to see Ambrose be the main event babyface, in a refreshingly straight-forward title match with a huge talking point.

Update on the next OSW! Clicky here: OSWreview.com/update-2016-march

March 13, 2016
Shane McMahon returns on RAW!

Vince saying “fucking beating” at 11 seconds!

In a huge shocker, THE BOY WONDER Shane O’Mac returned on RAW! Storyline-wise, Shane revealed Vince was once in a bind and Shane helped him out, silently gaining a lot of power of the company. Vince fumbled through his lines/explanation, but set up Shane’s match (oh shit! at WrestleMania! vs The Undertaker! A hell in the cell!); if Shane wins he gets control of RAW, if Vince wins he gets his stock back.

So amazing and surprised at the incredible pop and sustained marking out he received. Tons of Attitude Era fans in the crowd – if you started watching a decade ago you probably wouldn’t care about Shane, but if you watched in the Attitude Era, he is your boy and you know why! He’s tremendously likeable and will kill himself for your enjoyment with escalating high spots. You can imagine him looking at the set construction at Cowboy Stadium to see what he can jump off! Great to have a babyface authority figure after years of only heels, a never-ending weekly grind trying to recreate Austin vs McMahon. There was a mild undercurrent of CM Punk as he lambasted Stephanie for WWE’s woes (stock, ratings, injuries) and Stephanie dismissed it calling him a quitter, which is exactly how they handled Punk. No word if they put a post-it note over pictures of him!

They mentioned a maguffin (“Vince’s lock box”) which I hope doesn’t actually become a thing. Reminds me of TNA Knockouts lock boxes where Angelina found the women’s title inside and “won” it! Watching it, they could’ve worked in more real-life points to worm Shane in, that Steph sold a ton of shares last year for her new house and that she stepped down from creative (well, don’t call it creative) years ago to focus on her women and children’s charities. All in all it was a fantastic segment seeing the prodigal son return home, and a huge increase in interest for me watching Mania.

Notes/my thoughts from Wrestling Observer Live:

• They pitched a similar battle for control of WWE 2 years ago of Hunter/Steph (heel) vs Vince (face) which would lead to Hunter vs Austin or Rock at WrestleMania. Vince nixed it as at the time thought he was too old to be on TV. – plummeting ratings always drags Vince back out. It’s noted that Vince has had problems every week on live RAW, such as fumbling through his promos, being shown flipping off someone in the crowd, not being able to open plastic balls, or this week, messing his lines and DROPPING AN F BOMB ON LIVE TV!
• Saying FUCK on live TV. Worth mentioning that Brad Maddox was fired for saying “pricks” before a Dark Match, and Titus was suspended for 60 days for grabbing the boss during the Bryan celebration.
• Shane doesn’t have a management position in WWE, he’s on-air talent.
• “Shane lives in NY so he could be doing weekly TV whilst running his company based in China.” – worth noting he stepped down as CEO of You on Demand in 2013 (he was trying to get PPV up and running in China – it lost almost $45 million over the last 4 years/since he joined).
• “There is a significant amount of life imitating art. Apparently there’s a belief that a real life power struggle will occur if Shane’s fully back in the picture.” He’s been gone so long Stephanie has moved on from the creative team. He’s 46 and is still with YouOnDemand. I find it hard to believe Shane would get a significant place back in WWE (i.e. above or on par Triple H, Dunn, Barrios etc), enough to cause a power struggle.
• “Shane felt he would run WWE after Vince but Stephanie surpassed him to due her product knowledge” – this is news to me. Everything I’ve read before suggests there wasn’t any kind of power struggle. He tendered his resignation in late 2009 (as EVP of Global Media) but had been on the business side of things for a very long time – Steph wielding power in creative and Shane taking a back seat has been the way since 2000.
• Noting Triple H was not involved in the opening segment, only with Roman Reigns at the end “there’s a lot going on”.
• Shane & Creative: He’s a lovely guy, but “when it came to wrestling angles, it was like Stephanie & Paul are so far ahead of him that it’s not even funny” – from what I’ve read the general view of Shane was that he was great to work for but wasn’t ruthless, unlike Stephanie. It’s definitely possible he had lots of clunkers we’ve never heard about, but his business ideas included buying UFC before it exploded, ECW before it closed, a more serious wrestling-based/less child comedy product (kinda what NXT is now) and was poised to run WWECW as an online show before it landed a TV deal.
• What about a Fingerpoke of Doom scenario with Taker (so Shane can win and run RAW)? Cobblers. Taker doesn’t do bullshit shoot angles. Although facing Undertaker it’ll be face vs face; which is a very odd dynamic as people would want Shane to get his way and run RAW. Of course it’ll be grand if Shane does a massive high risk bump and wins, nobody will remember Taker losing, he’ll save face. No need for WCW ideas here, and forfeitting another spectacular Shane McMahon moment.

Byron passes Reigns a blood packet

Other notes from RAW:
Lesnar will face Ambrose at Mania, No Holds Barred (not the movie); Dean doing his crazy never-quit underdog gimmick. He’s excellent at this (and in general) – he’ll have a great match with Lesnar at Mania. They will need to show him as stronger/smarter as physically Lesnar easily batted him away. People love seeing Brock maul people as well.

The Godfather joins Sting in the 2016 Hall of Fame. Hopefully they’ll celebrate PAPA SHANGO, which is a far cooler gimmick. Anyone prefer Supreme Fighting Machine Kama?

TRI appeared in leather jacket & jeans (he’s still missing one more jean jacket!) in full babyface mode, crotch chopping Roman and face posing. Oh man, legit Triple H chants when beating up Reigns. If I were betting on it, Trips would just allow the fans to hate on Reigns, like he did vs Cena at Mania…maybe they’ve accepted Roman will be booed regardless at WM32 (which is true) and are rolling with it. Hilariously there’s a gif above showing Byron handing Roman his ketchup sachet (the blood packet).

So, happy to have Shane back in WWE, or is it another case of McMahon family bollocks? I’m a massive fan of Shane (despite knowing better!) so I’m ecstatic to see him back.

February 23, 2016
Royal Rumble 2016 & RAW Review

Thoughts on the Rumble:

• Before I start I have to say congratulations to the graphics department – the CG marble statues of all the wrestlers look fantastic. It will be one of the most memorable wrestling graphics for years to come, that everyone will remember!

• Pre-Show had a 4-way tag for 2 Rumble spots. (Mark Henry/Jack Swagger (?!) def. Darren Young & Damien Sandow (?!), Dudleyz, and the Ascension. Sandow got repeated chants, match was not noteworthy otherwise. Sadly Sandow didn’t win, so Mark Henry & Swagger could both get eliminated immediately later on tonight.

• Well impressed with Ambrose vs Owens. Both are great wrestlers and the two took some vicious bumps. They work very well together, recommend watching. Throughout the night we got the fun booking rule that whoever sets up tables, goes through them. KO perfectly somersaulted through two tables so Dean could retain the IC belt.

• New Day def. Usos. New Day (as always!) are one of the best reasons to watch current WWE. Xavier – I’m certain he was quoting the Mortal Kombat Movie (“your brother’s soul is mine! This is a taste of things to come!”). Big E with the best spot of the match, perfectly catching a mid-air splash and turning it into a Big Ending. Entertaining but forgettable.

• Kalisto def. Alberto Del Rio. Del Rio can’t feud with Mysterio or Sin Cara (he injured his shoulder – hilarious he botched again!) so he’s moved onto another Mexican. I was surprised how well Kalisto works as a singles. I’m a fan of his high-flying lucha stuff, as nobody else on the roster does it. They worked well apart from one big blown spot they just moved on from. Del Rio’s ripped, holy shit. He’s like a bulkier Orton now, he’s lost a good deal of mass but gained a ton of definition. Looks awesome. No wellness testing in Mexico! His character is the same though. Kalisto got the big babyface clean win. I don’t think he’s portrayed as anything important, especially getting and losing the US title so quickly, hopefully they feature him as a bigger deal.

• Charlotte def. Becky Lynch. These girls had a great match on RAW recently, so it’s disappointing to see them have an average match on PPV. Haven’t heard anyone giving out about Ric’s sexual assault, forcing himself on Becky! JBL smartly quipped he’s “kiss-stealin’” – great save. The match wasn’t anything special from these two, who are much better than their main roster matches would suggest. There’s two factors into making a good match: great wrestlers and great booking. They’re both very talented so this match was just booked to be boring, which helps nobody. Marked out seeing Sasha Banks return after the match. That’s Becky done with, so Charlotte and Sasha next.

Royal Rumble Match:

• Roman Reigns – started #1, didn’t have many spots — and much like Austin in the 99 Rumble, sat out most of the Rumble match. I don’t know why they’d book him to go #1 (so an hour) as he’s not that seasoned/talented a performer to pull that off. So the League of Nations took him out (Rusev with a big splash through the announce table) and Roman was stretchered away. Very oddly, they showed Roman walking backstage. Maybe he was supposed to look strong that he’s walking out under his own power, but I thought he looked cowardly, actively walking away from the match, he’s had enough, lemme come back later.
• #3 — I loved this. Holy shit. Flipped my wig. Not a fan of the song, but I loved how the music played and they kept on Roman’s face (and hearing the crowd roar) so we know it’s something huge. Great job. AMAZING to see AJ Styles. Holy shit. I love this guy, it’s incredible to see him finally in WWE (and bypassing NXT). He got a Pele in and later a springboard flying forearm but other than that, with Roman and AJ in the ring they couldn’t eliminate each other, so nothing really happened. I’m really worried about AJ, that they’ll “Del Rio” him into the midcard. Please, please don’t. He can be a gigantic babyface for WWE.
• Kofi’s big spot was being caught on the way out, landing on Big E’s shoulders, who paraded him around the ring. Was a fun spot, but less memorable than past Rumble spots. It made sense to do something with the New Day members.
• 4 Wyatt members, dominated for a bit, but most were eliminated before Bray entered. Was fun to see Brock tear it up but Suplex City didn’t last very long – Wyatts beat up and eventually eliminated Brock (who had already eliminated the Wyatt boys — V1 would go nuts!). I don’t think Bray can be built up enough to make a WrestleMania match with Brock a draw. His past few feuds have all been sub-par. I do like the look of Braun Strowman though. I hope he’s not a useless wrestler – otherwise he’ll die off after he loses his first few matches!
• R-Truth’s “I thought we were in a MITB match” dumb guy spot atop a ladder was great. I wish Kane dumped him out from the top of the ladder but you can’t have it all.
• Very cool to see Sami Zayn and KO go at it – I always love feuds that carry over from previous companies. Like when Austin would always attack Pillman in WWF.
• There weren’t many spots, sadly….bit of Big Show, Kane, Titus, Swagger, Miz, Leaguey Weegies…
• Finally, #30 was Triple H, you could tell he booked this silent staredown spot with Reigns as he did the same with Undertaker. Crowd popped huge for Reigns getting eliminated and poor Ambrose never had a chance, he hilariously kept running at Aitch. In the end Triple H wins the Rumble and a 14th world title.

Parting thought, I’m really impressed how WWE have gotten fans in general to stop booing Reigns, despite him retaining all of his flaws. It’s booking very well done. (I know it was worse at the Rumble but it’s a lot better than a few months ago, where the boos were vicious.) Nobody seems to mind Reigns’ character walked away from the match and sat out the bulk of it (making him unworthy if he won it). Reigns getting eliminated makes sense, he doesn’t have to be pinned/submitted to lose — and can get his big win back at Mania. Aitch winning makes perfect sense as he’s already the top heel on RAW – it capitalises/vindicates him spending 20 minutes doing promos each week talking down to the wrestlers. I just have no interest in seeing it!

Overall I thought the PPV was ok, KO/Ambrose tore it down and seeing AJ (even if he did nothing) was just amazing. The Rumble suffered from a lot of ‘who cares’ entries and not many spots, but the booking makes sense to build to a Roman/Aitch WM main event. Sorry to say I didn’t like it.

SORRY I DIDN’T LIKE IT EARLIER! Ok that doesn’t work. but I hope you enjoyed it much more than I did! What say you, thumbs up, middle or down?

RAW thoughts:
• Cole recapped the McMahon/Triple H opening 20 minute promo in 8 seconds after coming back from break. Cheers!
• Bo-Rida rap-battled Flo-Rida. Bo legit won that battle, seriously. It’s so hilarious to hear his high-pitched voice breaking while rhyming.

• Styles had his first match on RAW against Jericho. The commentators kept bringing up parallels to Jericho’s career, who wallowed in shit for almost his first year. A lot of “this is the big leagues, you need to prove yourself” sentiments. I saw that Jericho was very proud of his match, but I thought it was a poor showcase for AJ – as it was 90% AJ selling for slow Jericho offense. I don’t think it showed the potential of AJ as an incredible talent – it wasn’t spectacular, dynamic or anything memorable. I’m also concerned about the lack of reaction for his RAW entrance, despite a much bigger pop for the backstage bit. I’m a massive fan of AJ, he’s one of my favourite wrestlers – I’m worried they’ll Alberto Del Rio him, in that they spent a lot of money but don’t have anything huge for him to do, so he’ll quickly gain a mid-card title and languish around the area. Hopefully I’m wrong on it but WWE aren’t treating him like a big deal. His debut RAW match didn’t open or close the show.

• The Rock returned and had a massive segment, meeting Lana and Big Show, working the crowd and beating up the New Day with the Usos. He’s incredible, so charismatic and captivating. You alright! He slipped in “see you at WrestleMania” so that’s about that then. Loved the booty-shaking New Day rocks, perfect comic foil.

• Alicia Fox has a new do that looks like Luna/Sheeva from MK.

• Reigns (no longer in gold chest outline ’cause he’s not the champ) got a shave (making him much less Gypsy) and is mooching off Ambrose again. Steph announced a triple threat at No Way Out (sorry, Faaaaaastlane!) between Ambrose, Reigns and Lesnar. So Reigns will pin Ambrose after the Wyatts take out Lesnar, so Roman goes on to face Aitch, save Lesnar for SummerSlam I guess?

Lots of fluff but the Bo-Rida, Rock and seeing Styles make the RAW definitely one to check out.

New Golden Nogger voting opening tonight: Favourite Quote Award!

January 25, 2016
Owen Hart: Hart of Gold review

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Format: Much in the same vein as recent WWE Home Video releases (Attitude Era, nWo etc), this release is replete with a montage of talking heads with short snippets saying generic compliments “He was always a good guy”, “just a great wrestler” etc.

Running Time: Even though Owen’s entire career was 13 years, this documentary clocks in at 1hr 7m, like the recent Macho Man: The Randy Savage Story, is just a superficial look at the wrestler’s most notable milestones.

Production: There’s heavy use of Nitro stills (panning still photographs) throughout, making the documentary feel rather cheap and quickly put together. (Q3 had Home DVDs as 1.8% of WWE’s revenue, as opposed to WWE Network’s 24.6% i.e. put money into Network docus and fuck Home Videos). Anecdotes are displayed picture-in-picture like they’re avoiding YouTube copyright, STATE of it! Part of the cheap production is WWE’s fault (they could’ve spent much more time on his WWF career) but it’s also Owen’s widow Martha Hart’s doing, as Bret told The LAW’s John Pollock back in September:

“I’m looking forward to [the DVD] but I’m not really optimistic that it’s going to be a great job. Martha handcuffed them so much. I don’t know if they’re even allowed to use any pictures from the past. It’s a poorly done DVD because of all the restraints and the limitations that Martha put on it. […] Even the interviews, the questions that they did with me were so bullshit. The whole thing was so bullshit that sure, there’s an Owen Hart DVD, but it’s the shits.”

Archival Footage: It’s great to see previously unseen footage of Owen behind the scenes. It’s mostly from when WWF are on tour (eg him playing volleyball with WWF superstars). We do get one ‘candid’ (kayfabe) interview from 1996, which looks to be before a WWF dinner, like a Slammys or press event. It’s mostly WWF footage and stills, very little Stampede and WCW (and they didn’t pay for NJPW). Between the milestones are anecdotes about Owen which are hit and miss. Given the frequency of them it feels like padding of a very short docu.

Interviewees: Most of Owen’s extended family are interviewed – brothers, sisters, and past and present wrestlers (Hart Dynasty, Canadian wrestlers). Glaringly notable by her absence is Martha Hart (who didn’t approve of the home video and has blocked WWE celebrating Owen’s career via previous attempts at an Owen docu, and also a Hall of Fame induction). Worth noting she has her own Owen docu called “The Owen Hart Foundation: A Look Back”.

Timeline thoughts/Anecdotes:
Growing up: Owen used to book his stuffed monkey and the cat to wrestle. Hilariously WWE remake B-roll to re-enact these matches. Also laughed showing animals in the Hart house as people would say that there were many animals in the house and it reeked of piss!

Stampede: Footage showing Owen doing lots of smooth high-flying moves and transitions, way ahead of what you’d expect in North America. Bret noted that on the road in the WWF, he never got to see Owen but rather just heard how great he was going. Always cool to hear wrestlers talk as fans, with Edge and especially Jericho, as we see a drawing he did of his dream to be tag champions with Owen in Stampede.

1st WWF Run as the Blue Blazer: Great bit of trivia, he actually wrestled as The British Bulldog and then as “Rodeo” Owen Hart before the Blue Blazer! I can’t find any evidence of either, though. Bret mentions being under a mask was an idea he had for himself, in case the Hart Foundation tag team bombed. His workrate style completely bombed in the steroid-infused Hulkamania big man era. Daniel Bryan’s contribution is being a huge smark (!) saying he saw him wrestle in other places so he was disappointed in this run. WWE splice a great clip of Alfred kayfabe explaining why Blazer was a jobber “he deals with quick moves with little damage and tries to out wrestle as opposed to beat them down”.

Independent Circuit: They lump pre-WWF japan in here (no footage) saying he was rebuilding his name here and Mexico after his failure in the WWF. Worth noting he returned to Stampede in 89 but it closed in December. They don’t mention that Vince bought Stampede, then stalled by delaying payment saying he couldn’t afford it (thereby killing the company during the downtime) and offered it back to them after the damage was done. Bastard.

WCW: Yes, Owen spent a cup of coffee there! JR insults WCW for not knowing what to do with Owen, moments after the docu shows WWF didn’t know what do with Owen.

Clicky here for Part 2!

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December 10, 2015
Owen Hart DVD review part 2

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Click here for Part 1!

2nd WWF Run:

Tag Teams: With Anvil as the New Hart Foundation. Nattie was ecstatic to see them together. The pair ended when Neidhart was fired for ‘unprofessional conduct’, refusing to take a drug test and trashed some TV equipment. You might remember hearing Anvil was smoking crack with Davey Boy (who was a trainwreck) in the Summer of ’92. Bret kindly says Owen ‘wasn’t thrilled’ working with Koko in High Energy and Edge notes the MC Hammer pants.

1993 Heel Turn: It was originally supposed to be Bruce Hart turning, but Bret demanded Owen get that push, as he was younger, bigger (, more talented and could benefit the most from the spotlight). That’s actually true and lead to Bret & Bruce falling out for a while. Sadly no splicey of “kick your leg outta your leg”. The sprinkle in some Heenan commentary, which is always awesome: “I know the Hart family. When their dog ran away they used to put Owen out there instead”.

1994: They splice WMX skycam footage of Bret & Owen chain wrestling. IT IS GODDAMN GORGEOUS. This New Gen footage is awesome to see. Bret mentions how during their feud they kept kayfabe by not talking in public or at home with strangers around. In the ‘96 Owen interview he talks about no-one wanting to see his lousy brother Bret, as he signs an autograph for a girl with a Bret t-shirt. Brilliant.

2-time Slammy Award Winner: Triple H speaks about Owen with a loving reverence that you never really hear him speak of other wrestlers. Himself and Gunn recount him goofing off (generally during house show matches). Aitch gives Owen full credit of turning the Slammys into a full-time gimmick (which was brilliant, the Slammys are associated most with Owen for all time) and they show a clip of the crowd gasping (!) when a Slammy breaks during a tiff with Bulldog.

Tagging with Yoko: Anecdotes are told with multiple talking heads spliced together quickly to form run-on sentences. They recount a famous Owen story where he’s tagging with Yoko vs Bulldog & Luger, where he trolled Lex so hard. He’d call to be press-slammed but would hook Lex’s shoulder so he couldn’t press Owen (making Lex look weak), but he’d bump like a boss for Davey, so he could proclaim he’s the strongest of the team. Ha!

Dec 95 In Your House 5 Seasons Beatings: It was Hunter Hearst Helmsley vs Henry Godwin in a hog pen match, where they needed animals. When the truck driver with the animals arrived, Owen pretended he was the production manager and lead him and the animals into Vince’s Office. When Vince saw them he went screaming for Owen Hart. He recounts that Owen would do such a great job no-selling it he’d almost believe he was innocent.

1997 Canadian Stampede: Talking heads note the building shaking it was so loud. It’s a shame how quickly they run through this (esp as Owen got the pinfall) and I’d class as the biggest night in Owen’s career. Did you know? When they let the extended Hart Family into the ring to celebrate (including a young Tyson Kidd), a few random children were able to walk right in as well. When Bret saw them, he told them to enjoy themselves.

Montreal Screwjob/Pillman dies/Owen stays: Ross Hart and Hunter repaint the story, that Owen wanted to stay with the WWF. Even Bret said he really didn’t want to go. This irks me as I’ve always heard Owen demanded his release and Vince wouldn’t allow it. I’ll concede that he (in general) wanted to stay with WWF and asked to leave out of loyalty to Bret. Sucks that Austin went supernova at this same time as when Owen returned (in Dec 97), as Hart initially beat up Shawn and then was angry at Vince, but Austin was in the top-slot, he went down the card substantially. By WrestleMania XIV he wrestled Shawn’s mid-card mate Hunter in a losing effort, having already lost the European title on RAW beforehand. What WWF did was absolutely right for business though. With Bret finally gone I hoped Owen would finally step out of his brother’s shadow, but his character kept the same midcard mentality and just flittered around with the Nation and eventually Jeff Jarrett.

Attitude Era/Return of the Blue Blazer: Billy Gunn’s summation of AE is hilarious. “I’ll get nekkid, you’ll get nekkid, all the girls’ll get nekkid”. They gloss over Canadian Country, tagging with Jarrett (with manager Debra) and don’t mention Owen refused to do the angle with him cheating with Debra. He didn’t want to do anything that’d shame his kids/himself. Wow, it’s amazing to see people care that much about their characters’ morals. So the anti-Attitude Era heel-goody-two-shoes superhero Blue Blazer was born. My favourite bit of this gimmick was Owen pretending it wasn’t him under the mask, even getting Koko B Ware to dress up as the Blazer, sandbagging as if everyone couldn’t tell the difference. Hilarious.

Death: They don’t spend too much time on it, just JR’s announcement, initial reaction as the same talking heads (mostly Road Dogg) get teary-eyed. It’s over very quickly. They show snippets from RAW is Owen, including Ken Shamrock, which is an odd choice. Ken did not wear a black Owen armband, he wrestled a straight-faced match and refused to do a vignette talking about him. Shamrock was punished afterwards by Vince afterwards, doing a couple jobs and moving down the card.

Final anecdotes: Owen never had check-in luggage, and his carry-on was the size of a shaving-kit, so he could get out of the airport immediately and get home. WWE touched on Owen wanting to be a fireman during his stint away from the company but not that he wanted to make money and retire from wrestling asap. We get more people saying generic nice things about Owen and we’re done!

Overall: It’s nice to spend an hour hearing about Owen, and it’s fresh material (I believe this is his first ever Home Video, I wouldn’t count Hart & Soul) which makes it an easy watch. Unfortunately it’s very superficial and rushed, with obvious production constraints by both Martha and WWE slap-dashing it. Best parts are the B-roll of Owen, the Bret/Owen wrestling footage (spooge) and the Lex anecdote. It was €38 in WrestlingMania in Stephen’s Green — absolutely not worth paying for! Owen deserves at least double this length, properly produced docu and Hall of Fame induction.
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December 10, 2015
WWE Survivor Series 2015 review

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Note: We’re recording our first tattoo review this week! It also means there won’t be a video review of Survivor Series, so here’s all my thoughts!

Mountain Dew Kickstart & Rolaids Advanced presents Survivor Series! Nov. 22nd, 2015 in the Philips Arena in Atlanta, Georgia, with an attendance touted as 14,481. The main bit of ska (scandal) coming into the PPV was ‘hactivist’ group Anonymous leaking information of a possible ISIS threat to the Survivor Series PPV. However the FBI looked into it and the information wasn’t credible; WWE just ended up tightening security and not allowing bags into the arena. This pic near the arena made the rounds, which is a terrifying sight to me (Irish policemen don’t carry guns so you never see ’em in public)

@bryanalvarez They weren't kidding about "increased security." pic.twitter.com/hEgP77NCaw

— Joey (@Man_in_the_Flan) November 22, 2015

Roster-wise; WWE are having a rough time being stretched so thin – Cena is out filming “American Grit”, a new fitness-themed reality show with FOX, Cesaro has a torn rotator cuff that’ll have him out 4-6months, Orton’s shoulder injury is thought to be more serious (he’ll miss Mania), Rollins tore his knee ligaments (ACL/MCL) at a house show in Dublin (and will be out another 6-8 months) and Rusev ruptured his bicep tendon last month. Just for completion, Daniel Bryan still hasn’t been cleared by WWE’s doctors (which is very scary news for his health) and this is the off-period for part-time beast, Brock Lesnar. It’s actually great in a sense that WWE will be forced to build new stars, but more likely they’ll keep seats warm until until their mainstays come back. Hopefully the former!

Kayfabe-wise, Rollins’ injury means the WWE title is vacant (along with the AAA and TNA world titles, hilariously), so WWE started a tournament with the semi-finals and finals taking place at the Survivor Series. WWE have also been marketing Series as a nostalgia push that it’s Taker’s 25th Anniversary, which it is. Check out those hamhocks! A small nitpick, I must point out that WWE are re-using last year’s Survivor Series graphics package. How long has this been going on? I don’t recall it ever happening before. Times are tough! Never mind though, let’s do it to it!

PRE-SHOW MAIIIIIIIN EVENT!
The Cosmic Wasteland (Stardust & The Ascension) & Bo Dallas & The Miz vs. Dudleyz & Neville & Titus O’Neil & Goldust
Yes, Goldust, Black Reign himself, made arsurprise return! He jobbed out Viktor 30s into the match. Sadly they break in the match to tell you about new programming on the WWE network and it finishes with Stardust being the last member on his team, tries to flee and is chased into the ring and eats a 3D, Dudleyz/Titus/Goldust getting the win in 18:01. Bo Dallas is a real jobber, sadly, so if anyone wants to claim him as a boy he’s all yours!

SEMI-FINALS: Roman Reigns vs Alberto Del Rio
• Since losing his WWE title match at WrestleMania, WWE have shifted a lot of focus away from him, which is great for Roman, as the negativity that goes along with focus dies down, while he improves his wrestling. Sadly his promos haven’t improved much, but he’ll be much better suited for being in the main event come 2016. He’s the favourite to win the tournament.
• Alberto Del Roidy, wow, they have some primo stuff in Mexico! He returned to relieve Cena of his US title and is doing this “Mex-America” thing with Zeb Colter that fans and creative can’t get their heads around. He was touted as being brought back in for $1.45m but WWE refuted that number. That’s probably a ceiling number, his guaranteed paycheck is likely well lower, but sure Sheamus must be making a million a year, and WWE ‘stole’ Del Rio from AAA. He left WWE under bad terms, as WWE’s social media manager Cody Barbierri employee made a racist remark about him (saying Del Rio should have to clean the dishes in catering because he’s Mexican.) and Del Rio slapped him. Barbierri left WWE 2 months after Del Rio. As US champion and facing Reigns, nobody expected Del Rio to win this.
• Reigns had a rough time dead-lifting Del Rio for a sitdown powerbomb, fair dues to him. The crowd were into the match. Aitch was shown in the most comfortable position watching TV, which is standing intently at an angle very close to a large TV. The finish was Reigns denying Del Rio an armbar, Alberto jumping off the top turnbuckle (with Reigns beautifully commando rolling through) and hitting the spear to advance in 14:04. Both guys did much better than I thought they’d do, well done lads.

SEMI-FINALS: Kevin Owens vs. Dean Ambrose
• KO is a hoot on twitter, he recently took offence to Melissa Joan Hart calling his character ‘lazy’ and blocked her, leading to more fans harassing/blocking her with the hashtag #IStandWithOwens. She live-tweets Smackdown people, who among us can say that? Treasure this lady!
• Owens is excellent at working the crowd and getting his personality over in the match. While doing rest holds he’s tell Michael Cole for Ambrose to quit; pull a Jericho and say “Ask him!” to the ref, and later “he says yes!”. Owens threw Ambrose spread-eagled/dick first into the announce booth, ouch. Amazingly, there’s a dude in a What Bar shart with a “Crash Holly mark” sign in the crowd. Marked out. To the sign, not Crash Holly (that’s your boy). Give that man a can of coke! We see Aitch watching the match backstage. Both KO and Dean are excellent wrestlers but there wasn’t much of a story, KO hit a gorgeous 2nd rope package lift into a twisting slam, and they had a fun repeated reversal finish, which saw Ambrose finally hitting Dirty Deeds (this weird front facing DDT yolk), and taking a spot in the finals after 11:18.

The TLC ad saw Roman in this side-scrolling/platform videogame which was really cool.

CLICKY FOR PART 2!!

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November 23, 2015
Mick Foley Dublin Gig #2!

[vc_row][vc_column][bquote prk_in=”I couldn’t pass up Mick’s return to the scene of the crime – in 2012, Mick bombed on stage on his last visit – the main problems being he’s not a comedian (anecdotes don’t have punchlines), he can’t deal with overly enthusiastic fans (shouting ‘talk about Undertaker!’) etc – stopping mid-sentence to chastise ~2 audience members, and having an extended meet and greet beforehand (so people would’ve been drinking for ~5 hours). Mick Foley had mentioned in several interviews since (including earlier this week) his disappointment at the first Dublin gig, and wanted to return to avenge his failure. Why would I pay to see Mick again? Either it’s a great show, and it’s worth seeing, or it’s a terrible show, and it’ll be very worthwhile seening! It’s win-win!”][vc_column_text]

You can view pics of the gig by Shaun Neary at Pure Rawk.com

• The event was split into three parts: The stand up, Q&A and meet and greet. He used all-new material (well, material not used in the 2012 gig), apart from recounting Hell in a Cell with the Undertaker, which he told from a different point of view. He focused on Terry Funk – Taker telling him “see if he’s dead”, being chokeslammed out of his boots, and Mick regaining consciousness and just seeing Funk’s sneakers in the ring.
• DUBLIN: Foley kicked off with talking about the first Dublin show. “Anyone from the first gig?” (I cheered!) “Let’s get you out just in case”. Mickster took almost no blame for how badly the gig went – “I didn’t have the Foley mojo back” was the extent of it; instead blaming the long meet & greet. He also mentioned a Dubliner vomiting in his seat – which wasn’t true – and then started to recount other horrible Stand-Up moments as if they happened in Dublin, which was pretty weird. He talked about being irritated by a fan holding up “Xbox 360” (a game) with The Rock on it, repeatedly hollering “The Rock”. He said he got the fan up on stage and flung his game onto the ground, only afterwards realising he was a man with special needs. I’m certain that was a lie but it was a fun bit.
• Q&A: He also limited his act to the first half of the show – leaving the second 45 minutes to an open Q&A. This was a bit of a mess – people in the crowd just put their hands up and shouted to get Mick’s attention, and 2 guys with mics would go through the crowd and hand them the mic. It was pretty disorganised, they should’ve made a queue for the mic. The Mickster made sure to pick questions from the 3 girls in the crowd! (2 of which were Irish wrestlers btw!) The quality of the Qs were pretty ass (which isn’t Mick’s fault). Lots of fantasy booking and “what you do think of X on the current roster”. My buddy Luke noted only one of the questions was self-centred (i.e. lemme tell you about me rather than ask a question) so that’s a win! Not as a knock, but he didn’t really answer most of the Qs, rather he just heard a keyword (like “Triple H”, “Montreal” etc) and had a short anecdote about it.
• Meet & Greet: The Q&A finished about 10:30pm and when we found the Meet & Greet queue, it looked like it’d be at least 30-45 minutes before seeing him, so fuck that and we left. Plus getting him to sign a Virgil Dollar might be cunty! Perhaps start earlier in the day to accomodate the meet & greet, Boards.ie’s BeakerJoe told me he looked like he wanted to be anywhere else.

Quotable Notables:

• Opening Act: Ross Browne did quite well, getting quite a big crowd response for pretty stock wrestling fodder (wrestling fans tell your girlfriend, what girlfriend etc) – he sounded genuinely ecstatic and hyper to be on stage and introducing Mick.
• Right here: He also had a fun schtick with the “RIGHT HERE! In….”, repeatedly not doing the bit, like “RIGHT HERE *waits for crowd response* “…You know where you are”. Hilarious.
• Knock Knock: Great bit “I don’t do knock knock jokes! Knock knock.” *crowd – Who’s there?* What did I just say? That’s an example of jokes I do not do… Actually, knock knock. *who’s there?* Al Snow. *Al Snow who?* Exactly.” (huge laugh). He used Al as a punchline another 2-3 times, talking about the WWF superstars and also Al Snow.
• The only real groaner of the was Mick pressing the “John Cena issue” for a crowd response, saying you should respect his work ethic etc. He’s been a booed babyface for almost a decade now, please just talk about something else!
• Survivor Series: Don’t put Fergal Devitt in the team as it’d accentuate how (relatively) small he is.
• Very fond of “Becky Smith”, immediately corrected himself with “Becky Lynch”
• Almost no TNA talk. There was one anecdote where Kurt Angle got upset that Mark Coleman (iirc) got the dates wrong and said he beat Angle in 94. This was meeting him & Mick the day after a night of fighting/drinking. Angle wouldn’t let it go “he knew what he said” and Jarrett came up to Angle the next day asking if Coleman beat him in 94. That sounds like shit but his impression of Angle being annoyed was actually quite funny.
• He’s not interested in seeing Sting v Taker, as you need someone young who can bump and bring the best out of an old guy.
• He barely moved around the stage (his hips must be done), mostly sitting down and just pacing a little bit. He just had a few swigs of water, and whipped out his iPhone from his sweatpants a few times.
• Denigrated the excellence that was his original Mankind gimmick (which I my favourite Foley incarnation). Said Vince was never a fan of his, surmised WCW Cactus Jack as “seedy” (hilarious), thought he was ugly so that’s why Mankind got a mask. “A journey of one man’s goal to cover up another man’s face”. Ha!
• However he recounted his 97 sit-down promos with JR as when he was “made” with Vince. He tried to do a bit as original Mankind but his false teeth fell out, hilarious. He said he was hit in the groin during lacrosse without wearing a cup and his testicle swelled to the size of a grapefruit, then Vince started using the term.
• Cheap pops, he described hurling as “like American football but with less compassion” and noted a previous Dublin gig-goer looked like “one of the lads from the flats”!
• After his WM21 match tagging with The Rock vs Evolution, Austin asked him if he considered him a straight shooter, and told him he stunk up the joint. (It was a disappointment but hey) Foley said it was his wish not to completely suck that night, let alone steal the show.
• He’s extremely proud of his matches with Orton and Edge at WrestleMania, wanting to showcase their vicious edge that was perceived to be lacking. Couldn’t agree more, especially with Orton at Backlash. I don’t think it’s half as famous as Foley’s match with Edge, it’s a shame they didn’t just do that Foley/Orton match at Mania. Also a shame we never saw Orton vs Rock. Would’ve been an amazing Legend to Kill for the Legend Killer.
• Mick (who said he allowed himself to drop one F-bomb per show) finished with an anecdote of being shown the RAW ramp and a massive dent in it – that he made – being told the metal ramp that doesn’t dent. How? Because he’s Mick Fucking Foley!

Overall: I’d equate Thursday’s show to George Miller and Mad Max: Having seen the 80s trilogy, I know what Miller’s capable of, and seeing Fury Road (his 4th installment in 2015), he’s improved in every aspect. Sure, by other movies’ standards, it lacks character depth and non-hammy dialogue, but Fury Road is way beyond what I thought the ceiling of Miller’s talent was. Mick knew he must be on his A-game, and it showed he was out to overturn his first outing (a second would cross the city off his map) – so all of his anecdotes were tighter, had a beginning, middle and end, finishing with a punchline for the crowd to react. Sure his delivery, impressions, anecdotes isn’t as sharp as other comedians, he rambled a bit, and a large portion of his act was name-dropping a wrestler and listening to the crowd’s response, but this was 400% the quality of his previous outing – a MASSIVE improvement. Cheap-pops are his gimmick, he had a much firmer command of the audience this time, with less whispering into the mic and some funny quick one-liners. I won’t recommend the show as it’s just decent, but he set out to avenge his horrific last outing, so mission accomplished.

p.s. It was very cool meeting some of you at half-time and after the show! Virgil dollars for everyone 🙂 So would you go see Mick Foley live?

NEW Super OSW 64 Level 6 – Jay’s videogame music show! Click here: OSWreview.com/super-osw-64-level-6
Historic first Foley gig in Dublin (the bad one!) review: OSWreview.com/FoleyGig[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]

November 14, 2015
NXT TakeOver: Respect

[vc_row][vc_column width=”1/1″][bquote prk_in=”It’s NXT Takeover 7: Respekkkkkkkk! (Booker T used to reiterate the word respect in the Main Event Mafia, it was amazing.) It’s October 7, back at Full Sail University, FL in front of 400 fans. Let’s do it to it!” type=”plain”]tricker[/bquote][vc_column_text]
[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]https://twitter.com/OSWreview/status/651911862636953600

FINN BALOR & SAMOA JOE vs THE MECHANICS (SCOTT DAWSON & DASH WILDER)

The first of 3 tag matches, the semi-finals and finals of the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic for the #1 contenders to the Vaudevillains’ tag belts.
Finn’s not in demon attire, but in a leather jacket like his Real RockNRolla jacket without Jericho’s lite-brite!
The bigger story is the slow build for Joe vs Finn. On the weekly show, Joe went to tap Finn but hit his belt instead, and looked at it for a little longer. Great.
Finn and Joe start off hot, leading to a big tope to the outside. Tide turned with a chop block to Balor’s left knee. Dawson and Wilder work over balor’s left leg presumably to take out his coup de grace but the commentators don’t explain it. (I got so many tweets relating it to Owen and kicking his leg out of his leg, hilarious). Pasty non-flashy Dawson and Wilder look like such enhancement talent, esp. as they’re overlooked to focus on an upcoming NXT title feud. Unintentional distraction where Joe leaves the apron (and Finn high and dry) when he looked for a hot tag. Despite a hurting knee, Finn asks Joe (who’s putting in a clinic) to tag him in so he get do his finisher. Annoyed but accommodating, Joe tags him in and awkwardly Finn hits the coup de grace (his pride getting the better of him as he further injures his knee) and the win to advance to the finals.
Enjoyed the story but it was a short match, see you later on lads.

Ready, Willing and Gable! It’s JASON JORDAN & CHAD GABLE vs RHYNO & BARON CORBIN

What type of rag would you say Gable has? Lol. So why are enemies Rhyno & Corbin tagging? Rhyno convinced Baron that together they’d be unstoppable. NXT takeover unstoppable. Gable and US Olympian Jason Jordan are marketed as Team Angle amateur rasslers. I won’t compare Jordan to Shelton Benjamin because that would be racist. Gable is much smaller with long hair – it should have neat hair for this gimmick. (I should note Bayley has plain hair in a ponytail, and Sasha has full-volume loud hair, both complimenting their gimmicks perfectly)
The match focused on the amateur wrestlers. Both Gable & Jordan work over Rhyno, Jordan looks far more impressive sprawling on the mat and man-handling Rhyno. Jason gets the hot tag and does the amateur pickup into the corner and even the Kurt angle straps down, shouty firing up schtick. Near falls, Gable hits a roll-through German suplex on Corbin, very impressive. Tilt a whirl End of Days to Gable, looked awesome. So Rhyno/Corbin will meet Finn/Joe in the tournament finals.

Asuka is ALL THE BARS!
Love her submission-heavy offense. pic.twitter.com/BwxHdF9KLj

— OSW review (@OSWreview) October 8, 2015

DANA BROOKE vs ASUKA

Kana debuts in NXT! In addition to being a stiff Japanese wrestler, she’s a massive gamer, used to write for Xbox magazine and designed graphics for the Nintendo DS. How awesome is that. Brooke has a glowing orange tan and heel Emma looks sickly. I kinda felt bad for her as Asuka has come in an immediately leap-frogged her career-wise. Anywoo, this is an exhibition match to showcase her style and get her character across. Very cool to see her draped in Japanese attire and she showed lots of personality mocking Dana’s mannerisms (kinda like Liger against Breeze last time). She looked very fluid, put over her kicks, suplex and litany of submission offense. Love it! It’s also very cool to see a WWE show making a big deal out of a Japanese wrestler (as opposed to what we’re used to in Ultimo Dragon or TNA’s use of Tanashi & Okada.

TYLER BREEZE vs APOLLO CREWS

Much quieter entrance this time for Breeze, he was really just Crews’ opponent. Poor wrestling psychology in this one as Tyler works on Crews’ lower back, including a sharpshooter spot, but Crews did a press slam and then a big powerbomb for the win. Not impressed. Breeze always performs well so his matches are enjoyable (despite what I just said). How is Crews’ mic work? His acrobatics/power moves and look are both great so that’s the big question mark.

FINN BALOR & SAMOA JOE vs BARON CORBIN & RHYNO

The heels have the absolute majority of the offense; working over Joe until he gets a hot tag – he runs wild until his knee bothers him and Rhyno chop blocks him, and the heels dominate for a long stretch. Despite this, he managed to survive to give Joe the hot tag, countering the Gore with a muscle buster, and just like earlier tonight, Finn hit the coup de grace and got the pin and the win. It was oddly low key, so Finn & Joe face the Vaudevillains in December at NXT Takeover London. Afterwards the Rhodes Family awarded the trophy to Finn & Joe, Cody (not Stardust) cutting a nice, emotional babyface promo giving reverence to his dad. With a large flower bouquet and spending ages posing for pictures with a trophy, it’s really New Japan of them. Awesome.
Joe is super-smiley throughout the celebrations (even at the end when he’s beside Claire Lynch!) and Finn’s RnR leather jacket suits a heel better so it’ll be great to see what they come up with. I expect the long term booking would be Finn tagging himself in to do the Coup de Grace backfiring and causing himself and Joe to lose to the Vaudevillains in December; adding fuel to the fire.

SASHA BRAH! YOU MAKING KIDS CRY BRAH!! pic.twitter.com/J9y0GTCrji

— OSW review (@OSWreview) October 8, 2015

MAIN EVENT: NXT Women’s Title: 30-MINUTE IRON MAN MATCH
BAYLEY vs SASHA BANKS

The crowd (and everyone who watched it) were absolutely amped for this match. Bayley’s win last time at Brooklyn was a MOTY contender and Benoit/Angle’s 30-minute Iron Man Ultimate Submission from Backlash 2001 is one of my very favourite matches. The audience flip out and constantly chant, imparting their love onto the performers – Bayley had a hard time not crying for the first few minutes. They didn’t have the timer on for the entire match (boo!) but the camera did make sure to include one of the screens (with the timer on it) so we’d know.
I was impressed that both women worked a fast pace throughout, it looked like they could’ve gone for much longer. They referenced/worked off spots from the prior match, like Sasha countering the top rope reverse hurricanrana, Bayley trying to injure Sasha’s hand this time, and Banks accepting a hug (like the end of Takeover Brooklyn) only to pull her hair and slam her to the mat. Another great heel spot, Sasha blocks the ref’s vision with her body, pokes Bayley in the eyes and gets a schoolgirl to go 1-0. Bayley hit her finisher to even it up 11 minutes in. Izzy, Bayley’s biggest fan, plays a bigger part as WWE panned to her throughout the match, they went full out tugging at the heartstrings. After Sasha throws Bayley into the LED board, she gets counted out so Banks is up 2-1. Sasha gloats and heels out by throwing her glasses at Izzy, taunting her. And wow. MAKING KIDS CRY BRAH. This is hilarious how hard WWE are pushing for an emotional response. This plant is worth her weight in gold. Bayley tried a few times to do a sliding dropkick underneath the bottom turnbuckle to the outside, it didn’t look great. Bayley’s cookin and evens things up with a roll up, and into the final 3 minutes. Bayley hits a super bayley to belly but over-folds up Sasha, whose feet touch the ropes. Sasha hits the bayley to belly and into the Banks statement, as Bayley sells for a long time. Great storyline sense as Bayley hurting Sasha’s hand means that she can’t apply the Banks statement well, where Bayley’s able to escape and put on a variation of the rings of Saturn, and (kinda viciously for Bayley) pulls on her fingers and kicks the head of Banks, who verbally submits with a few seconds to go! Bayley retains in a great main event. I don’t think the crowd copped the submission finish initially. Afterwards the roster (who’re all showered up and in street attire) are at the entranceway and congratulate them, Banks stays at the entranceway and Bayley celebrates in ring. Fantastic way to cap off a great performance with superb booking.
I mean it as a compliment, but I think this match didn’t have enough time. Sasha didn’t get to dominate for long or open up a lead, despite having 30 minutes, the story they portrayed had a lot of plot points and moved along at a brisk pace to fit everything in. That’s quite a statement for a women’s match! I preferred the Brooklyn match but this was still superb. A Christmas-time feel good finish to another great NXT PPV.

Overall: Very solid show top to bottom, only small quibbles: Breeze’s match with the nonsense psychology, and the semi-final tag matches were more engaging that the finals. Positives: continuing to slow build Joe vs Finn, very high hopes for Asuka, lovely moments with the Rhodes family and the final celebrations, and of course a great main event headlined by deserving female talent. Oh and brahs sporting the WHAT BARRRRRRRR tees! That’s so awesome to see!

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So what did you make of the show overall? Did you prefer this women’s match or Takeover Brooklyn’s match? Would you rather see Joe or Finn turn heel, or both feud as babyfaces?[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]

October 8, 2015
Vince Russo in Dublin!

[vc_row][vc_column][bquote prk_in=”So we went to see Vince Russo tonight! Here’s the skinny: There were about 70 at the event, free seating in a function room at a hotel, which was perfect as it was a more intimate venue. The host was a super-nice guy with mad hair, looks like Pat the NES Punk. It was Eamon D’arcy, the announcer from Irish whip wrestling! Russo loved his gimmick of putting his finger against his ear like an earpiece for questions. It was quite informal; Eamon had a few questions to kick off and then took Q&A for the rest of the panel (I think he should talk about the big milestones first and then take questions rather than straight into Q&A). They were serving drinks but it was an older crowd and respectful towards him. The event started about 8:15 with an intermission (for photos etc) and a second half ending about 11. Everyone who wanted a question asked was given the opportunity and it wasn’t rushed. He talked as if everyone was a long time hardcore wrestling fan, which they were, so good!” type=”plain”]tricker[/bquote][vc_column_text]

[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]So we went to see Vince Russo tonight! Here’s the skinny – Two things are clear about Russo:
1) He is a nice guy. He sounded very relaxed and up front, great at captivating the crowd. Not arrogant at all, very humble and grateful-sounding.
2) He does not like Eric Bischoff. It’s clear he’s up to date reading newsletters/dirtsheets and is aware of what people say about him – he mentioned and went back to Bischoff/JBL’s comments about him from their WWE Network interview recently; that he was called a “liar” (re: bash at the beach); Bischoff also said Russo had horrible writing but was personable and said the right things. Russo retorted with Bischoff has an open invitation to ask anything on his podcast (nice plug Russo!).

Here’s a run down of topics and his opinions [my thoughts in bold]:

• Montreal Screwjob: Still can’t believe some people think it’s a work; was on the phone listening in when Vince pitched and Bret dismissed all other booking scenarios and would’ve done the same thing to Bret if in McMahon’s position.
• Pint of the black stuff, Guinness: Doesn’t drink, and Ireland don’t have Yoohoo. [What is it and is it good?]
• Booking in WWF: The correct number of writers is 2; to bounce ideas off of and not let things fall by the wayside, and handing it off to Vince, who would find little nuaces to tweak and make it that much better. Himself and Ed Ferrara wrote the entire show top to bottom back in the day. [Fine for just one 2-hour RAW in the 90s, but not with current WWE’s ridiculous amount of content e.g. 3 hour RAWs, Smackdown, PPV, NXT, Main Event, Superstars, web shows, YouTube content, Network exclusive content… That said, WWE’s over-saturated product is a far weaker pitch than the uber-sharp focus it was in the 90s.]
• I asked as a writer, how difficult it is working with wrestlers to do what you’ve planned: It’s a large unspoken part of the business, you have to know what to expect from each wrestler. They can’t see the forest from the trees – you may know the entire storyline but wrestlers only see what’s in front of them, that all they’d see is this week they’re losing and not how that helps the over-arching story.
• Foley/Rock This Is Your Life Segment: Notes McMahon furious with how long it went, Russo loved it; and the next day, Mick paced outside the office for over half an hour waiting to tell Vince the quarter hour numbers. Vince completely no-sold it saying “Good Job, Mick”, and not much else, not giving Mick the satisfaction.

• Decision to jump to WCW in ’99: Russo was away from his family for long stretches and asked to relocate closer to his wife’s parents to help out. McMahon replied he’s paid enough to hire a nanny; and Russo knew McMahon didn’t care about his family and would quit. [Adding Smackdown to his plate (and essentially doubling his work load) was a major factor. He of course doesn’t mention he is the only writer to be snatched from WWF and managed to talk himself and Ed Ferrara up enough to get a job.]
• Ratings in WCW: He threw out his schpiel about how ratings went up when he was first brought in [which is a lie]

[/vc_column_text][vc_accordion active_tab=”false”][vc_accordion_tab title=”Click for the actual WCW Ratings breakdown!”][vc_column_text]Ratings before Russo
Aug 1999 Nitro average – 3.27
Sep 1999 Nitro average – 3.38 (slightly higher as there were Raw pre-emptions)

Ratings under Russo:
Nov 1999 Nitro average – 3.23
Dec 1999 Nitro average – 2.98

– There was an initial spike in Nitro ratings when Russo arrived (a curiousity factor I reckon) that declined with each passing week
– Live attendance steadily declined from 5,392 in August to 3,593 in December.
– PPV buyrates declined from AugusRusso’s first PPV was Halloween Havoc 99 which did 190,000 buys; and by the end of the year, Starrcade (WCW’s WrestleMania) did 120,000 with Goldberg vs Bret in the main event.
– Worth noting September (pre-Russo) was a horrific month for WCW, Fall Brawl doing 110,000 buys with Sting vs Hogan.

The take-home message is that Russo’s arrival did cause an initial interest but his being there absolutely smashed their TV, attendance and PPV buys, but alternatives to Russo weren’t much (if any) better.[/vc_column_text][/vc_accordion_tab][/vc_accordion][vc_column_text]• Vince Russo Detractors: One thing that annoyed me was a few times he’d parrot negative statements about himself and dismissing them as they’re from “Vince Russo detractors”, as if it’s a magical wand illigitimising any accurate complaints. He does admit blame for a few things but not others (e.g. blames Bischoff over Spike/TNA’s problems, not Spike being furious over Dixie hiring Russo behind their back)
• I asked about David Arquette: “I don’t know if he’s considered a celebrity” but he was extremely respectful towards the business, as opposed to many celebrities backstage. Russo or Arquette as a better champion? Russo is a big chap and could probably take him (laughs).
• Bash at the Beach 2000 (Jarrett lays down for Hogan, shoot promo on Hogan) : The night was all pre-planned; he told and Hogan agreed he’d cut a scathing promo about him after he left. The point of contention was Hogan and Russo didn’t know the specifics of the promo. Hogan read the dirtsheets the next day saying Russo got one over on him and his ego is now hurt, and files a lawsuit.
• Silly gimmicks: Doesn’t regret or would take back doing anything (besides Oklahoma – whom he apologised and made peace with JR years ago) and says his goal was to have you see something new, that you’d remember (the Popemobile, anything on a pole, Viagra, Judy Bagwell on a Forklift, Arquette) (this all got huge laughs) [That’s awesome and all, but you were brought into WCW and TNA to improve their TV, not lose them tens of millions!]
• Wishes: He wanted to go to a more reality TV style where wrestlers would have to react to whatever Russo was doing, which was unscripted.
• New Blood: Working with Bischoff was immediately never going to work. They’re very different people; Bischoff is an excellent businessman whilst Russo is a creative writer.

• Voodoo Kin Mafia: To get attention. If you’re #2, always gun for #1, if you’re #1, ignore everyone else. [Trashing your more-successful competition, where the angle will lead nowhere because you don’t have a working contract, comes off as really bush-league. This angle ended with VKM declaring victory via no-show (obviously!) which is really lame. To me, mentioning/trashing the competition sends out warning bells that your company isn’t doing great.]
• Failures: The Last Rites match was all his fault, the electrified steel cage wasn’t.
• Success of angles/writing: Largely hinges on budget of the company. WWF had no limitations (McMahon’s car with cement, the jeep with a rocket launcher) but TNA was severely hampered – noted Tara’s having a tarantoolah was cut because TNA wouldn’t pay $200 for the spider’s handler each week. [$200 or even $10,000 on a spider gimmick wouldn’t help! Whilst I imagine stunts like Kane’s Inferno match look better with more money thrown at it, successful angles don’t require a budget: think Batista’s split from Evolution and face turn against Triple H. It was all crafted in-ring/backstage over months with a perfect execution, no smashing cars required.]
• Hogan/Bischoff in TNA: They worked Dixie Carter for all they could and doesn’t blame them one bit. Dixie brokered the deal with them behind his back and didn’t know until they were hired. Bischoff’s main goal was to become Executive Producer and was the go-between with Spike and TNA, so he could broker a deal with Spike and his production company. [Yep.]
• The Death of TNA: After 2 weeks of Bischoff (to go-between) being replaced. When TNA die, Russo’s been gone for about 18 months, asks not to blame him! [Dixie lying to Spike about hiring Russo is her fault, but Russo as head writer caused the tailspin in paid attendance and PPV buys. Despite this, TNA kept paying him a salary to book the way he’s always booked, so they got what they paid for!]

• Benoit: Lashley worked with him shortly before the incident, saw him making contorted faces by himself, was freaked out.
• McMahon’s biggest failure: Putting Stephanie in charge of creative in 2002. She was in way over her head but being a family member supersedes business sense so that’s why RAW has been declining in ratings for 15 years. Joining WWE for a matter of hours in 2002 wouldn’t work immediately as Stephanie, his would-be new boss, treated him like a child. [Worth noting Steph left creative 2 years ago, she’s WWE’s Chief Brand Officer now, there hasn’t been any kind of drastic improvement…although now she’s on TV for 30 minutes each week – more Stephanie than ever!] 🙁
• V1 asked about McMahon pinning God back in 2006 but Russo hadn’t seen it.
• WWE Hall of Fame: They knew about this stuff (eg Snuka) beforehand and was gonna bite them in the ass, and there’s more to come. Scoff’s at H’s reasoning for leaving Chyna out of the HoF (because a kid might google her and her porno career would come up) despite having dodgy people in there already (rapists, wife-beaters, murderers etc). Says Brooklyn Brawler should be in the HoF because of his decades of service and not for his win/loss record.
• The Streak: Should’ve ended especially if it was Taker’s call, as he majorly respects Brock.
• Cena: His #1 guy he’d loved to have worked with; can’t be replaced, spends the first 2 minutes feeling out the crowd to adjust his promo; there’s no-one to take his place, but says he’d turn Cena heel (with no-one to take his place?!). #2 is Bray Wyatt, who they can’t write for.
• What WWE need to do to improve: UFC ‘took’ their PPV market (?!) and WWE responded by being more wrestling-heavy. Need to cater to the casual audience with more characters and storylines. [Poor creative is WWE’s main problem: Promos, characters and storylines are the most important factors in PPV success – the promise of an excellent match appeals to only hardcores. It doesn’t help that WWE churn out far too much content; so anything that could become hot is immediately beaten to death.]
• How would you have booked Sting in WWE: *He holds his head in his hands* (Got a big laugh) Says he should’ve won at Mania to add into the Rollins storylines and eventual Rollins/Aitch match.
• People he keeps in contact with: NY guys, Tommy Dreamer; Taz (who has the most New Yorker accent he’s heard). Downplays any animosity between him and Piper saying they did a podcast and were able to maintain a friendship afterwards.
• He plugs VinceRussoBrand.com a lot and also his DVDs on KayfabeCommentaries. He asked if anyone was a member of the brand, saw one hand go up!
• WWE Network: They’re not getting his $10. He gets someone else’s password if he needs to watch something!
• He stayed afterwards if anyone wanted more autographs etc, most people got ’em at halftime, so just shook his hand and thanked him for coming.

Overall: It was a very enjoyable listen, he’s a nice guy even if his facts are dodgy and comes across well. Worth the €25.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]

September 29, 2015
Tough Enough Week 10 – FINALE!

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_gallery type=”flexslider_fade” interval=”10″ images=”4488,4489,4490,4491,4492,4493,4494,4495,4496,4497,4498″ onclick=”link_image” custom_links_target=”_self” img_size=”full”]tricker[/vc_gallery][vc_column_text]

Tough Enough

• Back at the Barracks, Amanda continues her ‘ring rat’ miiiiiiiind games and Sarah Lee doesn’t deny it (or that part was cut – makes her look guilty, and Amanda huge bitch)
• With the judges, they go through ideas for their live match on the finale, names for each one eg Sara (as “Hope”), theme songs – Sarah says she wants a rock song, Jericho plays some Fozzy and she stops smiling. Hilarious.
• Their match partners will be the Swiss Superman Cesaro and Alicia Fox (well she is 1/2 of the greatest match of all time, with Melina!)
• Amanda vs Fox first: Introduced as “Amanda as Mandy Rose”, she shimmies for the judges (very good) and cuts a grateful face then decent Bella promo. A “what did you expect?” match – hairpulling, hairpulling again; very sloppy, dodgy selling (she gets up first after being hit, that kind of thing) The crowd are SO KIND cheering for her. Fox isn’t the best person to be in with (why not Nattie?). However she pulls off a nice tilt-a-whirl hurricanrana, and turnbuckle bulldog almost perfectly, well done. It ends with Fox doing a scissors kick but hitting her crotch on her head for the three. The judges are SO KIND to all the performers; Bryan’s the most honest but still sugarcoats it with compliments and motivation, e.g. her intensity makes up for the sloppiness.
• Sara (they’ve dropped the ‘h’ and ‘Lee’) as ” Hope” vs Alicia Fox: a large step down from Amanda. You can tell is intimidated (she ‘runs’ past her entrance) and doesn’t say much on the mic. Her kicks SMASH kayfabe with their shittiness. She looks very awkward and clumsy, and the match just ends when she walks into place and is hit with an even worse scissors kick to her kidney. The judges congratulate her on doing a very good job. I’m pulling for her but damn, Amanda deserves this more.
• Jericho trolls the ladies them opening the phone lines but not revealing who won. Ha!
• ZZ as “The King of the Bayou” vs Cesaro: He has a large gator head/skin which is very cool, although he didn’t show much charisma here or in his promo. Was expecting Skinner attire but he’s topless (why?!) with camo and lime green shorts. He does a slightly delayed vertical jump, grand enough but fails to get down quick enough for the run over, and Cesaro has to cover, dropping for a headlock. Cesaro has none of the Gator Grip and crossface for the instant tap. Better than Sarah Lee but in the ballpark. Miz gives out about his cardio.
• Josh as “the Yeti” vs Cesaro: He wears a some wolf scrapes and grey briefs by the look of it. His promo has street lingo which makes no sense! He starts pushing “Yeti Nation” which is really lame, but the crowd get behind him as he fires up, which saves it. Cesaro stiffs him with an uppercut and Booker & Billy cackle and hug. Josh looks SO much better in ring in every way, much smoother and confident, he looks & is built like a wrestler. His big move is a running powerslam which is decent. Oddly, the judges are much more critical calling him choppy. It’s a bit sneaky that they show Josh’s young daughter in the crowd.
• To make sure to tip the scales, they show Josh’s young daughter in the crowd, and show before and after pics – ZZ looks the same, whilst Josh got ripped.
• Aitch comes out! He’s got ‘contracts’ in envelopes. Who’s getting that fuck money??? Sarah Lee! with 64% and Josh! Murdered ZZ with 70%.
• They congratulate the winners and save whatever for Tough Talk.

Overall: Flew by, always fun to see a finale, and even though hyper-edited, going through elements of a wrestler (music, outfits etc) is always fun. So WWE got one proper winner and we got one. Higher hopes for Josh; Sarah will make a fine backstage reporter like JoJo.

Tough Talk
• Sarah can’t speak she’s so happy. Paige asks her if she can hang with the NXT women and Sara’s reluctant to even pretend. If she was on the ball she could’ve said she’ll Takeover NXT! She hopes to be in WWE in a year which the judges and trainers -without hesitation or remorse- all laugh out loud at, Billy more than the rest – saying she will not be out of NXT in a year. Later we hear Billy’s “Billy-ism” that Sarah has “skittery feet” i.e. uncomfortable in the ring, and indirectly says she has no personality. A lovely on-screen burial of WWE’s newest talent.
• Amanda says sour grapes but resolves that she’s come this far and keep going. You should see Miz’s disgusted/quizzical face listening to the women, LOL!
• Jericho brings up Josh’s ghetto voice, which he can’t explain. Jericho mentions twice having the “correct final 4” rather than the correct winners, which will be expounded. This whole show is asking different people who should’ve won (Amanda and Josh). It got tiresome as everyone had the same opinion with various degrees of niceness – Amanda should’ve won because she’s the better wrestler & athlete, what does Sarah Lee have, and ZZ has no cardio and no drive. Aitch interjects saying charisma is intangible and his daughters bragged to him about meeting Sarah Lee. Aitch insults ZZ saying he missed Burger King and didn’t have the heart. The overall message is fuck ‘im, you didn’t want it so you got what you deserved; the positives & motivation comes packaged with disappointment.
• Lita mentions that Sara Lee & ZZ (the non-athletes) don’t like getting hit, as opposed to Amanda and Josh, which fuels them/fires them up, but that would come in time.
• The judges just harp on and on about ZZ’s lack of hard work and cardio. Booker describes ZZ being on top with the voting for weeks as pulling the wool over everyone’s eyes. Fuck you!
• Horrible job by Byron asking the same questions and prodding the wrong way. And on that sour note, we bid you adieu!

Overall, Tough Talk felt very long and wasn’t that entertaining, like this season! But sure, maybe we’ll get to see Vince slap them on RAW and send them packing never to be seen again, like Angry Andy Levine! Worth watching the Finale just for funsies and see what you haven’t been missing out on. So see you next year!

Check out Sarah Lee’s match:[/vc_column_text][vc_video link=”https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v7-irgOdeDA”][/vc_column][/vc_row]

August 27, 2015