Best Of US Wrestling 2007 Disc 4

This is the last disc of this part of the compilation. After this one, the comp splits into seperate volumes for each show, which I’ll review based on the date the comp begins from. Anyway, there’s some good stuff coming up in this volume, so I’m looking forward to reviwwing this one.

Match 1 (ECW, April 3rd)
CM Punk vs Stevie Richards
This is actually a match that’s a long time coming, if you remember Stevie’s ROH appearance in 2005. It wasn’t a heated match or anything, because that was an ROH angle, not a WWE angle, so this was largely a good, quick mat based match. Punk largely used headlocks and other holds working on the head, mixing those with his kicks. Stevie on the other hand had a ready made strategy, as Punk’s ribs were hurt from the Money In The Bank match, so he went to work on those. Punk got the obvious three count with the Go To Sleep- **3/4

Match 2 (Raw, April 2nd)
20 Man Tag Team Title Battle Royal
I would name all the teams, but they went to a commercial when the teams were coming out, and thus I could’t get all the names. It was a solid battle royal type match, about as good as these matches get, but there wasn’t anything special about it or anything. Eliminations were as follows (I think there was another team eliminated during the break)-
Chris Masters and Kenny Dykstra (I didn’t see who eliminated them)
Cryme Time by Deuce and Domino
Eugene and Jim Duggan by Elijah Burke and Matt Striker
The Highlanders by Deuce and Domino
Deuce and Domino by John Cena and Shawn Michaels
Matt Striker and Elijah Burke by Finlay and King Booker
Rob Van Dam and Sabu by Finlay and King Booker
King Booker and Finlay by John Cena and Shawn Michaels- **1/4

The match ended the way General Manager The Coach expected, so therefore he made another Tag Team Battle Royal right now with more teams.

Match 3 (Raw, April 2nd)
20 Man Tag Team Battle Royal Number Two
Again, there was a break so I couldn’t see all the teams that entered, but you’ll soon know who was in and was eliminated. Personally, it wasn’t all that different from the last match, in that it just followed your regular Battle Royal formula, although the final few minutes with Cade and Murdoch and The Hardys produced some good stuff. Eliminations were as follows (again, there was an elimination we weren’t told about during the break)-
Val Venis and Viscera by everyone
William Regal and Dave Taylor by Tommy Dreamer and The Sandman
Tommy Dreamer and The Sandman by Lance Cade and Trevor Murdoch
Miz and Morrison by Shawn Michaels and John Cena
Shawn Michaels and John Cena by themselves (Michaels threw Cena over the top rope)
Chavo Guerrero and Gregory Helms by Paul London and Brian Kendrick
Paul London and Brian Kendrick by themselves (Kendrick eliminated himself when eliminating Chavo and Helms)
Lance Cade and Trevor Murdoch by The Hardys (The Hardys are the new Tag Champions)- **1/2

Match 4 (Impact, April 5th)
Senshi vs Austin Starr
I liked that they weren’t just given two minutes like every other Impact match I’ve seen, although this was still pretty short. But with the time they had, they produced some pretty good X-Division style action, with lots of high flying and kicks, although with more time they would probably have had some more mat wrestling in here too. Austin Starr won he match when Bob Backlund threw in the towel when Senshi was locked in a Single Leg Crab- **3/4

Match 5 (Smackdown, April 6th)
Matt Hardy vs King Booker
This was a grudge match since Hardy put his hands on Queen Sharmell at Wrestlemania. Hardy went for fast, high flying moves, while Booker went for more of a power style due to him having the size advantage, and also used a few submission holds. King Booker actually dominated for much of this match, with Hardy’s only getting brief moments of offense. The match was solid all the way through, but the final few minutes were excellent, and really elevated the match. Hardy got the fall out of nowhere with a Small Package- ***

Match 6 (ECW, April 3rd)
Extreme Rules Match- ECW Originals (The Sandman, RVD, Sabu and Tommy Dreamer) vs The New Breed (Matt Striker, Elijah Burke, Kevin Thorn and Marcus Cor Von)
This is a rematch of the Wrestlemania match, and this far bettered that match thanks to some of the insane moves both teams took. There were all kinds of weapons used here, which took this match to a new level, turning this into a homage of the classic ECW matches of the past (although not to the level of the truly great ECW matches). Anyway, I really enjoyed this, and it’s a must see match for ECW fans: it’s one of my favourite TV matches of 2007. After some big table spots, Elijah Burke won it with an Elijah Express through a table on Sabu- ***3/4

Match 7 (Raw, April 9th)
The Hardy’s vs The Worlds Greatest Tag Team
This is a battle of two of my favourite tag teams, so I obviously enjoyed this one a lot. It was a bit short for my liking, but what we got was good and entertaining. The clash of styles here saw Haas and Benjamin try to keep the Hardy’s down on the mat, while The Hardys took a lot of risks and pulled out some great double teams. The Hardys won this non-title match when Jeff pinned Benjamin following a Twist Of Fate-Swanton combo- **1/2

Match 8 (Impact, April 12th)
Chris Sabin vs Black Machismo
Jay Lethal has officially entered his Macho Man impression gimmick now, which I personally don’t mind since it gives him a little character. Lethal is surprisingly good at mimicking Savage’s moves, so to be honest, he wresled exactly like Savage would. On the other hand, Sabin wrestled his usual explosive high flying style, and seemed a little dissapointed in Lethal for taking on this character. Lethal won the match with the Elbow Drop from the top. A solid match overall- **1/4

Match 9 (Smackdown, April 13th)
MVP vs Chris Benoit
These two had some great matches around this time period, in what was Benoit’s last really good series with anyone before the unspeakable act occured. This was no exception, as they again had a great back and forth match, with a mixture of mat wrestling, power and hard hitting strikes from both men. There was also a lot of suplexes, whether this was Snap and German Suplexes from Benoit, or Belly To Bellys from MVP. After a great final couple of minutes, MVP won with a rollup using the ropes for leverage. Overall, great stuff- ***

Match 10 (ECW, April 10th)
Marcus Cor Von vs Rob Van Dam
This was very much a battle of the power of Marcus Cor Von against the high flying skill of RVD. It was an interesting match on paper, and I liked it, since it was well wrestled and there were no botches, although I was surprised by how much Marcus Cor Von controlled the match. After Burke distracted RVD by attacking an injured Sabu at ringside, Cor Von got three with the Pounce. After the match CM Punk comes out and joins the New Breed: I wish they had kept him as a heel but they haven’t pulled that trigger yet.- **3/4

Match 11 (Smackdown, April 6th)
Jeff Hardy vs Mr Kennedy
Good stuff again here. Hardy went for all of his usual high flying moves, while Kennedy went for the strategy of working over Hardy’s back with a series of submissions and high impact power moves. So overall I’d say this was a good, back and forth match that the crowd were really into, and I enjoyed it. Hardy missed the Swanton, and Kennedy used that opportunity to hit a DDT for three- **3/4

This was another good volume, better than the previous one, and there’s some great stuff here. The ECW Extreme Rules match was the best here, since it was filled with great hardcore spots, and was much like ECW matches of the past. Other good matches were Matt Hardy’s match with King Booker and MVP against Chris Benoit. The rest of the matches were solid in a little average (in that they weeren’t too different from matches we’d seen previously). Overall though, there’s a few matches you shoul try to watch if you can, especially the Extreme Rules match.

7.5/10