Best Of US Wrestling Jan-April 2007 Disc 4

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

Best Of US Wrestling Jan-April 2007 Disc 3

Best Of US Wrestling Jan-April 2007 Disc 3

Match 1 (Smackdown, March 16th)
Mr Kennedy vs Matt Hardy
I enjoyed this match, it had some very solid matwork, and the crowd were reasonably into it. Kennedy made extensive use of that ground game, using it to work over the knee of Hardy when he hurt it coming off the top rope. Hardy on the other hand took more risks, but also did some good wrestling of his own. I like that this match was given a lot of time, as it helped it build, and it was really good stuff towards the end. Hardy managed to win it with the Twist of Fate. Surprisingly better than I expected.- ***1/4

Match 2 (ECW, March 13th)
Extreme Battle Royal- The ECW Originals (Sabu, RVD, Sandman and Tommy Dreamer) vs The New Breed (Kevin Thorn, Elijah Burke, Matt Striker and Marcus Cor Von)
Another battle royal, but a unique one since you rarely see teams within one of these matches. The wrestling was also pretty solid, and both teams took a few nasty bumps during this match, so it’s probably one of the better battle royals WWE have had during this time period (barring the Royal Rumble). The elimination were as follows.
Sandman by Matt Striker
Marcus Cor Von by RVD and Sabu
Sabu by Kevin Thorn
Kevin Thorn by Rob Van Dam
Rob Van Dam by himself (in eliminating Thorn he eliminated himself)
Matt Striker by Tommy Dreamer
Elijah Burke by Tommy Dreamer- **1/2

Match 3 (Raw, March 12th)
Gauntlet Tag Match- Shawn Michaels and John Cena vs The Worlds Greatest Tag Team vs Lance Cade and Trevor Murdoch vs MNM (Cage Match)
I was never really a fan of the Michaels/Cena team personally, since it was a re-hash of the partners who hate each other scenario from the Attitude Era. I do however love the WGTT, and the first part of the gauntlet was pretty damn good although short, with good mat wrestling throughout. Cena made Haas tap out to the STFU.
Next were Cade and Murdoch, which made this a very different type of match, with more brawling and hard hitting moves as opposed to the matwork we saw earlier. Michaels got worked over for a while, before getting the hot tag to Cena, who got the three count on Murdoch with an FU-Superkick combo that caused some more tension.
Then the cage was lowered for part three again MNM. I don’t remember a lot of tag cage matches with tag team rules rather than tornado style rules. Michaels again got worked over by MNM, who used a lot of high flying moves on him, before Cena got the hot tag. After more tension, Cena got the fall on Mercury with the FU- **3/4

Match 4 (Smackdown, March 16th)
The Undertaker vs King Booker
Batista is on commentary here, and I don’t think I understood anything he said. The Undertaker made much of this match a brawl, with loads of punches and strikes, and used the outside of the ring to his advantage. Booker T wrestled a similar style, using a lot of strikes, but also used a few power moves and submission holds. The match was decent overall, but it was a little slow in places, but was pretty good in the final few minutes. Finlay interfered to cause the DQ- **1/2

Match 5 (Smackdown, March 23rd)
WWE Tag Team Titles- Paul London and Brian Kendrick (c) vs MNM
At this point, London and Kendrick are the longest reigning tag team champions of all time, beating MNM’s own record. As you would expect from these two teams, it was very much a battle of high flying moves, and it was a very good match that never slowed down and was energetic from start to finish. It was a little too short though, but overall it was good stuff while it lasted. London pinned Mercury following a Cross Body- **1/2

Match 6 (Raw, March 19th)
Chris Benoit vs John Cena
This is a battle of the United States and World champions, but no titles are on the line. Shawn Michaels also joins the commentary team. It was a hard hitting match, with Benoit throwing a lot of stiff strikes, and Cena going for power. Benoit managed to get Cena in a few submissions here too, getting close to making him tap. Cena however surprisingly made Benoit tap out to the STFU, quite a surprise since Benoit rarely taps. A bit short, but pretty good stuff- ***

Match 7 (ECW, March 27th)
Rob Van Dam vs Elijah Burke
I’m a fan of both of these two, and I thought this was a good match as a result. This match saw a lot of high flying wrestling, with both men happy to take risks. Burke was a little more grounded though, using some submission holds to keep RVD down. Overall, a good match with some innovative moves and crisp high flying. RVD won this match with the ***** Frog Splash- **3/4

Match 8 (Smackdown, March 23rd)
Chavo Guerrero (c) vs Jimmy Wang Yang
I personally don’t mind Jimmy Yang’s rather silly gimmick, although JBL certainly hates it: the gimmick got him over and gave him some personality. Yang used his usual range of high flying moves and kicks here, while Chavo tried to ground him with explosive, high impact moves and submissions. It was a good match, but lacked a little something. Jimmy Wang Yang won the match with a Moonsault- **1/2

Match 9 (Impact, March 29th)
Kurt Angle vs Abyss
A big clash of styles here, with Angle having to use his wide range of mat skills to work over Abyss, mainly going after his leg. Abyss on the other hand went for power due to his size advantage. It wasn’t much of a match to be honest: far too short to be anything major, and Abyss got little offense in. The ref got knocked out, and Abyss had the match won with the Black Hole Slam, but Angle won it with a rollup when a new ref came in- *1/2

Match 10 (ECW, March 27th)
Mr Kennedy, Randy Orton, King Booker and Finlay vs The Hardy’s, CM Punk and Edge
I don’t get pairing Edge, a heel, with three faces, including his mortal enemy Matt Hardy, but this is supposed to be a showcase of the Money In The Bank match. And it was a good match despite this key problem, with a wide range of styles on show. Obviously the Hardy’s team were more towards high flying and fast paced wrestling, while Orton’s team looked to keep their opponents grounded. Punk got isolated from his corner, then made the tag to Edge, who promptly tagged himself out and left. Booker T pinned CM Punk following a Scissors Kick- **3/4

Overall, this wasn’t quite as good as the previous volumes, but considering it was the run up to Wrestlemania nobody was going to take any major risks and risk injury (although that’s no excuse for TNA and their one short match). The Kennedy/Hardy match is the best match and one you should look to watch, while Cena/Benoit is also pretty good stuff. The rest of the matches average around **1/2, so there is some good stuff here.

7/10

T2P WWE TV Compilation Vol 1

This is a compilation a UK trader put together, highlighting the best matches from various WWE shows in 2004. The comp goes on to look at stuff from later in the year and into 2005 as well. This review is also from my 411 archive, and a proper new review will be posted tomorrow.

Match 1 (Velocity)
Nunzio vs Akio
Kind of a bizarre choice of match here as both of these men are heels. They did some good wrestling, but of course the crowd were dead because they had nobody to cheer, but they popped for some of the big spots. Akio took a lot of risks, with several high flying moves, while Nunzio tried to keep the match grounded with submissions. Akio won it with the Yang Time off the top- **3/4

Match 2 (Raw in Japan)
Submissions Match- Chris Benoit vs Chris Jericho
JR brought up that these two wrestled ten years ago in the Super J Cup in Tokyo. And again, we have a bizarre choice of match with face vs face, but this works better than heel vs heel. The usual goodness from these two, although they have been watered down from the level they were at a few years before this, and there was a break right in the middle. An awesome spot saw Jericho go for the Lionsault, but Benoit got the knees, only for Jericho to spot this in mid-air, grab Benoit’s legs and put him in the Walls of Jericho. Jericho however had to tap to the Crippler Crossface eventually- ***1/4

Match 3 (Smackdown in Japan)
Cruiserweight Title Match- Funaki (c) vs Chavo Guerrero
Funaki is massively over in his home country. Solid enough action here, with a hot crowd. Mainly mat based wrestling here, with both men also exchanging some strikes and high impact moves, but there was little high flying for a cruiserweight bout. Chavo came close on a few occasions to a victory, but there was no way Funaki was jobbing in his home country, and he got three with a Tornado DDT- **1/2

Match 4 (Smackdown)
Kurt Angle vs Marty Jannetty
This is when Marty Jannetty was going through somewhat of a career revival, which lasted all of a few weeks despite showing some fairly good wrestling skill. The two exchanged holds and counter holds early on, with neither man generally gaining control. Jannetty then took control, busting out a few high flying moves before we went to a commercial. After the break, Angle had gained control, and worked on keeping Jannetty grounded to wear him down, and did this successfully outside of a few Jannetty fightbacks. He couldn’t keep Jannetty grounded forever though, and Jannetty busted out some more high risk moves that saw him come close to three. Angle managed to put Jannetty into the Anklelock to get the submission, and end a great match- ***1/2

Match 5 (Velocity)
Paul London and Funaki vs Chavo Guerrero and Akio
This match was a prelude to London and Akio’s series, and also continued the feud between Guerrero and London. Anyway, this was solid if formulatic tag team action, with good wrestling throughout. After some back and forth early on, London was isolated by Akio and Guerrero, but they could not keep him under control and he got the tag to Funaki. After a commercial break, it was Funaki’s turn to be worked over by Akio and Guerrero, being kept on the mat and having his back worked over. Funaki got the hot tag, and London cleaned house. He then got the 450 on Akio for three- **1/2

Match 6 (Smackdown)
Six Man Tag- Akio, Chavo Guerrero and Spike Dudley vs Funaki, Paul London and Shannon Moore
A decent six man tag, with lots of quick, high flying moves. The match was going along nicely, with the faces controlling things early, then the heels gaining control, working over Paul London. Then we had complete stupidity, as some divas came out advertising No Way Out, as if the match was completely pointless. When we got to the far less important match, London made a fightback by hitting a Double Dropkick on Spike and Akio, and he got the hot tag. After that everyone went for high risk moves, with London and Moore doing Topes over the top rope. Funaki got the win in the ring with a Superkick on Spike- **1/4

Match 7 (No Way Out)
Cruiserweight Title, Six Man Elimination Match- Paul London vs Chavo Guerrero vs Akio vs Shannon Moore vs Spike Dudley vs Funaki (c)
I believe the rules here are that two start in the ring, then when one is eliminated another comes in until we are down to one wrestler, who becomes the champion. Anyway, the match wasn’t all that long to be honest. Funaki was eliminated when Spike attacked him from the apron, and London rolled him up for three. Then Funaki got revenge on Spike behind the ref’s back, and London got three on him. London and Moore then had a quick exchange before London eliminated him as well with the 450. Akio entered next, and despite some early control, a Top Rope Neckbreaker saw Akio not make the ref’s ten count. It came down to London and Chavo, with Chavo working over him and keeping him on the mat, with the occasional fightback from London. Chavo stole a victory by using the ropes on a pinfall for three. Not very exciting- **1/4

Match 8 (Velocity)
Paul London vs Akio
This is the first of a series of matches these two had on Velocity (and I believe they had one on Smackdown as well). This is also the infamous match where Akio flips London onto the ropes, his feet slip on them and he lands directly on the back of his neck, causing a “Holy Sh*t” by the announcers. I still wonder if that was a deliberate botch or an accident, as I don’t see what they were trying to do. Looking past that massive botch, the match was really good, with a lot of energy and great high flying action. They also exchanged some hard kicks that the announcers were quiet for to let us hear the impact. London got three with a sick Top Rope DDT- ***1/4

Match 9 (Velocity)
No 1 Cruiserweight Contenders Match- Paul London vs Akio
Chavo Guerrero is on commentary for this one, indicating he will likely interfere. More good wrestling from these two here, and this was a little more grounded than their first encounter (they were likely told to calm it down after London was nearly killed in the first match). The action went back and forth, and neither man really had a decisive advantage for longer than a couple of minutes before that break. Akio took control, and kept London grounded by working on his leg, then ripped the tassles off of London’s leg and beat him with it, thus proving how awesome he really is. London went for the 450, but Chavo distracted him, and this allowed Akio to get a Top Rope Hurracarana. However, London reversed the pinfall, and got three- ***

Match 10 (Smackdown)
Paul London vs Billy Kidman
Kidman is just back from injury apparently. This is also a battle of former partners and tag team champions. Decent match here, but nothing special. London was in control early with several high risk moves. However, a Dropkick out of nowhere saw Kidman take control, and he slowly worked over London, not being afraid to push the referee’s leniency. However, London made a fightback and got three with the 450- **

Match 11 (Velocity)
Paul London vs Spike Dudley
Maybe I should just change this review to Best of Paul London in WWE. London had early control, but couldn’t keep it as Spike soon got into the match. Spike cheated away, taking advantage of the ref at every opportunity. But he could not keep London down as he started firing up, stomping around that ring, and he started flying around the ring to try and get the win. Spike went for the Dudley Dog, but London reversed to a Dragon Suplex for three- **

Match 12 (Smackdown)
Paul London vs Spike Dudley vs Shannon Moore vs Funaki
This is a qualifier for the Royal Rumble. A good, energetic little four corners match, with lots of high flying but also some solid ground based offense, and I liked that it was all four at the same time rather that two on the outside and two in the ring. All four men had a chance to shine, and got in their signature moves, but the falls were broken up before any of them could get the three count. London got the 450 on Spike for three- **3/4

Match 13 (Smackdown in Japan)
No 1 Contenders Quarter Final Match- Kurt Angle vs Rey Mysterio w/619 Cam
I don’t know what the point of the 619 Cam is to be honest. Anyway, these two have had several great matches in the past, and this was no different: another strong match in a series that these two had together over the five years they were in WWE together. Angle tried to keep Mysterio grounded, forcing him to the mat with power and submissions. Mysterio meanwhile tried to keep the match at a fast pace, going for high flying moves as he knew he could not keep up with Angle on the mat. A commercial break hurt the flow of the match though, although despite this it was still a great, great match. Mysterio pushed Angle all the way, and came very close on several occasions to three, but Angle eventually managed to lock in the Anglelock, and that made Mysterio tap- ***3/4

Match 14 (Smackdown)
Royal Rumble Qualifier- Rey Mysterio vs Chavo Guerrero
Another really good match here. We saw some good, fast paced exchanges early on, as they exchanged counter wresting and high flying moves. Chavo took control, and slowly worked over Mysterio, using strikes, but he couldn’t keep Mysterio down, and he got frustrated. He managed to regain control, overpowering Mysterio and trying to keep him on the ground. Chavo made the mistake of going to the air, and Rey countered it, allowing him back into the match. They exchanged near falls, before Mysterio won it with a 619-Springboard Splash combo- ***1/2

Match 15
Shelton Benjamin vs Edge
Edge jumped Benjamin before the bell, attacking him on the ramp and brawling with him all around the ringside area for the opening minutes. It went into the ring, and the ref checked to ensure Benjamin could continue before beginning the match properly. And of course, that is the best time to go to a commercial. After the break, Edge was still in control, but he failed to keep Benjamin down for very long as he began to fight back with quickness and lots of strikes, and also showing lots of agility. Benjamin accidentally nails the ref, then Edge gets the Spear but the ref was out. Edge got a ladder our from under the ring, but Chris Jericho ran out and smashed it into his face, then Benjamin got a T-Bone Suplex for three- **3/4