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The Beer & Coffee Rant for NJPW’s “Blue Justice V” (9/7/14)

19th September 2014 by Scott Keith
The Beer & Coffee Rant for NJPW’s “Blue Justice V” (9/7/14)
Live from Togane, Chiba, Japan – 9/7/14
[Click HERE to view the show in its entirety without spoilers]

With
this weekend’s big 9/21/14 pay-per-view “NJPW Destruction in Kobe”
standing right now as the very last Ustream show before their PPV
division folds, let’s hit these shows leading up to it. The PPV itself
is stacked, which we’ll cover along the way.

Quick note, the
9/13/14 NJPW show that aired after this one actually has *No
Commentary*, just the crowd and the ring mics. For those who can’t get
passed the language barrier, it’s available in its entirety by CLICKING HERE. I tried reviewing it, but without the announcers telling me what I
was looking at, I had no idea what was going on, tbh.

Sho Tanaka vs. Yohei Komatsu

With the taped nature of this show,
we skip intros and join the match in progress. Tanaka gets a body
slam, and a lateral press for two. And a second, and a third, also for
two. He
locks in the Boston crab, usually the finisher of choice for both guys.
Komatsu
finally reaches the ropes to a nice pop, eventually hitting a nice drop
kick and gaining the full advantage. Off the ropes and he drills
Tanaka with a forearm and a Boston crab of his own. Come on Sho, you can
power
out brother. They keep fighting for that crab, until Sho finally makes
the ropes. Komatsu with a big forearm again, but gets dropped with a
Tanak Bottom. They trade roll-ups for two counts and Sho, in a display
of
strength (Sho of Strength?), catches Komatsu in some strange slam
into a single leg crab and pulls him back to the middle of ring to make
Komatsu tap @ 5:40 aired (officially 8:35 according to the graphic). **¾

WINNER: Sho Tanaka

Taichi vs. M

áximo

A rematch of a classic, from back in the day. Taichi looks scared to death, as
Máximo prances around the ring. Greco Roman nipple grab sends Taichi back to
his corner. Taichi attempts a go-around, only to realize that his attempts at
offense are actually quite welcomed. Máximo does some lucha-esq handstands into
a kiss, but Taichi avoids it and tosses this sick, sexual predator out of the
ring. He whips him into the guard rail, tosses the ref and jabs Máximo down
with a chair.

He goes all in, grabbing Máximo’s
junk, in attempt to neutralize Máximo’s most explosive weapon. Seriously, he just grabbed
a handful of dick like it was a side head lock or something. What part of the
game is THIS? Back in the ring, and Taichi locks in an eye rake, milking it for
every last second until the ref finally breaks it. More choking in the corner,
more milking. Finally the referee (the young one, not Red Shoes or Hitori) puts
the boots to Taichi in a fun spot. Fans getting behind Máximo now which I have
to assume he enjoys quite a bit. He sends Taichi out to the aisle and hits a
nice bullet-like tope. Back in the ring that gets two. Evil Taichi goes back to
the eyes again but gets nailed by a springboard butt-butt. A quick roll-up almost
gives Máximo the victory, but just a two. Taichi fires back with a super kick
and they’re both down. Máximo rips Taichi’s pants off before Taichi can do it
himself (Taichi yanks his rip-a-ways off late in matches). Shocked, Taichi
loses his focus and gets drilled with a… big wet kiss from Máximo. Fruit roll-up
attempt on Taichi but he hangs on to the ref yanking him down to the mat. With
the ref down, Taichi grabs the karaoke mic stand. The ref recovers in time to
see this and somehow in the fracas Taichi pushes the ref into another big wet
kiss attempt. As the ref goes to scrap his tongue off in the corner, Taichi gets
the mic stand, drills Máximo and rolls him up in the Gedo Clutch (the “courtesy
flush” to CHIKARA fans, I believe) @ 7:29 ** Fun, perverted little match.
WINNER: Taichi

Jushin
“Thunder” Liger, Tiger Mask & “The Funky Weapon” RyusukeTaguchi vs.
BUSHI & The Timesplitters (Alex Shelley & KUSHIDA)

 

Good to see the Splitters back together here, as KUSHIDA has been
focusing more on his IWGP Jr. championship, despite the fact that he’s also
half of the Jr. Tag champs with Shelley. Next singles defense is against The
Funky Weapon later this month, so we begin with those two. KUSHIDA, a former
MMA fighter who went undefeated in 8 fights, attempts his Hoverboard Lock
finisher early on, but Weapon makes the ropes.

They both tag out and we get BUSHI vs. Tiger Mask. These two actually had a
rare singles match back in May at “NJPW Pro-Wrestling War in Thailand”, one of
the hidden gems of the year. They run through a bunch of lucha, ending in a
tilt-a-whirl backbreaker and Shelley tags in. TM4 targets Shelley’s bad arm, Weapon & Masks play subtle heel. Liger in
with the surfboard. Shelley hulks up, shakes off a Funky Weapon enzuigiri and
nails a super kick. He finally makes the tag to KUSHIDA, who’s throwing heel
kicks to everyone. He’s going at it with Weapon, who attempts to hit his
finisher, the Dodon, while KUSHIDA tries to get a Hoverboard lock out of that,
and now everybody’s in the ring.

Splitters taking it to Liger with their trademark double team
combinations, and
now Shelley over the top onto Mask. BUSHI drills Weapon with missile
dropkick. Lucharoonie, lucharoonie, lucharoonie! That needed Mark
Madden. All six in there now and it’s mask-on-mask violence ending with a
flying headbutt from TM4 onto BUSHI. Weapon sets up the Dodon on BUSHI,
but
that gets countered into a roll-up for two. Weapon gets the ankle lock
out of
that for another submission win @ 10:00 exactly, on the way to his title
shot September 21st. **¾  KUSHIDA lets him know after
the match who the champ is, and we get a mini pull-apart. Shelley even gets
some English promo time during the presser.

WINNERS: Jushin “Thunder” Liger, Tiger Mask IV & “The Funky Weapon” Ryusuke Taguchi
TAKA Michinoku, Takashi Iizuka & El Desperado vs. Toru Yano &Forever Hooligans (Alex Kozlov & Rocky Romero)

JIP, and I can’t complain. We’re already
rocking here with the Hooligans doing their revolving door double-team
combos. Kozlov gets the Ushanka
sequence, and Taka rolls out. Kozlov drops back to set up a tope but
gets
yanked out the ring by Suzuki-gun, and it’s Bonzohashi Gonzoyashi.
TAKA rocking the Ushanka. Desperado in, as Kozlov plays Mikhail Morton.
Taichi
rocking the Ushanka at ringside now. Awesome. Iizuka chokes Kozlov with a
cord and
hangs him off the ropes, until the ref finally breaks it up. Iizuka goes
for
the pin, but the ref will not dignify nefarious means.

We get the old everybody hits a move in the corner bit (including
Taichi, in
the Ushanka). Kozlov fights back like any communist babyface full of
fire
should and makes the hot tag to Romero. Wacky corner clotheslines
abound. More Iizuka, more cord, but the ever noble Yano yanks Iizuka by
the
beard and Taka by the hair. He undoes the corner padding and whips
Iizuka in. Yano gloats in self-appreciation, but Iizuka comes back from
behind and chokes
away, tosses the ref, and nails a chairshot for a DQ @ 8:44 aired (9:27
officially). *¾  The stuff with the
Hooligans and Desperado was fine, as is anything involving the Ushanka. The
rest was nothing to write home about. Suzuki-gun nails Yano with Iizuka’s iron
fingers after the match. Par for the course. 
WINNERS: Forever Hooligans & Toru Yano via DQ

Hiroshi
Tanahashi & Great Bash Heel (Togi Makabe & Tomoaki Honma) vs.
Hirooki Goto, Tetsuya Naito & Captain New Japan


Tanahashi is in complete Von Erich
mode on his way to the ring. Makabe & Goto give it a go before CNJ tags in. Tanahashi comes in looking for a fight, perhaps
still mad CNJ caused their team to go 1-5 in last year’s G1 Tag League. Or even
worse, 0-6 the year before that. Tana gets the advantage and mocks the superhero pose. Honma and
Naito in now. Big chops middle of the ring, and Honma goes for the falling
headbutt, missing of course. Rolling senton from Naito gets two. Honma rocking
one hell of a Thizz Face, writhing in pain. Tanahashi makes the tag. Dude is
full of beans tonight. Gets all of his trademark shit off (forearm, dragon
screw, 2nd rope rolling senton, etc.), but Naito sweeps the leg from
the apron and nails the springboard dropkick.

CNJ’s
in to take everybody out, which may have been comedy that the crowd isn’t
cluing themselves into. In the midst of the madness Honma nails the GNARLY
DART on Naito, while Makabe gets a 2 count on CNJ. Clotheslines him down, to
the top, and hits the King Kong Knee Drop for the win @ 12:28 *** Honma is a winner,
and therefore we all are. Goto attacks Makabe after the match and we get a nice
heated pull apart. This of course is another one-on-one match booked
for the big shows next week. Goto gives a smooth promo backstage post-match. Makabe walks right in shortly after and talks some shit of his
own. That was so old school Bob Caudle should have been holding the mic.

WINNERS: Hiroshi Tanahashi & Great Bash Heel (Togi Makabe & Tomoaki Honma)

 

CHAOS vs. BULLET CLUB, One Fall
Kazuchika
Okada, Shinsuke Nakamura, Tomohiro Ishii, Gedo & YOSHI-HASHIvs.Karl
Anderson, Bad Luck Fale, Yujiro Takahashi, Doc Gallows & Tama Tonga
 

A rematch of the Survivor Series 5-on-5 from two nights before. Yujiro licks his NEVER
title at ringside. Creepy
little fuck! To balance this out, bad ass YOSHI-HASHI pushes the rest of CHAOS out to the apron
because he wants Yujiro right now. Hair pulling to start, because let’s be
honest, no mere mortal could win a fair fight against YOSHI without cheating.
We get some of Yujiro’s average looking offense before he walks right into a
Frankenhashi. Yujiro, now a beaten and broken man after taking that last move,
tags out to Tama Tonga. Ishii tags in and we have a hell of a fight on paper:
The man that inspired George Thorogood to write “Bad to the Bone”,
Tomohiro Ishii… going head to head with a guy who was raised by King Haku.

Big forearms mid-ring, but years of Ishii
falling on his bean have erased some vital information, like never headbutt a
Pacific Islander! This goes about as bad as you’d expect, but Ishii comes back,
shaking off an athletic dropkick and rocking Tama with a shoulderblock. He
knocks Yujiro off the apron but turns around into a spear and Bullet Club takes
the advantage. All 10 men start going at it now, and it’s Breaking Loose in
Chiba. Order resumes, and BC is dissecting the left arm of Ishii. Okada comes in to
help, but gets sent packing. Fale in with Ishii, and they fight over a
waistlock. He nails Fale with a headbutt to the chest and
gets a big vertical suplex.

Shinsuke in and he gets the wacky 80’s hair metal gyrations in the
corner. Inverted powerslam, but Fale’s too big. They trade blows in the
middle, but a
Samoan Drop (Tongan?) leaves Nakamura laid out, until he can make the
tag to YOSHI-HASHI, who’s in there with crisp offense as always, hitting
a big lariat that keeps Yujiro down.
Okada in now with his full repertoire, but Anderson blocks the flying
elbow and
hits a big boot. Fuck that, Okada drills him with the Too Awesome Drop
Kick.
Tags Gedo in, crowd approves. He makes the mistake of picking a fight
with
Gallows however, and almost catches a Magic Killer but Ishii makes the
save.
Gedo with a jawbreaker but falls into a Gun Stun out of thin air from
Anderson for
the duke @ 14:23 ***¼ Once again this week, Gedo the booker, does the
job.
Nakamura & Okada are hesitant to leave though, talking shit to their
respective opponents. And YES, we get an Anderson promo! Maybe the best
mouthpiece in the business today (that actually wrestles). We get the
requisite
chorus of “Too Sweet” bombs. Meanwhile, Okada & YOSHI-HASHI also
have words for CHAOS, backstage. This time next week YOSHI could be a
double
champion. 

WINNER: Bullet Club

TenKoji (Satoshi Kojima & Hiroyoshi Tenzan) vs. Yuji Nagata & Manabu Nakanishi

Main
event time, as we pay honor to the great Yuji Nagata. This Blue Justice
event is the annual “All Praise be to Nagata” show held in his
hometown, so he gets his one big main event for the year, although this
year
he’s had a bunch coming off the really strong GHC heavyweight title
reign. In
retrospect, they should have kept the strap on him. He’s a bigger star
than
anybody they have on the roster, but I digress. This is non-title, as
TenKoji
are poised to hold the NWA tag titles forever and a day. It is however a
prelude to an actual title match between the two teams on the 9/23
show.

Tons of Nagata signs in the crowd. The chick who gives Nagata the flowers, does
the Nagata Dance. That’s money. He locks up with Kojima to begin, and they’re
tearing it up with forearms. They both tag out, and Nakanishi
wants a test of strength. This proves rather even until Tenzan busts out the
Mongolian chops. Yuji back in, kicks Kojima off the apron and focuses on Tenzan
mid-ring, until Kojima gives him a receipt, into the guard rail on the outside.
Standard slingshot double team from TenKoji gets two. “So desu ne” after “so
desu ne” on commentary, my liver can’t take it, I only have two hollow legs.
Tenzan to the top for the bulldog variation. That gets two, but the fans are
behind Nagata.

TenKoji in full control of Nagata, who’s fighting from underneath here.
Tenzan
to the top but he misses a flying headbutt, giving Nagata a chance to
make the
hot tag to Nakanishi. The uncoordinated offense of
Nakanishi is running wild. To the top rope, and he gets a missile
dropkick for two, cracking up commentary in the process. You gotta love
it,
Maggle. Spin kick from Tenzan turns the tide, and Kojima back in with
13,487
chops in the corner “Ichauzo Bakarayo”. He even says it himself this
time. Top
rope elbow gets two, and a recovered Nagata is back in.
Exploder to Kojima gets two. Big kicks to the back just piss Kojima off,
and
they slug it out mid-ring. Vintage Nagata, as he feigns the dropkick,
but instead of taking out the knee like usual, slaps Kojima across the
face. Then
he takes out the knee. Tenzan in though, and they get the 3-D (10-D ?).
Off
comes the elbow pad for the Kozy Lariat, but it’s a bad idea as he walks
right
into a Nagata lock. Nagataker Eyes~! All 4 in the ring now, and we get
some
Nakanishi-related sloppiness. He’s falling all over the place. Kojima in
to fix
that, gets a close two on Nagata, but the kick out wakes up the crowd.

Big German
and a brainbuster from Nagata but Kojima won’t stay down. Nakanishi, having
taken care of Tenzan on the outside, climbs to the top, and we get that awesome
flying chop/enzuigiri combo. Yuji gets the big Backdrop Hold on Kojima for the three @ 18:02. **¾ Pretty sloppy at
times, but it had Nagata and Kojima and it almost went 20. Yuji cuts a promo
after the match, letting TenKoji know that they’re coming for the straps on the 23rd.
WINNERS: Yuji Nagata & Manabu Nakanishi

Standard
show, middle of the road. I don’t think I’d ever ask for Nakanishi in a
main event, but to pay honor to Nagata it was fine. The one thing these
NJPW shows in September have done a really effective job of so far is
building to the big events next week. They’ve given me every reason to give a shit
about the BC/CHAOS matches, and the KUSHIDA title defenses.
The 9/21 show is the very last Ustream.tv pay-per-view, as Ustream’s PPV division is folding before the end of the
month. Granted NJPW will land on it’s feet and find another strong
provider to the PPV market, but it is the end of an era. A fantastic era
in professional wrestling; that goes for Ring Of Honor and Dragon Gate
as well. Ustream had a hell of a run. Here goes the top matches for Saturday night:

– The Young Bucks & Yujiro Takahashi vs. Tomohiro Ishii & Forever Hooligans (Kozlov & Romero)
– KUSHIDA (c) vs. “The Funky Weapon” Ryusuke Taguchi – for the IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Championship
– AJ Styles & Tama Tonga vs. Kota Ibushi & Tetsuya Naito – (have Styles & Ibushi ever wrestled?)
– Gallows & Gun (c) vs. Kazuchika Okada & YOSHI-HASHI – for the IWGP Tag Team Championship

– Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Katsuyori Shibata – in a rematch of their classic from this year’s G1 Climax

– Bad Luck Fale (c) vs. Shinsuke Nakamura -for the IWGP Intercontinental Championship

Rants →

Sid Justice

23rd October 2013 by Scott Keith
Hi Scott,
 
I'm not sure if this has been covered before, but I've always been curious about Sid's 1992 heel turn. It seemed like a slam dunk to bring him in as the heir apparent to Hogan, but then he suddenly
turned against Hulk.
 
Was the plan all along to turn Sid heel? If not, when and why did it change?
 
Thanks!
Brian
Totally the plan all along.  In fact originally Sid was going to go over Hulk at Wrestlemania, before Hulk decided that retirement wasn't really something he was interested in pursuing after all.  
Rants →

Top 10 Best/Worst WWE Games (+ WCW) – Kimble Justice

18th September 2013 by Scott Keith

Not sure I agree 100% with the choice of the #1 best game (OK, not at all), but this is a fun list and I’m definitely in agreement that HCTP was by far the best Smackdown game.

Rants →

TNA Impact Wrestling Special: Hardcore Justice 2013 Part 2

27th August 2013 by Scott Keith
TNA Impact Wrestling Special:
Hardcore Justice 2013 Part 2
Welcome everyone
to the review of TNA’s Hardcore Justice 2013 Part 2. After reading
through the comment section of my debut review, I noticed a trend.
Some of you said I needed to put more of my personal opinion into the
reviews while others liked the generic move by move play by play. I
decided to mix things up and mesh both together. Also, someone
suggested posting a little blurb about why I gave the match a certain
review. I will be adding that as well. Keep the comments coming as it
helps me get better as a writer and helps you as the reader get a
better review!

Oh, and those that
got offended by me saying that I don’t watch WWE. Maybe I should
clarify. I don’t watch WWE “in full”. I skim through episodes of
RAW and watch matches with talent that I enjoy like John Cena, Daniel
Bryan, Christian, Brock Lesnar, Randy Orton, Alberto Del Rio, The
Shield, CM Punk, Antonio Cesaro, Wade Barrett, and some others. I
watched a bit of Summerslam and LOVED Lesnar vs. Punk. I had it at
****3/4. It was slightly worse than Cena vs. Lesnar, which I gave the
full ***** to. If this was back in the 80’s, a Punk bladejob would
have been a given. Bryan vs. Cena was a great match, too. I had that
pegged at ****1/2. Cena really is one of the best workers in the
world and pulling out a near five star match with one arm proves it.
That match plus post-match scenario made Bryan a huge star. Well,
time for the review.
Storylines
heading into Hardcore Justice Part 2:

-Bully Ray regained the TNA World Heavyweight Championship from Chris
Sabin last week inside of a steel cage with the help of Tito Ortiz
and Mr. Anderson.

-Tito Ortiz turned on “friend” Rampage Jackson by striking him
with the dreaded rubber hammer.

-The Extraordinary Gentleman’s Organization (EGO) members Bobby Roode
and Frankie Kazarian picked up 20 points in the Bound For Glory
Series with the help of their fourth member, appletini.

-Hardcore Justice continues tonight with a streetfight with the
remaining BFG Series competitors plus the main event of Aces and
Eights vs. Main Event Mafia with the loser of the fall gone from TNA.

-The BFG Series Leaderboard heading into tonight looks like this:

*
Magnus (39 points)
*
Bobby Roode (34 points)
*
Christopher Daniels (30 points)
*
Austin Aries (28 points)
*
Samoa Joe (26 points)
*
Jeff Hardy (24 points)
*
Mr. Anderson (24 points)
*
AJ Styles (22 points)
*
Kazarian (22 points)
*
Hernandez (7 points)
* Jay Bradley (0 points)
*Joseph
Park (-3 points)
Back
to Norfolk, VA we go!
A
nice little recap video is shown airing footage of last week’s BFG
Series matches. Also, Main Event Mafia and there hunt for a fifth
partner for tonight. Highlights from the World Title cage match are
also shown.
World
Champion Bully Ray arrives with Tito Ortiz. They run into Mr.
Anderson who whines like a Stage 5 clinger complaining that Bully
hasn’t answered his calls or texts. Bully informs him that Ortiz is
with him and with the Aces and Eights. Bully wants Anderson to be
concerned with “earning his stripes”.
EGO
is in the ring with Roode on the stick. They enforce that they have a
distinct advantage in winning the BFG Series because they make up 25%
of the field. They want Austin Aries to join them. The World Tag Team
Champions James Storm and Gunner appear on stage to argue about
trusting Bobby Roode. Storm knows best. Storm tells Roode he is going
to punch him in the mouth then he does it. We’ve got ourselves an
impromptu tag match playa.
Non-title:
James Storm and Gunner vs. Bobby Roode and Frankie Kazarian
A
match with all four in jeans. Earl Hebner calls for the bell and we
are underway. The four brawl to begin. Daniels runs to the floor.
Gunner clotheslines Kazarian to the floor. Gunner beats up Daniels in
the ring and throws him onto the ramp. Storm punches Roode on the
floor. Hebner sends Daniels to the back. Storm and Kazarian go at it
in the ring. Storm works the arm and tags in Gunner as we head to
break.
As
we come back from break, Roode and Kazarian are on the offense. Chops
in the corner from Roode. Gunner isn’t having any of it. Fights back
with a back elbow that gets him a one count. Roode throws Gunner face
first into Kazarian’s boot. Kazarian is back in the ring with Gunner.
Spin kick pin attempt is broken up by Storm. Kazarian poses for the
crowd. Roode tags back in. Double team action in the corner. Roode
snaps the neck ala Mr. Perfect of Gunner. The crowd is trying to get
Gunner back to his feet. Suplex by Roode followed up by a knee drop
that gets him two again. Kazarian tags in with more double team
stomping. Leg drop by Kazarian. Kazarian slaps Gunner in his face.
Gunner rallies back with elbows but gets eye raked. Gunner catches
him with a backbreaker. Gunner is fired up. Tag into Storm. Storm
slugs with Roode. Forearm and atomic drop from Storm. Storm is
working over them both. Kick to the back of Kazarian’s head. Storm
hits an elbow drop from the top rope for two. Kazarian tossed back to
the floor. Roode gets caught with a lung blower to the front. Last
Call Superkick could be coming. Roode slides Hebner in front. Storm
kicks Kazarian. Low blow from Roode to Storm! That gets three!
Winners:
Bobby Roode and Frankie
Kazarian
Match
Rating:
**3/4. Just a basic tag
match. All four worked well though. Good stuff to start off the show.
Austin
Aries is backstage talking about everyone wanting him to join their
group. By the end of the night, we will get Aries’ answer.
More
recap of last week’s World Title match and Tito’s “shocker”.
Update on Sabin tonight.
Non-title:
Manik vs. Sonjay Dutt
So
we’re back to singles matches allowed. Thanks for listening TNA.
Manik is surprisingly over. Match starts fast with a hip toss from
Manik. Headscissors into a submission that rolls into a pinfall for
two. Manik works over the arm. Headscissors from Dutt gets two. Seems
to be a common theme. Dutt moonsaults onto Manik for two. This stuff
is fast. A strange stretch from Dutt on Manik as the crowd cheers for
Manik. Elbow to the noggin’ by Dutt. Dutt goes back for a submission.
Manik wills his way back to his feet. Manik springboards off the
ropes and kicks Dutt in the face on the floor. Another springboard
dropkick this time to the back of Dutt gets a nearfall. Sit out
powerbomb from Manik gains him a close two count. Dutt kicks Manik
right in his face. Running knee. Springboard splash from Dutt garners
him two. Taz sings. Dutt goes to the top rope and misses the
moonsault double stomp. Samoan drop into a kick to the face by Manik.
Manik hits the underhook knees to the sternum to win the match.
Winner:
Manik via pinfall
Match
Rating:
**. Basic X-Division
match. Crowd was into it though.
The
Aces and Eights are backstage with Anderson telling the troops to
focus on the job tonight. Devon looks pumped. The Aces are ready for
the big fight tonight. They are ready. Testify!
Street
Fight for 20 Points in the Bound For Glory Series: Christopher
Daniels vs. Joseph Park vs. Jay Bradley vs. Hernandez
The
last of the three hardcore bouts for BFG Series points. The four men
pair off to start the match. Hernandez splashes Daniels in the corner
then tosses him over. Bradley gets punches in the face by Park. Elbow
by Bradley. Punches with elbows from Bradley to Hernandez is
countered with a clothesline. Roll up by Daniels gets a nearfall on
Hernandez. Backbreaker by Hernandez on Daniels. Two count. Bradley
hits Hernandez with a steel chair. Bradley sends Hernandez into the
corner with a chair wrapped around his neck. Ouch. More chair work
from Bradley. Elbow to the head from Park. Get off me by Hernandez to
Bradley. Hip toss to Daniels from Park. Looks like a tag match going
on almost. Hernandez and Park both splash the heels in the corner.
Break time.
Chaos
is still ongoing. Hernandez is with Daniels fighting on the ramp.
Kendo stick shots from Hernandez. Daniels back body drops him onto
the steel ramp. Park knocks down Bradley twice. Bradley gets a chair
again, but Park puts him into the Boston crab. Roode and Kazarian are
out beating up Park. Eric Young helps him. All four brawl on the
floor. Bradley big boots Daniels right in the forehead. Low blow to
Daniels’ privates. SMACK! Chair shot from Bradley. Back drops Daniels
right onto the chair. Kazarian and Roode turn their attention onto
Bradley. Air Mexico down the ramp by Hernandez onto Daniels. Get off
me again. Daniels falls off the Border Toss. Aries rolls into the
ring. What?! Aries high-tens the EGO members then hits the
Brainbuster on Daniels! He swerved them. Aries fights the EGO group
off. Brass knuckles from Bradley to the mouth of Park. Park is
bleeding. Ruh roh Scooby. He turns into “Abyss”. Park is going
bananas. Black Hole Slam on Bradley winst eh bout for Park.
Winner:
and receives 20 Points in the
Bound For Glory Series, Joseph Park
Match
Rating:
***. Fun match. Aries’
swerve was awesome. Bradley shined here.
Park
and Young hug it out in the ring.
The
Mafia will step up tonight. They don’t need anyone to step up with
them.
Video
package of Bully Ray and Brooke Hogan’s “marriage” airs. Ugh.
World Champion Bully Ray and Cheeto Ortiz are in the ring to
celebrate. Bully is a happy man. Ortiz tells Rampage that he
should’ve known better. They promote the Bellator fight again. Crowd
chants “you sold out!” at Tito. No one does surprise like Bully
Ray. He will expose the secret of him and his girl. The whole world
should know about them. He tells Brooke to come down here right now.
Brooke Hogan’s music plays. She’s canned though? Campbell’s soup. Out
come BROOKE TESSMACHER! Crowd is dead. They must be shocked or asking
themselves “who?” Man. I wish I was that middle rope. Brooke’s
butt is looking extra firm tonight. Bully and Brooke lock lips.
Tongue involved as well. Bully has the best job in wrestling. Bully
has the “hot Brooke” with him now. Taz waives. Ha ha. There’s
only one thing left to do. Brooke takes off Bully’s wedding ring with
her tongue! Five stars!
Gail
Kim vs. ODB is next.
Gail
Kim vs. ODB
These
two have been going at it for weeks now. Singles Knockouts action
tonight. I don’t like the newer version of Gail’s theme. Bell sounds,
here we go. The two circle each other before locking it up. ODB
tosses Gail aside. Again. ODB’s butt knocks Gail over. Gail eats the
turnbuckle pad. ODB sizes her up. Splash in the corner with cleavage.
Bronco buster in the corner. Two count for ODB. ODB knocks down Gail
again while Taz argues that ODB should wrestle with men. Gail Kim
rolls to the floor to recover. ODB chases her. Arm bar from Kim. Gail
focuses on the arm of her opponent. The left arm is getting
destroyed. ODB kicks Gail in the stomach. Shoulder breaker from Gail
Kim. That looked nasty for two. Back to the shoulder work with a
hammer lock. ODB elbows out, well almost. ODB low blows Gail Kim? Taz
is baffled as to how that would hurt. ODB is battling back with
clotheslines. Gail Kim eats the turnbuckle pad ten times. Thesz press
gets two for the drunk woman. Gail goes to the top ropes. ODB knocks
her down. Superplex from ODB. Wow. Both are down. They both felt it.
ODB rolls over and gets two. Gail Kim crucifix’s ODB and wins out of
nowhere.
Winner:
Gail Kim
Match
Raing:
**1/4. Okay match.
Superplex was cool.
The
Mafia and Aces are coming to the ring for their fight.
Jeff
Hardy BFG Series highlights from last year is shown. He wants to do
it again.
Austin
Aries can play mind games. He was smarter than EGO. Aries doesn’t
need anyone’s help. He doesn’t need to politic.
Chris
Sabin is very upset with what happened last week. The belt meant
everything to him. He will be back. Yeah, okay Chris.
Loser
of the Fall is Gone from TNA: Aces and Eights (Mr. Anderson, Garrett
Bischoff, Wes Brisco, Knux, Devon) vs. Main Event Mafia (Sting,
Magnus, Samoa Joe, Rampage Jackson) and AJ Styles
Bully
is on the ramp with Brooke and Tito. AJ comes down the ramp after the
Mafia then explodes into OLD AJ STYLES! Music and all! New pants! He
is back! I’m glad they dropped that useless loner gimmick. Back to
what brought you to the dance. Why would AJ risk his career though?
Let’s all hope Bischoff or Brisco takes the fall. Please. The crowd
has exploded! The fight begins. Brawls all over the place. AJ beats
up Anderson. Magnus and Devon swing. Wow. AJ punches Anderson. Crowd
is loving this. Styles poses for the crowd. Sting and Rampage send
Knux into the steps. Dropkick from AJ to Anderson. Magnus slams
Brisco. Pin him! The teams finally get on the apron. Magnus tags Joe
in to destroy Brisco with punches. Piston like. On paper, this is the
biggest mismatch in wrestling history. Kick to Brisco’s head. Brisco
fights his way out. In comes Bischoff. Pin him, too. Styles tags back
in. Bischoff tries to fight back. Backbreaker across the knee from
Styles. Break time.
Magnus
and Bischoff are going at in the ring when we get back from break.
The heels take over. Knux slugs Magnus. Magnus isn’t having any of
it. Magnus gets caught with a Knux spear. Two count from Knux. Back
drop from Knux. Knux tags in Devon. Devon slams a forearm into
Magnus’ jaw. Choke on the rope from Devon. Devon tags in Bischoff.
Bischoff rakes Magnus’ face across the top rope. “Devon sucks!”
chant. Yeah, okay. Bischoff in the ring and they think Devon sucks?
Brisco gets two on Magnus, but Joe breaks it up. Anderson tags
himself in. Giant “Yes!” chant. Anderson pokes Magnus in the eye.
Devon tags back in. Snapmare to Magnus. Leg drop from Devon. Devon
goes after the neck of Magnus. Sting and Rampage both haven’t been in
yet. Magnus tries to fight back, but a spinning elbow from Devon puts
him back onto the mat. Knux comes in with a rib shot. Bodyslam from
Kunx. Knux connects with a middle rope leg drop for a nearfall.
Suplex attempt blocked. DDT from Magnus! Both men are down. Crowd
cheering and clapping. Magnus tags in Sting. Stinger Splash in the
corner on Knux. Another! All ten men are in. Fights everywhere again.
Most of them end up on the floor. Rampage is in the ring fighting off
the Aces. Bodyslam by Rampage on Brisco. Scorpion Deathlock on Knux.
Devon breaks it up. That was close. Knux covers Sting for two. Back
to the aprons the teams go. Devon works over Sting Bodyslam from
Devon. Devon goes to the middle rope but misses a headbutt. Both are
down in the ring. Sting tags in AJ. Crowd explodes again. Springboard
forearm Styles knocks the Aces off the apron. Kick to the head of
Devon. Devon kicks out, barely. Anderson in with shots to AJ. All ten
men are going at it for the third time. Styles hits the Pele onto
Bischoff. SPEAR KILLS AJ from Devon! Inside out. Styles battles back
Styles Clash connects on Devon! 1..2..3! Devon is gone from TNA!
Winners:
Main Event Mafia. Devon is gone
from TNA
Rating:
***3/4. I really liked this
match. It was chaotic, but great.
Bully
is shocked on the ramp. He is very angry. The Mafia poses in the ring
celebrating their triumphant victory as the show closes. Me thinks we
are headed to a Styles vs. Bully BFG main event.
Show
Rating:
7.0. It had nothing bad
at all on the show. Some stuff was just “there”, but everything
clicked together with a stellar main event. 
Rants →

Impact Wrestling – August 15, 2013 (Hardcore Justice)

16th August 2013 by Scott Keith
Scott asked me to take over for him on Impact.  I’m not sure how long this will last but I’ve watched Impact every week for years so I’m well versed in how dull it can be.
Impact
Wrestling
Date:
August 15, 2013
Location:
Constant Center, Norfolk, Virginia
Commentators:
Tazz, Mike Tenay
Reviewed by Tommy Hall
This
is another special episode with Hardcore Justice. The main event
tonight is Bully Ray vs. Chris Sabin for Sabin’s world title inside a
cage. We were also supposed to get the Main Event Mafia vs. Aces and
8’s in a loser (of the fall) leaves town match but it was postponed
to next week due to “unforeseen circumstances”, whatever that may
mean. The show should be fun tonight so let’s get to it.

Bound
For Glory Series: Austin Aries vs. Jeff Hardy vs. Kazarian vs. AJ
Styles
This
is for 20 points and it’s a ladder match. The clipboard hanging
above the ring has a piece of paper with the number 20 on it.
Keeping it simple I guess. Kaz goes to the floor to get the first
ladder but the other three block him from coming back in. Aries and
Kaz fight for the ladder on the ramp with Austin letting go of the
ladder to send Kaz to the floor. A top rope ax handle puts Kaz down
but AJ knocks Hardy to the floor as well. AJ dives onto Hardy to
take him down again and leave Styles as the only man standing.
Kaz
gets in a ladder shot to put AJ down before climbing the ladder.
Aries comes back in and crotches Kaz against the ladder, leaving
Austin vs. Jeff in the ring. Jeff sends him to the floor but AJ
pulls the ladder away for a showdown. Hardy tries a quick Twist of
Fate but gets shoved off and sent to the announce table on the floor.
Kaz comes back in with a slingshot DDT to AJ but has to have a
forearm duel with Aries. Styles dropkicks the ladder into the back
of Kaz’s head but Aries backdrops AJ to the floor. The company is
living up to its name for a change as this has been nonstop action
since the bell.
Aries
runs interference to stop Jeff and AJ from going up the ladder before
sending Kaz head first into the post. Austin tries a climb but gets
pulled down by Hardy and Jeff knocks down the other two as well.
Jeff and Austin both go up but Kaz and AJ make the save, sending all
four guys down as we take a break. Back with Aries going up but
being pulled down by Kaz before he gets too far. AJ stops both of
them and hits the springboard forearm to send Austin to the ramp.
The ladder appears to be bent or broken.
Kaz
brings in another ladder to clean house but can’t climb up fast
enough. All four guys go up at the same time and AJ gets his fingers
on the contract but Aries shakes everything up with a sunset bomb to
Hardy. Kaz and AJ are left alone on the ladder and they fight over a
suplex off the ladder. Kaz rakes AJ’s eyes to put him down but
Styles shoves the ladder over, putting everyone down again.
Aries
hits his running dropkick in the corner on Styles and goes up but
Hardy makes another save. Styles pulls Aries off the ladder and
loads up the Styles Clash but Kaz pulls in a downward spiral on AJ at
the same time. Kaz goes up but it’s Jeff making another save. Aries
comes out of the corner with a missile dropkick to take them both
down and goes up as well, but here are Roode and Daniels for a
distraction.
Styles
plays Shelton Benjamin by springboarding up to the ladder but Hardy
shoves the ladder over, sending both guys to the floor. Roode pulls
Hardy down as Daniels distracts the referee but Jeff kicks him off.
Daniels slips the appletini to Kaz and Jeff gets blinded, allowing
Kaz to get the win at 17:35.
Rating:
A-. This was the simple formula
of take four guys and let them dive off stuff for fifteen minutes or
so. I’m not big on another faction in TNA because they’re already on
overload with them, but at least they’re not involved with the other
two. The action here was great though and they couldn’t have picked
a better opener.
Chris
Sabin talks about enjoying watching Team 3D put people through
tables. Tonight though, he’s going to be 3-0 against Bully Ray.
Dixie
Carter is in the ring with the Main Event Mafia. She talks about
Angle being in rehab and how he’ll be there for an indefinite amount
of time. Here are the Aces minus Bully before she can get too far
into things though. Anderson talks about how the team only has a
week to find a replacement. He talks about how Magnus could be
leaving and says Magnus used to be the future.
Magnus
says they only have a week to find someone new but they might just
pull someone out of the audience. Anderson says tonight is the start
of a new era for Aces and 8’s and the brawl is on. The Aces beat the
Mafia down with ease and stand tall. That’s rather impressive when
you have guys like Brisco and Bischoff on one side and a former MMA
world champion on another.
Tito
Ortiz is here.
Mickie
James vs. ODB vs. Gail Kim
This
is a hardcore match and not for Mickie’s title. ODB runs them over
to start and hits her chest grabbing splashes on both girls in the
corner. Mickie pulls her out of the corner but Gail isn’t interested
in an alliance. Gail pounds on ODB as Mickie wedges a chair into the
corner. ODB is whipped into said chair and the other girls get a
stereo two count. Mickie rolls up Gail for two and they slug it out
with until Gail is sent to the floor. Kim sends ODB back inside and
goes to look for a weapon but gets a knee from Mickie instead.
James
finds a kendo stick from somewhere and cracks ODB over the back
before choking Gail with it. ODB comes back in and pounds on them
with the stick before pulling one of her two bras out of the top to
choke both girls with it. Mickie gets in a shot and puts on the
figure four around the post as Gail chokes away but they can’t get
along again. ODB gets a shot from the flask and sprays Mickie in the
face but Gail breaks up the Bam. Another stick shot misses and ODB
hits the Bam on Gail on the chair for the pin at 6:48.
Rating:
D+. Did you know ODB was
uncouth and does stuff that isn’t proper or whatever you call it?
Don’t worry if you don’t because TNA will beat it over your head
until you get the idea. The match was nothing special and felt more
like a WWE style street fight with the really basic weapons and
little more.
Sting
yells at the Mafia and suggests Aries as a replacement.
Sting
pitches Aries a spot in the Mafia but doesn’t get an answer. Aries
does seem intrigued though.
Roode
says his plan is coming together.
Sting
tells the Mafia that Aries said no. Rampage has an idea and will
address it in the ring. Joe goes with him and Magnus has an idea for
Sting.
We
recap Ray vs. Sabin in a nice, comprehensive video. To be fair
though there isn’t much to recap.
Ray
is on the phone with someone he calls honey and says this hasn’t been
a normal relationship. Tonight is about Ray but next week is about
the two of them. “I love you too Brooke.”
Here
are Jackson and Joe with something to say. Jackson talks about MMA
fans calling him a sellout for coming to wrestling. However now that
he’s in the Mafia, he feels like he’s in a family. He didn’t come
here to get beaten up though, so now he needs to ask an old training
partner for his help. Jackson calls out Tito Ortiz and plugs the
Bellator PPV several times. Rampage offers Tito the spot on the
Mafia team next week but Ray interrupts (to the wrong music) before
we can get an answer. Ray says he’d come in there right now if he
didn’t have a title match later tonight. Ray threatens them, Ortiz
is held back, that’s about it.
Bound
For Glory Series: Magnus vs. Samoa Joe vs. Mr. Anderson vs. Bobby
Roode
This
is a tables match with the first person to drive someone else through
a table getting 20 points. Magnus jumps Roode during his entrance
and we start fast. They head inside as Joe and Anderson brawl on the
floor with no tables brought in yet. Joe throws the first one in
before taking Roode down with a powerslam. Anderson tries the
rolling senton on Anderson but Magnus makes the save. The Mafia
teams up to clean house but both of them try powerbombs through the
table at the same time. Anderson and Roode fight out and turn the
table over as we get a makeshift tag match.
Everyone
heads to the floor and Joe rings the bell on top of Roode’s crotch.
Anderson tries a Mic Check off the ramp through a table but Magnus
counters into a failed powerbomb bid. A low blow puts the Brit down
and Joe rings the bell again. The pairings switch off and Joe hits
the Ole kick minus the Ole on Anderson. Back inside Magnus’
powerslam through the table is escaped and he walks into the Roode
spinebuster. Everyone is back inside now and the Mafia is in
trouble. Joe is whipped into Roode for a clothesline, sending Bobby
to the outside.
Joe
hits the suicide dive to take Roode out and Anderson gets caught in a
bad looking Snow Plow. The table is set again but Anderson takes
Magnus down with the Mic Check. Joe comes back in to chop Anderson
and loads up the Muscle Buster but Roode moves the table. Roode
sends Joe to the floor and puts Magnus on the table, only to get
crotched on the top by the Samoan. Cue Kazarian to distract Joe,
allowing Daniels to throw the appletini into Magnus’ face. Roode
powerbombs Magnus through the table for the 20 points at 10:20.
Rating:
C+. This was fun but ran a bit
long. The ending being the same as the first one was fine but it
didn’t really surprise anyone. I’m not a fan of the 20 points thing
here because it sent Kaz and now Roode from the bottom to the top in
one night, basically making whole months worthless.
Anderson
and Ray get in an argument over Anderson costing Ray the title. Ray
doesn’t know if he can win and Anderson says the club is here to help
him. Anderson says he isn’t an enemy but Ray says he doesn’t seem
like an ally.
Next
week it’s Jay Bradley vs. Hernandez vs. Daniels vs. Joseph Park in a
20 point street fight.
TNA
World Title: Bully Ray vs. Chris Sabin
In
a cage with Sabin defending and if Ray loses, he never gets another
shot at the gold. After the big match intros we’re ready to go. I
think it’s pin/submission/escape here but the announcers don’t make
it clear. Ray scores a quick slam but Sabin pops right back up.
Another slam puts Sabin down even harder but he shoves Ray back.
There’s a third hard slam but Sabin comes back with some armdrags and
a dropkick to send Ray into the corner. Some forearms in the corner
set up a delayed dropkick but Ray sends him onto the top rope. The
champion comes off with a cross body for two and dropkicks Ray’s leg
out.
Sabin
goes up but gets crotched and LAUNCHED into the cage with authority.
I’m guessing Bully’s authority but it isn’t really clear. Back from
a break with Ray in full control and getting two off a big elbow
drop. He shouts at Sabin to hit him in the face and the champion
does just that, coming out of the corner with forearms to the face.
Ray gets caught in a backslide for two but takes Sabin’s head off to
regain control. Bully loads up a huge powerbomb but Sabin slips down
into a sleeper, only to have Ray ram him into the cage for the break.
Sabin
comes out of the corner with a nice tornado DDT but can’t immediately
follow up. They slug it out and the champion gets all fired up by
chopping Ray down. He actually hits a Death Valley Driver on the big
man but doesn’t cover. Sabin takes Ray’s Aces cut off and whips Ray
across the back with it, only to get kicked in the face for two. A
Samoan drop gets two on Sabin but Ray gets caught while climbing.
Sabin tries a rana out of the corner but drops Ray down on his
shoulder, sending Ray across the mat, clutching his shoulder and
screaming in pain.
Hail
Sabin is countered into a suplex and Ray wants the door open. Sabin
tries to slide past Ray but gets pulled back in. Ray misses a charge
and sends the referee into the cage, knocking him out cold. Sabin
hits a missile dropkick on Ray but there’s no referee to count the
pin. Anderson slams the cage door against Sabin’s shoulder but Sabin
pops right back up. Anderson: “YOU SHALL NOT PASS!” Cue the
Mafia for the save but Ortiz hits Rampage with the hammer, allowing
Ray to kill Sabin with the powerbomb for the pin and the title at
18:08.
Rating:
C+. Good cage match here but
you knew the swerve was coming. Ortiz turning (was that a turn? I
don’t think he was ever a face to begin with) isn’t really a surprise
and it was pretty obvious that Ray was walking out with the gold.
It’s a good cage match but the lack of any drama really didn’t help
much.
Overall
Rating:
B. This was a really
solid show and with the extra matches that are scheduled for next
week it would have been even better. If only there was a way to have
all the stuff you get on TV plus a bit more, say on a different night
of the week to make it feel special…..nah that would never work.
Anyway this was the usual good stuff from TNA when they try and have
no Hogans dragging them to a grinding halt. The problem I see for
TNA though is they pretty much have three stories going: Ray’s
ongoing story, the Series and the Mafia vs. the Aces and 8’s. If you
don’t like those, you’re out of luck. Good show tonight.
Results
Kazarian
b. AJ Styles, Jeff Hardy and Austin Aries – Kazarian pulled down
the clipboard
ODB
b. Gail Kim and Mickie James – Bam on a chair to Kim
Bobby
Roode b. Magnus, Samoa Joe and Mr. Anderson – Roode powerbombed
Magnus through a table
Bully
Ray b. Chris Sabin – Powerbomb

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Rants →

Hardcore Justice Live Thread

16th August 2013 by Scott Keith

Matches tonight include:

Bully Ray vs. Chris Sabin in a Steel Cage Match for the World Heavyweight Title

BFG Series Ladder Match: Jeff Hardy vs. AJ Styles vs. Austin Aries vs. Kazarian

BFG Series Tables Match: Magnus vs. Samoa Joe vs. Bobby Roode vs. Mr. Anderson

Mickie James & Gail Kim vs. Velvet Sky & ODB in a Tornado Tag Match

Rants →

The Hardcore Justice thread

12th August 2012 by Scott Keith
I might watch tomorrow before RAW, we’ll see what doings are transpiring first.  Enjoy the ppv!
Rants →

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