Ruthless Aggression Era Project: WWE Monday Night Raw Review - April 21st, 2003

WWE Raw

April 21st, 2003

Atlanta, GA

World Heavyweight Champion: Triple H (since 12/15/02)

World Tag Team Champions: Rob Van Dam & Kane (since 3/31/03)

WWE Women's Champion: Trish Stratus (since 3/30/03)

Commentators: Jerry Lawler & Jonathan Coachman 

Ric Flair is in the back with Eric Bischoff to start the broadcast. He's pissed about H having to defend the title against Booker tonight so Eric makes Shawn Michaels the special referee. 

1) Chris Jericho vs. The Hurricane

Oh this fucking rocked. 6-7 minute sprint. Hurricane flies around and so does Jericho. Jericho’s a great dickhead and they have the crowd into it. A true BLAST. Jericho taps out Hurricane and Flair runs down after the bell.

Match rating - **3/4 

Flair assaults Hurricane. I think Naitch is pissed about last week. He locks him in the figure four and ain’t much else Shane can do. Refs come down and Flair scurries while yelling UR A DEAD MAN.

AEW: Dynamite - New Years Smash Review - December 29th, 2021

AEW: Dynamite 

December 29th, 2021

Jacksonville, Florida - Dailys Place

Commentary - Excalibur, Tony Schiavone, & Jim Ross

The final show of 2021, the final episode on TNT, the return of Jim Ross, and the final show produced by Keith Mitchell. It’s a big one tonight, folks. Let’s dive in! 

The show begins with Jim Ross making his triumphant return to the commentary booth after beating cancer. Welcome back, Jim! JR’s first words are ITS WEDNESDAY AND YOU KNOW WHAT THAT MEANS. 

1) Jungle Boy, Luchasaurus, Christian Cage, Penta El Zero Miedo, & Rey Fenix vs. FTR, Matt Hardy, & Private Party 

AEW: Rampage Review - December 25th, 2021

AEW: Rampage - HOLIDAY BASH

December 25th, 2021

Greensboro, North Carolina

Commentators: Excalibur, Taz, & Ricky Starks

HOWDY YALL!! I didn’t review Dynamite last week because I was just.. tired. I did watch, though. What I didn’t watch, however, due to some holiday plans, was the Christmas edition of Rampage. SO. I am watching it now and it’s the best 1 hour in pro wrestling so YOU KNOW I GOTTA REVIEW IT. 

1) Jungle Boy (w/ Luchasaurus & Christian Cage) vs. Isaiah Kassidy (w/ Marq Quen & Matt Hardy)

Jungle Boy’s music hitting to start the show will never get old, I don’t think. It’s just so fun and really sets the tone for what’s to come. This is a rare Isaiah Kassidy singles match and I think it’s cool he’s getting the chance to be featured. This honestly went a little long and had a little too much overbooking for me, though. Truly didn’t need any of that, just let these guys have a 6 minute sprint and call it a day. I love that Jungle Boy has started elbowing the head of his opponent before he locks the snare trap in. He does that here and forces Kassidy to tap. 

Match rating - **1/4 

2) HOOK vs. Bear Bronson 

The crowd chants “we want Hook” as soon as the graphic appears on screen for this. Ohhh man. God, HOOK’s entrance is even more tough than last week. His theme rules so hard. They show Tony Nese in the crowd because we’re supposed to care when HOOK is in the ring.. anyways. This match rules. The crowd pops for every move HOOK makes and every move HOOK makes looks awesome. From his offense to his selling. If this character and these matches are really all laid out by him then man… that kid is a gem. HOOK wins with the redrum. 

Match rating - ***

3) Leyla Hirsch vs. Kris Statlander 

Great little match here from the women’s division. It’s been a while since we’ve seen both of those women in a featured TV match (outside of Stat’s performances in the TBS tournament) so hell yeah. Leyla Hirsch grows on me more every time I see her so I enjoyed this a lot. Statlander plays the role of the bully almost due to the size difference, but Leyla fires back with just as much, if not more grit, and Knox had to pull her off Kris for trying to throw some closed fists. I loved to see these two link up again down the line. You can tell they have history on the Indies and the chemistry is there. Statlander wins. 

Match rating - **1/2 

4) Sammy Guevara (c) vs. Cody Rhodes - TNT Title Match 

The pre-match interview hosted by Mark Henry got me more excited for his than I was initially. Sammy says everyone thinks this is a big match for him, but it was a big match for him in 2019, not now. He says he’s gonna carry Cody tonight and calls him “kid”.. oh hell yea. Entrances happen and David Crockett is at ringside. This match feels kinda big. The opening moments fucking rule. Sammy runs wild with fast paced offense to stun Cody, including the signature Rhodes uppercut. Cody rolls to the outside and is reeling early. Arn tells him to calm down and shit. Then we settle in and man.. the match is honestly good. Knowing the outcome and how disappointing it is took away any real drama for me. They also didn’t do anything too nuts, but they did do just enough for me think it was more than just a decent match. Sammy hit an insane springboard 450 splash to the floor, Cody powerbombed Sammy into the crowd, great spots all around and the near falls at the end had the crowd going. Cody wins with the Tiger Driver to become the first three time TNT champion in company history. He has some sort of heroic celebration with all his family and friends while the crowd boos the shit out of him.. I hope they have a plan for this because if not this is some WWE shit for real. 

Match rating - ***1/2

Ruthless Aggression Era Project: WWE Smackdown Review - April 17th, 2003

WWE Smackdown 

April 17th, 2003

Norfolk, Virginia

WWE Champion: Brock Lesnar (since 3/30/03)

WWE Tag Team Champions: Shelton Benjamin & Charlie Haas (since 2/6/03)

WWE Cruserweight Champion: Matt Hardy (since 2/23/03)

Commentators: Michael Cole & Tazz

Video package highlighting the #1 contenders tournament from the past few weeks. Tonight, we have the finals in the form of John Cena vs. Chris Benoit to determine who will challenge Brock Lesnar for the WWE Championship at Backlash in two weeks. 

1) Rey Mysterio & Tajiri vs. The Big Show & A-Train 

AEW: Rampage Review - December 17th, 2021

AEW Rampage

December 17th, 2021

Garland, Texas 

Commentators - Excalibur, Taz, & Ricky Starks

1) Adam Cole, The Young Bucks, & Bobby Fish vs. Chuck Taylor, Trent, Orange Cassidy, & Rocky Romero 

I love love love love trios and atomicos matches so hell yeah on this happening. Lots of different stories and issues foiled into this one little match. Rocky & Fish hooking up was cool, but the best part early was Orange hitting his flurry on Cole, the place coming unglued and The Elite/Superkliq nailing him with a gang attack during the middle of it. Good ass shit. This begins a small heat segment with Orange being the face in peril. Naturally.. good shit. Trent gets the hot tag and we get some tandem moves from him & Chuck that we haven’t seen in a while like the soul food-half & half combo. Not to mention, some RPG Vice shit from Trent & Rocky. Shit breaks down from here. Some good near falls between Fish & Trent. The Bucks go nuts and Orange gets his shit in before Trent pins Fish with the CRUNCHIE. This was a blast. 

Match rating - ***1/4

We return from commercial and Dan Lambert is in the ring. He’s with Ethan Page and Scorpio Sky per usual. He lays into Tony Khan saying he’s began playing politics and doing everything he promised initially that he wouldn’t. He goes after Cody next and Cody comes out. He snatches the mic from Lambert so Lambert snatches it back. They do this over and over before Cody gets pissed and a brawl breaks out. Dustin Rhodes and Sammy Guevara make the save for Cody when the numbers get to him. Sammy shares an awkward stare at Cody & Dustin after the heels leave the ring. Sammy and Cody face for the TNT Title this coming Wednesday on Dynamite. 

2) Tay Conti (w/ Anna Jay) vs. Penelope Ford (w/ The Bunny) - Submission Match

This was ok. It didn’t get much time to develop into a lot, but what they did was solid. Tay looked awesome as always as of late. From her selling to her offense, everything from her ruled. She wins after a couple minutes and yeah. That’s all for this one.

Match rating - **1/4

The card for next week’s Dynamite is announced and is as follows: 

Adam Cole vs. Orange Cassidy 

Malakai Black vs. Griff Garrison

Christmas Party w/ Britt Baker & Tony Schiavone 

FTR/MJF vs. Darby/Sting/Punk 

PLUS Rampage next week will feature HOOK facing Bear Bronson and Cody Rhodes challenging Sammy Guevara for the TNT Title. 

3) Eddie Kingston, Penta El Zero Miedo, Rey Fenix, Santana, & Ortiz vs. Daniel Garcia, 2.0, & The Acclaimed 

Eh. This was kind of a cluster fuck. As I honestly pretty much expected. There was no need for the Lucha Bros or The Acclaimed to be here, if you wanted them involved just throw it on Dark. For TV, this would’ve been much more effective as a trios match with King & Lucha Bros vs. Dan & 2.0 instead we get unnecessary filler and the only truly great bits are from Dan & King although Santana & Ortiz and 2.0 did do some fun stuff also. Dan Garcia gets the flash roll up on King to win. 

Match rating - **1/2

Heels beat down the faces after the match. Jungle Boy, Christian Cage, & Luchasaurus make the awesome save. JB & Lucha stare down the Lucha Bros teasing the tag title match that we are expecting to get soon. This closes the show. 

After the show went off air, I went live on YouTube with Mike, Courtland, and Zach to give our immediate thoughts PLUS Mike opens a pro wrestling crate package live to kick off the stream! Check it out below:  

Thanks for reading and watching. See y’all next week <3

AEW: Dynamite (WINTER IS COMING 2021) Review - December 15th, 2021

AEW: Dynamite

Garland, TX

December 15th, 2021

Commentators - Excalibur, Tony Schiavone, & Taz

1) “Hangman” Adam Page (c) vs. Bryan Danielson - AEW World Title Match 

I’m having to take a deep breath before writing this. How to even tackle covering a spectacle such as this? What do I even rate this? It’s hard to think when you just took one of the most insane rollercoaster rides in recent wrestling memory. I guess I’ll start at the beginning, when this popped up as the opener for the show, I literally rose to my feet. An immediate sign that my investment in this match was even more than I anticipated. To begin, they work a very slow and deliberate pace. A pace similar to the Page/Omega match at Full Gear, but despite that moment undoubtedly being the most fulfilling of the year, as a match this built to so much more. The first 30 minutes flew by. Danielson works the legs, but mainly targets the mid section of Hangman. Page going for and missing moonsaults only added to the emphasis Dragon put on the mid section. Things begin picking up around 25-30 minutes in and just when I thought we were going toward a finishing run, a scuffle on the outside leads to Page getting split open by a post shot reminiscent of how Danielson busted Nigel McGuinness open back in one of their epic Ring of Honor clashes. What a callback to show the state that Dragon is in and what a moment to place perfectly right in the middle of this match. It gave us the break we needed to almost reset how this match was going to go. My Up & Over Podcast and friend/contributor to the blog, Mike, watches on FITE and says this came off a lot more awkward for him considering he had no commercials and it felt like a lot of stalling during some of the breaks. This is something I can’t comment on due to watching on regular TV with commercials, BUT something to consider and re-watch. None the less, I loved where we went from here. The first half of this was pure wrestling and the match was fine in that realm because Danielson is fantastic at the little things like accentuating how lightly he takes Page. Shit, he spent the first ten minutes basically playing with him. But yeah, the final 30 of this match saw it grow from a match to a fight with the blood of Hangman really sending this to the next level as Danielson threw closed fists into the head causing the blood to gush further, especially when he boots his head against the turnbuckle at one point and the camera got the PERFECT shot of it, too. By the time, the final quarter rolls around, we are in the midst of a barnburner. Page has clearly been outwrestled by Danielson and all of his normal moves and tricks have not worked. Danielson has weakened the arm for the buckshot, he’s went to work on the mid section and weakened his stamina, something that was only furthered by missed moonsaults and a dive to the outside through a table. And most of all, Danielson has beaten up the champion with no remorse. However, what holds all of this together is the same reason I think people love Hangman so much. His will, his determination and his desire to remain our champion. This makes the desperation finishing run from him so fucking epic. From the moment he finally nails Danielson with a lariat despite all the work on the arm and the pain coursing through it to the struggle on the mat as Danielson tried to hold Page in the labelle lock long enough for a submission win, this was breathtaking. Some don’t like the idea of Page’s first defense being a draw, but I do. We are seeing Hangman Page grow, yet again, and become one of the best wrestlers in the world. He’s already the sympathetic babyface, but with matches like this, he’s gonna become so much more. What a performance. This one will be talked about for decades to come. They had myself and the crowd glued to the action from bell to bell and that is an astonishing feat for TV wrestling in 2021. Unbelievable. So, yeah, this rating may change as I need to watch it with fresh eyes and I'm doing my best of 2021 re-watch soon, but for now it sits at 4.75.

Match rating - ****3/4

Backstage, Super Kliq & Bobby Fish are here. Adam Cole has a gift for them next week… hmmm.. 

2) Wardlow (w/ Shawn Spears) vs. Matt Sydal

Wardlow squash YEAH BABY. Shawn Spears tells him to finish it after one powerbomb but Wardlow likes to do more. Spears then says MJF called him and he needs Wardlow to go get him champagne for his celebration later after he wins the main event.. I sense this Wardlow turn starting to build. 

Match rating - *3/4

Tay Conti / Penelope Ford pre-tape promo airs. Great job by both. They clash in a submission match on Friday on Rampage.  

Malakai Black pre-tape and I loved this one. I’m hit or miss on him and these videos, but this one was a cool and he seemingly teased Brody King as he crowned a new member.. the first member of the House of Black and whispered in his ear.. “Now you’re so much more than a king.” 

3) Hikaru Shida vs. Serena Deeb

Hey! Hell yea! Crowd is burnt which is unfortunate for these ladies, but they worked their asses off and were able to get the audience into it by the end. Shida has been showing a lot more aggression lately and did so here as she threw her kendo stick at Deeb before the bell. Shida charges Deeb and this felt like a real fight from the jump. They work a really good match that benefits from all the backstory between them. Part of me wishes they had a better crowd for it, but truthfully, this women’s division is still in the building stages and I doubt this would’ve gotten THAT much more of a reaction in front of a fresh crowd. However, little bangers like this definitely help build that investment, I think. 

Match rating - ***1/4

Griff Garrison says he will bring the fight to Malakai Black. He & Pillman Jr argue because Pillman thinks he shouldn’t pick this fight. Griff insists though and says next week.. he will break Malakai’s jaw. 

4) MJF vs. Dante Martin - Dynamite Diamond Match

Another fantastic showing from Dante in a big match scenario. He hasn’t missed at all this year and didn’t here. MJF did his thing as usual, but when Dante is in the ring in the year 2021, it’s gonna be hard to do something to top him and take the spotlight off him. His comeback here rocked as he hit so much insane shit and it was just a blast as always because he’s such a fresh, unique flyer. Of course, he falls to a screwy finish and MJF wins the Diamond for the third year in a row. 

Match rating - ***

After the match, FTR & MJF beat down Dante. The lights go out and ITS STIIIING and Darby Allin. This still isn’t enough backup and the crowd starts chanting for CM Punk and that’s exactly what they get! Awesome save from Punk in a PRO CHOICE SHIRT IN TEXAS !!! Yes !!! But yeah! This sets up the big trios main event for Greensboro next week in the form of Punk/Darby/Sting vs. FTR & MJF. I can’t think of a more perfect main event for that show! Goodnight y’all. 

Also, if you missed it, we did a live recap and review stream of this show after it went off air, check it out below and make sure to subscribe to the Pro Wrestling Truth YouTube channel:

Ruthless Aggression Era Project: WWE Monday Night Raw Review - April 14th, 2003

WWE Raw

April 14th, 2003

Richmond, Virginia 

World Heavyweight Champion: Triple H (since 12/15/02)

World Tag Team Champions: Rob Van Dam & Kane (since 3/31/03)

WWE Women's Champion: Trish Stratus (since 3/30/03)

Commentators: Jerry "The King Lawler & Jim Ross

~VINTAGE OPENING VID~

Oh fuck Kevin Nash is opening the show! Let’s go!!! He gets an awesome ovation. Nash is pissed that while he was out, Triple H and Shawn Michaels turned on one another and when he returned last week, he was right in the middle of it. He says they’re all supposed to be friends and it shouldn’t be like this. Before Nash can finish, Triple H comes out and they… hug? It doesn’t last long. H says he’s happy to see him, but things are different and he’d assume to slap Shawn in the face rather than shake his hand. HBK IS HERE AND HE IS RILED UP. HE WANTS H TO SLAP HIM AND HE SAYS H IS RIGHT THEY WILL NEVER BURY THE HATCHER. Nash starts high pitching yelling and says he didn’t come back for this shit. H says Nash is in a tough spot, but he has to make a choice - it’s him or Shawn. H goes on an in depth explanation of why he should side with him and not Shawn, ending with H saying to remember that the biggest success either of them ever saw came when they walked away from Shawn.

Ruthless Aggression Era Project: WWE Smackdown Review - April 10th, 2003

WWE Smackdown 

Chicago, Illinois

April 10th, 2003

WWE Champion: Brock Lesnar (since 3/30/03)

WWE Tag Team Champions: Shelton Benjamin & Charlie Haas (since 2/6/03)

WWE Cruserweight Champion: Matt Hardy (since 2/23/03)

Commentators - Michael Cole & Tazz

EARLIER TONIGHT: THE NEW WWE CHAMPION BROCK LESNAR is BACK!!! He is shaking the hands of people backstage including CM Punk, Jamie Noble, Ken Anderson and others. What a wild scene. He then signs some woman’s boobs. What a champ. He faces Matt Hardy tonight!! 

Also tonight: CENA vs TAKER and RHYNO vs BENOIT in tournament action! 

1) Brock Lesnar vs. Matt Hardy (w/ Shannon Moore)

AEW: Rampage Review - December 10th, 2021

AEW: Rampage 

Long Island, New York 

December 10th, 2021 

Commentary - Excalibur & Taz

They seem to be rushing into things production wise as we head straight to the ring as Excalibur is talking 1,000mph. 

1) Lucha Bros (Penta El Zero Miedo & Rey Fenix) (c) vs. FTR (Dax Harwood & Cash Wheeler) - AEW World Tag Team Title Match 

I’ve not been the biggest fan of this feud, and subsequently, I never look forward to their matches. I think it’s because of how much I didn’t enjoy the Full Gear match, but every match after has ruled. This was no exception and is definitely my favorite match of the entire Death Triangle/FTR feud. It was so much better paced than the Full Gear match and the false finishes were placed perfectly to the point that they felt super believable. There were some rough patches of miscommunication, but the flow of things was so much better than their prior match at Full Gear that I can’t help but still rate it higher because they actually had me completely invested in this one. Penta & Fenix retain after a thrilling match. 

Match rating - ***1/2

2) Ruby Soho, Tay Conti, & Anna Jay vs. Nyla Rose, The Bunny, & Penelope Ford

I love these women’s tags and trios that AEW has been doing. It’s much easier to play toward each woman’s strengths and that means a lot when you have so much green talent in the division. There were some rocky moments here or there, but they largely held this together and I loved the formula they went for here with the faces in peril and hot tag choices. Really just a blast. Nyla gets the win off a brass knuckle shot from Bunny to Anna. 

Match rating - **1/2

Backstage, Tony Schiavone is with Sting & Darby Allin. Tony starts talking about Sting’s history in Greensboro, NC and the upcoming Dynamite there in January. Before he can really comment, FTR jumps them and Tully kicks Sting in the nuts.

3) Hook vs. Fuego Del Sol 

HOOK HAS AN ACTION BRONSON THEME SONG. It’s Hook’s debut match. This had a lot to live up to considering how hype people have been for Hook and it undoubtedly delivered. Hook looked just about flawless and Fuego was a perfect first opponent. You got some spots where Hook’s inexperience almost cost him like on the roll up spot, those little things rocked. The most important part is that we got to see what Hook was made of and we all loved it. HOOK. 

Match rating - *** 

4) Adam Cole vs. Wheeler Yuta

Happy to see Yuta getting this match. It’s not a full on squash, more like an extended with one and I’m very happy with that. Cole doesn’t deserve to be taken to the limit by Yuta, but Yuta doesn’t deserve to be completely squashed either. So best of both worlds, here. Some nice exchanges down the stretch before Cole gets the victory. 

Match rating - **3/4

After the match, great beatdown by the Superkliq/Elite. BTE trigger to Trent and a kick to the nuts to Orange after Cole faked him out by teasing a Panama Sunrise which was hilarious. 

That’s all for this week, make sure to check out myself, Mike, Courtland, and Zach’s Rampage instant reaction show from last night, it’s embedded at the top of this review. Also be sure to follow @ThePWTruth and @UpAndOverPod on Twitter! Thanks for reading, see y’all next time <3

AEW: Dynamite Review - December 8th, 2021

AEW: Dynamite

December 8th, 2021 

UBS Arena - Long Island, New York 

Commentators - Excalibur, Taz & Tony Schiavone

CM Punk opens the show, but not in the fashion you’d expect. MJf’s music hits and his hometown crowd loses their mind… only for CM Punk to walk up through the tunnel. This set the stage for one of the most odd, but interesting promos since Punk joined the company. The crowd largely booed Punk and I don’t think he even anticipated them to be that partisan toward MJF considering he IS the heel in the program and has been the antagonist the entirety of his AEW career. But they were partisan and not ashamed of it, either. Punk almost seems taken aback and repeats a line about the Islander’s a couple of times, but he does lean deeper towards villainous Punk and that alone is cool! He closes by calling the crowd chicken shits then leaving LMAO. I enjoyed this more than last week’s garbage so hell yea. 

1) Dynamite Diamond Battle Royal 

AEW: Dynamite Review - December 1st, 2021

AEW: Dynamite

December 1st, 2021

Duluth, Georgia 

Commentary - Excalibur, Tony Schiavone, and various guests 

Jim Ross is out for a few weeks so we will have various guests filling in on commentary beginning with AEW World Champ Hangman Adam Page!! 

1) Bryan Danielson vs. Alan Angels 

God damn right. First things first, I’m a big Kenny Omega fan, but I was not a fan at all of his matches with Alan Angels. This, however? This fucking rocked. Danielson just knows how to work every match in a way that makes sense. The Omega/Angels matches were largely just movefests and I never bit on any of it. Here, Danielson works this at just the perfect pace that some of the near falls are actually SLIIIGHTLY believable. Barely, but enough to make me say oh shit that was cool that was almost the finish! So, yeah. The Dragon continues to reign supreme. 

Match rating - ***

2) CM Punk vs. Lee Moriarty 

AEW: Rampage Review - December 3rd, 2021

AEW: Rampage

December 3rd, 2021

Duluth, GA 

Commentators - Excalibur, Taz, Ricky Starks & Thunder Rosa

 

1) Sammy Guevara (c) vs. Tony Nese - TNT Title Match 

A lot of people probably anticipate my review of this match, but truthfully there’s nothing wrong with it. That’s the thing about Tony Nese, there’s not anything offensive or outwardly bad about much of what he does. The issue is there’s also nothing to write home or frankly, to care about. No need to harp on it, however. Because this isn’t something that keeps me up at night, it’s just the way it is viewed through my eyes. It also needed to be mentioned to further explain how I felt about this. So yeah, Sammy did cool stuff and Nese did stuff, too. Sammy’s was just cooler and meant more because he has so much more depth. Sammy retains, as expected. 

Match rating - **1/2 

Christian is backstage with Jungle Boy & Luchasaurus. They will be watching the FTR/PAC & Penta match closely in prep for Jurassic Express getting their shot at the titles. 

2) Jade Cargill vs. Janai Kai 

HEY ! JANAI KAI ! Well, nice seeing her for a second before she eats the pin I guess. SQUASH for Jade and Thunder Rosa runs down post match and we get a below average pull apart between the two to try to hype their semi finals match in the TBS Title Tournament coming up next week? Or sometime soon.

The Young Bucks & Adam Cole are backstage. The Bucks return to tag team action on Dynamite and want two of the Best Friends to show up and face them. Nick calls Brandon Cutler a “stupid dumbass” and cuts the camera. 

Eddie Kingston is on some stairs and says 2.0 will reap what they sow PATNA. 

Bryan Danielson/John Silver video package and BABY IM SO READY FOR THIS. They are gonna tear the damn roof off. 

Next week on Dynamite it’s Jamie Hayter/Riho, Young Bucks/Chuck Taylor & Rocky Romero + more!

3) PAC & Penta El Zero Miedo vs. FTR (w/ Tully Blanchard) 

The pre-match interview turns into chaos and Mark Henry has to yell to someone shit down. This was supposed to be Lucha Bros defending the tag titles, but apparently Fenix is hurt so PAC is subbing in. Bell rings and great flurries from PAC & Penta to start doing their flashy and schtick stuff, respectively til we SETTLE RIGHT IN TO AN FTR STYLE CONTEST DADDY. And it’s great, honestly. Amazing southern heel tag work from FTR. Cutting off the ring, breaking up tag attempts. They build to the Penta hot tag phenomenally well and it RULES. The work here is a blast, but the eye patch shit is just goofy and the fact that it played into the finish took away from this as a whole for me. Malakai Black came down and sprayed PAC in the eyes again and FTR gets the win. 

Match rating - ***1/4 

Ruthless Aggression Era Project: WWE Monday Night Raw Review - April 7th, 2003

WWE Raw

April 7th, 2003

Milwaukee, WI 

World Heavyweight Champion: Triple H (since 12/15/02)

World Tag Team Champions: Rob Van Dam & Kane (since 3/31/03)

WWE Women's Champion: Trish Stratus (since 3/30/03)

Commentary - Jerry "The King" Lawler & Jim Ross

Replay of Goldberg debuting and attacking The Rock last week.

1) Trish Stratus (c) vs. Jazz - WWE Women’s Title Match 

Whoa, this was good! They got time and worked their asses off. Barring some BAD Jerry commentary, of course. But that’s not their fault. Trish retains after a good back & forth women’s contest BY GOD. Very refreshing way to open the show.

Match rating - **1/2 

The Rock is backstage looking for Goldberg and he makes fun of him and the UR NEXT shit and it’s fucking hilarioussss. I also don’t fuck with Goldberg so I may enjoy it more than most. God damn. Good shit PAL. 

Ruthless Aggression Era Project: WWE Smackdown Review - April 3rd, 2003

WWE Smackdown 

April 3rd, 2003

Spokane, Washington 

WWE Champion: Brock Lesnar (since 3/30/03)

WWE Tag Team Champions: Shelton Benjamin & Charlie Haas (since 2/6/03)

WWE Cruserweight Champion: Matt Hardy (since 2/23/03)

Commentators - Michael Cole & Tazz

That amazing WM19 recap vid that they showed on Raw airs again here and the NOSTALGIA REIGNS ALL OVER AGAIN BABY.

AND HERE COMES STEPH. Smackdown General Manager Stephanie McMahon says both Kurt Angle and Brock Lesnar are out for a few weeks due to injuries from their main event this past Sunday, but during those weeks, we will crown a new #1 contender to Brock Lesnar’s WWE Championship. Steph reveals a tournament bracket and the first match is NOW!

1) The Undertaker vs. Rey Mysterio - #1 Contenders Tournament Match

Oh yeah brother. You know this banged. It really just made me want more, though. Which I guess is a good thing? Taker is a much better base for Rey than expected.. or should it be expected? I’ve just never seen Taker work a Lucha guy so I didn’t know! But he is great so yeah. It’s pretty much a sprint, but we love sprints sooo. The finish is awesome as it teases a Mysterio escape out of the Last Ride as Taker has some struggle with him while holding him up BUT DAMN IT MADE THE EXECUTION OF THE MOVE EVEN MORE SICK. Taker wins, but shows respect by a handshake & a hug with Rey after the match. 

Match rating - **3/4

2) Brian Kendrick vs. Jamie Noble (w/ Nidia)

Ruthless Aggression Era Project: WWE Monday Night Raw Review - March 31st, 2003

WWE Raw

March 31st, 2003 

Seattle, Washington 

World Heavyweight Champion: Triple H (since 12/15/02)

World Tag Team Champions: Chief Morley & Lance Storm (since 3/24/03)

WWE Women's Champion: Trish Stratus (since 3/30/03)

Commentators - Jim Ross & Jerry “The King” Lawler

It’s the night after WrestleMania and one more night in Seattle before Mania weekend is fully over.

Awesome video package recapping Mania 19 to start the show. They did such a great job making these PPVs feel so hype and huge with these video packs at the time. As a kid, it truly felt like the PPV’s were something special and a totally different experience than Raw & Smackdown.

AEW: Rampage Review - November 26th, 2021

AEW: Rampage (Black Friday edition)

November 26th, 2021

Chicago, Illinois

Commentators - Excalibur, Taz, Chris Jericho, & Ricky Starks 

Ok y’all sorry for no live instant recap this week. I work retail and it was simply not feasible considering it’s Black Friday. However I am here now with my usual written review so let’s diiiiive in. 

1) Adam Cole & Bobby Fish vs. Orange Cassidy & Wheeler Yuta (w/ Chuck Taylor & Kris Statlander)

AEW: Dynamite Review - November 24th, 2021

AEW: Dynamite 

November 24th, 2021

Chicago, Illinois 

Commentators - Excalibur, Tony Schiavone, & Jim Ross

THE DAY BEFORE THANKSGIVING EXTRAVAGANZA. LETS GOOO. 

And what a way to start it off with CM Punk in a 20 minute verbal exchange with MJF. This is the longest promo (I guess that’s the word) segment in company history and it is well deserved. Both of these guys truly showed the rest of the locker room exactly how to grab every person in the room AND everyone watching at home by the collar of the shirt. They kept everyone on the edge of their seat and hanging on every word for 20 minutes and guess what? I think most of us still want more! The references and punchlines here are too many to try to name or list. Punk calling MJF a less famous Miz and saying he had been replaced in the Four Pillars by Britt Baker cannot go unmentioned though. Just phenomenal stuff and MJF proved he can more than hang with someone the caliber of Punk, if there was ever any doubt otherwise. 

1) CM Punk vs. QT Marshall 

Ruthless Aggression Era Project: WWE WrestleMania XIX Review - March 30th, 2003

WrestleMania XIX

Seattle, Washington 

March 30th, 2003

WWE Champion: Kurt Angle (since 12/15/02)

WWE Tag Team Champions: Shelton Benjamin & Charlie Haas (since 2/6/03)

WWE Cruserweight Champion: Matt Hardy (since 2/23/03)

World Heavyweight Champion: Triple H (since 12/15/02)

World Tag Team Champions: William Regal & Lance Storm (since 1/20/03)

WWE Women's Champion: Victoria (since 11/17/02)

Commentators: Jim Ross, Jerry Lawler, Michael Cole, & Tazz 

Ok y'all first off, I apologize for this not having any gif's. I normally go nuts with gif's and extra stuff for these PPV reviews, but god damn either the gifcam app i'm using isn't working or Peacock doesn't allow you to record gif's on their site because I can't get it to work for the life of me, but this needs to go up so I'm skipping over it. I definitely am gonna try to get that sorted soon though and try a new app.

Awesome video package to start the show with The Rock, Stone Cold, Hulk Hogan, Kurt Angle, Triple H, & Booker T talking about the importance of WrestleMania. Man I sure do miss when Mania felt this important…

Jim Ross & Jerry “The King” Lawler welcome us to the grandest stage of them all then send things over to the Smackdown commentary team of Michael Cole & Tazz. 

1) Matt Hardy (c) vs. Rey Mysterio - Cruserweight Championship Match 

Ruthless Aggression Era Project: WWE Smackdown Review - March 27th, 2003

WWE Smackdown 

March 27th, 2003 

San Jose, California 

WWE Champion: Kurt Angle (since 12/15/02)

WWE Tag Team Champions: Shelton Benjamin & Charlie Haas (since 2/6/03)

WWE Cruserweight Champion: Matt Hardy (since 2/23/03)

Commentators - Michael Cole & Tazz 

THE FINAL SHOW BEFORE WRESTLEMANIA 19

1) Rey Mysterio & Brian Kendrick vs. Matt Hardy & Shannon Moore

Oh yeah, bud. This was a blast. Kendrick takes the beating early. Hardy & Shannon rock as a team and hit big moves on him. Rey had to come in for the save several times. Rey finally gets the hot tag and him & Kendrick clean house. Just.. hell yeah. Kendrick is left alone in the ring after the mayhem, though, and Hardy catches him with a twist of fate for the win.

Match rating - **3/4

Hardy gets the upperhand on Rey post match, nails him with a Twist of Fate and stands over him. They clash for the Cruserweight title at WrestleMania. 

AEW: Rampage Review - November 19th, 2021

AEW: Rampage 

November 19th, 2021

Norfolk, Virginia 

Commentators - Excalibur, Taz , Chris Jericho & Ricky Starks 

  

Before I begin, I’d like to formally announce a new segment as a part of our upcoming official partnership with the Up & Over Podcast (something more details will be announced about soon), we will be doing a Rampage live recap & review on the Pro Wrestling Truth YouTube channel every Friday night after Rampage AND we started last night! Check it out above, before, after or during your reading of my written review and make sure to subscribe to the PWT YouTube.

Myself, Mike, and Courtland took an in-depth look at Rampage from tonight and even touched on Dynamite a bit as well. Lots of cool things in the works so make sure to check it out and make plans to join us live on YouTube for our stream next week! 

1) Darby Allin vs. Billy Gunn 

Yeah, you read that right. This was set up in the most random ass backstage segment on Dynamite two nights ago. This is worked in the usual Darby formula. He’s overpowered and bumps around like an actual maniac. Leave it to Darby to do PPV caliber bumps on the secondary TV show. I mean, I’m not complaining, because they are sick.. in one way or another. Darby fights back after a commercial break, and hits the coffin drop. Billy kicks out at 1 and Darby hits another for the win. Idk I kinda enjoyed this.  

Match rating - **1/2

After the match, Austin & Colten attack Sting at ringside. Sting gets the upper hand and clears house before Billy chop blocks the leg of Sting and.. The Gunn Club stands tall. 

Replay of the CM Punk and MJF segment from Dynamite.

Meanwhile… Tony Schiavone is with QT Marshall and challenges CM Punk to a match on Dynamite next week. 

2) Jade Cargill vs. Red Velvet - TBS Title Tournament Match 

I had rocky expectations for this, but I was pleasantly surprised. Both women have strengths, it’s just hit or miss on when all the stars line up and they’re able to string together something solid. Here, they definitely did and it seems like they have some chemistry that I think should be revisited down the line once they’ve both grown further as wrestlers. Velvet bumped around for Jade and they laid out a super solid little match. Jade looked awesome and subsequently gets the win. I really really want a Rosa/Jade final. I think Rosa could lead Jade to a fantastic match and make her look extremely strong in defeat. 

Match rating - **1/2 

Backstage, CM Punk accepts QT Marshall’s challenge from earlier and puts emphasis on the stakes & importance of wrestling him in Chicago. 

They run down some upcoming matches for Dynamite next week which include the 8 man tag that was already announced (Cody/PAC/Lucha Bros v FTR/Malakai/Andrade) plus Danielson vs. Cabana and Punk vs. QT. ALSO, next week on Rampage, EDDIE KINGSTON VS DANIEL GARCIA!!!

ITS TIME FOR THE MAIN EVENT. Mark Henry does the pre-match split screen interview and IT IS TIME. 

3) Adam Cole & Bobby Fish vs. Jurassic Express (Jungle Boy & Luchasaurus) 

Now, we all know how I feel about the Undisputed Era callbacks and Bob Fish in general, but this match rocked. These guys just can’t go wrong in a spot on the card like this. The time restraint helps it not get too lost in itself like the trios match from Full Gear and instead we just get a suuuuper great TV tag. Truly, no complaints from me here. Cole and Luchasaurus get the hot tags and the finishing run is awesome. The Bucks try to get involved and Christian brings a chair down and needless to say, puts a stop to that. This was a blast. Jungle Boy pins Bobby Fish for the win.

Match rating - ***1/4

Thanks for reading y'all, make sure to follow @ThePWTruth and @UpAndOverPod on Twitter! Until next time <3

AEW: Dynamite Review - November 17th, 2021

AEW: Dynamite

November 17th, 2021

Norfolk, Virginia 

Commentators - Excalibur, Jim Ross, & Tony Schiavone 

ITS NATIONAL COWBOY SHIT DAY BABY 

Before we get into the new AEW World Champion Hangman Page’s celebration, we cut to the SuperKliq in the back. Kenny Omega says Hangman was the better man and that he needs time away to figure some things out. Omega asks the Bucks to hold down the fort while he’s gone and Adam Cole thinks he’s talking to him so we get SOME AWKWARD TENSION AND FORESHADOWING!! ! The Bucks tell them to cut the camera feed.

Back to the arena, John Silver has the mic and the rest of the Dark Order is behind him. Silver says it’s time to celebrate National Cowboy Shit day and introduces the new AEW World Champion.. our kiNG HANGMAN ADAM PAGE :-) 

Page cuts the best god damn celebratory babyface promo. This segment really just ruled. It’s such simple.. I hate to say it, but simple… WWE Raw style shit but it is never done in AEW and I’m happy they went with an opening segment like this for once. Don’t make us wait til the end of the night to hear from Hangman, we’ve already waited 3 days!!! So yeah. Hangman gets a lot of chants and says the AEW title carries a lot of weight and now is the time to start defending it. Before he can even get to Bryan Danielson, Danielson’s music hits and be congratulations Hangman, but immediately things turn a little sour. Danielson says he’s surprised it’s Page and not Omega standing in front of him. Hanger responds saying he shouldn’t be surprised because he beat him in less than 30 minutes, something Danielson couldn’t do!!! Danielson then pokes fun at Page being in cowboy boots and not wrestling gear. They tease wrestling tonight only for Bryan to sort of use the attire as a way to halfway weasel out, but also he already has a match tonight and it’s next! Awesome seg way. 

1) Bryan Danielson vs. Evil Uno 

Dan & Uno play the hits here. Uno is fast and busts out lucha shit flying around. Danielson just wants to kill him, stiff kicks and forearms. No bullshit whatsoever from Dragon. This was just a fantastic sprint all the way around. Danielson wins and after the match says he wants to face every single member of Dark Order before he gets to Hangman and the title shot so he can kick every single one of their heads in!!! AHHHH!!

Match rating - ***1/4

MJF clip from after his match at the PPV. He screams about being under appreciated for his in ring work and shit. Honestly was scary, he looked like he was gonna blow a gasket! 

Eddie Kingston is backstage and he’s interrupted by 2.0 and Dan Garcia!!!! Hello kings! They poke fun at Eddie and Eddie starts shit with Daniel Garcia anD THEY GO NOSE TO NOSE AHHHH GIVE ME THIS SH IT NOW. Eddie is the best at getting you hyped for matches you had no anticipation for and doing so in literally like 60 seconds. 

2) Tomohiro Ishii & Orange Cassidy (w/ Chuck Taylor, Kris Statlander, Rocky Romero, & Wheeler Yuta) vs. The Butcher & The Blade (w/ Matt Hardy & The Bunny) 

Man wrestling in 2021 is so fucking crazy. Just seeing all this names in one match / segment on national f’n television… amazing. And this was everything it needed to be. Orange got all his stuff in and the dynamic of he & Ishii was perfect. Ishii certainly knows what it’s like to work with someone like him after all the tags he’s had with Yano. CHAOS really isn’t that important nowadays outside of having Okada in it, but it’s super cool to see the stable integrated into AEW television, their entrance here rocked. Ishii gets the hot tag and works some great spots with the Butcher and they built up their face off as a big deal which was cool. They give Ishii a second hot tag later which ruled even more. I thought he was gonna elbow Matt Hardy off the apron for a second which I was gonna pop for. Bunny slipped Blade the brass knucks off the distraction, but before he can use them, Rocky pulls him out of the ring. Hardy throws Rocky into the railing and ORANGE COMES SAILING OFF THE TOP ROPE TO THE FLOOR ONTO HARDY AND BLADE. Crowd went off for that, this was so fun. Ishii nails Butcher with a brainbustaaaa for the victory. 

Match rating - ***1/4 

Backstage, Tony Schiavone is with Andrade El Idolo and FTR & Tully Blanchard. Andrade says it’s time to show Cody Rhodes his bad side. FTR also chimes in and says they were robbed at Full Gear. The three men propose an 8 man tag with them & Malakai vs. Cody/PAC/Lucha Bros. 

Tay Conti, in a video package, says next time she faces Britt she WILL be champion. This cuts to the trio of queens - Britt Baker, Jamie Hayter, & Rebel. Britt says she’s tired of carrying the women’s division and directs the spotlight to Jamie Hayter, the future first ever TBS Champion. Tony mentions Jamie has to get through Thunder Rosa first. Britt cuts him off and says we don’t mention her name during her interviews. Britt says Jamie will take out Rosa in route to the finals of the TBS tourney. That match is next week and I am more excited about it than any of the tournament matches so far. Rosa & Hayter might be the two best wrestlers in the division right now in my eyes. 

3) Hikaru Shida vs. Nyla Rose - TBS Title Tournament Match 

These two always seem to cross paths. And when they do, the matches are always solid. This was no different and I liked the build up and how they touched on it in the match. Firstly, Nyla has never beaten Shida. Secondly, Shida tweaked her knee during the tag match both women were involved in on Saturday. Thirdly, Shida pinned Nyla in said tag match. Soooo yeah. They touch on all those things here and give us some nice false finishes. Nyla misses a senton off the top rope and eats shit. Shida goes for a kick off the opening and gets caught in a nasty standing stretch muffler and is forced to tap. Nyla advances in the tournament to face the winner of Statlander/Soho.

Match rating - ***

Malakai Black pre-tape on the 8 man tag coming up in Chicago next week. 

MJF is here now. He mocks Darby some more then just starts gassing himself up. He says there’s no one in the locker room who can hold a candle to him. CM Punk comes out to a huge pop. The staredown between the two gets a “holy shit” chant. Punk doesn’t say a word and MJF extends his hand to introduce and Punk just laughs and walks off. Good shit! Punk didn’t even have to say a word and Excalibur explains the intent of what Punk did as it’s just to piss MJF off. 

Backstage, Darby Allin says MJF didn’t break him and he isn’t taking time off. Darby wants the biggest and baddest that AEW has to offer. Up walks… Billy Gunn. He accepts Darby’s challenge and his sons laugh and one of them says “I like turtles” in reference to that viral video of that kid.. yeah.. idk. Fuck this though lmao. 

Adam Cole is backstage and mad. He is tired of Christian Cage and Jurassic Express. Cole says he wants Jungle Boy & Luchasaurus and that he & Bobby Fish will face them on Rampage. Fish walks up and we get a terrible promo from him teasing saying “undisputed” and ugh I wanna throw up. This is ass cheeks. 

4) Lio Rush & Dante Martin vs. The Acclaimed (Max Caster & Anthony Bowens) 

Oh man.. Dante Martin is such a great face in peril. Crowd is hot for him & Lio. So yeah this naturally builds to an AWESOME Lio hot tag after a commercial break. Lio gets a two count. Shit breaks down and ALL FOUR MEN ARE DOWN AND THE CROWD RISES TO THEIR FEET. Lovely little moment with Tony making me feel nostalgic as he hyped up how there’s still more to come even after this crazy fun tag. Dante hits some more wild stuff as they transition into the finish where Caster rolls out of a pin attempt only for Lio to come flying off the top rope and nail him for the three count.

Match rating - ***1/4 

Team Taz comes out. Taz explains why they offered Dante Martin a contract to join Team Taz, saying it’s all business. Ricky Starks chimes in and says they will wait as long as they have to and mention how long they waited for Hobbs to come around and today is actually the one year anniversary of him joining them. I really hope Dante doesn’t even tease joining them, this tag team with Lio rocks so much. 

Christian Cage is backstage with Jurassic Express. Jungle Boy has shaved the scruff off his face it seems and I’m kinda happy. OMG AS IM TYPING THIS HE MENTIONS HIS SCRUFF BEIN GONE HOLY HELL. 

“Shit, I’ll eat thumbtacks for breakfast.” 

Yea, Jungle Boy killed this. They basically are accepting Adam Cole’s challenge from earlier here. 

ON RAMPAGE: Jade Cargill vs. Red Velvet and Darby Allin vs. Billy Gunn. 

Great Jade/Velvet pre-tape with awesome promos from both. JADE GONNA BEAT THAT ASS. 

NEXT WEEK IN CHICAGO: Rosa/Hayter, Danielson/Cabana, and FTR/Andrade/Black v Lucha Bros/PAC/Cody.

5) Sammy Guevara (c) vs. Jay Lethal - TNT Title Match 

Fucking hell. This is… something. What a PR nightmare we have in this main event. The work here is just fine. Honestly good. More than suffice. I enjoyed the hell out of it. They work a great story, but god damn bud. Think about how much charismatic talent and awesome atheletes were showcased throughout this show. Then, think about the fact that this is being billed as the pinnacle, no pun intended, of it all. I had calmed myself down to the point of enjoying this for the work alone, or at least trying to, then they showed 205 Live Superstar Tony Nese and I just could not LMAO. But truthfully it’s more funny to me than anything at this point. So, I won’t harp on it too much, I’ll save that for the podcast on Friday. But this match? It honestly was good. Sammy sold the ribs, they laid it out super well, the spots ruled. Just sucks both these dudes suck as humans, especially Jay. But here we are so yea. Guevara retains after a match that would probably even be rated slightly higher if it was different people and under different circumstances. 

Match rating - ***1/2

The show closes with Chris Jericho, Santana, Ortiz, & Jake Hager joining their Inner Circle stablemate in the ring for a little celebration. They even embrace Jay Lethal as well. 

Final thoughts: Alright y’all well that was a blast! First hour was phenomenal and second hour didn’t drop off by any means so fuck yeah. It’s nice to see what direction certain things and stats are heading after Full Gear and this was the exact mid-week pick me up that I needed. And for those who don’t know I’m a part of a podcast called Up and Over, this Friday we will be discussing last week’s Rampage, the Full Gear PPV in depth, AND tonight’s episode of Dynamite so make sure to follow us on all social media and give it a listen when it’s up! I’m super excited to talk about AEW and all these great shows they’ve been having recently. See y’all there! Thanks for reading <3 

AEW: Rampage Review - November 12th, 2021

AEW: Rampage

November 12th, 2021

Minneapolis, MN - Target Center

Commentators: Excalibur, Tazz, & Ricky Starks

I KNOW this is hella out of order, but the completionist in me can't not go back and cover it. This is the Rampage the night before Full Gear in the same arena. Let's get into it!

1) Bobby Fish vs. Jungle Boy

"He's an ego HOG." -Ricky Starks 

"Ego Hog.. that's a t-shirt." -Chris Jericho

It's unfortunate that we got to enjoy a week of no Bobby Fish on TV only for him to re-emerge in a more prominent form than before. Jungle Boy is good at working from underneath, though so that saves this. Fish works him over for a while before JB floors him with a lariat that sends Fish onto the crown of his 60-year old head. Exploder suplex into the ropes stops the momentum of JB and gets Fish a two count. It doesn't do much, though, and JB has Fish in position for the snare trap. JB pounds on Fish's neck until he can lock it in. Good finish to a fine match.

Match rating - **1/2

Adam Cole runs down post-match and he & Fish try to give Jungle Boy a conchairto. Christian & Luchasaurus make the save. Christian hits an unprettier on Fish and taunt Cole and the Young Bucks who also emerged on the ramp.

Miro/Danielson video pack hyping their match tomorrow night.

Backstage, Hangman Page walks up during a Super Kliq promo. Cole gets in his face when Page asks to speak to The Bucks alone. The Bucks tell Cole to calm down and Page & The Bucks get their moment. Page says he's sorry for screwing them out of their tag title shot forever ago, but the way he sees it -- they're even. Because they cost him a shot at the World Title in July. Page, however, says, if the Bucks interfere tomorrow on the PPV, he will ruin them. Good shit.

2) Jade Cargill vs. Santana Garrett

Red Velvet is at ringside to hype the match with Jade coming up in the TBS Title Tournament. Simple squash, but a very solid one. Santana is always suffice in these type of matches. Jade wins and she gets into it with Red Velvet after Velvet smashes a cake into Mark Sterling's face. Nice little brawl honestly, hell yea. 

Match rating - **

"Look at Eddie... on screen.." -$Big Money Mike$

Punk/Eddie video package airs ahead of their classic. 

3) Dante Martin vs. Ariya Daivari 

The AEW debut of Daivari here! Hometown boys getting a chance to shine here. I had no idea Dante was from Minnesota. This was your vintage 2021 Dante Martin sprint so yes, it fucking rocked. God, this dude is so awesome. Dante wins, but nice showing for Daivari in his debut, even if this is a one time appearance.

Match rating - **3/4

Post-match, Ricky Starks sends Powerhouse Hobbs & Hook to the ring to offer Dante Martin a contract to join Team Taz. That’s interesting. Dante truly is the hottest young talent in AEW right now so it makes sense that so many people want to associate with him, but lord knows this could get messy quick.

4) Orange Cassidy (w/ Chuck Taylor, Kris Statlander, & Wheeler Yuta) vs. Matt Hardy (w/ The HFO) - Lumberjack Match 

The pre-match interviews hosted by Mark Henry were awesome. Orange really showed a bit more than he normally does, saying that he’s tired of dealing with Hardy and after tonight it’s over. This energy comes across in the match itself as Orange CHARGES Matt with some forearm strikes early that rule. A highlight of this was the fire from Orange, the negative was almost everything else. The lumberjack stip I’m fine with because it’s something different, but this whole thing was just… a cluster. I’ve seen worse however and Orange is always a blast so that was the saving grace, plus Chuckie T and Yuta getting dives was awesome. Yeah, actually writing back, idk why I complained, this was fun, the outcome sucks though because it looks like this feud is gonna continue… just have Orange shave Matt’s head already and end this motherfucker!

Match rating - **1/4

AEW: Full Gear 2021 Review - November 13th, 2021

AEW: Full Gear

November 13th, 2021

Minneapolis, MN - Target Center

Commentators - Excalibur, Jim Ross, & Tony Schiavone

The Buy In: 

1) Thunder Rosa & Hikaru Shida vs. Jamie Hayter & Nyla Rose 

This was so refreshing. Finally, AEW seems to be seeing what women need to be in what position on the card and with whom they need to be paired. These four just so happen to be four of the best the roster has. Rosa & Hayter can have a great match with just about anyone and Shida & Nyla can more than hold their own as well so this was just a blast, honestly. They also ran back the amazing bumping from Jamie Hayter when Rosa hit a crossbody to the floor and Jamie took it PERFECTLY. I wasn’t paying tons of attention to detail in the closing stretch but I know that I enjoyed myself and that’s enough for this rating. 

Match rating - **3/4

Main Show: 

2) Darby Allin vs. MJF 

This opens the show and where do I even start? This completely blew all expectations I had out of the water. Darby matches tend to follow a formula, but that formula was completely disregarded here. These two started this off with chain wrestling and lucha exchanges which was a nice change of pace and a fucking BLAST. MJF mouths off with a fan at ringside and eats a nasty Darby dive and after some even nastier bumps like Darby missing a coffin drop on the apron & eating shit, things settle into the story of the match with MJF hitting a brutal powerbomb on Darby on his knee. Looked like it tweaked it and Darby goes after it and they continue play on it through the entirety of the second half of the match which included some awesome spots and a Sting save when Shawn Spears & Wardlow tried to interfere. They played into the promos that led into this as MJF tried to coax Darby into hitting him with the skateboard so he’d get disqualified, which to me was an immediate callback to MJF saying he would break Darby mentally and Darby refuting it. Just good, good shit all around. MJF wins by using his ring on Darby and then .. a headlock takeover. Insane. This will be a rivalry that pops up multiple times in the next decade of AEW and what a chapter here. 

Match rating - ****1/4

3) Lucha Bros (Penta El Zero Miedo & Rey Fenix) (c) vs. FTR (Cash Wheeler & Dax Harwood) - AEW World Tag Team Title Match

First off, I love FTR’s new entrance music. It feels SO fucking WCW and fits them perfectly. Lucha Bros have an awesome entrance here as well. This started fast, but took a minute for me to get into due to how much of a barnburner Darby/MJF was. Things really pick up in the final half, seeing the Lucha Bros pay tribute to Eddie Guerrero and the crowd rise to their feet was so awesome. They do a loooooot of overbooking and some of it hits and some of it is like .. too much. But it’s still pretty much a blast during the second half. They call back to the green masks FTR wore when they were disguised as luchadors and try to do a switcharoo thing that sorta threw me off. But yeah it’s not good enough and Lucha Bros retain. 

Match rating - **3/4

4) Bryan Danielson vs. Miro - AEW World Title Eliminator Tournament Finals Match 

Danielson continues his run as the Wrestler of the Year here having a banger with Miro. The story early really turns into Miro just dominating Danielson because I mean… basic physics. Miro is a monster and a lot stronger and throws Bryan around. Bryan works his comeback and this turns into a god damn slugfest, the exact thing we wanted from these two. They keep a nice story going too, though, and the finish.. man.. the finish. The DDT is once again Miro’s worst nightmare as a swinging DDT into a choke puts him out. Awesome battle. Bryan Danielson is the new #1 contender to the AEW World Championship. 

Match rating - ****

5) Superkliq (Adam Cole & The Young Bucks) vs. Jurassic Express (Jungle Boy & Luchasaurus) & Christian Cage - Falls Count Anywhere Match 

I hate to sound repetitive when I review Superkliq matches, but these are just always bonkers in the best way possible. You know exactly what to expect and they deliver every single time. The Falls Count Anywhere stip solidified it even more. Cole gets cut open early. We get awesome table spots with BATSHIT dives from Nick & Matt who continued that trend all match, flying around every fucking where like maniacs. Jungle Boy got the tacks in the mouth superkick spot. CHRISTIAN does a fucking crossbody off the balcony. Everyone was going nuts here. I was particularly shocked to see Christian doing some of the stuff he did here. On top of the balcony crossbody, he hit a nasty looking spinning DDT on Cole on a ladder. They fight up the stage, a lot of wild stuff happens here. Insane dives and chokeslam off the stage to the floor. Luchasaurus with a SHOOTING STAR PRESS OFF THE STAGE. Yeah that dude is a fucking insane person. He took a triple V trigger with thumbtacks on the knee pads here too. Christian gives Jungle Boy the honor of hitting the conchairto on Matt Jackson for the victory after an absolutely bonkers match.

Match rating - ***3/4

6) PAC & Cody Rhodes (w/ Arn Anderson) vs. Andrade El Idolo & Malakai Black 

This felt like it was in a semi cool down spot and that’s just fine. They did kill it, though. Cody is booed out of the building, but for some reason they decide to build towards a hot tag for him. He works the apron and all building towards it and boos just reign down on his ass. Shit is so wild. But yeah, this was fun. Andrade & PAC had some more great exchanges here and PAC got the pin to finish things off when all was said and done. 

Match rating - ***1/4

7) Britt Baker (c) (w/ Rebel & Jamie Hayter) vs. Tay Conti - AEW Womens Title Match 

Britt gets a live entrance with dude from Fozzy playing guitar for her theme. Tay Conti has her game face on early and does an awesome job exhibiting her anxiety and the pressure & seriousness of this match. The crowd seems to be very worn out at this point, but these ladies really busted their ass and delivered a great match. One that is honestly my favorite of Britt’s reign so far. Conti is still fairly green, but she has a LOT of major things down. The facial expressions and the general layout and execution of this match was phenomenal. I expected some hiccups or awkward pacing, but there wasn’t much of that, if any. Tay’s selling and facials were just next level and kept me hooked from bell to bell. They threw some pretty crazy apron bumps and stuff in here and Tay hits a breathtaking moonsault that rules. They make Tay look strong in defeat, but eventually she’s caught in the lockjaw, she rolls out for a pinning combo only for Britt to reverse it and scoop the pin. I really liked this match. 

Match rating - ***1/2

8) CM Punk vs. Eddie Kingston 

Match of the night and one of the best matches of the entire year. Undoubtedly the best CM Punk match since he returned. Eddie had no frills in his entrance, not that he ever really does, but here there was nothing but a walk to the ring and motioning for Punk to come out. Punk comes out and there are no frills during his entrance either. No pose, no nothing. This felt like a fight from the jump and they go nose to nose with the ref holding them back and King hits a spinning back fist on Punk before the bell that floors him. Punk tries to recover and Bryce asks if he’s good AND PUNK FLIPS OFF KINGSTON. The bell rings and things explode and god damn what a brawl we got here. Not just any brawl, the brawl of all brawls. A classic pro wrestling showcase that can simply not be topped. Punk bleeds, and it rocks. The crowd is torn on who to cheer for and it’s only made harder when both guys are plainly only working with one goal - beating the living shit out of the other. There’s nothing nice about this. Biting, taunting, fists flying, it’s just a war and one that tells a phenomenal story. Much like the promo battle between Punk & Kingston on Rampage shadowed the old Punk/Cena promos from 2011, they expanded upon that as mid match, Punk began hitting shoulder blocks, then set Kingston up move for move for the five knuckle shuffle. POSING WITH HIS HAND UP FOR THE YOU CANT SEE ME AND SMILJNG AT THE CROWD WHO IS NOW BOOING HIM AS BLOOD DRIPS DOWN HIS FACE AHHHHHHH.

These moments will never be forgotten. This is one of the best matches of either man’s careers. Just everything it needed to be and then some. 

Match rating - ****3/4

9) The Inner Circle (Chris Jericho, Sammy Guevara, Santana, Ortiz, & Jake Hager) vs. Ethan Page, Scorpio Sky, & American Top Team - Street Fight 

Thankful this was placed in the spot on the card that it was because I needed a cool down and also, I couldn’t care less about this match. However, it most definitely delivers for what it is and we get everything we want out of it. Hilarious moments and some great spots like Sammy’s insane Jeff Hardy style dive off the tallest ladder I’ve seen in AEW. Ethan Page taunts Jake Hager’s wife at ringside then gets locked in the claw by Baron von Raschke who was at ringside. Dan Lambert gets embarrassed when all is said and done and Jericho does a tribute to the late Eddie Guerrero with the finish. Can’t complain one bit! Gentleman’s three boy.

Match rating - *** 

10) Kenny Omega (c) vs. “Hangman” Adam Page - AEW World Championship Match 

Video package airs before the match and another pre-tape we haven’t seen of Hangman riding his horse down the street outside of the Target Center. This match feels huge, as it should. It’s 2 and a half years in the making, as we all know. Omega and Page make their entrances and we settle in for a match structured differently than arguably any other match that’s ever happened in AEW. I truly don’t think I’ve seen any other main event worked this way and that in itself is super cool. This is the first time I’ve seen Kenny work a New Japan esque main event and I think it’s done this way to try and make Hangman look all the more like an absolute superstar. They work slow and methodical. Nothing is rushed. All the big moments/moves are inched towards so that they mean so much more when they hit. This feels exactly like what it is - the biggest match in AEW history. NOW, does it also have the slight stench of the excessivesness of some NJPW style main events.. yes. It sometimes felt like they needed to kick it to a different gear or spice things up to break the formula. Doing so, probably would’ve boosted this a higher rating because everything else was there. None the less, we still get a fantastic title match that I think stands far apart from all other AEW Title matches before it. My favorite moment of the match was seeing Omega go for the One Winged Angel, Page counter it and HIT OMEGA’s MOVE ON HIMSELF. Absolutely fucking awesome. I think we all were expecting Page to kick out of the move so we didn’t even think of what would happen if Page hit it on Omega. The Young Bucks come down next and we get the absolute most perfect final moment in this match as Hangman hits two buckshot lariats on Omega, one from each side of the ring. Nick Jackson is on one side tempted to interfere, but doesn’t. Matt Jackson is on the other side and nods his head almost in approval as Page stares at him before finally hitting the Buckshot on Kenny for the victory. Wow. What a heartfelt moment. Page getting the fair chance and approval from his former friends that he always wanted. Fuck yes man. We have a new AEW World Champion!!!

Match rating - ****1/2

Final thoughts: All in all, this completely lived up to expectations, and I think could be looked up on as potentially AEW’s greatest PPV event to date. Atleast match quality wise. All Out had the moments like Punk’s first match in 7 years and Danielson & Cole debuting, but the match quality here surpassed it just slightly for me. It really feels like a new era is beginning now that Hangman is champion and I'm excited to see where things go and how things reset. Strap in yall, it’s about to get wild!!! 

ALSO if you don’t already follow @upandoverpod on Twitter, this Friday we will be discussing Full Gear and the Dynamite that follows so if you want more thoughts and round table discussion on this event, don’t miss it!

AEW: Rampage Review - November 5th, 2021

AEW: Rampage 

November 5th, 2021

St Louis, Missouri 

Commentators - Excalibur, Ricky Starks, & Taz

1) Bryan Danielson vs. Anthony Bowens

What an awesome fucking surprise to open the show. This stems from Top Flight fucking with Tony Khan so he is essentially feeding them to our king, the American Dragon. Great showing for Bowens here though as he is on top for a good portion of the match. The Danielson comeback rules and he forces Bowens to tap. So fun.

Match rating - **3/4

Andrade and FTR backstage from Wednesday apparently. FTR asks where PAC was last week and refer to him as a British bitch. They say they will see him on Wednesday. 

CM Punk comes out to confront Eddie Kingston. This is one of those segments that is just so sick that words can’t do it justice. Kingston comes out and basically refuses to apologize and brings up old IWA Mid South beef. King says people don’t know the real Punk, but he does. He says Punk is a lowlife scumbag and did nothing but judge him back in the day. Punk said he didn’t judge him, he held him to a standard. Shit gets heated. Punk calls Eddie a bum who fell short of that standard. Eddie says no one really wants Punk here anymore and that he should quit and leave again for 7 years. This leads to a headbutt from Punk to Kingston leading to an AWESOME brawl. Punk faces Kingston on November 13th at Full Gear and they just put asses is in the seats with this segment, holy moly. Best thing Punk has been involved in since returning and one of the best in ring segments in the history of AEW. 

2) The Bunny vs. Red Velvet - TBS Title Eliminator Tournament Match

Well, this wasn’t nearly as offensive as I anticipated. In fact, they held it together very well and delivered a match that went on without any real hiccups. For that reason, I can’t complain. It’s not anything special or great, but it damn sure is suffice. Velvet gets the win with THE LAST SLICE. 

Match rating - **

In between these matches, they proceed to announce the most awesome Dynamite line up in a while with so many fresh, sleeper matches. PAC faces Dax Harwood, Rosa/Tay/Anna Jay vs. Britt/Rebel/Hayter in trios action pLUS DANIELSON VS ROCKY ROMERO. What da fuck. That women’s trios match!!! Rocky/Danielson?!? PAC and Dax is gonna rock too. I’m so excited! And how could I forget? Sydal/Moriarty vs. Dante/Lio Rush!!!

3) Adam Cole vs. John Silver 

Nice little side bar feud here that has developed out of the Jurassic Express/Elite story. Naturally, this is a blast. They’re restricted on time so this stays right in the groove that it needs to be for it to be super enjoyable. You get The Dark Order coming down late in the match to confront the Young Bucks when they put Cole’s foot on the ropes to save him from a three count. This leads to an awesome near fall for Silver off a spinning sit out powerbomb. I bit on the possibility of Silver upsetting Cole and so did everyone in the crowd, who chanted “holy shit” and “this is awesome” immediately after. Cole comes back, though, and a bunch of superkicks and the last shot finishes off Silver.

Match rating - ***

AEW: Dynamite Review - November 3rd, 2021

AEW: Dynamite

November 3rd, 2021

Independence, Missouri

Commentators - Excalibur, Jim Ross, & Tony Schiavone 

ITS WEDNESDAY YALLLL :’)

1) Kenny Omega vs. Alan Angels 

This is perfectly fine, I guess. They do stuff. The best part for me was the opening moments when Angels charges Kenny with a running drop kick. Then the fire wears off for me. I never saw their first meeting in April 2020 where Angels kicked out of a bunch of V Triggers and made everyone mad. But.. this didn’t make me wanna go back and watch it because truthfully, I can’t remember much of anything Angels has done since. It doesn’t upset me like it does others, but I also have no big reason to care about the stuff done in this match. The fire from Angels early is good, the commentary hyping him up as the underdog who may have Kenny’s number for some strange reason is also good, and the V Triggers at the end looked nice. But largely, it meant much of nothing. Still a fun stop in route to Full Gear, though! I like that they circled back around to this. Omega wins after selling Angels short with a lazy cover off a V Trigger leading him to hit a couple more brutal ones and properly cover him for the victory. 

Match rating - **