PWG Battle of Los Angeles 2007 - Night 1 DVD Review
The show opens with PWG World Champion Bryan Danielson who comes to the ring and apologizes to the fans for not being able to compete. Danielson tells them to enjoy the tournament and that he looks forward to facing the winner.
Excalibur and Dino Winwood are in the ring next to introduce all the participants and referees. All 24 guys are introduced and they pose for a picture with the trophy.
1) The Young Bucks vs. Los Luchas (Pheonix Star & Zokre)
What better way to kick off the festivities than with some awesome tag team action. At the time, The Bucks were new to PWG while the Luchas had been around since the early days so this was basically new vs. old. These two teams put on a show as the action never stopped. There were several great exchanges and jaw dropping spots. You can't ask for a better opener than this. Great match.
Match rating - ***1/2
2) Chris Hero vs. Joey Ryan (w/ Jade Chung)
This is the first tournament match of the evening and it features the longest reigning PWG champion (at the time), Joey Ryan facing off against Chris Hero. I'd seen these two face off before and it wasn't that good so I wasn't expecting much here, but I was actually pleasantly surprised. This
WWE Extreme Rules 2012 DVD Review
I found this at FYE for only $6.99 and I couldn't pass it up. I hadn't watched this event since it orginally aired and with John Cena & Brock Lesnar set to clash again at SummerSlam 2014, I figured now would be a great time to go back and revisit their first battle. On top of that, I wanted to see how this event held up as I remember loving it back when it aired. With that being said, let's get started!
1) Randy Orton vs. Kane - Falls Count Anywhere Match
I didn't really remember much about this match going into it, but it turned out to be a pleasant surprise. Kane isn't the most exciting wrestler to watch and Orton isn't anything overly special, but this match was really good! The two worked the match stipulation very well as they brawled throughout the arena. The crowd was very into the match and that definitely helped it. Great opening match!
Match rating - ***1/4
2) Brodus Clay vs. Dolph Ziggler
Here we have an unadvertised late addition to the show. It honestly could have been left off, because it was basically a prolonged squash. Both of these guys have been incredibly misued by WWE over the years and this was an example of that. I can't complain much however because this match was kept short
Evolve 18: Gargano vs. Callihan DVD Review
The DVD starts with a promo from Johnny Gargano. He talks about how he and Callihan are different, but very alike in alot of ways. Gargano says he will die before he lets Callihan take his Open The Freedom Gate Title. Good promo.
Then we head to the ring where Arda Ocal announces that the show is about to begin. He and Colt Cabana are on commentary for the evening.
1) AR Fox vs. Tony Nese - Winner Advances to Four Way Freestyle
What a way to start the show! This one started off with a bang and never slowed down. Arm drags, nip ups, all kinds of fast paced stuff to start off. Nese gets the upperhand of the exchange so Fox rolls to the outside only for Nese to dive out onto him and in the process he breaks the railing! Fox and Nese basically land in the people on the front row's lap haha. Crazy moment. The two get back in the ring and the action keeps going at a high pace for the rest of the match. I really enjoyed this bout. Nese and Fox are two of my favorites to watch on the Indies right now and they put in a spectacular performance here. Awesome start to the show.
Match rating - ***3/4
2) Masada vs. Papadon - Winner Advances to Four Way Freestyle
Interesting match up here as Masada is widely known for his deathmatch wrestling while Papadon is more of a pure wrestler. The two styles clashed well and provided a solid match. It's not anything that will blow your mind, but it's a good contest that
ROH: 7th Anniversary Show DVD Review
1) Kenny King & Rhett Titus vs. Roderick Strong & Erick Stevens
This match was on fire from the opening bell and it never slowed down. Some nice exchanges between all four men including somewhat of a dream match up for me as Roderick Strong and Kenny King faced off. I'm big fans of both guys and seeing them lock up was cool. Great tag match to start the show. Alot of action here.
Match rating - 7/10
2) Claudio Castagnoli (Cesaro) vs. Brent Albright
I'm very familiar with Cesaro and I know of Albright from his series of matches with Punk down in OVW so I figured this would be good. These two ended up blowing me away. It may be just me, but I LOVED this match. Hard hitting and alot of great exchanges. It left me wanting to see these two face off again especially after it ended in a time limit draw then got restarted only
WWE: Rey Mysterio - Life Of A Masked Man DVD Review
The presentation is hosted by Matt Striker and he interviews Rey throughout the set on various subjects. They first discuss Mysterio's childhood and breaking into the wrestling business as well as when his uncle first gave him the name of Rey Mysterio Jr.
1) Rey Mysterio Jr. & Konnan vs. La Parka & Psicosis - ECW Hardcore TV - October 28, 1995
This is the first match on the set, but it isn't shown in full. They show various highlights from the match which were very entertaining. I would have loved to have seen the whole match because it looked awesome. At the beginning it said there was a one hour time limit, so I'm guessing this one went long and they had to cut it down to a highlight package for it to be able to fit on this set. Despite it not being shown in full, what's shown is very fun to watch.
2) Rey Mysterio Jr. vs. Juventud Guerrera - 2/3 Falls Match - ECW Extreme Bash 1996
Now this is the good stuff! Mysterio and Guerrera had an illustrious feud that spanned several companies including AAA, ECW, and WCW. They always put on outstanding matches so I'm glad one of their bouts was included on this set, especially this one from ECW. This was an awesome match that featured a great mix of high flying, technical wrestling, and ECW style brawling. The first two falls were more high flying and technically based. Both men hit some insane manuevers including Guerrera cutting a backflip off the ropes into the crowd on Mysterio. The third fall featured alot of brawling as the bout ventured into the crowd when Mysterio hit a high flying manuever on Guerrera into the audience. The fight spilled to the outside of the arena where Guerrera powerbombed Mysterio onto a car, but Rey recovered and delivered a hurricanrana to Guerrera off the car onto the cement! The action went back into the ring where they put together a breathtaking ending sequence in which Mysterio somehow reversed out of Guerrera's top rope powerbomb attempt into a hurricanrana for the pinfall! Fantastic bout! It wasn't over after the final pinfall however. The two men used chairs during the match, but the crowd had been chanting for tables so Mysterio set one up outside, but never got to use it so after the bout, Mysterio stood on the table and powerbombed Guerrera through it! Awesome!
Match rating - 9/10
At this point in the presentation, Rey and Matt discussed his time in ECW. They talked about Paul Heyman talking to Rey at an AAA show and getting him to wrestle for ECW. Rey noted how fun wrestling in ECW was and how much
ECW: Bloodsport - The Most Violent Matches Review
This 2 disc set features a variety of the most wild and brutal matches in the history of ECW. Before each match, Paul Heyman gives the backstory along with his insight.
1) Cactus Jack & Mikey Whipwreck vs. Public Enemy - ECW World Tag Team Championship Match - Hardcore TV - August 27th, 1994
I always enjoyed the Cactus Jack/Mikey Whipwreck story in ECW so I was automatically interested in this match. The story going in, as stated by Paul Heyman before the match, was that Foley chose Whipwreck over all the hardcore icons he could have picked to be his partner. Everyone wondered why he'd choose a young man who had only had a handful of matches. Because of that, most expected Cactus and Whipwreck to lose quickly, but that was the exact opposite of what happened. The action here was decent. There was a table spot and some brawling through the card. Chairs were also used here as well. The match itself wasn't anything special, but it told a great story. Fun start to the DVD.
Match rating - **1/2
2) Sandman & Terry Funk vs. Cactus Jack & Shane Douglas - Extreme Warfare Vol 1 - March, 18 1995
The odd team of Cactus & Douglas teamed up here for the first time to take on Funk & The Sandman. This one got off to a hot start and never slowed down. Just a wild crazy brawl, the type of stuff ECW is known for. Tables, chairs,
ROH: Weekend Of Champions Night 1 DVD Review
I got this for only $5 during Highspots' big DVD sale. This show took place during the epic ROH/CZW war which I've heard alot about and been dying to see. As soon as I saw that this show happened during the midst of that feud, I was sold.
The DVD opens with Jimmy Jacobs and Lacey talking backstage. Then it cuts to a promo from Christopher Daniels about his match with Nigel McGuinness later in the night. During the first match, a message flashed at the bottom of the screen to check out the "Video Recap" on the main menu screen before watching the show, so I did just that. It was a nice feature that gave a bit of a recap on what had recently happened with Claudio Castagnoli (Cesaro in WWE) turning on ROH and joining Chris Hero, Super Dragon, Necro Butcher and the rest of the CZW crew. You get a great promo from Jim Cornette on the situation where he vows that ROH is going to start striking back. Also in this feature are promos from Jimmy Jacobs and Colt Cabana. Now onto the show itself.
1) Colt Cabana vs. Jimmy Jacobs
The story going into this one which I learned by watching the video recap feature, was that Cabana wanted to make his way back to the top of ROH by starting at the bottom since he lost to Bryan Danielson in less than five minutes. Cabana attributed this loss to his brutal feud with Homicide, saying he forgot how to wrestle because he had been fighting so long. Thus the opening match was set. As for Jacobs, he and Lacey had been having problems for a while and she told him that if he kept losing, she would leave him. So with all the things above taken into consideration, this was a big match for both guys. It was pretty back and forth the
