Impressions on Wrestling

Wow.... That is what I have to say about tonight's show. Simply incredible to watch. I have learned to never doubt TakeOver shows, and I certainly thought this was going to be a great show. I underestimated how good this show would be. Let's get into it... NXT North American Championship Ladder Match Holy Crap. Where do I start?!? I think I will start by saying this was absolutely insane. So many crazy spots from guys I never imagined. Lars Sullivan killed it. EC3 got killed multiple times. Killian Dain was a beast. Velveteen Dream came off like a star. Ricochet came off even better... and then Adam Cole stole it at the end. Great spots, great drama, great crowd, and most importantly... GREAT EFFORT. Effort will always bump a match up. This is no exception. This set an amazing bar to open the program. Rating: ****1/2 NXT Women's Championship- Ember Moon (c) vs. Shayna Baszler A tough spot for the ladies having to follow that crazy ladder match. They did just...

I am writing this shortly after the finish of Ring of Honor's biggest show of the year, Final Battle. Ring of Honor has had a rough few years in the eyes of the hardcore wrestling fan. Outside of their New Japan co-promoted shows they have had a tough time getting together good wrestling cards that create buzz. Months ago, I talked about the my positive thoughts on the ending of Global Wars 2016, which provided an angle that could provide a talking point. Ultimately, that show did not generate a ton of buzz, but ROH kept on trucking. Ring of Honor has gotten a lot of crap about lack of talent and new stars. I believe that 2016 will prove to be a very important year to the history of Ring of Honor. ROH took a step to fixing their top end talent pool by signing two of the biggest stars from the UK in Marty Scurll and Will Ospreay. They also are working with Cody Rhodes and used him very well on tonight's show. Final Battle is always booked as Ring of Honor's big finale to...

Last night's PPV was an important one for Ring of Honor.  Reports had been running about the unhappiness in the locker room, and that people wanted to jump off the ship.  They had been bringing in talent from New Japan for a while now, but the shows felt without any weight.  This how did not have that issue by show end. I am going to break down a few highlights from the undercard before I get to the big finish... War Machine vs. The Briscoes was a lot of fun.  Good brawling and near falls aplenty.  Kudos to these teams for putting on a show that provided a spark to the lower end of the card. Naito vs. O'Reilly was a fun match, although it suffered from the ending being obvious to the live crowd. Okada and Moose vs.  Tanahashi and Mike Elgin was a very good match.  I liked the flow of the match and Moose came out looking strong, which is good for ROH Bobby Fish beating Ishii was unexpected and appreciated by this viewer.  Good match tha...

Just wanted to give my quick thoughts on the first of two joint ventures between Ring of Honor and NJPW. Last Night's show, Global Wars, took place at the Ted Reeves Arena in Toronto, Ontario, Cananda.  It was a pretty decent show so let's break it down. 1.) Michael Bennett vs. ACH This was a fine opener, but it wasn't a thrilling match.  ACH got a few nice spots in, but there was never any doubt in the fan's minds on who was winning.  Bennett has a big match against Tanahashi on Saturday, so Bennett needed to look good.  Mission accomplished.   Rating : ** 2.) Michael Elgin vs.  Takaaki Watanabe Similar situation to the first match where Elgin needed to look good before he faces AJ Styles for the IWGP Championship this weekend.  There were some fun moments, but again this was never in doubt. Rating : ** 3.)  The Decade vs. Red Dragon vs. The Briscoe Brothers The Briscoes won in a fairly short but fun matchup.  Red Dragon has a ma...