ROH Supercard Of Honor XI Review

The Young Bucks face The Hardys in an incredible Ladder Match!!

My star ratings for ROH Supercard of Honor XI are listed below, but please be sure to read my full review of the show on Voices of Wrestling:

http://www.voicesofwrestling.com/2017/04/02/roh-supercard-of-honor-xi-results-review/

ROH Supercard Of Honor XI

Lakeland, Florida 4/1/17

1.) ROH World TV Title - "The Villain" Marty Scurll vs. Adam Cole: ****

2.) The Kingdom (Matt Taven & Vinny Marseglia with TK O'Ryan) vs. Silas Young & The Beer City Bruiser: ***1/4 

3.) ROH Six-Man Tag Team Titles - The Briscoes & Bully Ray vs. The Bullet Club ("The Hangman" Adam Page & The Guerrillas Of Destiny): ***1/2

4.) Texas Bullrope Match - Cody vs. Jay Lethal: ***3/4

5.) Triple Threat Tag Team Match - Cheeseburger & Will Ferrara vs. The Motor City Machine Guns vs. The Rebellion (Shane Taylor & Rhett Titus): ***1/4

6.) Frankie Kazarian vs. Punishment Martinez: **3/4

7.) Bobby Fish vs. Silas Young: N/R

8.) Dragon Lee & Jay White vs. Will Ospreay & Volador Jr.: ****

9.) ROH World Title - Christopher Daniels vs. Dalton Castle: ***1/2

10.) ROH World Tag Team Titles - Ladder Match - The Broken Hardys vs. The Young Bucks: ****3/4

Overall: 8.75/10

SHIMMER 91 Review

Candice LeRae challenges Mercedes Martinez for the SHIMMER Title!

SHIMMER 91

Orlando, Florida 4/1/17

1.) Cherry Bomb vs. Alex Windsor: **3/4

While I’m obviously familiar with Cherry Bomb, I didn’t know that much about Alex Windsor coming in. She’s from the UK, and made a few appearances in PROGRESS and RevPro, but she was a relative unknown (at least, to me). I thought this was a fine opening contest. Cherry Bomb played her role as a heel very well (as she always does), while Alex Windsor looked pretty solid. As I already mentioned, I had no idea who Windsor was coming into this event, but I thought she made a good first impression. Unfortunately, she ultimately came up short here, as Cherry Bomb got the win after hitting a superkick.

2.) Four-Corner Survival - Britt Baker vs. Naveah vs. Samantha Heights vs. Veda Scott: **1/4

As the name of the match indicates, this is the kind of four-way match we typically seen in ROH, with two legal wrestlers in the ring, with the other two on the apron waiting to tag in when the opportunity presents itself. I’ve heard of Samantha Heights, but out of these four, she was the only one I hadn’t seen before. While I wouldn’t call this match “bad”, it was certainly a step down from the opener. There was decent action in this one, but at times, the bout really felt clunky and sloppy. Again, it certainly wasn’t horrible, but I just don’t think it worked out that well. Britt Baker would eventually get the victory after catching Veda Scott (who had gotten some of her team knocked out, or at least severely damaged, the night before at Joey Janela’s Spring Break) with a rollup.

3.) Leva Bates vs. LuFisto: ***

Bates came out dressed like Tina Belcher from Bob’s Burgers. Going in, I wasn’t really sure how this would turn out. On one side, you had LuFisto, who is certainly one of the best women’s wrestlers on the independent scene. On the other side, you had Leva Bates who (despite being relatively entertaining with her “cosplay” gimmick) is….far from that upper echelon of women’s wrestling talents on the independent level. When the dust settled, it actually ended up being a pretty solid match. LuFisto went right after Bates at the start of the bout, and really beat her up at points. To her credit, Bates didn’t stay down, and managed to mount a comeback. In the end, however, her best efforts just weren’t enough. LuFisto scored the victory after hitting Bates with a Burning Hammer. This match proved to be a pleasant surprise.

LuFisto continued to attack Leva Bates afterwards, but then Solo Darling ran out and made the save.

Up next, Lenny Leonard came out to interview Nicole Savoy. She won Heart Of Shimmer Title a year prior at SHIMMER 80 (a great show which I would definitely recommend) during ‘Mania Weekend in Dallas. Unfortunately, she’d been out of action since October after suffering an ACL tear. Since then, she got the surgery, and was going through the physical therapy. In addition to that, she’d been training with Shayna Baszler (her stablemate in Trifecta, along with SHIMMER Champion Mercedes Martinez) & Josh Barnett. Savoy said she’d return to in-ring competition in July. She also noted that she now has a manager’s license, and introduced her Trifecta stablemate Shayna Baszler. The “Queen of Spades” said that she knew she had to do certain things to get attention, such as being devastating in the ring, along with aligning herself with like-minded individuals. Baszler said they needed a locker room leader and a veteran to be by their side, and they decided to reach out to Mercedes Martinez. This brings out the SHIMMER Champion, who talks about here title defense tonight against Candice LeRae. She calls LeRae out, saying that she’s lost more matches in SHIMMER than she’s won. Martinez then claims that there’s not going to be a title match tonight. Of course, this brings out Candice LeRae. She attacked Martinez straight away, but then the rest of Trifecta swarmed her. Santana Garrett (who was wearing Batman inspired gear) made the save, and that led straight to the next match.

4.) Shayna Baszler (with Nicole Savoy) vs. Santana Garrett: ***1/4

When I watched this show live, this was the first time I had actually seen a Shayna Baszler match (she had only been wrestling full-time for just over a year). The bout itself ended up being very solid, and a big part of that had to do with Baszler. She played her role here as the bully so well, especially against an uber-babyface like Santana Garrett. While Garrett gave it everything she had, Baszler was just dominant, using her brutal strikes and submissions to just overwhelm Garrett. Eventually, Baszler’s relentless attack proved to be too much, and Garrett tapped out to a rear naked choke. I was really impressed with how great Baszler looked here. Of course (as we all know), this was just a sign of things to come.

5.) Cat Power vs. Jessicka Havok: ***

I had no idea who Cat Power was, but she certainly came close to matching Havok in terms of size and strength. This ended up being a pretty solid contest between these two. The crowd didn’t appear to be that to it, but the action itself was good, as they brawled back and forth for just under seven minutes. I think the shorter length certainly helped this match be as solid as it ended up being. Havok would end up getting the win here (as I’m sure most expected).

6.) Nicole Matthews vs. Shotzi Blackheart: ***1/4

Blackheart has a very unique look, to say the least. This was my first time seeing her, and she certainly had a big challenge in front of her in the form of Nicole Matthews. I thought this was a pretty good match. Similar to other wrestlers earlier in the card, the former SHIMMER Champion played her role perfectly. In this case, she was the arrogant heel who didn’t take her opponent very seriously. That made for a good story in the match itself, as Blackheart fought hard and put forth a strong showing against such an established star in the world of SHIMMER. There was good back and forth action throughout this one, and Matthews deserves a ton of credit for making Blackheart look good here. Even though Blackheart ultimately fell to the Vancouver Maneuver from Matthews, she certainly showed a ton of potential in this singles encounter.

7.) SHIMMER Tag Team Titles - Tessa Blanchard & Vanessa Kraven vs. Mia Yim & Kay Lee Ray: ***1/2

So the team collectively known as “Mount Tessa” are the defending champions here, and they appeared to be playing the role of “uneasy tag team partners”. They’re defending against a team made up of two great women’s wrestlers in Mia Yim & Kay Lee Ray. This was definitely the best match on the card, up to this point. Of course, when you consider who’s on the challenging team, that shouldn’t be much of a surprise. There was a lot of really good action throughout this bout (which lasted just over thirteen minutes), but they also continued the story with Blanchard & Kraven. There was a point towards the end when it looked like they would come to blows after some miscommunication, but they still managed to retain the titles when Blanchard used on of the title belts behind the referee’s back. As a whole, this was a very good tag team encounter. I would say that Mia Yim & Kay Lee Ray probably deserve most of the credit for the match quality here, but that’s not to say that Mount Tessa didn’t hold up their end of the bargain by any stretch. It couldn’t been a little better without the shenanigans in the final few minutes, but they were telling a story there, so I guess it achieved its goals in that regard.

8.) Dulce Garcia vs. Kellyanne: ***1/4

Well look what we have here…..an unmasked Sexy Star. There’d been a lot of controversy surrounding Sexy Star following the second and third seasons of Lucha Underground (not counting the fiascos with Rosemary & Taya, which hadn’t happened yet). It feels like she keeps going back and forth between “I’m retired from wrestling. I’m a boxer now” and “No wait, I still wrestle!”. Anyway, she was on this show, and she went up against Kellyanne, a wrestler from Australia (and another performer who I hadn’t seen before). While it wasn’t as good as the tag team bout that came before it, I would say that it was certainly one of the better matchups on this card. Say what you will about Sexy Star, but she can still deliver solid performances in the right situations, and in this case, Kellyanne (who did a nice job here in general) proved to be a good opponent for her. There was some nice back and forth action throughout this contest, but eventually, Dulce Garcia managed to pick up the win.

9.) SHIMMER Title - Mercedes Martinez (with Nicole Savoy) vs. Candice LeRae: ***3/4

While Martinez tried to wave off this main event title defense earlier in the night, it did indeed happen as scheduled. The fact that this ended up being the best match on this show shouldn’t be a shock to anyone. These two put together a really good title bout that featured some very solid action from start to finish. Candice LeRae is such an awesome performer. Anytime I see her on a card, I get excited, because I know that (nine times out of ten) she’ll deliver. As for Martinez, I have to admit that I’m not a big fan of hers, but she was pretty good in this match as well. In the middle of the bout, Nicole Savoy & Shayna Baszler (the latter wasn’t at ringside initially) tried to interfere, but they both got ejected. I’m sure most people who saw this show weren’t fans of the attempted interference. However, I was willing to give it a pass in this case, since it didn’t directly lead to the finish. Without her stablemates, Martinez was forced to take on LeRae one-on-one, and ultimately, she emerged victorious to retain her SHIMMER Title. Aside from the interference, this was a very good match and a strong way to close out the show.

Overall: 7.0/10

SHIMMER 91 didn’t come close to topping SHIMMER 80 from the year prior, but it was still a relatively fine show as a whole. Aside from the Four-Corner Survival Match, there really wasn’t anything else on the card that was close to being bad. The two title defenses were easily the best matches on this show, and the undercard had a number of bouts in the ***-***1/4 range. While WWE signing more strong women’s wrestlers (like Evie & Kimber Lee, just to name a few) has certainly had an impact on the roster, there are still a number of talented women’s performers across the independents and in SHIMMER. This wasn’t their best outing, but it was still a mostly solid show that featured a number of good matches.

Pro-Wrestling Revolver: Pancakes & Piledrivers 2017 Review

Pancakes & Wrestling? What a great combination!

So this was certainly a first for WrestleMania Weekend. Pro-Wrestling Revolver (a promotion run by Sami Callihan) decided to have a show a noon that included pancakes (apparently from IHOP) catered for all of the fans that came to the show. It was a pretty cool idea, and the card itself looked rather interesting on paper.

Pro-Wrestling Revolver: Pancakes & Piledrivers

Orlando, Florida 4/1/17

1.) David Starr vs. Jeff Cobb: ***1/2

The show kicked off with a strong opener in the form of David Starr vs. Jeff Cobb. Apparently this was a first-time ever meeting between these two, which surprised a lot of people (myself included). Simply put, this was a really good wrestling match. There was very solid action throughout, and both men got to show off their respective strengths. Ultimately, Cobb would emerge victorious after hitting Starr with Tour Of The Islands. As an opening contest, this was perfect.

2.) Five-Way Match - ACH vs. Dezmond Xavier vs. Matt Palmer vs. “Unbreakable” Michael Elgin vs. Impact Grand Champion Moose: ***3/4

Matt Palmer is the only person involved in this one that I wasn’t familiar. From what I could gather, he appears to be a regular in Pro-Wrestling Revolver, and the fact that he ultimately got the win here (I guess) confirms it. This was an incredibly entertaining match that was packed with action from start to finish. These five fought in the ring and outside of it, as they eventually brawled towards the area where the pancakes were being served. At that point, Dezmond Xavier hit this crazy running dive off the bleachers onto everyone else! This was an extremely fun match to watch, and everyone involved had opportunities to shine. Palmer got the win after hitting Xavier with a tombstone piledriver off the second rope.

3.) No DQ Match - Eddie Kingston vs. Krugar: ***1/4

So Krugar is the man formerly known as Adam Rose. The name is a reference to Leo Krueger, which was the name/character he had in NXT before becoming Adam Rose. This ended up being a very violent affair. Weapons like chairs and trash cans/trash can lids were involved, and Krugar even asked Kingston to keep hitting him in the head with these weapons. Krugar got offense in, but what made this work was Kingston just beating the shit out of this guy (aside from the shots to the head). I wasn’t expecting much from this, but it proved to be a bit better than expected. The match came to an end after Kingston finally put Krugar out of his misery with a series of backdrop drivers and spinning backfists.

After the match, Bull James came out carrying a chain. He flipped Kingston off, and attacked him with the chair. James then took the mic, and brought up the fact that he has a lot of history in Orlando, Florida. The fans chanted “no one cares”, and James told everyone to go fuck themselves. I honestly had a hard time hearing parts of his promo. I guess he complained about the fans jarring at him, and dared any of them to get in the ring to fight him. He closed this odd promo by saying “Orlando, Fuck You”.

4.) Fans Bring The Presents Match - Angelico & Jack Evans vs. OI4K (Dave Crist & Jake Crist): **1/4

So this is basically a Fan Brings The Weapons Match, but themed a bit differently, since it just so happened to be Jack Evans’ Birthday. Before the match began, Evans took the mic and did the ring introductions for his own team. Evans noted that he and Angelico are both injured, but declared that they’re going to fight anyway. Evans then started to sing Happy Birthday to himself, but he and Angelico are quickly jumped by OI4K. This was basically a comedy hardcore match. We got scenes such as sword fight involving kids swords and lightsabers, Dave Crist smothering some pancakes in the face of Jacks Evans in an attempt to get him to submit, and Dave’s face getting shoved into the ass off his brother Jake. Nothing much else to talk about with this one. Los Gueros Del Cielo would score the victory.

5.) Ricochet vs. Shane Strickland: ****

On paper, this had the potential to be a fantastic match, and when the dust settled, it certainly delivered. These two had a great back and forth contest that featured plenty of exciting action and incredibly smooth sequences throughout! Of course, we all know how awesome Ricochet is (and this was another really strong performance to add to numerous matches he had during this big weekend), but Strickland has stepped up his game a ton over the last few years. Honestly, I don’t have much else to say about this match. It was blast to watch. Ultimately, Ricochet picked up the win here after hitting Strickland with an insane looking Flatliner.

6.) Jake Manning vs. Su Yung: **1/4

Before the match began, Manning took the mic, and said that the glass ceiling wouldn’t break this afternoon. He thanked Pro-Wrestling Revolver for naming the show after him. Manning said he’s the master of the piledriver, and that Su Yung is only good for cooking pancakes. He claimed that he paid for all of the pancakes the fans are eating right now. Manning had this “valet” with him named Eddie McQueen, and said that he was putting off more sexual feminine energy than any woman in the building, thus proving that anything a woman can do, a man can do better.

As for the match itself, it was probably the worst of the show. It just….didn’t appeal to me in any way. At one point, Manning tried a mandible claw with a scout sock. Towards the end of the match, Eddie McQueen distracted Su Yung, and this allowed Manning hit her with a low blow, followed by a piledriver on top of a stack of pancakes for the win. There wasn’t much to this one, and honestly, I barely remember it. It wasn’t entirely awful, but I just don’t think it worked. Intergender Wrestling on the independents has really died down after it’s height a few years ago, and even if you do it today, it only works when you have the right people in there.  

After the match, Manning taunted Yung, and the “undead bride” responded by spitting red mist in his face! At least you can say Manning got his comeuppance.

7.) The Lucha Brothers (Fenix & Pentagon Jr.) vs. Brian Cage & Sami Callihan: ****1/4

Apparently this Brian Cage/Sami Callihan team is called “Twins”. I wasn’t sure what to expect from this one (mainly because I wasn’t sure how well this Cage/Callihan pairing would work), but these two teams ended up having a great match. Things got started right away as Cage hit a big dive, and from there, we got a ton of nonstop action throughout the rest of the match. Fenix & Pentagon Jr. work so well together as a team (they’re brothers so, no surprise there), and to their credit, the Cage/Callihan team were pretty good as well. This was a very energetic match as a whole, and the crowd was really into it. The Lucha Brothers would eventually get the win after Callihan got hit with a Package Piledriver from Pentagon Jr., followed by a Canadian Destroyer from Fenix. This was a pretty fantastic tag team encounter.

Afterwards, fans threw money into the ring, and the two teams celebrated together in a sign of respect. Fenix took the mic and thanked the crowd, while Callihan offered The Lucha Brothers pancakes before leaving.

8.) PWR Scramble Title - AR Fox Open Invitational Ladder Match - AR Fox vs. Joey Janela (with Penelope Ford) vs. Jason Cade vs. Davey Vega vs. Trey Miguel vs. Arik Cannon vs. Zachary Wentz vs. Caleb Konley vs. Trevor Lee vs. Serpentico vs. Lio Rush: ****1/2

So this Ladder Match had eleven participants in it…..ELEVEN!!! That has to be a new record, right?? Anyway, when you have that many people in a Ladder Match, you know it’s going to get crazy, and it that regard, it certainly surpassed expectations. This was an absolutely insane Ladder Match!! There were so many wild spots and incredible moments in this one, and everyone involved (even Penelope Ford) had opportunities to shine (and by that, I mean that they all had the chance to do something crazy). A recap of everything that happened couldn’t do this justice, so I’m not even going to try. You really need to see this match for yourself just to fully understand how insane it was. Eventually, through all of the chaos, Jason Cade captured the PWR Scramble Title to win the match. This main event was a crazy stunt show in the best way possible, and one of the highlights of WrestleMania Weekend in Orlando.

Overall: 8.25/10

As a whole, this was a very strong show from Pro-Wrestling Revolver. In a way, it was similar to the WrestleCon SuperShow, as the match quality throughout the card varied a lot. However, what set Pancakes & Piledrivers apart was that it had more high points. The WrestleCon SuperShow, when you really look at it, was only a one match show. This event had a number of great matches on it (the main event, Lucha Brothers vs. Cage & Callihan, and Ricochet vs. Strickland). While it had low points for sure (The “Fans Brings The Presents” Match and Jake Manning vs. Su Yung), the number of really good to great matches more than made up for it. With some great matches towards the top of the card, a mostly fun undercard, and pancakes, you couldn’t go wrong with this show. I would say that this show is definitely worth checking out.

WrestleCon SuperShow 2017 Review

Ricochet and Will Ospreay meet once again, but under very unique circumstances!

WrestleCon SuperShow 2017

Orlando, Florida 3/31/17

1.) Six-Man Tag - ACH, “Unbreakable” Michael Elgin, & Mascarita Dorada vs. David Starr, Caleb Konley, & Trevor Lee: ***1/4

Mascarita Dorada, for those who don’t know, was formerly El Torito in WWE. I have to say, seeing him as part of this opening bout was very….odd. He a very talented wrestler, don’t get me wrong, but in this match (on paper), he just stuck out like a sore thumb so much. Still, I would say that this was a pretty entertaining opener as a whole. This clocked in at just under twelve minutes, and it was a lot of fun to watch. David Starr, Caleb Konley, & Trevor Lee were great in their role as the heels here, particularly when they went up against Mascarita Dorada, who mixed in some comedy (such as a number of ball shots early) with some serious wrestling (such as an incredible hurricanrana he hit on Konley at one point). Michael Elgin was very solid here as a well, as he showed off some of his power. As for ACH, he didn’t do a ton, but it he certainly added to the lighthearted nature of this match. Eventually, Mascarita Dorada won the bout for his team after hitting a double jump moonsault onto Konley. Obviously, it could’ve been better if we had a different partner teaming with ACH & Michael Elgin, but for this show, it was a perfect opening contest.

2.) Low Ki vs. Shane Strickland: ***1/2

This was originally billed as Strickland vs. a mystery opponent, and ultimately, Low Ki was revealed as the mystery opponent. On paper, this was certainly one of the matches on this card that I was looking forward to the most. Strickland’s stock has certainly gone up over the past few years (rightfully so), while Low Ki has been around for (what feels like) forever. While this didn’t end up being the great match I was anticipating, it was still very good. There was a ton of solid action throughout, but they never really went totally nuts with some of the spots. They also managed to tell a fine story as well. At points, Strickland try to go for some high-flying offense, but for the most part, Low Ki kept him grounded. As a result, the match was more methodical, and in the end, that strategy choice ended up working well for Low Ki, who got the pin after hitting Strickland with Warrior’s Way on the ring apron. A very good bout between these two.

3.) Impact World Heavyweight Title - Bobby Lashley vs. Jeff Cobb: **1/4

Initially, Lashley didn’t come out when his entrance music was played, which led to “Fuck That Owl” chants. After stalling for another minute or two, he eventually made his entrance. This was a matchup that a lot of people were looking forward to. It certainly had potential on paper, but unfortunately, it just didn’t deliver. The main reason why this ended up being a disappointment had to do with how the match was structured. Most were expecting this to be a “hoss fight” of sorts, with two big dudes just going after each other. Instead, we got a much more simple bout that featured a control period from Lashley that just wasn’t very interested. A match like this would’ve fit much better on an episode of Impact, but not on this kind of card. Cobb did a solid job here, but Lashley just didn’t show up to work, I suppose. Lashley would ultimately retain his title (oh by the way, the Impact World Heavyweight Title was on the line here, but honestly, who cares?) after hitting Cobb with a spear. I think it’s fair to call this one of the most disappointing matches of the entire weekend.

4.) Angelico & Jack Evans vs. Flip Gordon & Sammy Guevara: ***1/4

Here we have a tag team encounter featuring four incredible high flyers (though this was before Gordon broke out in ROH and on Being The Elite). Much like the Low Ki/Shane Strickland bout from earlier, this had a lot of potential on paper, but it didn’t ended up being as great as we thought it would be (especially considering some of the guys involved). That’s not to say the match wasn’t entertaining, however. Early on, Evans cut a promo (via shouting), where he made fun of Guevara by calling him “Justin Bieber”. I’m sure most recognize this already, but Jack Evans is such an entertaining guy (particularly when he’s playing a heel). As for the body of the match itself, I’d say it was perfectly solid. As I alluded to already, you know these guys are capable of much more, but for what this was, it worked out fine. There was some fun action, and they told a good story with isolating Gordon & Guevara making frequent tags while working hard to isolate Evans. Their efforts weren’t enough, however, as the team known as “Los Gueros Del Cielo” would come back to take the win.

5.) Captain’s Choice Ten-Man Tag - Team Ricochet (Ricochet, AR Fox, Sami Callihan, Jason Cade, & Dezmond Xavier) vs. Team Will Ospreay (Will Ospreay, “The Villain” Marty Scurll, Drew Galloway, Ryan Smile, & Lio Rush): ****3/4

Ever since WrestleCon started putting on its own show for WrestleMania Weekend, this Ten-Man Tag has always been a staple. Of course, the captain’s were revealed beforehand, while (if I recall correctly), their teams aren’t revealed until the actual match (though some might’ve been revealed prior to the show by the captain’s themselves, but I don’t remember). Anyway, you knew this was going to be great, given who the captains were, and the kind of wrestlers they were going to pick, but I don’t think anyone anticipated this being as crazy as it ended up being This was an absolutely phenomenal match that was packed with insane action. There were some incredible moments in this one, such as Ospreay giving Ricochet a Spanish Fly from the top rope, to the floor, onto everyone else involved in the bout, and a massive Tower of Doom spot. We even saw (of all things) a dance break right in the middle of match, which saw everyone show off their dance moves. There were so many awesome spots in this one. This recap simply can’t do it justice. Even with some of the more ridiculous moments (like the dance break), this was still one of the best matches of WrestleMania Weekend in Orlando by far. Through all of this insanity, Jason Cade would end up pinning Will Ospreay to win the match for team Ricochet. This was simply amazing.

Afterwards, fans threw money into the ring as all ten men shook hands and celebrated together (with Jason Cade getting hoisted up). Ricochet then took the mic, and brought up the anniversary of the loss of Kris Travis (who died after a battle with cancer). He then turned his attention to the match, saying that he & Ospreay both legitimately picked all of their teammates themselves (save for, I think, one person on each team). Marty Scurll then took the mic and thanked the crowd.

6.) DDT Ironman Heavy Metal Weight Title - 20-Man Royal Rumble: **1/2

Well, after that crazy multi-man tag (and an intermission) we went to something entirely different. This was basically a Royal Rumble style of match, with over-the-top-rope eliminations, but the title that was on the line here (the DDT Ironman Heavy Metal Weight Title) could actually change hands multiple times during the rumble itself via pinfall, submission, or by being tossed over-the-top-rope. New entrants would enter the match even minute. For those who don’t know, the DDT Ironman Heavy Metal Weight Title is essentially a Hardcore Title used by the DDT promotion in Japan, with “24/7 rules” very similar to what the WWF did with their Hardcore Title during the Attitude Era. I’m not going to go over every single participant in this one (it’s a wacky list for sure), but I will point out a few highlights. Billy Gunn eliminated a bunch of guys, and Joey Ryan actually managed to toss out Moose using his dong. However, Swoggle (formerly known as Hornswoggle in WWE) would end up tossing out Ryan to win the match and the DDT Ironman Heavy Metal Weight Title. For what it was, this was perfectly fine. Given who was involved, you knew it was going to rely A LOT on comedy, and for the most part, everyone did a decent job.

After the match officially ended, Joey Ryan immediately got back in the ring and won back the belt from Swoggle. Ryan took the mic and said he proved that he was the best DDT Ironman Heavy Metal Weight Champion of all time by beating nineteen of the “best in the world”. This commented prompted The Sandman to come out (in an entrance that took FOREVER). Once he got to the ring, he offered Ryan a beer, but then hit him with his Singapore Cane, got the pin, and captured the DDT Ironman Heavy Metal Weight Title. With all of the wacky stuff we saw in that Royal Rumble, I guess it was only appropriate that The Sandman would end up with the title.

7.) TLC Match - Brian Cage (with Melissa Santos) vs. Johnny Mundo (with Taya): ***

To be clear, nothing was on the line here. This was a TLC Match that could only end via pinfall or submission. Melissa Santos (the ring announcer from Lucha Underground) did the introductions for Cage, and remained by his side for the match itself. This was another instance of a bout on this card that looked really solid on paper, but ultimately disappointed. That’s not to say that it was a terrible match. It was still relatively good, but it definitely could’ve been better. Part of the problem was that the crowd wasn’t very responsive. They were already exhausted after the insanity that occurred in the Captain’s Choice Ten-Man Tag, and the fact that this show was (apparently) running late didn’t help matters. The match itself did feature a couple of big spots, including both men taking out their opponent’s valet (Cage powerbombed Taya off the top rope through a table, while Mundo speared Santos through a table), but as a whole, it was just fine. Much like Lashley vs. Jeff Cobb from earlier, this might’ve come off better on TV, but in this setting, it just didn’t click. Cage would ultimately emerge victorious after hitting Mundo with a screwdriver onto a chair. Again, this was solid, but hardly anything special.

8.) The Lucha Brothers (Fenix & Pentagon Jr.) vs. The Broken Hardys: ***

I was really looking forward to see what these two teams could do together in this big tag team main event. Unfortunately, it ended up being a relatively short match, clocking in at just over seven minutes. Despite the length, all four men involved still worked pretty hard, and their efforts resulted in a pretty enjoyable bout. Both sides got their respective chants out of the way early, and then just went after each other with a series of big moves. They managed to pack a lot of action into such a small time frame, and that certainly made for an entertaining match. It could’ve been longer, but with the show running long, it was probably for the best. The Hardys certainly aren’t what they were in 2000-2001, but they still did their best to put on an exciting tag team encounter with another team of brothers in the form of Fenix & Pentagon Jr., known as The Lucha Brothers. In the end, The Hardys would get the win after Jeff Hardy hit a Swanton Bomb onto both of The Lucha Brothers.

Matt Hardy took the mic afterwards. He said that fans (like the ones in the crowd for this event) keep wrestling alive, especially on a weekend like this. He then put over The Lucha Brothers, and the two teams then shook hands. Matt said that The Hardys have been around for a long time, but he knows the future of wrestling is safe with guys like The Lucha Brothers, The Young Bucks, The Briscoes, and so on. Jeff Hardy then sang his “Obsolete” song, and Fenix thanked WrestleCon & The Hardys. The two teams celebrated together to close the show.

Overall: 7.25/10

The WrestleCon SuperShow tends to be a mixed bag, when it comes to match quality, and the 2017 edition of the event was certainly no exception. The show featured one truly spectacular bout in the form of the Captain Choice’s Ten-Man Tag (one of the best of the entire weekend for sure), but the rest of the matches were all over the place. Some were good, some fell short of expectations, while others were just…..average, I guess. Definitely check out Team Ospreay vs. Team Ricochet, but as for the rest of the show, just check out what you’re interested in.

Evolve 81 Review

Donovan Dijak & Keith Lee steal the show, while Darby Allin goes to war with Ethan Page in the main event!!

My star ratings for Evolve 80 are listed below, but please be sure to read my full review of the show on Voices of Wrestling:

http://www.voicesofwrestling.com/2017/04/03/evolve-81-results-review/

Evolve 81

Orlando, Florida 3/31/17

1.) Non-Title Match - Evolve Champion Zack Sabre Jr. vs. "Unbreakable" Michael Elgin: ***1/2 

2.) Drew Galloway vs. Lio Rush: ***1/2

3.) Donovan Dijak vs. Keith Lee: ****1/2

4.) ACH vs. Timothy Thatcher (with Stokely Hathaway): **1/4

5.) Six-Man Tag - Catch Point (Evolve Tag Team Champion Tracy Williams, Chris Dickinson, & Jaka) vs. Austin Theory, Jason Kincaid, & Sammy Guevara: ***1/4

6.) Matt Riddle vs. Evolve Tag Team Champion Fred Yehi: ****

7.) Anything Goes Match - "All Ego" Ethan Page (with The Gatekeepers) vs. Darby Allin: ****1/2

Overall: 8.75/10

RevPro: Orlando Review

Revolution Pro Wrestling comes to the United States for the very first time!!

RevPro: Orlando

Orlando, Florida 3/31/17

The show kicks off with Andy Quildan (the promotion’s owner as well the ring announcer and commentator) in the ring as he hypes up the show. He brings up Kris Travis, mentioning that it’s the one-year anniversary of his passing, and dedicates the show in his memory.

1.) Sami Callihan vs. Jay White: ***1/2

This was a pretty entertaining opening contest. We got some brawling on the outside at the start, but once they got back in the ring, there was really good back and forth action inside of the ring. The match went about twelve minutes, which is perfect for an opener. In particular, that time frame really played into Callihan’s strengths, as he usually excels in sub-fifteen minute matches that are fast-paced. In the end, Jay White would get the submission victory over Callihan. Once again, this was a very solid opener.

2.) Jeff Cobb vs. Martin Stone: ***1/2

I thought this was just as good as the opener, though it wasn’t exactly the same, in terms of the style. This bout featured very solid action throughout, but there were more power spots involved. Of course, that shouldn’t come as much of a surprise, since the match featured Jeff Cobb. He tossed Martin Stone around a couple of times with suplexes and such, but Stone wasn’t going to go down that easily. He fought back hard, and used his speed advantage to fight back. They went back and forth, but eventually, Stone was able to hit his finisher, London Bridge, to secure the win. Once again, this was a very good match.

Afterwards, Stone raised Cobb’s hand.

Up next, Lord Gideon Grey makes his way out to the ring. For those who don’t know, he has an aristocratic gimmick, but here, he’s seemingly in a catatonic state. He took the mic and said that since Swoggle (aka Hornswoggle from WWE) brought Colt Cabana back into his life (Cabana had a feud with Grey a few years ago), everything had gone wrong. People were starting to take him more seriously, but then everything went off the rails, and they turned him back into a joke. Grey then claims that he’s “midget hunting” tonight, and calls out Swoggle for a match.

3.) Lord Gideon Grey vs. Swogge: N/R

At one point, I believe commentary said that Grey was “mentally degenerating” due to all of this Swoggle stuff. This only lasted two minutes or so. Swoggle bit Grey’s ass, and then got the referee to bite Grey’s ass. Swoggle hit a number of German Suplexes, which garnered a “Suplex Village” chant. Then, Grey finally turned the tide, as he hit his finisher, Fifty Shades of Grey, for the win. Again, there wasn’t much too this. It was basically a comedy segment.

4.) "The Villain" Marty Scurll vs. Ricochet: ****1/4

Scurll got a massive reaction from the crowd when he made his entrance. This was definitely the best match on the card. There was some comedy early, but it got more serious as the match progressed. These two had some great exchanges, and there were plenty of exciting moments. Even though there really weren’t any issues or stakes behind this one (it was basically an exhibition match), it was still an awesome match. In particular, the closing stages were very strong. Ultimately, Scurll caught Ricochet in the crossface chickenwing to score the submission victory. It wasn’t the best match during this big weekend in Orlando, but it was a ton of fun to watch. When you have two guys like Ricochet and Marty Scurll, who are both awesome in-ring wrestlers along with being charisma machines, you know it’s going to be great.

After the match, Scurll took the mic. Regarding Ricochet, Scurll said that they’ve wrestled each other all over the world, and every time they’ve met, it’s been magic. He said that matches and crowds like this are why he loves pro-wrestling. Scurll said he’s seen companies like RPW grow immensely, and it makes him love wrestling even more. He said he’d be in for a rematch with Ricochet any time. Scurll then mentions Kris Travis, saying that he missed him, and that he thinks about him all the time, before nothing that this was all for him. Ricochet took the mic, and mentioned the hospitality RevPro have given him ever since he started wrestling for them. He loves wrestling guys like Scurll, and thanked the fans for coming out to the show. Ricochet doesn’t know where their different paths will lead them, but then tells the crowd to make sure that they come to their merch tables during intermission.

5.) Josh Bodom vs. David Starr: ***1/2

Before the match began, Bodom took the mic and does his own introduction. At this time, Bodom was the interim RevPro British Cruiserweight Champion, since Will Ospreay (the actual champion at the time) wasn’t able to be on every RevPro event due to his commitments with New Japan. Bodom said that Ospreay isn’t the true champion, and added that if Ospreay isn’t putting his title on the line, he isn’t putting his interim title on the line either. As a whole, this was another really good match. I’d say it was on par with the first two bouts on this card. Bodom is someone I’ve heard a lot of good things about, and he’s certainly got a ton of talent. On the other side, David Starr is a guy that has really improved over the last few years, especially since he started working regularly in Europe (mainly wXw). There was some very good action throughout this one, but we did get some shenanigans. At one point the referee got knocked down, which gave Bodom the opportunity to hit Starr with a low blow. He then got some metal object from underneath the ring, and went to use it, but the referee (who had recovered at this point) took it away. Fortunately, those shenanigans didn’t impact the finish, as they went at it for a few more minutes. Eventually, Bodom hits the Bliss Buster to pick up the win.

6.) Fenix vs. RevPro British Cruiserweight Champion Will Ospreay: ****

If this isn’t a dream match, then I don’t know what is. Now this wasn’t quite as awesome as Ricochet/Scurll from earlier, and the crowd didn’t seem to be that into it at points, but it was still a great bout as a whole. There was a botched spot involving an reverse rana from Fenix, and that did hurt the match a little bit. Fortunately, the rest of action (in my view) made up for it. This had a ton of “movez and flipz” for roughly twelve minutes, which is exactly what you would’ve expected from this one. I’m sure if they did the match again, it would be even better, but for what I was, I really enjoyed it. Ospreay would get victory after hitting Fenix with the OsCutter.

7.) Ryan Smile & Shane Strickland vs. The Unbreakable F’N Machines (Brian Cage & “Unbreakable” Michael Elgin): ***1/2

In this tag team encounter, Brian Cage & Michael Elgin reformed their PWG team to take on the high-flying duo of Ryan Smile & Shane Strickland. As a whole, I enjoyed this match, but it wasn’t without its issues. Of course, there was some really fun action throughout, as one would expect in a tag team bout involving these four. We even got some funny moments, including Elgin doing the worm. The main issues with this match, however, involved some of what we saw in the final few minutes. There were points where Cage & Elgin were DESTROYING Smile with a number of devastating tag team maneuvers, but Smile kept kicking out. I’m ok with someone getting one big kick out spot, but Smile kicked out so many times from so many big moves. It got to the point where it was just unbelievable. To make matters worse, Smile then won the match for his team seemingly out of nowhere. Some in the crowd booed that result. I get wanting to put over the guy who’s a regular with the promotion, but the way they went about it just didn’t work. Aside from that, and a number of noticeable botches (mainly between Cage and Smile), I still thought this was a relatively entertaining match. It could’ve been a lot better, given who was involved, if it didn’t have those issues.

8.) RevPro Undisputed British Heavyweight Title - Zack Sabre Jr. vs. Pentagon Jr.: ****

I believe the only time these two had met in the past was during the 2015 Battle Of Los Angeles tournament in PWG (a match which Zack Sabre Jr. won). Also, I know that he’s called a variety of different names, due to his dispute with AAA when he left, but I’m still going to call him Pentagon Jr., for the purposes of my reviews. Similar to Fenix vs. Will Ospreay, this wasn’t quite as good as it could’ve been, but it was still a great main event. Just seeing these two interact was just so much fun, and they plenty of entertaining exchanges. The wrestling was really strong from start to finish, and seeing their characters go back and forth verbally was so cool to watch. We even got some crazy sequences. At one point, Zack Sabre Jr. stole Pentagon Jr.’s package piledriver, and Pentagon Jr. responded by giving him one on the apron. In the end, Zack Sabre Jr. managed to score the victory over Pentagon Jr. via submission. Again, this was so much fun to watch. It wasn’t the greatest match of the weekend, but I had a blast watching it.

Overall: 8.25/10

Much like PROGRESS earlier that day, this was the United States debut for RevPro, and while their show wasn’t quite as good as the PROGRESS show, it was still and extremely entertaining card from beginning to end. Ricochet vs. Marty Scurll had an incredible encounter that was easily the best match on the show. Fenix vs. Will Ospreay and Zack Sabre Jr. vs. Pentagon Jr. were both pretty great as well. Then, aside from the nonsense with Lord Gideon Grey, the rest of the undercard featured some really solid matches. A couple of the matches had some issues, but as a whole, this was a strong showing from RevPro. It wasn’t the best show on ‘Mania Weekend in Orlando, but there’s no doubt that it was one of the most consistent for sure.