Liam Byrne @tvtimelimit
My biggest issue this week has been a laptop that has sounded like it is on its way out and deciding not to stay on for more than twenty minutes at a time due to the heat. However, having taken my laptop into work and handed it to the tech guys, they sorted out the internal dust and crap that was screwing up the fan, finally allowing me some actual opportunities to watch wrestling. Luckily, this coincided with wXw putting out their first Unreleased show. As a fan of the promotion from the start of this year, the chance to see Jurn Simmons, Ivan Kiev, Lucky Kid and Timothy Thatcher in action from the previous year was cool, whilst a rematch of Marius Al-Ani and Killer Kelly taking on Melanie Gray and Absolute Andy.
With live wrestling not always the biggest feature of my wrestling fandom, I was glad I eventually decided to buy a ticket to Riptide’s ‘International Waters’ shows. What looked like a packed card on paper really delivered in all reality, even with the heat causing a few hairier moments when it came to various high spots – it is hard to throw a sweaty body around. The match of the night was easily WALTER versus Speedball Mike Bailey. I’m an unashamed WALTER fan and my mileage on Bailey is better than some, but the two men just beat seven bells out of each other, including Bailey landing the moonsault knees on the outside about three feet from where I was standing. Post-match, I congratulated both men, whilst also getting an up close look at the welt on Bailey’s face from where WALTER decided to block a shooting star press with a chop. Ouch!
Though there are some who aren’t a big fan of WALTER and what could be considered samey offense that tends to focus on his chops, his legitimacy and the way he is often booked like a monster makes it really work when wrestlers are able to take the fight to him. He has a caché that very few other wrestlers do, which gives the wrestlers he fights the rub when they are able to chop him down to size. Bailey didn’t win the contest in the end on Friday, but in almost defeating WALTER, his stock has definitely risen. Following a barnstormer against Travis Banks from Riptide before, Bailey is delivering every time I see him step into the ring live, or if you include his run in wXw earlier in the year, pretty much every time I see him in general.
I’d be remiss not to mention Hiromu Takahashi and the broken neck he suffered in a match against Dragon Lee from the G1 Special. The move never looked quite like it was going to work, but with Takahashi able to finish the match, my hope is that the break is not serious. People have worried about the safety of wrestlers like Takahashi and Lee, but whether this leads to some of the more dangerous-to-self-and-others wrestlers reeling in their offense in the long run is probably unlikely.
Whatever your thoughts on Brock Lesnar turning up at the UFC show and getting into a shoving match with Daniel Cormier, it is hard not to feel good for Cormier; not only for his victory, but how much fun he was having in the pretty much worked post-match altercation.
Mike Grindle @MikeGrindle
I came to the realisation this week that with the G1 Climax right around the corner, I’ll probably never get round to watching any wrestling I don’t catch up with within the next couple of weeks. I’m not mad enough (well maybe I am, but I certainly don’t have the time.) to try and watch every full card, but as any New Japan fan knows, trying to keep up with the tournament matches alone is an all consuming task.
My priority was to watch the recent AJPW tour, only to find that their on demand service was having major issues with new subscribers. Essentially people are being billed for subscribing to the service, but not actually gaining access to any of the footage. It’s nothing malicious on their part, but likely a small fault that hasn’t been picked up on due to the language barrier (as far as I can tell, it’s only international fans who are being effected by this). This is a real shame both for them and their fans, as the promotion is just starting to gain some real momentum on the international scene.
I did manage to catch up with some NOAH, where the ongoing generational feud continued with Kenoh failing to win back the GHC championship against Suguira. Kenoh is arguably NOAH’s answer to NJPW’s Okada or AJPW’s Miyahara, so him taking a second straight loss to Suguira is surprising. Suguira is great, but he’s hardly the man who’s going to lead NOAH into the future (he’s 48) so hopefully NOAH actually has a plan with this dominant run on top he’s had.
I also caught up with few other Japanese and U.K. indies, as well as finding out what all the fuss was about over in Mexico with the La parka vs Rush feud. Did I catch up with everything I wanted? Of course not. Even with no AJPW and the fact that I only watch the odd takeover when it comes to WWE, there is just too much good wrestling out there right now.
Ciaran James @TheCiaranJames
Well a relatively quiet week for me as far as wrestling is concerned, the highlight(s) for me was the Wade Keller podcast on Friday with Cody Rhodes and the Uso’s vs Team Hell No main event on SDLive, plus Johnny Gargano’s exceptional performance on NXT.
The return of Kane has heralded the comeback of Team Hell No, although not long ago it has a great nostalgia feel about it. Kane and Daniel make a great double act, there back and forth is very entertaining. Their opponents this week are arguably WWE’s greatest team the Uso’s, they cut a great promo to open the show and the ended the show with top quality match. This exhibited again how criminally under used the Uso’s are by WWE, their whole act is polished and their in ring offering is exceptional. The Uso’s will always stay loyal but one can only imagine the massive potential outside of WWE, the possibilities in ROH and NJPW are endless.
The transformation of Johnny Gargano from Anakin Skywalker to Darth Vader is beginning to take place. The disjointed promo and performance against EC3 was enthralling to watch, his dissension into hell is going to be fascinating. Only can only conclude that this will lead to the final confrontation between Gargano and Ciampa at TakeOver Brooklyn. The story they’ve told here has been exceptional, Johnny turning into what he hates and adapting a new finisher and attitude is wrestling at its finest.
The release of the World of Sport roster has also caught my eye, in 2016 I cringed at the way WOS was portraying their talent. But now with the announcement of some top UK names, the promotion looks to be setting to rival WWE as far as talent goes. The next few months should be very interesting, let’s just hope WOS can adapt a similar booking style to NXT and be a competitive alternative. That is unless WWE sign everyone!
Another highlight this week was the Wade Keller Friday interview with Cody Rhodes, they discussed WWE, NJPW, Cody’s career and All In. Definitely worth listening to if you find the time.
