Dragon Gate 15th Anniversary Kobe Pro-Wrestling Festival 2014 Review

BxB Hulk battles YAMATO for the Open The Dream Gate Title!

I've gotten to known a lot of Dragon Gate wrestlers through watching Dragon Gate USA, but I've never really watched a Dragon Gate show, in full, until this past summer, when I watched Dragon Gate's biggest show of the year. Let's see how it went!

Dragon Gate 15th Anniversary Kobe Pro-Wrestling Festival 2014

Kobe, Japan 7/20/14

Pre-Show

1.) Millenials (U-T & Yosuke Santa Maria) vs. We Are Team Veteran (K-ness & Super Shisa): *1/2

There really isn't much to say about this one. It was your basic pre-show match. Yosuke Santa Maria got to get in some comedy, and The Millenials pick up the win.

Main Show

I should note that at some point during the show, both YAMATO & BxB Hulk came out to cut promos on each other, in a preview of their Main Event Title Match.

1.) Six-Man Tag Team Match - We Are Team Veteran (Don Fujii, Gamma & Masaaki Mochizuki) vs. Jushin "Thunder" Liger, Stalker Ichikawa & Uhaa Nation: **1/2

The show starts off with a Six-Man Tag. The team of Liger, Ichikawa & Uhaa Nation is certainly an interesting one. The original match was actually only 8 seconds long, as Ichikawa got pinned almost immediately after a kick from Mochizuki. The veterans celebrate their victory, but Liger & Ichikawa request a rematch, which we get! The actual match was pretty decent. Not really much to speak of. Despite the rematch, the result is the same, as We Are Team Veteran pick up the win.

2.) The Jimmyz (Jimmy Kagetora & Jimmy Kanada) vs. Mad Blankey (Mondai Ryu & Punch Tominaga): *

From what I can gather, Tominaga recently turned heel and has developed somewhat of a psycho character. He looks pretty creepy. This wasn't that good of a match, though. Mad Blankey dominates most of the match, which ends in a DQ finish. Other than seeing Punch Tominaga's character, there really wasn't much to this. 

3.) Open The Brave Gate Title - Flamita vs. Dragon Kid: ***1/4

I'm familiar with Dragon Kid, after seeing some of his work in Dragon Gate USA, though this is my first time seeing Flamita. He's someone who I've heard a good deal about in this past year as a star on the rise. He is the champion going into this match, and it was a pretty good one. It really never reached that next level, but it was still pretty good. Flamita retained the Open The Brave Gate Title, and I've quickly become a fan of his.

4.) Open The Triangle Gate Titles - Mad Blankey (Cyber Kong, Kzy & Naruki Doi) vs. The Jimmyz (Genki Horiguchi HAGeeMee, Jimmy Susumu & Mr. Kyu Kyu Naoki Tanizaki Toyonaka Dolphin): ***1/2

A unique part of Dragon Gate is the Open The Triangle Gate Titles, which are (as one would guess) essentially a championship for trios. Here, Mad Blankey is defending their titles against The Jimmyz (who have some really unique and long names). This was a pretty good match which was fun to watch. We saw some good wrestling as well a brawling on the outside. Mad Blankey eventually retained in an entertaining match.

5.) Monster Express (Masato Yoshino & Ricochet) vs. CIMA & Matt Sydal: ***3/4

Up next is a match which probably drew a lot of international attention to this show. This is the first match that Matt Sydal has had since his WWE Release around a month or so prior. He had also been out of action (in general) since 2012 for various regions (injuries and other things). Sydal spent some time in Dragon Gate before he was signed by WWE, and a video package welcoming Sydal back plays before the match. Here he's teaming up with CIMA against Ricochet & Masato Yoshino of Monster Express. This was a pretty good match. Sydal did have a couple of rough spots here and there, but that's expected for a guy who's been out of action for as long as he has. Of course, with guys like CIMA, Ricochet, and Yoshino in here, there was no way this wasn't going to be good. Eventually, Yoshino is able to get CIMA to tap out to win the match for his team.

6.) Open The Twin Gate Titles - Monster Express (Akira Tozawa & Shingo Takagi) vs. Millenials (Eita & T-Hawk): ****1/4

Tozawa & Shingo walk into this match as the defending champions, while Eita & T-Hawk are a team on the rise. The story here (from what I can gather) is that Tozawa was considered to be the "weak link" of the team, having been bested by the Millenials on multiple occasions. This match was fantastic! Easily the match of the night. They were able to tell a great story, with everyone playing their roles well. Tozawa especially can play a great babyface. To go along with that, we got a lot of great action throughout this match. We all know how good Shingo & Tozawa are, and we got glimpses at the potential of Eita & T-Hawk during their stints in Dragon Gate USA. After a long, hard fought match, Eita & T-Hawk were finally able to put Tozawa & Shingo away to win the Open The Twin Gate Titles! Just incredible stuff in this one.

7.) Open The Dream Gate Title - YAMATO vs. BxB Hulk: ***1/2

YAMATO has grown most of his hair back since I last saw him on a Dragon Gate USA Show in 2012. For BxB Hulk, this has been a long road for him, as he's back to being a face after spending a few years as a heel. They went on to have a Main Event that was pretty solid, but it wasn't great either. Lots of good action, but again, it wasn't anything spectacular. One negative that I know will annoy a lot of people is BxB Hulk's selling, or lack there of, when it came to leg. In the end, BxB Hulk would overcome YAMATO to win the Open The Dream Gate Title. Again, the match was good, but BxB Hulk's selling hurt it a fair deal as well.

After the match, BxB Hulk celebrates, while Naruki Doi shoves YAMATO, proclaiming that he's taking control of Mad Blankey and will be the next Open The Dream Gate Champion. Doi then laid out BxB Hulk before Masaaki Mochizuki makes the save to close the show.

Overall: 7.5/10

Like I said in the opening of this post, this was my first taste of Dragon Gate, outside of seeing some of their stars in Dragon Gate USA. I thought that, while not a great show, this show was still a solid one. You had a fantastic match for the Open The Twin Gate Titles, as well as as the return of Matt Sydal, in a great tag team match with CIMA against Monster Express. You also had some other solid matches, like the Main Event (despite BxB Hulk's lack of selling), and the Open The Triangle Gate Title Match, with the rest of the undercard ranging from good to average to bad. A good outing from Dragon Gate, but not a great one.

WWE Money In The Bank 2014 Review

The Money In The Bank Briefcase & The Vacant WWE World Title are both up for grabs!!

WWE Money In The Bank 2014

Boston, Massachusetts 6/29/14

I should note that there was no match on the Kickoff Show. Instead, we get an in-ring promo from Daniel Bryan, who talks about his injury, and getting stripped of the WWE World Title. Bo Dallas comes out, telling him to "Bo-lieve", but Bryan responds by saying Dallas should "Bo-leave!". Bryan & The Crowd chant "YES!" as the Kickoff Show closes.

1.) WWE Tag Team Titles - The Usos vs. The Wyatt Family: ***3/4

These two teams brawled during the John Cena/Bray Wyatt Last Man Standing Match at Payback (Luke Harper & Erick Rowan assisting Wyatt, while The Usos, The WWE Tag Team Champions, helped Cena), which naturally led to this match. It turned out to be a really good opener. Lots of great back & forth action from two of the best teams in WWE at the time. Eventually The Usos are able to pick up the win, retaining the WWE Tag Team Titles!

2.) WWE Divas Title - Paige vs. Naomi (with Cameron): **3/4

Over the last few weeks, they have been slowly building towards Cameron & Naomi's eventually split. Naomi, the better worker of the two, is challenging for the Divas Title here against Paige. It was nice to see the Diva's Title Match not in the "death spot" for once. This was actually a pretty decent Divas Title Match. I'm a massive Paige fan, and Naomi is definitely one of the more promising Divas on the roster, so it resulted in a pretty solid Divas Match. Paige gets the win with the Ram-Paige, and we get more subtle teases of the Cameron/Naomi breakup.

3.) Adam Rose vs. Damien Sandow: *1/2

Since the PPV is Boston, Damien Sandow is dressed up as Paul Revere. Yep...you read that right. It's honestly hard to believe that Damien Sandow actually won The Money In The Bank Ladder Match last year. He's fallen so much since then, and it's pretty sad. He has a quick match with, and loses to, Adam Rose, in a match mainly meant to get Rose over. Not much else to say otherwise.

4.) Money In The Bank Ladder Match - Seth Rollins vs. Dean Ambrose vs. Rob Van Dam vs. Dolph Ziggler vs. Kofi Kingston vs. Jack Swagger (with Zeb Colter): ****1/4

I should note that WWE Intercontinental Champion Bad News Barrett was originally supposed to be in this match, but was pulled after getting injured at the hands of Jack Swagger. Even with the loss of Barrett, this match was still incredibly awesome!! Of course the main story here was Dean Ambrose getting his hands on Seth Rollins (with this being their first real encounter after Rollins turned on The Shield), but you had a lot of great, and sometimes dangerous action throughout. This included Dean Ambrose hitting Seth Rollins with a Superplex off the top of a ladder, and Rollins getting backdropped of the top of a ladder, onto a bridging ladder, by Kofi Kingston. Incredible stuff in this one. Everyone in here looked motivated, and that certainly helped. Eventually the match was ruined by Kane's interference, which led to Seth Rollins winning, but despite that, the match was still really great.

5.) Goldust & Stardust vs. RybAxel (Ryback & Curtis Axel): **1/4

If you'll recall, Cody Rhodes "left" his team with his brother, Goldust, after failing his partner over the last few months with a string of losses. He then reemerged, transformed, as Stardust. This was the PPV debut for Stardust. This was a pretty standard match. Goldust & Stardust pick up the win. Not much else to say about it, other than the fact that Curtis Axel was wearing so different attire tonight. This was mainly used to help get Stardust over, and not much else.

6.) Rusev (with Lana) vs. Big E: ***1/4

This is a rematch from Payback. I'd have to say that this was a bit of an improvement over that previous match. They went out there and had a really solid Hoss Division matchup. Of course, the victor was never in doubt, as Rusev once again defeated Big E.

7.) Special Guest Referee: Fandango - Layla vs. Summer Rae: DUD

So I think what happened here is that Summer Rae left to be in a movie (The Marine 3 or 4, I can't remember which), and Fandango got a new dancer in Layla. Summer Rae returned, which led to this feud (which somehow involved milk & kitty litter) and this match, where Fandango is the Special Guest Referee. This match sucked, and the crowd didn't care about it at all. It was bad. Layla won, can we please move on?

8.) WWE World Title - Ladder Match - John Cena vs. Kane vs. Randy Orton vs. Roman Reigns vs. Alberto Del Rio vs. Sheamus vs. Bray Wyatt vs. Cesaro (with Paul Heyman): ***3/4

Daniel Bryan was forced to vacate the WWE World Title due to injury, and The Authority (Triple H & Stephanie McMahon) put together this match as a way to crown a new champion. Part of the story going in is that The Authority didn't want Cena to win the title. While there was no way they were going to top the Money In The Bank Ladder Match from earlier, this was still a really good. It did start slow, but it got better over time. We did get a lot of unique & dangerous spots, as we always do in these types of matches. At one point, Randy Orton got busted open hard way. Eventually, John Cena was able to overcome the odds (as he always does) and, to the dismay of The Authority, wins the WWE World Title to close the show!

Overall: 7.75/10

This show was good, but not great. In ways it was kind of similar to the Extreme Rules PPV from nearly two months prior. You did have one great match (The Money In The Bank Ladder Match), and two really good matches (The opening match for the WWE Tag Team Titles & The WWE Title Ladder Match). Other than those matches, the undercard was relatively average, though for the most part, it wasn't that bad. Event the Adam Rose/Damien Sandow match had somewhat of a purpose. The only match that I would say was really bad was the Layla/Summer Rae/Fandango match, but other than that, the rest of the undercard was actually not that bad. Like I mentioned earlier, this show was good, but other than one match, really didn't reach a level of being great.

ROH Road To "Best In The World": Night 2 Review

The ROH World Title & ROH World Tag Team Titles are on the line!

ROH Road To "Best In The World" Night 2

Collinsville, Illinois 6/7/14

Pre-Show

1.) Danny Adams vs. Marco Gonzales: **1/4

I've never heard of either one of these guys, but they went to hold a pretty solid pre-show match. Basic stuff, but it was fine for what it was. Adams would score the win.

Main Show

Before I start, I should note that Kevin Kelly is once again on his own with commentary (*groans*).

1.) Ethan Gabriel Owens vs. Zizou Middoux: ***

These two met in the opening match of Future of Honor I, which E.G.O. won. This was about as good as their from Future of Honor I. Solid back & forth action throughout this one. E.G.O. eventually puts Middoux away with the Spinning Dwayne to score the win.

2.) TaDarius Thomas (with Jimmy Jacobs) vs. Cedric Alexander: ***1/4

This match came about after TaDarius Thomas attacked Cedric Alexander during the Six Man Scramble the night before, which led to Alexander losing the match and a potential World Title Match. This was actually pretty solid. I know people like to bash TaDarius Thomas, but he & Cedric Alexander worked pretty well together in this match. Lots of solid stuff here. The match ends when Thomas gets thrown into Jacobs (who was on the apron), which leads to Alexander hitting the Lumbar Check to get the win.

Cedric Alexander quickly makes his exit with a big smile on his face as BJ Whitmer & the rest of The Decade rush the ring. Jacobs cuts an angry promo towards Cedric, and says that Roderick Strong will break him at the Best In The World PPV. He then calls Caprice Coleman to come out so BJ Whitmer can take him out and make an example out of him.

3.) BJ Whitmer (with Jimmy Jacobs & TaDarius Thomas) vs. Caprice Coleman: ***

I wasn't looking forward to this one when it was announced but it actually was a bit better than I thought it would be. Some really solid action in this one, and eventually, Coleman was able to rollup Whitmer to score an upset win! The Decade beat up Coleman after the match but Cedric Alexander comes back out with a chair, which scares them off.

Jay Lethal is out next with Truth Martini & #Sparx. He tells The Romantic Touch to come out, calling him Rhett Titus. He basically says that they think he's a joke and they don't take him seriously. The Romantic Touch challenges Lethal to wrestle right now. Even though Lethal is in his street clothes, he's so confident that he can win, that he accepts!

4.) Proving Ground Match - ROH World TV Champion Jay Lethal vs. The Romantic Touch: N/A

The reason I rated it the way I did was because "The Romantic Touch" was basically in control for the entire match with Lethal only actually hitting two or three moves. He went after Lethal right from the very beginning, and eventually, strips most of Lethal's clothes off, leaving him in nothing but his underwear & socks. I will say seeing Lethal get his dress clothes stripped off was pretty hilarious. Eventually, Lethal rips off the mask, and it's Matt Taven! He hits The Climax and scores the win, humiliating the World TV Champion, along with the rest of The House of Truth.

5.) No DQ Match - Michael Bennett (with Maria Kanellis) vs. "Unbreakable" Michael Elgin: ***1/4

This originally started off as a regular singles match, but Bennett introduced a chair early on, which led to Elgin asking for the match to be changed to a No DQ Match. The referee allows it, and it's on! The match was actually pretty solid. While it went on to have essentially a No Contest Finish (which I'll get to in a second), it was still really entertaining. But obviously, what happened next was pretty big...

When it looked like Elgin was going to powerbomb Bennett into a guardrail set up on a few chairs, Adam Cole comes out and nails Elgin with the ROH World Title belt. Cole & Bennett then attack Elgin, eventually using zip ties to tie Elgin to the ropes. They then get out this back, and pull out a pair of scissors. Cole cuts off Elgin's signature mullet! He then pulls out an Electric Hair Trimmer, and starts shaving off the rest of the hair on Elgin's head! Cole then threatens to hit Elgin with a chair, but MsChif (Michael Elgin's wife) comes out to try to make them stop, but Bennett quickly restrains her. Cole talks about hurting Elgin both physically & emotionally, and says MsChif can choose what happens. Either he can hit Elgin over the head with a chair, or MsChif has to kiss Cole (with tongue) and say he was more of a man than Elgin. She spit in Cole's face, and Cole locks MsChif in the Figure Four, forcing Elgin to watch!! Elgin would eventually break free as Cole, Bennett & Maria retreated. Elgin carried his wife MsChif to the back. Words can do this segment justice. It was incredibly awesome, and did a fantastic job in building up to their World Title Match at Best In The World!

6.) Silas Young vs. ACH: ***3/4

ACH is coming off of losing his World Title Match the night before while Young is looking ahead to his collision with Kevin Steen at Best In The World. This was actually a really good match. Nothing really much to say. Great action from both guys, especially in the closing minutes. Young eventually forces ACH to tap out to the Stock Lock, and picks up the win. 

7.) ROH World Title - Adam Cole vs. "Sicilian Psychopath" Tommaso Ciampa: ****

Before the match, Cole cuts a promo, talking about his attack earlier in the show on Michael Elgin and his wife, MsChif. He says that whenever someone is after his World Title, it's personal, and that the same thing applies to Tommaso Ciampa.

These two always seem to put on good to great matches (the most recent being in the Semi-Finals of the World Title Tournament at Death Before Dishonor XI) and this one was no different. Lots of great action between these two. They play their rolls so well, which just added to their chemistry. At one point, Ciampa goes for his running knee strikes in the corner, but Cole pulls the referee in front of him and Ciampa hits the referee! This leads to Ciampa getting put through the ringside table and another referee getting punched out by Michael Bennett. Ciampa is eventually able to hit Project Ciampa, but when he goes to pin, Cole turns it into a crucifix pin and score the win, escaping Collinsville still the ROH World Champion. A very good World Title Match. I didn't mind the interference and all the referee shenanigans, because I think it worked in the sense that Adam Cole would basically do anything to keep his ROH World Title.

8.) ROH World Tag Team Titles - reDRagon vs. The Briscoes: ****

This is actually the first title shot The Briscoes have had in recent memory. A really great Main Event! Both teams are really awesome, so it's no surprise that they had a very good match. Lots of back & forth tag team action in this one. There really isn't much else I can say. These two teams speak for themselves. reDRagon eventually score the win over The Briscoes to retain their titles, and they celebrate to close the show.

Overall: 8.25/10

This really felt like an awesome "go home" show. ROH did a really good job on this one with building towards Best In The World. They added more to The Decade/Cedric Alexander and Matt Taven/House Of Truth storylines with a number of matches & segments, and in particular, the segment with Elgin & Cole is must see (in the end it might have bumped up the overall rating of the show for me). As far as the wrestling goes, it was pretty good. Every single match (with the exception of the Jay Lethal/Matt Taven stuff, which I consider to be more of a segment than a match) was at or above the *** mark, which is really impressive for an event that people might see as a minor show. The second half was especially great, with ACH/Silas Young, World Title Match & World Tag Team Title Matches all being really good. Once again, Kevin Kelly being on commentary by himself was not good, but the action definitely made up for it. If you're going to watch and/or buy Best In The World, make sure you get this as well. A very good outing from ROH.

ROH Road To "Best In The World": Night 1 Review

Six Men fight for a World Title opportunity!

ROH Road To "Best In The World" Night 1

Carbondale, Illinois 6/6/14

1.) "Sicilian Psychopath" Tommaso Ciampa vs. Ethan Gabriel Owens: ***1/4

Ethan Gabriel Owens is E.G.O., for short. Very solid opener. It's great seeing Owens get an opportunity in ROH, as he really deserves it. He had a really nice opener here against Tommaso Ciampa. It looked like the finish was slightly messed up, but that's my only complaint. It was perfectly fine for what it was. Ciampa gets the win, as well as momentum heading into his ROH World Title Match the next night, and E.G.O. had a good outing.

2.) #1 Contender's Six Man Mayhem Match - ACH vs. Silas Young vs. Caprice Coleman vs. Cedric Alexander vs. ROH World Tag Team Champion Kyle O'Reilly vs. Matt Taven: ***1/2

The winner of this match will challenge Adam Cole for the ROH World Title in the Main Event. While this was not as crazy as I expected, it was still a very good match. Everyone got to opportunity to shine, and it was pretty fun to watch. It eventually came down to ACH & Cedric Alexander, but BJ Whitmer comes out to cause a distraction, which allows TaDarius Thomas to sneak in and take out Alexander. This leads to ACH hitting the 450 Splash and getting the win. He moves on to face Adam Cole for the ROH World Title in the Main Event.

3.) ROH World Tag Team Champion Bobby Fish vs. The Romantic Touch: **3/4

This is an interesting match. The Romantic Touch looks to have been really hitting the gym as of late, as he's in fantastic shape. Pretty solid match here. It was probably the best match that The Romantic Touch has had in ROH to this point, though I don't think it should be a surprise that it came against Bobby Fish, who is eventually able to put away The Romantic Touch via submission.

4.) The Briscoes vs. The Decade (BJ Whitmer & TaDarius Thomas): ***

It didn't take long to realize that The Briscoes were really over with the crowd in Carbondale. This was a good, but relatively standard tag team match. Much like the opener, it was perfectly fine for what it was. The Briscoe are able to get the win, and build some momentum heading into their World Tag Team Title Match the next night.

Up next, we have ROH World TV Champion Jay Lethal & Truth Martini. They have issued an Open Challenge tonight. Initially, #Sparx answers the call! She kisses Lethal, but then lays down for him. Lethal pins her, and the trio celebrate their supposed ruse. This leads to Cheeseburger coming out. He insults The House of Truth, and challenges Lethal to a World TV Title Match, which Lethal accepts!

5.) ROH World TV Title - Jay Lethal (with Truth Martini) vs. Cheeseburger: **1/4

This went pretty much how you would expect it to go. Cheeseburger was able to get some offense in, but in the end, Lethal was able win the match and retain his World TV Title. It wasn't a bad match by any means, but it was perfectly fine for what it was.

6.) Michael Bennett (with Maria Kanellis) vs. Delirious: ***

Delirious wrestled this match as a tribute to his dad, who recently passed away (He had "Dad" written on his wrist tape). This was pretty entertaining match (or at least I thought it was). Delirious is just so fun to watch, and Bennett was a great opponent for him. Lots of shenanigans on the outside with Maria Kanellis, and a lot of shenanigans in general. The match went a little long for my taste, but that's my only real complaint. Bennett is eventually able to pick up the win, and the crowd gives Delirious a pretty big ovation afterwords.

7.) Jimmy Jacobs (with TaDarius Thomas) vs. "Unbreakable" Michael Elgin: ***3/4

Whenever you get someone like Michael Elgin facing a smaller wrestler, like Jimmy Jacobs, it's going to be good, and this was no different. Having an opponent that Elgin can just toss around really makes him look good. I enjoyed this a lot. Jacobs got killed a few times by Elgin but also got his share of offense in. People always seem to forget how good Jacobs is. He always seems to be underrated. The match ends when Elgin hits a running powerbomb, followed by an Elgin Bomb on the floor! He rolls Jacobs back into the ring to score the win in convincing fashion.

8.) ROH World Title - Adam Cole vs. ACH: ***3/4

This isn't the first time these two have squared off, as Cole defeated ACH in a Proving Ground Match on Pursuit: Night 2 back in November of 2013. This was a pretty good Main Event. I'd put this slightly above that aforementioned Proving Ground Match from several months earlier. Cole always plays a great heel, and ACH looked really good in this one also. Lots of great back & forth action between the two, with the last few minutes being pretty exciting. Eventually, Cole is able to put ACH away and retains the ROH World Title.

Overall: 7.5/10

While this was probably one of the weaker shows ROH had put on in 2014 up to this point, it was still a pretty solid wrestling show. Despite being a relatively small crowd (by ROH standards), the fans in Carbondale were loud for pretty much the whole show, which definitely helped. The top two match (Cole/ACH & Elgin/Jacobs) were both really good. The Six Man Scramble was also good as well. The rest of the undercard was decent, but nothing was really bad. The only thing on this show that was pretty back was Kevin Kelly. He was on his own tonight, and he was terrible. Further proof that Joey Styles is the only one who can pull that off effectively. Despite that, this ended up being a fine show.

AIW Absolution IX Review

Tim Donst challenges Michael Elgin for the top prize in AIW on the biggest show of the year!!

AIW Absolution IX

Cleveland, Ohio 6/29/14

Before the actual show starts, we get a bunch of promos, from pretty much everyone, talking about their matches on the show. Really adds a lot to what you're watching on the actual show.

1.) Kevin Steen vs. Chris Sabin: ***1/2

The fact that this is the opening match says a lot about the quality of this card (it's really good). This was a very good opening match. Very solid action here from two guys who you know can put on a quality match. A few entertaining moments in here as well (as is always the case with most Kevin Steen matches). Steen is eventually able to put away Sabin with the Package Piledriver to score the victory. 

After the match, Steen starts cutting a promo, putting over Chris Sabin, but then is attack by Jimmy Jacobs & BJ Whitmer of The Forgotten!! Jacobs talks about how people will probably forget about Kevin Steen, but they won't forget about himself & BJ Whitmer. He then calls out The Jollyville Fuck-Its for their title match, and it's on!

2.) AIW Tag Team Titles - No DQ Match - The Jollyville Fuck-Its (Russ Myers & T-Money) vs. The Forgotten (Jimmy Jacobs & BJ Whitmer): **1/2

After the brawl they had at the last show, it makes sense that this one is a No DQ Match, with the AIW Tag Team Titles on the line! This was actually a pretty short match. They had some good brawling and some nice spots on the outside. Then Tommy Mercer (formerly known as Crimson in TNA, and also a member of The Forgotten) comes out of nowhere and takes out Russ Myers & T-Money. This allows Jacobs & Whitmer to capitalize and capture the AIW Tag Team Titles. This was fine for what it was, but it seems like the only reason they made this a No DQ Match was so that Tommy Mercer could interfere. Wish they would have done a bit more with the stipulation.

3.) Johnny Gargano vs. #AllEgo: ****

This is actually a rematch from Absolution VIII last year, which Gargano won. AIW Intense Champion Louis Lyndon & #Sparx accompany #AllEgo to ringside, but he sends them to the back, saying that he can win without help. The match itself was pretty great!! Gargano is always fantastic and #AllEgo was equally as impressive. At one point, #Sparx tries to provide a distraction, which allows Louis Lyndon to sneak in the ring to help #AllEgo, but #AllEgo superkicks Lyndon instead! The action continued for a little while longer, but eventually, Gargano locks in the GargaNO Escape, and #AllEgo passes out.

After the match, Gargano & #AllEgo shake hands.

4.) Six-Man Scramble Match - ACH vs. Brent Banks vs. Cheech vs. Colin Delaney vs. Flip Kendrick vs. #Sparx: ***1/4

AIW has been doing these a lot lately, and they always prove to be entertaining. The story that quickly developed here was that #Sparx overpowered the other competitors in the match, which led to the guys trying over & over to gang up on #Sparx. Sometimes it worked, sometimes it didn't. Of course, the match eventually broke down, and ACH was able to take advantage and score the win after a 450 Splash onto #Sparx.

5.) Gregory Iron (with The Iron Curtain) vs. Veda Scott: **1/2

This is the long awaited match between two former tag team partners. Veda Scott attacks right away and The Iron Curtain go after her almost immediately. Veda fights back but she isn't able to overcome the numbers. After doing enough damage, Iron tells them to leave, with Scott significantly weakened. They wrestle a decent match, but then Veda Scott goes to hit Iron with a chair, but he moves, and she hits the referee. The brings out the rest of The Iron Curtain, but Veda is able to fight them off. Veda gets Iron to tap, and the referee calls for the bell, but the result is that Iron wins by DQ, since Veda hit the referee with a chair.

As Gregory Iron celebrates with The Iron Curtain, Veda Scott challenges him to a Steel Cage Match at the next show, Battle of the Sexes. The match is fine for what it was. It did a decent job extending the feud and gives a reason for the Steel Cage Match to be taking place.

6.) Bobby Beverly vs. Tyson Dux: ***1/4

These two have had a simmering rivalry over the last few months. The last time we saw them, they were brawling to the back during a Six Man Scramble Match at the 2nd Night of the 2014 JT Lightning Invitational. This was a pretty solid wrestling match. Other than that, there really isn't that much to say about this. Beverly gets Dux to tap out to score the win.

7.) AIW Intense Title - Louis Lyndon vs. Davey Vega: ***1/2

Vega got this title opportunity by winning the aforementioned Six-Man Scramble on the 2nd Night of the 2014 JT Lightning Invitational Tournament. This was a really good back & forth match. Lyndon had been turning in a number of solid performances over the last few months against the likes of Johnny Gargano, Kevin Steen, & ACH, although a number of those matches had interference from his then stablemate #AllEgo. His long reign as AIW Intense Champion, however, would come to an end here, as Davey Vega scored a big upset win to capture the title!! I've grown pretty fond of Davey Vega since I started watching AIW. He's a pretty good wrestler, and it's nice to see him rewarded for his hard work.

8.) Eddie Kingston (with The Duke) vs. Rickey Shane Page (with Eric Ryan): **3/4

The Duke is going after his former #NIXON stablemates, and Eddie Kingston is his "hired gun". Eric Ryan, who was injured in his match with Michael Elgin during the JT Lightning Invitational, is in RSP's corner. The match was pretty decent. Nothing really special of note. Two big guys just going at each other. It was short, and it was perfectly fine for what it was. Kingston is eventually able to put Rickey Shane Page away with the Backfist to the Future.

After the match, Kingston takes the mic and cuts a promo crapping on AIW, specifically those in management, like John Thorne. This brings out #AllEgo, who stands up for AIW, saying this company gave him a chance, and he was able to become more well known across the wrestling world because of that. #AllEgo wants a fight, and he wants right now, but Kingston says he doesn't work for free and The Duke says that Kingston only works when he pays him to, as both head to the back.

9.) Josh Prohibition vs. Matt Cross: ***1/2

This is a battle between two former tag team partners & best friends. They've been cutting some amazing promos which I highly recommend you all check out. Really gives some great context and backstory to this whole story. Essentially, Cross turned on Prohibition, and the latter is looking for payback. A really good match here. These two know each other extremely well, so it's no surprise that this was good. There was a lot of brawling, and a lot of nasty spots throughout. A lot of action in this one. Prohibition hit several Drunken Drivers, but Cross fought back with high impact moves of his own. The promos and the crowd both added a great deal to this match, and it showed. Prohibition is eventually able to hit The Drunken Driver onto Cross on top of several chairs to score an emotional  victory on AIW's biggest show of the year!

10.) AIW Absolute Title - "Unbreakable" Michael Elgin vs. Tim Donst: ****

Donst got this title shot by winning the Gauntlet For The Gold Match back in March, while Michael Elgin has held the AIW Absolute Title since December. This was a really long match. I think it was just under 40 Minutes. They beat the crap out of each other for almost all of those forty minutes. Really intense match. Elgin was his usual self, and Donst showed why he is one of the top guys on the independent scene, and why he should be in places like Ring of Honor. Really great Main Event. Even though Donst lost to Elgin in the end, he still looked great and proved he could hold his own with Elgin, who retained the AIW Absolute Title.

After the match, Elgin was in the middle of cutting a promo, putting over Donst, when #WalkingWeapon comes out, making his AIW return!! They were supposed to have a 2/3 Falls Match back in late 2013, but a series of circumstances prevented that from happened, and it actually kept Alexander out of AIW for several months. He wants that 2/3 Falls Match right now, as does Elgin, but AIW Officials don't, saying they'll have their match when their both 100%. This leads to a big pull-apart brawl between Elgin & #WalkingWeapon to close the show.

Overall: 8.0/10

Once again, AIW put together another really good show. There really isn't anything overtly bad to speak of on this show. You had two awesome matches (Gargano/#AllEgo & Elgin/Donst), and a lot of solid/really good matches on the undercard. It's a really long show, admittedly (over three and a half hours), but I think the good wrestling balances that out. We also got a lot of angle advancing on this show, setting up things for the future. Another solid outing from AIW.

Wrestling is Fun!: Bananastar Galactica Review

Juan Francisco de Coronado looks to become The Possessor of the Potassium!

Wrestling is Fun! Bananastar Galactica

Reading, Pennsylvania 6/28/14

1.) Max Smashmaster vs. Ophidian: **3/4

In an interesting note, none of the Devastation Corporation/Wrecking Crew Members are being accompanied by Sidney Bakabella on this show. This is sort of a continuation from the 3rd Night of the 2014 Tag World Grand Prix when The Devastation Corporation & The Osirian Portal met in the Semi-Finals. This was a pretty solid opener. Ophidian was his usual self, while Max Smashmaster showed that he's definitely improved over time. Smashmaster would end up getting the win here.

2.) The Baltic Siege (The Estonian ThunderFrog & The Lithuanian Snow Troll) vs. Los Ice Creams: **

This was a very odd match. Basically, Ice Cream Jr. was left to fend for himself while his partner, El Hijo del Ice Cream, gave various strange weapons/foreign objects to fans in the front row. He would go on to use them later in the match. I get they were trying to do a comedy match here (as is the case with most Los Ice Creams matches), but this one just didn't do it for me. Los Ice Creams tried, and failed, to lift The Estonian ThunderFrog's Hammer of Peace, which lead to The Estonian ThunderFrog using the Hammer of Peace and The Lithuanian Snow Troll took advantage to score the win for his team.

3.) Jaka vs. Shynron: ***1/2

Here we have a rematch from the 3rd Night of the 2014 Tag World Grand Prix, where Jaka got the win. This was a very good match. These two seemed to have really good chemistry and it showed, and this match was an improvement over their previous match. After some nice back & forth action, Shynron is eventually able to put Jaka away to score the victory!

4.) The Mathmagician vs. Harris Postale: *3/4

Before the match, The Mathmagician comes out and basically cuts a promo to get his character over. He insults people for deciding to watch wrestling over learning math, and calls out any opponent to face him. Harris Postale answers the call. Now my match rating doesn't mean the match was bad, because it wasn't. It was just really basic. They played it off like The Mathmagician (despite wearing wrestling gear), didn't quite know how to wrestle a match. Again, pretty basic stuff. At one point, Postale fakes an ankle injury, and he takes this opportunity to remove The Mathmagician's Mask! He scores a quick rollup, but of course, removing the mask results in a DQ, so The Mathmagician wins. He's rushed to the back while Postale celebrates with the mask. They interview a kid in the front row who recognized The Mathmagician, saying he was his math teacher.

5.) The Pieces of Hate vs. Knight Eye For The Pirate Guy: ***1/2

Jolly Roger & Lance Steel are still in possession of the CHIKARA Campeonatos de Parejas, while Jigsaw & The Shard are technically still the champions. This was a really good tag team match. The Pieces of Hate kind of remind me of reDRagon from ROH, because they're going to have good matches no matter who they're up against. This was certainly no execution. Lots of solid action in this one. Jigsaw & The Shard are eventually able to pick up the win. They take back their Title Belts as they celebrate, as this was (in some ways), and unofficial title match.

6.) Oleg The Usurper vs. Eric Corvis: ***1/4

Here we have another rematch from the 3rd Night of the 2014 Tag World Grand Prix. In that match, Corvis was able to score the win with backslide pin. This was a very entertaining match. They really did a good job playing off of their last match (the usage of Corvis' glove) and did some new things (did some spots with Corvis' Book, brawled a lot on the outside). It was, on the whole, a lot of fun to watch. Oleg is eventually able to pick up the win after hitting his finisher on Corvis for a 2nd Time.

7.) The Throwbacks vs. The Bloc Party (Mr. Azerbaijan & The Proletariat Boar of Moldova): ***1/2

Dasher Hatfield & Mr. Touchdown are the 2014 Tag World Grand Prix Champions. Here they're taking on two members of The Bloc Party. This was another really good tag team match. The Throwbacks have really come into their own as a tag team, but The Bloc Party looked pretty good in this match also. It might be the best match Mr. Azerbaijan & The Proletariat Boar of Moldova have had (at least as a unit). Lots of fun back & forth action in this one, but it would be The Throwbacks who took the victory.

At some point, they show the now unmasked Mathmagician leaving the building. The fans give him a round of applause as he exits.

8.) WiF! Banana Title - Amasis vs. Juan Francisco de Coronado: ***1/2

The Funky Pharaoh has been the WiF! Banana Champion since May of 2013. A really solid Main Event. They told a good story with JFDC controlling most of the match (working over the back of Amasis, which he's had injury issues with in the past) and Amasis having to fight from underneath to say in it. They have some solid back & forth until their was a ref bump. JDFC uses this opportunity to hit Amasis with the flag pole he came out with earlier (which carried the Ecuadorian Flag), but it didn't keep Amasis down for the count! JFDC eventually hits Amasis with a Spider German Suplex from the top rope to score the win & the WiF! Banana Title. JFDC celebrates with the WiF! Banana Title & The Ecuadorian Flag to close the show.

Overall: 7.5/10

This was one of the better shows Wrestling is Fun! has put on in recent memory. Aside from the Baltic Siege/Los Ice Creams Match and the stuff involving The Mathmagician, this was a pretty good show. You had a very good match between Jaka & Shynron, two really solid tag team matches, and a pretty good Main Event, which saw Juan Francisco de Coronado capture the WiF! Banana Title. Plus you had a pretty entertaining encounter between Oleg The Usurper & Eric Corvis. On the whole, it was an easy show to sit through, and an enjoyable one to watch.