Random Match Review: Terry Funk vs. Eddy Guerrero - NWA - May 9th, 1989

Terry Funk vs. Eddy Guerrero - NWA - May 9th, 1989

In recent times, my attention span with wrestling has grown very short. The ability to impress me is more in the small things than the grandiose. Hence me seeing this match on YouTube when I had the itch for some wrasslin before work and immediately diving in. It’s Funk and it’s Eddie.. for one - I never knew this match happened. And two.. it’s less than 6 minutes. If anything I hoped for a little longer because I knew these two all timers would have chemistry. And I was right. It’s Guerrero’s first ever appearance for the NWA. Funk is a former NWA Champion. Guerrero is young and froggy. He uses his quickness to throw Funker for a loop early. Funker lets Eddy get a lot of good moments of hope in. Good fire. Only to cut him off and do so with focused and channeled aggression. This was the simple stuff. And I loved it. Everything mattered. Eddy’s flashiness and agility was impressive, but at the end of the day, Funker is the veteran and the world champion and he shuts him down with a piledriver on the floor, grabs the three count and scrapes his way outta there. The perfect squash and a great discovery almost 40 years after the fact. 

Match rating - *** 

Random Match Review: Tommaso Ciampa (c) vs. Kyle Fletcher - TNT Title Match - AEW: Dynamite - February 11th, 2026

AEW Dynamite

February 11th, 2026

Tommaso Ciampa (c) vs. Kyle Fletcher - AEW TNT Title Match 

So, Ciampa is in AEW now. I haven’t watched his first weeks of competition, but I made it a point to catch this after hearing all the rave reviews. I don’t think I got what most did out of this. I don’t say that to sound negative or downplay what was clearly a fiery ass match perfect for what it was. The biggest thing I got out of this just wasn’t anything new. Ciampa is what he has always been. And he has never been bad. He’s always had the intensity and the fire. He can go back and forth and hit all the false finishes you could ask for. I didn’t learn anything new about Kyle Fletcher, just further affirmation that he can go and even outdo his predecessors. The biggest takeaway here is that AEW has perfectly handled the presentation of Ciampa since he showed up and even the continued presentation of the future of pro wrestling, Kyle Fletcher. This was never gonna be a bad pairing. The crowd is in both their hands and in two totally different regards. It’s a perfect storm. And we already know these dudes can keep the work rate up. So, yeah. They did that shit. Perfect PWG mid-card tribute, but the good kind. Not the overdone, weak kind. This was strong and it was good. I’m just not about to slap a 4+ star rating on it. Fletch captures his second TNT Championship in a barn burning TV contest. 

Match rating - ***1/2

Random Match Review: John Cena (c) vs. Kurt Angle vs. Shawn Michaels - WWE: Taboo Tuesday 2005

WWE Taboo Tuesday 

November 1st, 2005

John Cena (c) vs. Kurt Angle vs. Shawn Michaels - WWE Championship Match 

This is an interesting one. Kurt and Shawn are each other’s self indulged worst nightmare for me. Them together has never struck me like it has for others. John Cena is clearly the best part of this. They go through the expected formula for a triple threat title match here as they do the isolate the champion routine. Angle and Michaels do stuff so the middle sucks. Cena comes firing back with an awesome comeback. It’s interesting, though because this is the time where people are starting to turn on Cena so lots of boos during his epic comeback. Crazy dive from HBK to break this thing up. Angle ends up isolating Cena in the ring with the ankle lock. Shawn breaks it up and Cena manages to recover, FU him and get the three count all while selling the ankle. Pretty great work from John boy here completely outshining his elders. An early small glimmering sign that he would surpass both of them legacy wise. 

Match rating - **3/4

Random Match Review: John Cena/Shawn Michaels/Hulk Hogan vs. Christian/Chris Jericho/Tyson Tomko - WWE: Monday Night Raw - June 27th, 2005

WWE Monday Night Raw

June 27th, 2005 

John Cena, Shawn Michaels, & Hulk Hogan vs. Chris Jericho, Christian, & Tyson Tomko 

This is one of those that I will never forget as a kid. We are mere weeks away from Cena’s debut on Raw after the draft in the heat of his feud with Chris Jericho and his cohorts Christian Cage and Tomko. Cena had to pick two partners to face them and he found Shawn Michaels which is a dream pairing in its own right. Shawn has a mystery partner for Cena. He introduces him and the young WWE Champion in his first reign drops to his knees in shock as the Immortal One’s music hits. This is that pro wrestling shit. The energy is perfect for this off the rip. Jericho, Vitamin C & Tomko are livid and scared. The ace babyface trio encompassing three generations are fiery and the crowd is electric. This is short, but this is sweet. It plays all the hits and honestly more than anything, does wonders for John Cena. He’s so clearly the star here. Shawn takes the face in peril role during commercial and Hogan & Cena work the apron like absolute animals. True babyface of the century shit from the legend and the future legend. Eventually Hogan gets that tag and all absolute fucking hell breaks down. My favorite moment of the match is during this.. Hogan does the “you can’t see me” to Tomko and goes to tag Cena, but Jericho breaks it up and Cena charges in after Jericho like a bat out of hell and tackles him to the ropes and through the ropes and to the floor. Michaels & Hogan hit their finishers and take the victory. The post match sees Cena pose with his heroes before leaving the ring to them even though he’s the champion. This rocks. A feel good moment. A feel good match. Thanks guys. 

Match rating - ***

2025 Match Rating Archive

JANUARY: 

Jon Moxley, Claudio Castagnoli, & Wheeler Yuta vs. Adam Copeland & FTR - AEW: Dynamite - 1/1/25 - ****

Konosuke Takeshita (c) vs. Tomohiro Ishii - NJPW/AEW: Dynasty - 1/5/25 - ***3/4 

Kenny Omega vs. Gabe Kidd - NJPW/AEW: Dynasty - 1/5/25 - ***1/2

Roxanne Perez (c) vs. Giulia - NXT Women’s Title Match - WWE: NXT New Years Evil - 1/7/25 - ***1/4

Adam Copeland vs. Big Bill - AEW: Collision - 1/8/25 - ***1/4 

Daniel Garcia (c) vs. Katsuyori Shibata - TNT Title Match - AEW: Collision - 1/8/25 - ***1/4

CM Punk vs. Sami Zayn - WWE: Raw - 2/3/25 - ***1/2

Toni Storm vs. Queen Aminata - AEW: Dynamite - 2/5/25 - ***

Swerve Strickland vs. Ricochet - AEW: Dynamite - 2/5/25 - ***1/4

Mark Briscoe vs. Kyle Fletcher - AEW: Collision - 2/8/25 - ****

Zack Sabre Jr (c) vs. Hirooki Goto - IWGP Title Match - NJPW: New Beginning In Osaka - 2/11/25 - ****1/4

Mariah May (c) vs. Toni Storm - AEW Women’s World Title Match - AEW: Revolution - 3/9/25 - ****3/4

Swerve Strickland vs. Ricochet - AEW: Revolution - 3/9/25 - ***3/4

El Desperado vs. Jun Kasai vs. Masashi Takeda - NJPW: Wrestling Is Fun - 3/10/25 - ****1/2

Will Ospreay vs. Kevin Knight - Owen Hart Tournament Match - AEW: Dynasty - 4/6/25 - ***1/2

Kyle Fletcher vs. Mark Briscoe - Owen Hart Tournament Match - AEW: Dynasty - 4/6/25 - ***3/4

Kenny Omega (c) vs. Speedball Bailey vs. Ricochet - AEW International Title Match - AEW: Dynasty - 4/6/25 - ****1/4

Jon Moxley, Claudio Castagnoli, & Wheeler Yuta (c) vs. Samoa Joe, Powerhouse Hobbs, & Katsuyori Shibata - AEW Trios Title Match - AEW: Dynamite - 4/16/25 - ****

El Desperado (c) vs. Jun Kasai - IWGP Junior Heavyweight Title Match - NJPW: Death Pain Invitational - 6/24/25 - ***3/4

Bandido vs. Konosuke Takeshita vs. Mark Briscoe vs. Roderick Strong - AEW: Dynamite - 6/25/25 - ***1/2

Kyle Fletcher vs. Kyle O’Reilly - AEW: Collision - 6/26/25 - ***1/2

Rhea Ripley vs. Raquel Rodriguez - Street Fight - WWE: Night of Champions - 6/28/25 - ****

The Young Bucks & Konosuke Takeshita vs. Roderick Strong, Bandido, & Kyle O’Reilly - AEW: Dynamite - 7/2/25 - ***1/4 

Kazuchika Okada vs. Kota Ibushi - AEW: Dynamite - 7/2/25 - ****

FTR vs. The Outrunners - AEW: Collision - 7/5/25 - ***3/4

Kyle Fletcher vs. Daniel Garcia - AEW: Collision - 7/5/25 - ****

Bandido (c) vs. Konosuke Takeshita - ROH Title Match - ROH: Supercard of Honor - 7/11/25 - ****1/4

FTR vs. The Outrunners - AEW: All In Zero Hour - 7/12/25 - ***1/4

The Young Bucks vs. Swerve Strickland & Will Ospreay - AEW: All In Texas - 7/12/25 - ***1/4

Toni Storm (c) vs. Mercedes Mone - AEW: All In Texas - 7/12/25 - ****

Kenny Omega (c) vs. Kazuchika Okada (c) - AEW Unified Title Match - AEW: All In Texas - 7/12/25 - ***3/4

Jon Moxley (c) vs. Hangman Adam Page - Texas Death for the AEW World Championship - AEW: All In Texas - 7/12/25 - *****

Kyle Fletcher vs. Mascara Dorado - AEW: Dynamite - 7/16/25 - ***3/4

Jon Moxley, Claudio Castagnoli, & Wheeler Yuta vs. Hangman Page, Mark Briscoe, & Powerhouse Hobbs - AEW: Dynamite - 7/16/25 - ***1/2

FTR vs. Jet Speed (Mike Bailey & Kevin Knight) - AEW: Dynamite - 7/23/25 - ***3/4

Hangman Page (c) vs. Jon Moxley - AEW World Championship Match - AEW: Dynamite - 7/30/25 - ****1/2

Dustin Rhodes (c) vs. Kyle Fletcher - Street Fight for TNT Title - AEW: Collision - 7/31/25 - ****1/4

Gunther (c) vs. CM Punk - World Heavyweight Championship Match - WWE: SummerSlam - 8/2/25 - ***3/4 

Jon Moxley vs. “Speedball” Mike Bailey - AEW: Dynamite - 8/6/25 - ****

Queen Aminata vs. Skye Blue vs. Alex Windsor vs. Billie Starkz - AEW: Dynamite - 8/6/25 - ***3/4

Bandido & Brody King vs. The Young Bucks - AEW: Dynamite - 8/6/25 - ****

Kyle Fletcher (c) vs. Tomohiro Ishii - TNT Title Match - AEW: Collision - 8/9/25 - ***1/4

Jon Moxley vs. Kevin Knight - AEW: Dynamite - 8/13/25 - ***1/2 

Mercedes Mone, Skye Blue, & Thekla vs. Queen Aminata, Alex Windsor & Willow Nightingale - AEW: Dynamite - 8/13/25 - ***1/4

Ricochet & Gates of Agony vs. Mike Bailey, Kevin Knight, & Michael Oku - AEW/NJPW: Forbidden Door Zero Hour - 8/24/25 - ***1/4

Mercedes Moné (c) vs. Alex Windsor vs. Persephone vs. Bozilla - TBS Title Match - AEW/NJPW: Forbidden Door - 8/24/25 - ****

Jon Moxley, Claudio Castagnoli, Gabe Kidd, & The Young Bucks vs. Kenny Omega, Will Ospreay, Hiroshi Tanahashi, Kota Ibushi, & Darby Allin - Lights Out Steel Cage - AEW/NJPW: Forbidden Door - 8/24/25 - ***3/4

Jon Moxley vs. Daniel Garcia - AEW: Dynamite - 8/27/25 - ****

Claudio Castagnoli vs. Darby Allin - AEW: Dynamite - 8/27/25 - ****1/4

Kyle Fletcher & Josh Alexander vs. Tomohiro Ishii & Kyle O’Reilly - AEW: Collision - 8/30/25 - ***1/4

Jon Moxley vs. Daniel Garcia - AEW: Collision - 9/5/25 - ****1/4

Shelton Benjamin vs. Ricochet - AEW: Dynamite - 9/10/25 - ***1/2

Toni Storm vs. Skye Blue - Philly Street Fight - AEW: Dynamite - 9/10/25 - ***1/2

Jon Moxley, Claudio Castagnoli, Wheeler Yuta, & The Young Bucks vs. Samoa Joe, Powerhouse Hobbs, Katsuyori Shibata, Brody King & Bandido - AEW: Dynamite - 9/10/25 - ***1/2

Jon Moxley & Daniel Garcia vs. Roderick Strong & Kyle O’Reilly - AEW: Collision - 9/13/25 - ***1/4

Bobby Lashley vs. Toa Liona - AEW: Dynamite - 9/17/25 - ***1/2 

Jon Moxley vs. Roderick Strong - AEW: Dynamite - 9/17/25 - ***3/4

Mark Briscoe vs. MJF - Tables N Tacks Match - AEW: All Out - 9/20/25 - ****1/4

Jon Moxley vs. Darby Allin - Coffin Match - AEW: All Out - 9/20/25 - ****1/2

Darby Allin & Kris Statlander vs. Wheeler Yuta & Marina Shamir - AEW: Dynamite - 10/1/25 - ****1/4

Claudio Castagnoli vs. Orange Cassidy - AEW: Dynamite - 11/5/25 - ****1/4

Athena & Mercedes Mone vs. Willow Nightingale & Harley Cameron - AEW: Dynamite - 11/5/25 - ***1/2

Daniel Garcia vs. Darby Allin - AEW: Dynamite - 11/5/25 -

****

Samoa Joe, Powerhouse Hobbs, & Katsuyori Shibata (c) vs. Eddie Kingston, Hangman Page, & Hook - AEW Trios Title Match - AEW: Dynamite - 11/5/25 - ****

Jamie Hayter vs. Skye Blue - AEW: Collision - 11/8/25 - ***1/4

Jon Moxley vs. Roderick Strong - AEW: Collision - 11/8/25 - ****1/4

Mercedes Mone, Skye Blue, Thekla, Julia Hart, Megan Bayne, & Marina Shafir vs. Toni Storm, Mina Shirakawa, Jamie Hayter, Willow Nightingale, Harley Cameron, & Kris Statlander - Blood & Guts Match - AEW: Dynamite - 11/12/25 - ****3/4 

Hangman Page (c) vs. Powerhouse Hobbs - AEW World Title Match - AEW: Dynamite - 11/12/25 - ****1/4

Jon Moxley, Daniel Garcia, Claudio Castagnoli, PAC, & Wheeler Yuta vs. Darby Allin, Roderick Strong, Mark Briscoe, Orange Cassidy, & Kyle O’Reilly - Blood & Guts - AEW: Dynamite - 11/12/25 - ****1/4

Darby Allin vs. PAC - AEW: Full Gear - 11/22/25 - ****

Jon Moxley vs. Kyle O’Reilly - AEW: Full Gear - 11/22/25 - ***1/2

Jon Moxley vs. Mascara Dorada - AEW: Dynamite - 11/26/25 - ****

Darby Allin vs. Kevin Knight - AEW: Dynamite - 11/26/25 - ***1/2

Jon Moxley vs. Claudio Castagnoli - AEW: Dynamite - 12/3/25 - ****1/4

Roderick Strong vs. Orange Cassidy - AEW: Collision - 12/6/25 - ***1/4

Jon Moxley vs. Konosuke Takeshita - AEW: Collision - 12/6/25 - ***3/4

Random Match Review: Chris Hero vs. Roderick Strong - IWA Mid South - September 30th, 2006

September 30th, 2006 

Chris Hero vs. Roderick Strong 

IWA Mid-South: Ted Petty Invitational - Night Two

Well well, what’s up yall? It’s been a while. A long time. And an even longer time since I’ve done a singular “miscellaneous match review” post. Life has been crazy with little time to really keep up with the blog or watch wrestling as much as I would like. Despite that, it still remains a part of my life. I just brought a wrestling event to my music festival which was a true dream come true to be a part of and as I’m typing this, I’m preparing for a day trip tomorrow to AEW’s Blood & Guts event in Greensboro, NC. 

On top of all that, though, wrestling remains my comfort viewing. When my mental isn’t where it should be and music and work life are pushing to my wits end. I’ll throw on a wrestling match or event to make me feel better.

This afternoon, my choice for viewing while I ate $20 worth of Popeye’s after work was this. Chris Hero versus Roderick Strong in the 2006 IWA Mid South Ted Petty Invitational. Hero, Roddy, and IWA MS are three of my favorite comfort viewings so this was a perfect choice when it popped up as a YouTube recommendation. With these three things and people, I know exactly what I’m in for (for better or worse when it comes to the promotion LMAO). 

This is a blind spot in my IWA MS mid-2000’s love story binge. After 2005, my catalog of viewing slowly diminishes. So, to be honest, it was nice to get around to something from the 2006 TPI. 

Hero is in full dickhead mode at this point in time in every promotion he works for. One half of the ROH tag team champions. He’s a cocky son of a bitch and has been mowing through this tournament. Commentary does a good job of catching you up on things even though I’m sure they prolly never imagined this would be a single match someone would be watching one day as opposed to the entire event on tape. None the less, they crush it. Plus, Hero is in prime form here and could’ve told the story in the ring on his own even without commentary. 

This is the type of the match that makes my heart pulse. A random singles contest from 19 years ago, but damn if it ain’t just as great as anything on modern wrestling TV. It just reminds me of how good we had it in the mid 2000’s and how special this crop of workers were. And ALSO, Roddy motherfucking Strong. 20+ years in the game and still going strong TO THIS DAY. I just watched him have a ****1/4 TV masterclass with Jon Moxley on 11/8/25 and here he is on 9/30/06 having the most sick little snappy tournament match in a gymnasium. This crop of guys have such incredible depth to their catalogs. Going back and watching matches like this reminds me of that. 

Idk man, I’m not gonna do play by play on this, you know that’s not my thing if you’ve ever read my reviews. I just yap. And the jist of this one is simple… I love simple, to the point, crisp, gritty wrasslin that tells a story anyone can grasp. You don’t need all the shit that’s wrong with modern WWF, you don’t need monologues, you don’t need spots. You don’t need anything, but two Great Workers. Two Grade A Pro Wrestlers. All you need is Chris Hero. All you need is Roderick Strong. 

Hero destroys Roddy’s left arm here. Partially I think to try to combat his chops, but also I think just to be a fuckin dick.

Roddy fights from under with as much as fire as ever. This boy used to MOVE man. I haven’t watched pre 2015 Roddy in so long that this shit blew me away in that regard, truly. 

The finish to this match is a testament to everything I said in the earlier paragraph. Roddy catches Hero off guard in a backslide and holds it just long enough for the three count. The cocky villain for three seconds was just a little too cocky. The fiery, hard hitting babyface finds the loophole for the upset. Simple story told. Pro wrestling. Check this out if you want a fun one that isn’t overproduced or overcomplicated. The Good Old Days. Thanks fellas. 

Match rating - ***1/2

Ruthless Aggression Era Project: WWE Smackdown Review - October 16th, 2003

WWE Smackdown 

October 16th, 2003

Cincinatti, Ohio 

WWE Champion: Kurt Angle (since 7/27/03)

WWE United States Champion: Eddie Guerrero (since 7/27/03)

WWE Tag Team Champions: Los Guerreros (since 9/18/03)

WWE Cruserweight Champion: Tajiri (since 9/25/03)

Commentators - Michael Cole & Tazz

The show opens with John Cena’s music playing, but Kurt Angle walks out. Angle is dressed as Cena and raps and mimics him and calls out “Kurt Angle” and out walks a midget dressed as Kurt Angle that ends up beating up “Cena” and locking him in the ankle lock. The real John Cena comes out and gets in Angle’s face with some FIRE. The midget low blows Cena and Angle hits him with an angle slam to a huge pop from the crowd. 

1) Chris Benoit vs. Doug Basham (w/ Danny Basham)

This sure does happen and the crippler taps out the freak.