Liam Byrne @tvtimelimit
With a busy week at work and with various extra-curricular activities as well, I was a little bit limited in my ability to watch much wrestling this week. However, I was able to add a couple of reviews to my ongoing 1984 project, with the most notable one showing the fallout from Chris Adams’ heel turn that I mentioned the previous week. It was a much simpler time back then, but by just having every person interviewed or spoken to giving their opinion on what Adams did made it seem incredibly significant. Sure, wrestlers like Dusty Rhodes would overuse this type of promotion when the booker for JCP, but when done sporadically, it really worked.
Another show I saw was from Florida – I urge anyone who hasn’t seen it to dig out some Kevin Sullivan from his time in Florida. Though it is dated (and having watched too much of it in quick succession, somewhat tedious in the long run), Sullivan in his ‘devil worshipping’ gimmick was so far away from what pretty much every other promotion was doing during this time period. Having entered into a feud with Superstar Billy Graham during the autumn of 84, I can only imagine how awful those matches were, but the interviews were definitely eye opening.
Focusing on more modern mat antics, the gap in marquee events for wXw has led to some really good episodes of Shotgun as they have put bigger matches on their weekly show to compensate. A Monster Consulting vs RISE vs JayFK match was notable due to the ongoing issues surrounding the wXw World Tag Team Titles; next week’s show and its two tag matches (WALTER and Ilja Dragunov versus Alexander James and Absolute Andy; Melanie Gray and LuFisto versus Killer Kelly and Toni Storm) promise to be even bigger. I can’t wait.
My interest in WWE isn’t what it used to be, so my watching of NXT was with the caveat of it being on in the background whilst I resourced for lessons for Monday at work. I was drawn in to the opening tag match, whilst I did stop everything to watch the main event. Having not really known where they were going to go with the Gargano/Ciampa feud, I really enjoyed the match. I’ve seen some people knock the finish, but I liked it – Gargano sunk to the level of Ciampa, had the match won, but his anger and hubris saw him lose a match he should have been victorious in.
Ciaran James @TheCiaranJames
This week I again skipped RAW & SDLive, thankfully that meant less cynical comments from myself on social media (haha) I did however keep up with the weekly episodes of the old school production that is NXT. With their continued slow build, old school interviews and less is more approach it makes for a pleasant break from WWE.
That brings me to my first two points, TakeOver Chicago and Kyle O’Reily. As mentioned above NXT is the superior brand/company, however say what you want, look at it the facts are there for all to see. TakeOver last night wasn’t the best but it did feature some great personal and team performances, most notable Kyle O’Reily. The former RedDragon member is without argument one of WWE’s best wrestlers and performers, I cannot compliment this man enough. Since arriving in NXT he has outshone everyone, from his goofy entrance to his ring skills, add to that he has diabetes and you have one phenomenal wrestler.
Tommaso Ciampa & Johnny Gargano, these are the names of the best heel and face in the whole of World Wrestling Entertainment. You could argue that the feud should have ended on WrestleMania weekend, but thanks to superior booking in NXT they managed to bring it full circle. A year to the day they ended one of the most personal wrestling conflicts of the modern era, and for once the wrestles kept Kayfabe alive. At TakeOver last night both gave MOTY calibre effort, they stuck to their characters and told a story, simply flawless.
Yesterday 16/6 I also attend Kamikaze Pro Live 12, this featured a mix of academy talent and UK talent. Kamikaze is always a solid show and even their academy talent proved they are more than ready for the next challenge. Make sure you watch out for Luke Douglas (Kamikaze Pro Live Champ) Sean Devine and Man Like Dereiss, these three especially look like future main roster talent.
Nathan Bones @fretlessnathan
This week in wrestling could rightly be described as “the good, the bad and the excellent”. The highest of highs and the lowest of lows. Let’s take a look.
The Good
NXT TakeOver Chicago II was a mixed bag of a show. Uneven in quality and booking, it was for me the first TakeOver card to fall below the “very good to excellent” category. Certainly we’ve been spoiled in the past, but this was somewhat of a disappointment overall.
A well-paced and solid opening tag team title match between The Undisputed era and the hard-hitting combination of Danny Burch and Oney Lorcan was a tremendous display of the ingenuity and sheer quality of the two teams. Great stuff.
Johnny Gargano vs Tomasso Ciampa was an all-out war and a fitting continuation of arguably the hottest and fiercest rivalry on North American soil in the decade since Chris Jericho and Shawn Michaels duked it out. The match was clever, well-executed, uncompromising and left the door open for a stellar payoff in Brooklyn. Hell in a Cell, anyone?
Sadly, the overall quality of the card was diminished by the questionable nature of the three matches in between.
Far from the classic everyone expected, Ricochet vs Velveteen Dream was a botch-filled mess. The two had little chemistry and the narrative arc of the match was all over the place. Dream has oodles of talent and charisma but can be careless at times and still has ways to go.
Shayna Baszler vs Nikki Cross for the NXT Women’s title was nondescript and clearly a placeholder feud. Although she’s very solid in-ring, Cross is a character babyface who doesn’t really need the belt. Expect either Candice LaRae and Kairi Sane to challenge and unseat Shayna in a changing of the guard.
Aleister Black’s lacklustre Chris Jericho 2002/CM Punk 2012 title reign continues after a limited bout with Lars Sullivan. I was bored and so was Chicago, apparently. Both men are better suited out of the title picture as monster attractions. In my opinion, the Gargano/Ciampa feud deserves to have the belt at stake.
The Bad
Raw and Smackdown Live were both utterly appalling shows. Infantilising, embarrassing and lacking in any creative or athletic merit. Suffice it to say, I’m about as excited for Money in the Bank as I would be for a trip to the dentist.
The main roster product is the weakest it’s been in a very long time. Incredible, when one considers the sheer quality of the roster. To quote a Spinal Tap reference, it’s “S*** Sandwich”.
The Excellent
Pete Dunne vs Kyle O’Reilly on NXT TV this week for the United Kingdom Championship was a wonderful display of character work, finesse and skill that puts the main roster to shame. If you haven’t yet had an opportunity to see this match, I would strongly recommend checking it out. Both men should go far, in an ideal world.
Finally, we come to the high point of my week in wrestling. To be clear, it’ll likely be the high point in my year in wrestling. Naturally, I’m referring to Kenny Omega vs Kazuchika Okada IV at NJPW Dominion in Osaka, Japan.
The two warriors changed the game in a two out of three falls match that was tantamount to a game of human chess. It had athleticism, drama, ring psychology, incredible booking, pacing, tension and a thrilling crescendo. Make no mistake: whilst the WWE main roster is daubing in a colouring book with crayons, Okada and Omega are painting masterpieces with watercolours.
Witnessing Omega finally capturing the IWGP Heavyweight Championship in stellar fashion was the most satisfying moment in wrestling in quite some time. For me, it’s a clear demonstration of my opinion on the genre in general: when wrestling’s bad, it can be downright awful. However, when done correctly, it can be the most wonderful art form imaginable.
It’s my firm belief that their series of matches are equivalent in match quality to Ricky Steamboat and Ric Flair’s sublime trilogy from 1989. The Gods of Wrestling History are certainly smiling on these two men, and rightly so…
