TNA Impact Wrestling Review - June 24th, 2015

Prior to all the buzz that this episode of Impact garnered online, I was actually planning to tune in anyway for the X Division match and the Full Metal Mayhem match. The fact that it's live was a bonus as well. Then, I hopped onto Twitter to find rumors swirling of some sort of angle between GFW & TNA. This got me pretty pumped, I won't lie. Heading into this episode, I had the feeling that with the way TNA was hyping this up, this would be remembered as their last chance to get things going on the next level again. They either sink or swim here.

EC3 introduces Kurt Angle's opponent
I've been really enjoying Kurt on the mic lately. He & EC3 in particular have been having some great segments and this was another fun one. They go back & forth about their title match..next week? I thought it was at the PPV on Sunday? Alright then, I guess that's my fault for not keeping up, but I'm really confused why they're hyping next week's TV over an upcoming PPV. Angle tells EC3 that he's going to make him tap out. EC3 teases facing him now then introduces Kurt's opponent for the night. Music hits and it's JEFF HARDY..no, wait, it's Matt Hardy! I wish they would've used different music for Matt. Hearing Jeff's voice on the track gets you thinking it's him making his return then Matt comes out. I don't mind the choice though. Angle/Hardy should be decent.

1) Low Ki vs. Tigre Uno vs. Grado - X Division Title Match
"Anyone but Grado" was my thought going into this match. I'm a big comedy wrestling guy. Hell, I love Chuck Taylor. Grado, however, just isn't my cup of tea. I figured he'd win here though and if not him, Low Ki. I personally wanted Tigre Uno to win and despite not having any faith in that happening, it did! Grado got eliminated first to my surprise then Ki & Uno had a fun little exchange before Uno pinned Ki. That was a shocker. I'm glad to see Tigre Uno get the belt, I just wish they would've given this bout a bit more time so it could have been a more memorable victory. You know good & well that Ki & Uno could have torn the house down if given about five more minutes!

Match rating - **1/2

2) Velvet Sky vs. Angelina Love

Lucha Underground Review - June 24th, 2015

After last week's wild iron man match that saw Prince Puma retain the Lucha Underground title over Johnny Mundo, it's time to start setting the stage for Ultimo Lucha. That begins with a #1 Contender's Match between Drago, the man that lost his contract with LU after a loss to Puma, and the unstoppable force that is Mil Muertes. An aztec medallion is also on the line in a five way dance tonight so things are bound to get crazy!

1) Sexy Star vs. Super Fly
Not such a hot start to the show here. Everything was executed in a solid manner, but it just didn't flow extremely well and I didn't like the booking of it. Sexy just beat Pentagon Jr a month or so ago and now she's losing without much of a fight to Super Fly? That makes no sense. She got in SOME offense here, it just ended in a much more dull way than I expected. In my mind, I had Sexy Star getting the win however I was totally wrong in my prediction despite still feeling it would've been the right move. UNLESS they're building to something with Super Fly that I don't know about. Let's not discuss the unknown though. I saw someone on Twitter say this was one of the worst LU matches and I can see that argument considering there's a rarely a bout that I don't enjoy, but I've seen way worse in wrestling than this. Decent little encounter here even though the fact that I sat through a dreadful Raw a few days ago may be making me go easy on this.

Match rating - **1/4

Pentagon Jr hits the ring for the five-way match with an Aztec Medallion on the line. He gets on the mic and starts calling out Vampiro. OH MAN I ALMOST FORGOT ABOUT THEIR ISSUES! I soon remembered though as we got an intense staredown with a little shoving. A brawl is teased before Pentagon is escorted out. That was hype. I'm guessing we'll get a match between them at Ultimo Lucha and I can't wait!

2) Cage vs. Mack vs. Aerostar vs. Marty Martinez

Rev Pro TV: Episode 8 - Sydal vs Ospreay Review

After a few weeks without any RevPro related columns, I'm back with a review of the 8th episode of their YouTube series "Rev Pro TV". This episode features a rematch from last year as Matt Sydal takes on UK sensation and RPW Cruserweight Champion Will Ospreay.

If you keep up with alternative wrestling at all, I'm sure you've heard the name of Will Ospreay as he's been creating alot of buzz in 2015. His match with AJ Styles earlier in the year nearly topped our Match of the Month list for February. Now, his bouts with Matt Sydal are gaining him even more credibility. That combined with him being entered into the 2015 PWG Battle of Los Angeles Tournament is what has led me here. It's my first time seeing Ospreay and I'm really excited to see what the buzz is about.

The show opens with exceptional promos from both Ospreay and Sydal on what the match means to them and such. We don't hear Sydal do much talking these days so it was cool to see, for sure. The entire video package garnered more excitement for me in route to this match up.

After talk about the main feature of the show, the focus shifted towards the episode that was uploaded a week prior to this where Doug Williams picked up a victory over Josh Bodom despite interference from James Castle. This led to hype for the next episode with it being Anarchist vs Anarchist and Veteran vs Rookie as Doug Williams faces James Castle. They hype a few more things including a match between AJ Styles & Marty Scurll before returning back to discussion about Sydal/Ospreay. This leads us to the match itself.

Will Ospreay vs. Matt Sydal
Ospreay comes to the ring with his RPW Cruserweight Title despite this not being a non title match. The two start out with some feeling out in the form of mat work, arm drags, and such which leads us to my first moment of being wowed by Will Ospreay. They trade arm drags, Sydal goes for a running head scissors, OSPREAY CARTWHEELS OUT AND LANDS ON HIS FEET! Sydal turns around to a dropkick directly in the face. That was awesome!

WWE Monday Night Raw Review - June 22nd, 2015

Brock Lesnar & Paul Heyman address their return & Seth Rollins
This. was. gold. It's so awesome having both Brock AND Heyman back on Raw. I missed everything about the duo from Brock's presence to Heyman's promos. Here we got a little of both of those things showcased in fantastic fashion. Heyman killed it with the mic work and Brock's apologies to JBL & Michael Cole were hilarious to watch take place as he ended up putting Cole in a headlock and rubbing him on the head. Best opening segment in a while albeit your typical Lesnar/Heyman stuff. It just never gets old.

Segment rating - ****

1) Dean Ambrose vs. Kane
On paper, you'd probably go "ugh" at this, but it actually wasn't bad at all. Then again, I'm easier on Kane than most because I actually don't mind him. Between him being solid and not trying to do more or less than he should and Ambrose just being awesome at what he does, this was an enjoyable little bout. I loved the finish where Rollins came out and helped Kane win. Most hated it and were outraged which is understandable when you look at this on the surface. However, if you look at it from a storyline perspective it's perfect. Rollins is trying to get back on Kane's good side so he does this. Plus, this also re establishes the never ending feud between Ambrose & Rollins that I expect to last their entire careers. And to top it off, Kane hit a chokeslam off the top turnbuckle so Ambrose wouldn't look weak. It was a screwy victory anyway so it will just garner sympathy towards Dean.

Match rating - **3/4

2) Prime Time Players vs. The Ascension

ROH TV Review - June 24th, 2015

First off, I'm posting this several days prior to the date in the title because I get ROH on a SBG channel which means I have the opportunity to watch the episodes a few days before they air on Destination America. However, since the majority of the audience probably watches when Destination America airs it, I'm using that date to signify which episode this is.

Considering the line up on this show, I made sure to go out of my way to catch the first airing available of it and right off the bat I'll say that I'm certainly glad I did. The Wrestler of the Year thus far, Roderick Strong battles Shinsuke Nakamura while The Young Bucks & AJ Styles face off in trios action with RPG Vice & Okada. Everything on this show was filmed on Night Two of the Global Wars event in Toronto.

1) Roderick Strong vs. Shinsuke Nakamura
What a way to start the show! This was pretty much everything you'd expect it to be. They start off slow with some mat work and such, but once the strikes start flying, MAN! The King of Strong Style took it to the Elite Athlete and Roddy proved he could more than hang with the former IWGP Heavyweight Champion. This bout reminded me alot of the infamous Steen/Nakamura match from last year's ROH/NJPW shows and for me personally, this match is right up there with it in terms of quality. The closing sequence was where things really turned epic as they had some awesome counter exchanges for their respective finishers that are both based around kicks as Nakamura has the Boma Knee and Roddy has the sick kick. The finish was perfect with Roddy kicking out of the knee at one, only for Nakamura to pounce back up and nail him with two more for the win. This is definitely worth seeing. It's not a MOTY candidate although it will honestly be remembered as one of my personal favorites from these set of shows.

Match rating - ****

2) Michael Elgin vs. Gedo

Lucha Underground Review - "All Night Long" (June 17th, 2015)

This entire episode is dedicated the Iron Man Match between Prince Puma and Johnny Mundo for the Lucha Underground Championship. The story behind this bout is that of Mundo trying over & over to win the belt and find success in LU yet he could never do it. Just like he could never defeat Prince Puma or Alberto El Patron. The frustration led to Mundo snapping and throwing Alberto through a window a few weeks ago thus eliminating him as a contender to the LU Title. Dario Cueto granted Mundo this shot at the title and many think that with his new attitude, Mundo may capitalize and finally win the belt. He's got nearly an hour to do so which is as good of an opportunity as any. It's an Anything Goes Iron Man Match and it's now!

1) Prince Puma (c) vs. Johnny Mundo - Iron Man Match for the Lucha Underground Championship
The two start off with alot of good chain wrestling on the mat as well as some fast paced offense using the ropes. Puma rolls to the outside after being momentarily outdone and Mundo goes for the first dive of the evening. CORKSCREW PLANCHA, PUMA MOVES, MUNDO LANDS ON  HIS FEET!! Puma slides back in the ring and NAILS A CORKSCREW PLANCHA OF HIS OWN! That was the first awesome exchange of the night. Puma gains control and hits a roll up variation for a quick three count to get the first fall of the match. Mundo would soon return the favor by using the ropes to keep Puma down for the count. Despite this being a cheap pinfall, Mundo maintained control afterwards by starting to work over the arm of Puma. In the midst of this, Puma nails Mundo with a running ace crusher out of nowhere. Mundo & Puma end up brawling to the outside after headbutting each other on the top turnbuckle. A wooden box gets pulled out from under the ring and the two luchadors struggle for the advantage. Puma ends up with it and MICHINOKU DRIVER THROUGH THE WOODEN BOX ON THE FLOOR!! Mundo grabs a crowbar from within the box as he lay in the remnants of hit and nails Puma with it in the leg which allows him time to recover. Mundo gets to his feet and CROWBAR SHOT TO THE HEAD! OH MY THAT WAS BRUTAL! This allows Mundo to get the third fall and go up by two as he rolls Puma back in the ring and covers him for the three count. Mundo ends up going up by two more falls by nailing his signature moves including the twisting split leg moonsault. After this, he continues dominate and targets the head/neck of Puma furthermore. ROPE ASSISTED NECK BREAKER ON THE RING APRONNNN! We head to commercial and as we return, the battle takes an even more vicious turn at this point as Mundo brings a ladder out and nails Puma in the head with it. Puma is beyond dazed at this point. Mundo sets up two tables below one of the balconies as Puma tries to stir. They end up climbing the ladder into the balcony which made for some breathtaking moments as you waited for what would happen next. It was a great teaser sequence. The rivals find themselves brawling in the crowd and Puma gains the advantage with a suplex on the floor of the balcony. Puma comes down and sets up two more tables so now it's two tables stacked upon two tables. Puma climbs back up to the edge of the balcoy and attempts to suplex Mundo off it through the four tables. Mundo counters and SUPERKICK THAT SENDS PUMA FLYING OFF THE BALCONY TO THE FLOOR! Mundo channels his inner spiderman and uses the ladder to glide over to the other side of the balcony and climb up on the stage where the band usually plays. It's promo time apparently as Johnny grabs the mic and brags about his 4-1 lead and tells the band to play as he lets the clock run. Puma begins crawling towards the ladder that's leaned up against the stage and Mundo tries to hit him with a piece of lumber. Puma grabs the 2x4 and nails Mundo with it in the head. That was BRUTAL. Possibly even more brutal than the crowbar shot Mundo delivered to Puma early on. They are both up on the stage now and GUITAR SHOT TO THE HEAD OF MUNDO! It looks like Mundo is bleeding and bit now. Both men are stunned and exhausted. Out of nowhere, PUMA SPEARS MUNDO OFF IT THROUGH ALL FOUR TABLES ON THE FLOOR! HOLY SHIT!! That was AMAZING. Both men lay in what's left of the four tables as Puma begins to stir. Mundo's face is scraped up and he's bleeding from the forehead. Puma eventually manages to roll Mundo back in the ring and gets a pinfall. He's still down 4-2 however. Puma continues the assault to try and catch up. He lefts up Mundo, BENADRYLAAAAA! Mundo is still staggering on his feet! Puma lefts him up and PLANTS him on his head with one of his driver variations for a three count. It's now 4-3 and Mundo realizes it and begins to flee. Puma starts chasing him and Mundo realizes this is the strategy he needs to use. Mundo is standing at the top of the bleachers/stands when he's nailed from behind. IT'S ALBERTO EL PATRON! The crowd erupts and I marked out more than I ever thought I would for the former Alberto Del Rio. He throws Mundo down the stairs forcing him to get back in the ring. Mundo still tries to get away and DDT ON THE FLOOR FROM PATRON!! He throws Mundo back in the ring. Puma ends up getting a fall on Mundo as El Patron gets on the mic. El Patron cuts a good promo telling Mundo that things are far from over between them and that he's gonna kick his ass. He then says he's coming for the LU title regardless of who wins and tells Puma to "Be ready" if he wins tonight. El Patron leaves and there's only a few minutes left with things tied up at 4-4. It's an epic closing sequence with the commentary being better than ever and the atmosphere being electric due to the high stakes. A series of roll ups takes place. Mundo rolls up Puma. Puma kicks out. Mundo bounces off the ropes, SHINING WIZARD FOR A NEARFALL! This exchange saw a standing Spanish fly from Mundo as well which was a sight to see. There's only 20 seconds left as Puma recovers and dropkicks Mundo to the ground, he's in place for a highflying move from Puma. Puma climbs the ropes - 630 SENTON!! 1..2..3 - PUMA GOES UP 5-4 WITH ONLY A FEW SECONDS TO GO! The time expires and Prince Puma wins an epic match!

Wow, this was phenomenal. Puma & Mundo both stated on Twitter that this was one of their best matches ever and I tend to agree. This was another Lucha Underground classic and one of their best matches of the year. Everything was built up well. All the spots, the big return, Puma's comeback, the final sequence. Just an awesome match that's well worth going out of your way to see.

Match rating - ****1/2

WWE Monday Night Raw Review - June 15th, 2015

A Dusty Rhodes tribute is shown to start the show and I'd be lying if I said I didn't get a lump in my throat. Even as someone who didn't watch him in his prime, it's always hard to say goodbye to people who have given everything for our entertainment over the years. He was so passionate about wrestling and helped craft alot of today's NXT talent. Thanks for everything, Dusty!

Seth Rollins opens the show and I REALLY thought we'd see Brock Lesnar return here. Rollins went on and on bragging about his win. He pulled out a list of people to thank and the only name on there was his so he thanked himself over & over. It was good stuff, I was just waiting for someone to come out. As said before, I firmly expected Brock, instead we got Dean Ambrose who is a suffice choice. I've not been all too hype on the Ambrose/Rollins feud recently, but this got me pumped as they brawled around the ring. Ambrose cuts an intense promo and begins a sit in as we head to commercial.

During the commercial, I discovered PWG making announcements for Threemendous IV and BOLA that blew my mind so my recap of the next few minutes may be a little blurred.

Sheamus comes out to confront Ambrose as we return from commercial and that sets up a match between the MITB winner and Dean Ambrose.

1) Sheamus vs. Dean Ambrose
Sheamus has had bad luck the last few weeks by being placed in matches with Randy Orton that are pretty much destined to fail at this point. This week, he gets something to sink his teeth into and it was great. Ambrose was equally as intense as Sheamus here and the result was an awesome little smash mouth brawl. Sheamus targets the leg and works Dean over. This sets up the fiery babyface comeback and the crowd is hot! Just as things were picking up, Sheamus tries to leave and is confronted by Randy Orton. Ambrose takes advantage of this and attacks Sheamus then rolls him back in the ring. Ambrose gets the pin with a quick school boy. This was good while it lasted.

Match rating - **3/4

2) R-Truth vs. Bad News Barrett

Beyond Wrestling: Scorned Review

 

I was originally going to post this in the DVD Reviews section/site, but this was an MP4 so here we are! You were probably able to tell by my last Beyond Wrestling review that I was sold on the promotion and you'd be correct because I'm back with the first of two Beyond reviews. It's for two of their most recent shows which took place on the same day as a double header. Here we have SCORNED! The main event is the final battle in a feud that I was introduced to at their previous event, King of Arts, as the former Juicy Product members, JT Dunn & David Starr battle it out. If last month's tag match involving the two that also included Chris Hero and Eddie Kingston was any indication, this should be an awesome match between the friends who turned into rivals. The show opens with a dream encounter so I'm gonna quit babbling and get right into this bad boy!

1) AR Fox vs. "Speedball" Mike Bailey
I've been hoping someone would book this match sooner or later. These two were involved in a great three way with Andrew Everett at CZW's Best of the Best tournament in 2014 which made me want to see them go at it again and Beyond Wrestling granted my wish. This was exactly what you would expect and exactly what was advertised - FLIPS AND KICKS.

Bailey & Fox are two of the most entertaining athletes to watch on the Indies today so this was one hell of an opening match. The action was fast & furious and both guys were good in their specific roles as Fox continues to get under the skin of the fans at Fete as he has dubbed himself "The Living Legend" and relies fairly heavily on interference from Roxy in alot of his matches. This was only the first match of the evening and it earned "This is Awesome" chants, that should tell you that these two went out and put on a show. Very fun opener.

Match rating - ***1/2

2) John Silver vs. Orange Cassidy

2015 Mid-Year Round Up: New Japan Pro Wrestling

We've reached the mid-year point in pro wrestling and its certainly been a wild one. Between attempting to keep up with everything going on in America from WWE to Lucha Underground to TNA to ROH to PWG, I've fell completely behind on puroresu. So last month, I began catching up and decided to put it all together in this one article by promotion. I'm starting here with New Japan and I plan to do one of these for Dragon Gate as well.

It's sort of funny that I say I fell behind on NJPW when the first wrestling event I watched this year was Wrestle Kingdom 9. After that, I completely lost track of things so I'm basically gonna go through and cover all the best matches from that point on. Since I've already seen WK9, I will include some matches from that in this because there were two classics on this show that this column wouldn't be complete without mentioning. Although, it will be the same basic review that I wrote in my original piece on that event. So, if you read that, you can go ahead and skim down past those two matches. None the less, let's get into it and take a look at the best NJPW matches of the first half of 2015!

NOTE: These are not in order of quality, I'm reviewing/covering them by date.

1) Shinsuke Nakamura (c) vs. Kota Ibushi - IWGP Intercontinental Championship Match - Wrestle Kingdom 9 - 1/4/15

TNA Impact Wrestling: Destination X 2015 Review

EC3 starts the show with a "sit in". He's still bitching about wanting a World Title shot which brings out Kurt Angle to cut his sit in extremely short. Angle proceeds to cut an awesome fiery promo. Without a doubt the best I've heard from him in a while although it's nothing out of this world as he basically just tells off EC3 and dares him to make a move on him. With that taken care of, the World Title Match starts the show. HA. I already know where this is going.

1) Kurt Angle vs. Rockstar Spud - TNA World Heavyweight Title Match
As if Dixie spoiling it on Twitter by promoting two Kurt Angle title defenses tonight wasn't enough to squash the interest I had in this match, IT OPENS THE SHOW. I mean, c'mon, atleast have it come on at the half way mark. Any way, this was solid despite me not being able to get into it at all due to the predictability. Angle grounds Spud early only to get rocked by some quick offense soon after. Spud sends Angle out of the ring with a hurricanrana and goes for a crossbody, BUT HE'S CAUGHT! BELLY TO BELLY SUPLEX ON THE FLOOR! Angle gets back in control from this moment forward. They end up countering and trading finishers. One or two close falls that I wasn't sold on at all. This wasn't bad. In fact, I was entertained by it. I just couldn't get invested due to the booking. I feel like this wasn't worth taking the title off Spud for, but I'm guessing they "had" to due to not having any other ideas for what to do for this X Divsion themed show. Bring back the X Cup, PLEASE? It's a stretch, but -- you know what, we're way off topic, that's for another time.

Match rating - **1/2

2) Low Ki vs. Manik vs. Crazy Steve - X Division Qualifier

ROH TV Review - June 10th, 2015

The Addiction opens the show with a great promo from backstage before making their way out to the ring. Kazarian informs us that Bobby Fish can't compete due to injury so unless O'Reilly can come out here & fight, the match is off. ReDragon's music hits and KYLE O'REILLY RUSHES THE RING AND STARTS CLEANING HOUSE ON DANIELS & KAZARIAN! This brawl/match goes on for a few minutes and features some good action. Kyle hits a running kick off the apron onto both members of The Addiction and things never really slowed down. Daniels ends up hitting Kyle with the title belt and gets himself & Kaz disqualified. They hit O'Reilly with Celebrity Rehab, their double team manuever, and continue beating him down which leads to MATT SYDAL AND ACH RUNNING DOWN TO MAKE THE SAVE! This was a really fun way to start the show even though the match I was hyped for didn't happen.

1) Dalton Castle vs. Jushin Liger
YES! I first saw Dalton Castle earlier this year during the Top Prospect tournament and he immediately stood out. So much so that I was bummed when he got eliminated. Thankfully, ROH decided to continue using him anyway and we have this one of a kind match up. Sweet antics mixed with great wrestling made for a pretty solid contest. You had comedy, but then you also had crazy stuff like Castle spinning around on the apron and catching Liger in a head scissors and hitting him with a hurricanrana on the floor. The action really picked up near the end as well. Good match!

Match rating - ***

2) Brutal Bob Evans vs. Cheeseburger

CHIKARA Match Rating Archive / Match Recommendations

I've spent the first half of 2015 going through and watching every CHIKARA "Best of" compilation from 2005-2012 along with a few random matches & shows. I became hooked on their brand of pro wrestling. That leads us here. An archive of all the matches that reached three stars or higher aka the matches you should check out. Just like all my other MRA's, this can/will be updated as I watch more stuff although based on the compilations I've watched, this features most of the best/major matches in CHIKARA history aside from a few random ones. So, enjoy and feel free to tweet me your feedback on my ratings.

2005:
Chris Hero, Claudio Castagnoli, & Arik Cannon vs. Mike Quackenbush, Jigsaw, & Sabian - Remain In Light - ***1/4
Chris Hero, Claudio Castagnoli, & Arik Cannon vs. Mike Quackenbush, Jigsaw, & Reckless Youth - Anniversario Orange - ***1/2
Chris Hero, Claudio Castagnoli, Arik Cannon, & Gran Akuma vs. Mike Quackenbush, Sabian, Eddie Kingston, & Equinox - Young Lions Cup III Night 3 - ***
Shane Storm vs. Icarus - Young Lions Cup Finals - Young Lions Cup III Night 3 - ***3/4
Claudio Castagnoli vs. Mike Quackenbush - Negative Balance - ***1/2
Chris Hero vs. Eddie Kingston - Negative Balance - ***1/2
Claudio Castagnoli vs. KUDO - International Invasion Stage 1 - ***1/4
Jigsaw vs. Hallowicked - International Invasion Stage 2 - ***
Chris Hero & Claudio Castagnoli vs. Milano Collection AT & Skayde - International Invasion Stage 2 - ***1/2
Jigsaw vs. Hallowicked - 2/3 Falls Match - Running in the Red - ***3/4
Shane Storm vs. Gran Akuma - Mask vs Mask Match - Running in the Red - ***1/4
CHIKARA: Best of 2005 DVD Review

2006:
Team DDT (KUDO & MIKAMI) vs. Team Kaentai Dojo (MIYAWAKI & Yoshiaki Yago) - TWGP Nt 1 - ***3/4

WWE Monday Night Raw Review - June 8th, 2015

John Cena opens the show which leads to Kevin Owens coming out. This was bittersweet because I got the feeling the show would be downhill from here considering the fact that they've been the only thing worthy of watching on Raw the past two weeks. But hey, I'll take it because this ruled. They have a confrontation about their respective open challenges until they finally agree that the next person to come out will get to choose what title they challenge for and that person is NEVILLE! AW YEAH! I'd be happy with either match up, but thankfully Neville gives a first time match up in WWE as he picks long time opponent Kevin Owens!

1) Kevin Owens (c) vs. Neville - NXT Championship Match
As you can probably guess, I marked out completely for this. Steen vs PAC on Monday Night Raw with John Cena on commentary? UN-BE-LIEVABLE. Neville snaps off some fancy stuff early like a hurricanrana and a huge dive. Owens soon gains control though and beats down Neville with strikes & slams while trash talking him as well as Cena. Neville begins fighting back, nails a big top rope moonsault to the outside. He went so far that he nearly missed Kev. Back in the ring, Owens sends him in the ropes for a pop up powerbomb but NO! NEVILLE HITS A RELEASE GERMAN SUPLEX/THROW! That was awesome! It would get better though as he would somehow deadlift all 272lbs of Kevin Owens with a bridging german that got him a two count. Neville heads up top for the Red Arrow however Owens recovers and nails Neville with the pop up powerbomb for the win. Extremely fun match as you'd expect. They didn't go all out like I kinda thought they would, but it was still a great start to the show.

Match rating - ***1/4

2) Nikki Bella vs. Summer Rae

Month in Review: May 2015 - Kevin Owens' Rise, ROH/NJPW shows, + more

What a month it's been! Four ROH/NJPW joint shows, DDT4, BOSJ, two WWE PPV's, the WWE debut of Samoa Joe, Kevin Owens feuding with John Cena, and that's just for starters! I've been saying we were on the verge of a boom period for nearly a year now and I think this month was the next step towards that as so much stuff happened including ROH announcing a national TV deal on the same network as TNA. The moment it was announced, the internet broke as everyone rejoiced over the news. Wednesday night is officially the new Monday night as now ROH, TNA, Lucha Underground, AND NXT will all be airing on that night. It's certainly an amazing time to be a wrestling fan and I see it only getting better with GFW on the horizon. None the less, this is about the month of May and I don't want to get ahead of myself so let's get started by discussing the true stars of the month.

WWE Star of the Month - Kevin Owens

Honestly, who else could this go to? Kevin Owens had quite possibly one of the biggest months in recent pro wrestling history. The former ROH & PWG World Champion and current NXT Champion debuted on the main roster of WWE by confronting John Cena on Monday Night Raw. This led to Owens dropping Cena on his back with a pop up powerbomb after scolding him for attempting to give him "veteran advice". Followed by this, Owens absolutely destroyed Sami Zayn in an NXT Title defense before coming face to face with the debuting Samoa Joe in a moment that fans will never forget. That's two unforgettable moments in a matter of weeks and Owens was just getting started. He went on to Elimination Chamber and delivered a phenomenal match with John Cena and DEFEATED him cleanly. In this one month, Owens made his stock as well as NXT's stock SKYROCKET. After this, the sky is the limit for Mr Wrestling in WWE. I shudder to think what Owens will do next considering everything he accomplished in the past three weeks. It's going to be a wild ride having him on Raw & Smackdown every week!

Last month's winner: Neville

Independent Wrestler of the Month - Trevor Lee

Lucha Underground Review - June 3rd, 2015

As of this writing, I'm still technically a week behind on LU as I haven't seen the episode with the Fenix/Muertes Death Match. I'm dying to see it however I was unable to catch the replay this week so I decided to keep it current and go forward with my review of this show. It shouldn't do much harm considering they usually alternate storylines each week to keep things fresh. This week we will see Jack Evans in action once again as well as the first ever submission match in Lucha Underground history! Things start off with a match with some last minute high stakes.

1) Jack Evans vs. Argenis
Before this match began, Dario Cueto came out and declared that the winner would get one of the remaining six ancient medallions. Fenix won the first one in an AMAZING seven way match a few weeks back. These two competitors are both longing for a victory so I guess that's why Cueto decided to place the stipulation on this bout. This match surprisingly didn't last extremely long. It was long enough to be super fun to watch though. They began building up Jack Evans as the innovator of the new age Lucha style which was pretty cool. He took control early on with flashy moves while also displaying his signature cockiness. Argenis took advantage of this and caught Evans with a vicious german suplex in the midst of him doing a back handspring. Evans rolls to the outside, recovers, and cuts a backflip off the apron which he turns into a hurricanrana. It looked like Jack would fully regain control as he began running on the apron and went for another hurricanrana, but NO! ARGENIS CATCHES HIM WITH A POWERBOMB INTO THE RAILING! Argenis gets him back in the ring and hits a sick driver variation off the top turnbuckle for a near fall. Then out of nowhere, Evans gets Argenis in a unique pinning combination, bridges back, and keeps him down for the three count. This was alot of fun while it lasted, good opener.

Match rating - **3/4

2) Angelico, Ivelisse, & Son Of Havoc vs. Delavar Davari, Big Ryck, & Cage - Trios Title Match

ROH TV Review - June 3rd, 2015

When ROH announced it was getting it's first national TV Deal, the internet was buzzing. Thankfully, we only had to wait a week for their debut on Destination America. I've been lucky enough to have ROH TV on a local network in my area for nearly a year now so this isn't anything new for me although it's certainly still exciting to see them get a permanent weekly time slot on a solid network.

1) KUSHIDA vs. Will Ferrara
It's awesome seeing one half of the Time Splitters to kick off this show! These two are around the same size however KUSHIDA has a vast experience advantage. After an early flurry, Ferrara manages to stop KUSHIDA's momentum by putting his knees up to block a standing moonsault attempt. This allows him to get control of the match up. He works over KUSHIDA for a few moments before the man who is currently leading in the BOSJ tournament began mounting a comeback. KUSHIDA ends up delivering a sick counter to one of Ferrara's moves and locking him in his submission finisher which is an inverted version of the Kimura Lock. This earns KUSHIDA the victory. Fine little opening contest.

Match rating - **1/2

2) Silas Young vs. Watanabe

WWE Monday Night Raw Review - June 1st, 2015

Seth Rollins & The Authority Call Out Dean Ambrose
This was a pretty great segment. I'd personally say it was Roman Reigns' best yet. If you didn't see it, HHH asked for Ambrose to return the WWE Title only to get Reigns. He vouches for Ambrose to get a rematch for the WWE Title at Money in The Bank and it will be a Ladder Match! Looks like we'll be getting another Ambrose/Rollins classic! Reigns plays his role extremely well here and is announced to be in the MITB match next month, IF he is able to defeat Bad News Barrett next.

1) Roman Reigns vs. King Barrett
Decent little match here aside from a few pointless moments that were clearly there just to kill time. They put together a great closing sequence and also had a number of cool moments during the match itself. Reigns throwing Barrett into the steps only for him to jump off them and kick them back into Reigns' leg being one of them. However, for every good exchange there was an extended period of rest holds from BNB. I don't mind headlocks, hell, I love a solid headlock, but when two guys are given more time than normal in a match, you'd think they'd come up with something a little more intricate. It was still a fairly entertaining contest though, despite that.

Match rating - **3/4

Ryback speaks and prepares for his first title defense