Weekend Rules and other wrestling fun.

Just to let anyone know I reserve the rights to not post match analysis on the weekends. It's not guaranteeing that I won't review anything, but I can get a little busy. I'll have something new by Tuesday at the latest.

If you want something interesting to read, The Wrestling Observer has a great article on Sonny Fargo. I'm sure you don't know who he is, but his story is one of the reasons that I like reading about wrestling almost as much as I like watching wrestling. You can subscribe at http://www.f4wonline.com.

There's also some good audio at Pwtorch.com. I'm sure the Bruce Mitchell Audio update is as informative as always. Sean Radican and Derek Burgan also do a great audio show which gives the best ROH analysis on the net. The good thing about their audio show is that ROH is the focus of the show, not a small portion.

Have a great Labor Day, and keep checking back for the next match. I have decided I will review a match by new competitors in my dvd collection each time, and then I will start reviewing other matches. Unfortunately for me, that means no more Shawn Michaels, Bret Hart, or Nigel McGuiness matches until everyone else has had their turn. I think we'll get a better variety of styles that way. Anyway, take it easy, and have a good weekend.

Chris Jericho vs. Triple H 04.17.00

Where: State College, PA

Back story:

Chris Jericho who had only been in the company for 6 months was getting over and the company waned to have him interact with the top tier guys a bit. Jericho had been harassing Triple H's wife, Stephanie McMahon-Helmsley for a couple of weeks and the heel Triple H is defending his wife's honor in a non-title match. Jericho goads Triple H into making it a title match by making fun of his wife some more. After Hunter agrees, Jericho brings out his insurance policy the APA.

In Ring Action:

Hunter starts by charging Jericho, but he ducks and runs the ropes to hit a flying forearm. Jericho is really into this match as he realizes this is a great opportunity to him. Jericho back body drops a charging Hunter to the floor. When Jericho misses a baseball slide, Triple H takes him down with a punch.

I've always been confused why Triple H feels the need to have an excellent physique when he hardly does any power moves. The pedigree doesn't take any strength, and the rest of his offense consists of brawling and some mat wrestling. It's not like he is doing anything now that he wasn't doing in 1996 when he was a lot trimmer and quicker.

As Triple H is getting back in the ring Jericho his him with a top rope springboard dropkick which Jericho had slowly downgraded to a second rope springboard over the years. A bit of miscommunication as Jericho runs the ropes and they both go for a punch. Not a big deal, and they covered for it well.

Triple H drapes Jericho over the apron and drives some elbows into his throat. Triple H's heel act was great and poor in the ring in some respects. He keeps all of his moves basic where they look effective, yet are not too flashy. His major detriment is that he rarely comes off as weak to his face opponents.

Outside the ring Jericho throws Triple H's head onto the table after Hunter was blocked on his attempt. Then the camera picks up Hunter tapping his knee to tell Jericho to run into a kick while he was resting on the barricade. This isn't a big deal to me as I know wrestlers need to communicate somehow, but it's always fun to catch.

Triple H then throws Jericho into the steel ring steps, and then Stephanie McMahon points down to him and taunts him. She was very effective in her role and whiny wife because she was so unlikeable, that while Triple H was having these 4 star matches, you couldn't help but hate his wife. Any good will that Triple H built with the women hating wrestling fans is ruined when he blows his wife a kiss right before delivering a knee-drop to Jericho.

After the knee, Jericho is bleeding from the mouth to build up sympathy which works and he punches away for his first hope spot of the match. Triple H ends it with a clothesline. If you're not aware a hope spot is a portion of the match in which the babyface in peril gives hope that he is making a comeback which is quickly ended by the heel. Doing this once or twice before the real comeback gets the crowd to have more sympathy to the babyface that is taking damage.l

Jericho then gets more hope as he does a top rope armdrag when Triple H is going for an offensive move. Jericho also hits a second rope missile dropkick for a near two-count. You know your comeback is going well when the crowd is into a pinfall attempt after a mid-match maneuver. After Triple H gains advantage and goes for a pedigree Jericho reverses for a Walls of Jericho attempt. It fails, but after Triple H accidentally knocks out the referee Jericho hit a bulldog.

Jericho then goes to the top, but Shane McMahon (a heel) trips him up, and the APA do their job and chase Shane off. Stephanie then throws the WWF titles int he ring for Triple H to use. Jericho gets it first and hits Hunter over the head with it for a nearfall that is counted the new referee Earl Hebner. Hebner has an issue with Hunter since he's been beaten up several times since Triple H came into power.

Triple H and Hebner get into an argument and Hunter shoves him down. Seeing the distraction, Jericho hits a spinning heel kick, and a Lionsault for a 3 count and the WWE Championship.

Winner by pinfall for the WWF Championship: Chris Jericho in 8:37. ****

Unfortunately after the match Triple H, Stephanie, and Shane threaten Earl Hebner and get him to admit that the count was faster than normal. It's true. If you've ever seen Earl Hebner count to three, he does it slow and deliberate. This time was more normal. Hebner reverses the decision with the understanding that he'll never be attacked again while he works there. He is then fired and given a pedigree. This was a great way to built heat for Hunter as a corrupt champion that will do whatever he can to keep his top spot.

I thought this was a great match at the time, and was really ready for the underdog Jericho to have a title reign. It's kind of crazy that he was in the company less than a year but already he had built up a following that believed in him. People say he's overrated, but there's no denying that he is a top guy in wrestling history and will always be remembered.

John Cena vs. Kurt Angle 06.27.02

Where: Chicago, IL

Back Story: Kurt Angle had been doing the Angle challenge for a few months now as a way to build heat on him. He would let a random guy challenge him to a match, and if they won, they got his gold medals. Out comes a newcomer named John Cena who claims he can beat Kurt because he has ruthless aggression.

By the way, anyone who needs a first match in the company to make themselves look halfway competent would be thrilled to have someone as talented and generous as Kurt Angle. There are other talented guys out there, but they may not make the other guy look good. It's a gift and curse because if Angle no sold a lot of his opponents he might have gained more power as a draw. It's the old prisoners dilemma. If we all work together we can gain profits, if we are all corrupt we get a smaller profit, but if most of us work together, and a few of us are corrupt, then the few will gain more profit that everyone else.

In Ring Action:

Cena starts with a quick punch to take advantage, then mounts him with punches, and throws him out of the ring. Some more punches follow, and Cena throws him back in the ring. So far Cena hasn't done much in the ring as far as wrestling or bump taking, but he shows good fire and intensity.

Cena goes for his first complex move as he does a Stinger Splash but doesn't have perfect timing as he hesitates before he jumps and thus looks a little weak on impact. Angle gets the advantage and goes for the ankle lock, but Cena reverses in slow motion. It can be expected when a guy's first match is as high profile as fighting Kurt Angle, but you can see the potential underneath his low impact moves.

Kurt comes back and hits two german suplex, both of which look painful and crisp. On the third attempt, Cena reverses for a rollup, and once again it looks like Kurt is waiting for him to do the move. Kurt goes back on offense, and wears him down with a front facelock which Cena reverses with a backdrop. This one looked a little better.

Cena begins his babyface comeback and comes back with a flying forearm. I notice Cena's wrestling moves are his biggest problem because his strikes look more than acceptable in this match. Cena comes back with a nice variation on the spinebuster for a 2 count, and the crowd is behind Cena here. Cena sells that he thought he had the victory. I usually find that to be cliche, but with Cena being the young babyface, I think it's a logical emotion for him to feel after using a nice transition move.

Cena then reverses the Angle Slam into a DDT which gets a near two. Instead of being in disbelief Cena goes right back for the cover. This is normally a heel move, but once again Cena is the rookie, and is so desperate for the win that seems to be at his fingertips.

Cena then goes for a series of leverage pin attempts once again showing that he smells that he's a lucky break away from victory. He goes for a school boy and a small package for near pinfalls. He then hits a powerslam and tries to pin him twice.

Kurt then finishes him off by going for a variation of the cattle mutilation into a quick pinfall.

Winner by pinfall: Kurt Angle in 5:38 **1/4

After the match Cena tries to shake Kurt Angle's hand, but Kurt doesn't think he deserves it. It kind of makes Cena look like a dork while he motions that he was very close to beating him. Kurt nearly comes back to the ring to fight Cena some more, but then decides better of it and heads backstage.

It started a little slow, but Kurt carried Cena to a good opening match. You could Cena feed off the crowd and become a little more in the zone as the match continued. Of course Cena would go on to big things, and you could see his potential. Still he was very green, and needed a good opponent to carry him.

Takeshi Morishima/Bryan Danielson vs. Nigel McGuiness/Kenta 05.12.07

Where: New York, NY

Back Story:

This was actually the first ROH show I attended live which happened to be their first PPV. Bryan Danielson is just returning from a 5 month absence for this show, and Takeshi Morishma has established himself as the top dog in the company by winning the ROH World Title. Nigel McGuiness is a veteran of the company and I believe he brought Morishma in the storyline. The match is set up earlier in the match when Nigel confronts Morishima in the ring and asks for a match. Danielson comes back, announces his return, and reminds the crowd that he had the title for 15 months, so he deserves a title shot. Later they brawl, and Kenta from Noah comes out to save McGuiness from a beat down at the hands of Morishma and Danielson. Later the tag match is announced as the main event.

In Ring Action:

Match starts off with Danielson vs. Kenta. Some good mat wrestling to start which is expected. A test of strength which Kenta wins with leverage, but after a few failed attempts to capitalize, Danielson reverses into a monkey flip. I hear Kenta is a big star in Japan which is great because he doesn't have a great physique, and I hate to think that keeps talent down in Japan as it does in the US.

Nigel McGuiness and Morishma both tag in, and I have to be honest, this was my first time seeing McGuiness' work, or even seeing what he looks like. He plays a British stereotype, but not the William Regal snob, but the British Oi! rocker. I was very curious about him because Wade Keller from the PWTorch mentioned that he has a style where he doesn't have to take a lot of bumps to have a good match. I'm all for wrestlers dazzling me with as little physical pain on their bodies as possible, so I was really hoping he could impress.

Morishma takes control with a shoulder block after Nigel runs the ropes. Morishma and Danielson are utilizing quick tags, and Danielson and McGuiness go back at it with Danielson taking control with some mat submissions moves. McGuiness gets control, but Morishma distracts which allows Danielson to hit a flying european uppercut. Good heel move. Morishma and Danielson start double-teaming so Kenta comes in and uses his superior speed to take Morishma down with a running kick to the face. After Danielson takes Kenta down, all four men are standing in the ring at a stalemate. The crowd applauds as they've taken turns showing their offense, but no one has taken a substantial advantage in the first 8 minutes of action.


After more action, Nigel finds himself in trouble, and Danielson gets a painful looking variation of the dragon sleeper on Nigel. There is no way Nigel could reverse the hold, but he is able to roll over into a pinning attempt which makes Danielson realease.

While the opening action is good, there doesn't seem to be a real story to follow here. ROH matches tend to run long, so maybe we're just still in a very long opening portion of the match. Danielson and Morishma has been working very well together putting a hurting on McGuiness. Kenta could do well to show more emotion as he's just standing in the corner with very little emotion being shown. Nigel eventually gains momentum dodging a turnbuckle charge and hitting his signature kick to the back/clothesline spot which I've always liked. He them hits his rebound lariat on Morishma who was trying to make the save. McGuiness uses a ton of clotheslines, but they're done in such variation, and in the most opportune moments where they never get stale.

Kenta tags in, and uses some of his great high flying including a springboard drop kick and a kick back leg kick. Danielson takes over by hitting a great back breaker. Morishma tags in and does a cartwheel into a clothesline which is amazing by someone of his size. He also does it in a way that makes it look like he is getting more impact due to the the cartwheel. Then he tops that with a missile dropkick which is crazy, and probably not healthy for a man of his size. Morishma then hits a wicked side slam, and it's becoming apparent that Morishma is being positioned as he killer of this company.

Morishma later goes for another missile dropkick on McGuiness but he rolls back and comes back for a huge lariat. Morishma then tries his cartwheel, but Nigel already has it scouted and lariats him down again. Nigel then later his Tower of London finisher, but it too fatigued to cover.

There's too much action to call, but everyone is hitting their big spots including Nigel diving from the top rope to the stands on Morishma. Kenta hits his Go 2 Sleep on Danielson, but Morishma saves. Danielson hits the diving headbutt on Kenta.

The finish comes when Danielson reverses a second Go 2 Sleep into his finisher the Cattle Mutilation.

Winners: Bryan Danielson and Takeshi Morishma by submission in 24:43 ***3/4

Afterwards, Danielson grabs the belt and puts it on his shoulder which prompts Morishma to give him a backdrop driver. Nigel then picks it up and puts it on Morishma's shoulder, but apparently Morishma doesn't care, and clotheslines him down. Great finish to show that Morishma doesn't need any allies.

Great action that really picked up after the 15 minute mark. There were great moves being used by all guys. While Morishma is the champion, there were good sub-stories with McGuiness vs. Danielson, and Kenta really stood out as a great worker. I really would like to see him in a singles match to see if he can put together a compelling story. Overall, it's not a WWE style match in which they are telling a story and going for the emotional high. It was 4 guys fighting their hearts out to try to win a match. It may not be every one's cup of tea, but I definitely like it

The Hart Foundation vs. The Rockers 04.28.90

Where: Austin, TX
Back Story:
This was in April of 1990 as the WWF was promoting the Hart Foundation vs. Demolition. The Rockers were the company's resident pretty boys, but had tones of talent and unique offense. I actually remember seeing this match during it's original broadcast, and was very excited since i was a rarity that there was a face vs. face matchup with the first one being Hogan vs. Warrior from Wrestlemania VI earlier in the year.

While history dictates that the Rockers were this great team, I do very much remember that liking them in my school was just as bad as liking Hulk Hogan. It was the ultimate sign that you were a loser, and possibly a little attracted to men. I played along with the hatred, but I secretly admitted that they had some great moves. I even tried to bring it up in conversation when we talked about the Rockers, but when the room got quiet, I realized it wasn't time yet to admit that I thought they were good.


Anyway, there was really no storyline for this match, but I suspect it was put on just because there's a portion of their audience that needs to see a good match once in a while or they'll lose interest. Of course, they don't use that mentality all the time because as Dave Meltzer has hinted, wrestling is about giving the crowd a little bit of a high which keeps them coming back hoping for complete satisfaction.

By the way, Vince McMahon sounds like he's doing commentary solo, but they just edited out Jesse Ventura who has the audacity to demand that he gets paid royalties like every other entertainer. I swear the WWE should just have a tour bus that takes wrestlers from arena to hotel to arena so they these guys never get a sniff at what the rest of the entertainment world gets. Stacy Keibler, Goldberg, and The Rock did, and we haven't heard from them since.

In Ring Action:

Bret Hart and Marty Janetty start off which a collar and elbow into a headlock on Hart. Hart reverses Janetty into the ropes for a nice series of high speed reversals leading up to a Hart hiptoss. As Hart goes into attack Jannetty kicks him off from the prone position. Just these 15 seconds were pretty much far and away from anything else that was on in the WWE and I could tell even back then. Besides Battle Kat and the Blue Blazer, the WWE had no flyers or high speed workers during this time.

Marty takes advantage and tags in Shawn Michaels who gets a crossbody of the top reversed by Hart. The Rockers take advantage again and do some of their signature tandem tag offense, or just blatant double-teaming. The kid in me who thought wrestling was real, thought that it was a little heelish to pretty much cheat and stay in the ring for 30 seconds to do their double-team moves. The stuff looked great, but the WWF faces rarely broke any rules like that otherwise. After a few maneuvers by The Rockers, Jim Neidhart decides he's had enough and takes them both down with a clothesline. That was an impressive move. It had good impact and showed that among the lighter technical workers that Neidhart was a powerhouse and could turn the tide with some instant offense.

On a side note, Jim Neidhart was practically worthless as a singles star, but he was such an integral part of the Hart Foundation. He can't put together a one-on-one match, but in a tag team he can come in for 2 minutes and exhibit his athleticism, strength, and character, then tag out to Hart who was a better technician, and seller. Neidhart was also a very charismatic talker.

Back in the ring, Anvil throws a heavy shoulder block which Janetty sells like the Rock taking a Stone Cold Stunner. After another exchange Janetty uses his quickness to get a drop toehold and advantage on the Anvil. After a tag to Michaels, the Anvil shows off that he's the big man in the match and laughs off Shawn Michaels trying a bodyslam, but Shawn slides out of the Anvil's attempt and hits a high drop kick. That was a good spot because even though one could say that the Anvil laughing at Shawn Michaels bodyslam attempt made Shawn look weak, Shawn got his respect back by showing his quickness and hitting a dropkick. Very solid.

After another sequence of events the Anvil catches Shawn going for a crossbody block and hits his bodyslam that he waned earlier. Bret tags in and gains advantage after an inverted atomic drop. Then after Jim Neidhart tags in Shawn gets the advantage for a brief second before Bret kicks Shawn in the back from the outside. I kind of like this move because the Hart Foundation were heels for so long from 1984 until 1988, and I always hated that once you became a heel you ALWAYS cheated, or once you became a face, you were so virtuous. Hart was a face, but his character feels compelled to bend the rules a little bit when the time is right.

Michaels is in trouble after taking a lot of offense from Niedhart and the Hitman in their corner. Shawn's selling and bumping were just as good then as they are now. I guess they decided that The Rockers would get the standard tag position of being the faces in peril since Shawn Michaels is one of the best sellers in wrestling history. The Rockers are also smaller, so it makes since by WWE logic to have them get beat up by the bigger opponents. It's not just that it's Vince McMahon's way of seeing things, but the fans would build up more sympathy to little Shawn Michaels than they would to a big bully like Jim Neidhart.

After a sunset flip by Shawn Michaels gets a near two, Demolition comes to ringside to scout out their opponents. Bret gets distracted by Demolition, and Shawn Michaels takes advantage by drop kicking Bret out of the ring. Demolition in a heelish move try to act like they're helping Bret up, but Hart is having none of it.

After the commercial Bret comes back to the ring and takes control of Michaels again. After some more offense Shawn finally makes his comeback by dodging an elbow drop by Bret from the second rope. Shawn has been doing a great job in his role because the crowd is really hot for him making the tag to Janetty.

Janetty gets the hot tag, and it's his turn to shine. He hits a reverse flying elbow on Bret as well as a powerslam. Janetty his sweet chin music before it had that name for a near two count. After a few more moves Bret breaks his momentum by hitting a neck breaker. Bret tags in Neidhart and tries to hit his slingshot slam over the top rope but Janetty moves out of the way.

Shawn tags back in, and the Anvil hits another hard flying shoulder block which Shawn sells really hard. Shawn comes back with a reverse cross body block off the second rope which the Anvil kicks out of sending Michaels to the floor. Demolition offering the same courtesy they gave Bret Hart, try to help Michaels up, and once again, there is no appreciation of this. Janetty gets involved in it breaks up into a 6-way brawl and the ref throws the match out.

Winner: No Contest @ 9:16 **** 1/4

Afterwards both teams brawl, and I believe the Legion of Doom later make an appearance to send Demolition running. By the way, I love how they continually ring the bell as if that helps. Do they still do that when there is post match fighting?

Anyway, I really loved that match then as much as I love it now. Just state of the art offense with a good story of The Anvil being the powerhouse, and Shawn Michaels doing a bang up job of selling his beating. History always sounds better than it was as I thought this match was 20 minutes when I first saw it. Also, for as much love as these two teams get they were mid carders at best during this time, and if you read Bret Hart's autobiography you will remember that they weren't featured players in the booking. They were just the guys you sent out there when you needed good wrestling to mask the rest of the roster. Mission accomplished.

Colt Cabana vs. CM Punk 12.07.02

Where: Philadelphia, PA
Back story:

CM Punk and Colt Cabana both came from Chicago around the same time, yet CM Punk made his ROH debut first. At Unscripted, Cabana comes out and complains that they are on equal levels yet Punk is getting booked by ROH and Colt is not.

In-Ring Action: They start with a collar and elbow tie up. They go back and forth for a little bit with some solid but typical opening match tie ups and reversals. The announcers talk about ow Colt and Punk drove together for 13 hours from Chicago to compete in this match. There is a minor blown spot on a monkey flip attempt by Colt Cabana and he misses landing on his feet as he planned. I'm okay with blown spots as I feel that no blown spots make a match feel a little too choreographed. Once again, it was very minor.

Punk and Colt reverse some complex arm drag spots against each other. Once again, not to be negative, but Colt is moving a little slow. It's expected since even back then, doing an ROH show was a big deal since they could provide semi-regular work. I feel Colt decided to be solid and safe as opposed to a riskier high impact style. Probably a smart move since he's not established enough to have bad matches.

Punk eventually takes advantage out of a test of strength into a hurricanrana. Punk then does a ropewalk around the ring into an arm guillotine over the top rope. Punk then works over the arm with a falling armbreaker and a springboard senton onto the arm. Unfortunately after working over the arm with some nice moves Punk abandons that strategy.

Unlike Punk, Colt has built up a solid offense that focuses on Punk's back. He hits a frogsplash to Punk's back, a slingshot snap suplex, and some other good moves. Colt eventually gains an advantage and clotheslines Punk over the top rope. Colt then follows with a pretty slow looking springboard moonsault to the outside. Colt is a big guy and a great athlete, but I don't think high flying is his thing. Technically it is done right, but there is a certain type of explosion that his high flying doesn't have.

Punk's high flying does look a lot cleaner as he hits a nice reverse crossbody off the top and then hits one of his signature moves, The Pepsi Plunge for a two count. I think it used to be his finisher, and while a nice mid-match move, the Go 2 Sleep is far superior. Punk then goes to another crossbody that is caught by Cabana into a bearhug and then a very nice fisherman ddt type maneuver. After a super stiff clothesline by Cabana the crowd starts to get into it. Punk is selling having back pain but while Colt is setting up Punk for another move Punk reverses for a cool reverse hurricanrana.

Punk later hits a shining wizard for a near fall, and we can see we're reaching the go home point in the match. Colt later regains the advantage after Punk makes the mistake of putting his head down after an Irish whip and Colt hits him with a forearm. By the way, I used to hate this spot when I was younger and thought it was real because you have these veteran wrestlers who are great talents and they make this same basic mistake every match. It works for Punk because he is young, but I have always found that spot to be silly.

Colt then sets Cabana up for his finisher and yells out , "Colt 45!" I thought this was a smart move because most of the crowd has never seen Cabana, so they wouldn't know his finisher when he hit it and wouldn't react. By Colt calling it out beforehand the crowd knows that whatever he is trying to do now is of importance. After 2 reversals by Punk Colt hits it for the three count.


Winner: Colt Cabana by pinfall in 12:28. **1/4

After the match they shake hands, but Gary Michael Capetta comes out and says that at the 12/28/02 show, Colt and Punk will have another match where the winner gets a full ROH contract and will be flown to the shows while the loser will still have to make the 13 hour drive from Chicago. Punk says that if he wins he'll trade in his plane ticket for cash, and he and Colt can split it and drive together. The crowd applauds, but Colt says he wont do the same because he hates flying. Very funny. Colt establishes himself as a heel here, even though I'm sure many people in his position would do the same. Remember, a true heel feels justified in his actions, and Colt is justified in wanting to compete or a better mode of transport. It's Colts attitude and the way he acts like he's too good to drive with Punk that gets his heat. Great psychology by ROH to mention the driving together during the match and how tiring it is being in the car that long.

All in all, the match was good, but I can tell that Punk and Colt were probably just redoing a match that they did another time in another indy fed. It was solid, but the opening minutes weren't that impressive. The ending really picked up, and over time both men would show that they were working hard on improving as both now work for the WWE. Colt Cabana is Scotti Goldman on Smackdown, and CM Punk is the World Champion.


As always, any comments and suggestions are greatly appreciated. Reviewing matches isn't easy, but it's fun putting my opinion out there.

Welcome to the Match of the Day

Some groundrules:

1. Everything is open for change.
2. I don't know wrestling, I just have an opinion.
3. If I am fortunate to have any wrestlers read my analysis, thank you, but do not get offended. I intend to be respectful of the craft, yet I will call it as I personally see it.
4. I love feedback
5. All reviews are from Dvds I own. If you really want me to review something that I do not own, please tell me where to get it, or send me a copy if you are desperate.
6. Please let me know any factual errors that I may have made. I'm only human.