Friday, July 30, 2010

7/30/10 Smackdown

Christian vs. Drew McIntyre: **1/4

The Big Show vs. Luke Gallows: N/A

Dolph Ziggler vs. Kofi Kingston: *3/4

Michelle McCool vs. Tiffany (Women's Title): 1/2*

Jack Swagger vs. Rey Mysterio (No DQ): N/A (I have no clue on how to rate this. It wasn't really a match...more like a brawl that ended up in the water.)

7/29/10 Superstars

Santino Marella & Vladimir Kozlov vs. William Regal & Primo: **

Caylen Croft vs. Chris Masters: *

MVP vs. Chavo Guerrero: **3/4

Thursday, July 29, 2010

7/29/10 Impact

Angelina Love vs. Sarita: *

Shannon Moore & Jesse Neal vs. Orlando Jordan & Eric Young: -*

Chris Sabin & Alex Shelley vs. James Storm & Robert Roode (Cage; Tag Team Titles): ***1/2

Rob Terry vs. Kazarian: N/A

Jeff Hardy & Mr. Anderson vs. Matt Morgan & TNA Security (Murphy & Gunner): 1/2*

Abyss vs. Tommy Dreamer (Hardcore): **3/4

Wednesday, July 28, 2010

7/27/10 NXT

Percy Watson vs. Zack Ryder: 3/4*

Michael McGillicutty vs. Eli Cottonwood: 1/2*

Husky Harris vs. Kaval: *
______________

I decided to grade the rookies this week (scale of A+ to F) on their topic, which was to talk about anything they wanted, except for why they should not be eliminated:

Lucky Cannon (friends): WTF. Fail. A guy named nobody? Give me a break. F
Eli Cottonwood (eyes): Better than Lucky, but not by much. Still horrible. D
Husky Harris (husky): Very nice promo. Loved the Tarzan/Jane reference. B+
Kaval (dreams): Lo-Ki! Yes! Not bad, but he needs way more than that. C+
Michael McGillicutty (Poking at Miz): Just started talking and went after Miz. Meh. C-
Alex Riley (Starbucks): Very good overall, but he only got in Starbucks after the buzzer. B-
Percy Watson (Having a good time): Talked too much and too fast for me. C
______________

Here are the official NXT rookie's records as of 7/27/10:
Michael McGillicutty: 5-0
Alex Riley: 3-2
Husky Harris: 3-2
Eli Cottonwood: 2-2
Percy Watson: 2-3
Lucky Cannon: 2-4
Kaval: 1-4
______________

Results of the second NXT Poll:
Michael McGillicutty
Kaval
Alex Riley
Percy Watson
Lucky Cannon
Husky Harris
Eli Cottonwood (eliminated)

I agree with McGillicutty being first. He's got the perfect record, he's not bad on the mic, and he's got confidence.

Kaval dropping one spot to second is still fine with me. He's clearly got the backing of the fans, and obviously this means Michael Cole must hate him (just like he did with Daniel Bryan). At least Kaval got one win so far.

Alex Riley, in my opinion, should be second. He's a very good talker and can continue to improve in the ring.

Percy Watson in fourth, a two-spot drop from the last poll. This seems about right to me. Great athleticism and high energy, but I don't care for him talking a million miles per hour.

How Lucky Cannon is fifth, I have no clue. He must be lucky. I would have gotten rid of him instead of Eli this week.

Husky Harris should be at least a couple spots higher, but the votes of the WWE Universe brought him down the ladder for sure.

Eli Cottonwood was eliminated Tuesday night with a record of 2-2. Although I preferred Lucky to go, I still agree with this decision, really because he was not impressing me at all. He was boring, for crying out loud.

7/26/10 ROH

Chris Hero & Claudio Castagnoli vs. Josh Emmanuel & Ice Jackson: N/A

Chris Hero & Claudio Castagnoli vs. Adam Cole & Nick Westgate: N/A

Jay Briscoe & Mark Briscoe vs. Chris Hero & Claudio Castagnoli: N/A

Jon Davis & Korey Chavis vs. Davey Richards & Eddie Edwards: **1/4

Roderick Strong vs. Christopher Daniels: **3/4

7/26/10 RAW

Randy Orton vs. Jey Uso: 3/4*

Edge vs. The Great Khali: N/A

Nexus (Barrett/Gabriel/Sheffield/Otunga/Tarver/Slater/Young) vs. Team RAW (Henry/Bourne/Tatsu/Kidd/Hart Smith/Goldust/Lawler) (Elimination): *1/4

Alicia Fox vs. Brie Bella: DUD

Ted DiBiase vs. John Morrison: 1/2*

Sheamus & The Miz vs. John Cena & Chris Jericho: **

Friday, July 23, 2010

7/23/10 Smackdown

Drew McIntyre & Cody Rhodes vs. Matt Hardy & Christian: **1/4

Dolph Ziggler vs. Kofi Kingston (IC Title): **1/2

The Big Show vs. Joey Mercury: N/A

Rey Mysterio vs. Jack Swagger (2 out of 3 Falls): ***1/4

7/22/10 Superstars

MVP & Chris Masters vs. Trent Barreta & Caylen Croft: *3/4

Chavo Guerrero vs. JTG: *1/4

Primo vs. Yoshi Tatsu: *1/2

Tyson Kidd & David Hart Smith vs. Jimmy Uso & Jey Uso: **3/4

Thursday, July 22, 2010

7/22/10 Impact

AJ Styles vs. Rob Terry (Global Title): *

Angelina Love & Taylor Wilde vs. Madison Rayne & Sarita: 1/2*

Kurt Angle vs. Hernandez: **1/4

Jeff Hardy vs. Samoa Joe: **3/4

Mr. Anderson vs. Matt Morgan: *1/2

James Storm & Robert Roode vs. Chris Sabin & Alex Shelley (Street Fight): ***1/4

7/19/10 ROH

Cheech & Cloudy vs. J-Sinn & Lance Lude: *3/4

Sara Del Rey vs. Jamilia Craft: 1/2*

Rasche Brown vs. Erick Stevens: *

Kevin Steen & Steve Corino vs. El Generico & Colt Cabana (No DQ): ****

Tuesday, July 20, 2010

7/20/10 NXT

Cody Rhodes & Husky Harris vs. MVP & Percy Watson: *1/2

Alex Riley vs. Lucky Cannon: DUD
______________

Here are the official NXT rookie's records as of 7/20/10:
Michael McGillicutty: 4-0
Eli Cottonwood: 2-1
Alex Riley: 3-2
Husky Harris: 2-2
Lucky Cannon: 2-4
Kaval: 1-3
Percy Watson: 1-3

NOTE: Michael McGillicutty won the Obstacle Course challenge and will be immune from elimination next week in the second NXT Poll.

Monday, July 19, 2010

7/19/10 RAW

Randy Orton vs. Edge vs. Chris Jericho: ***1/2

Eve Torres vs. Maryse: DUD

Sheamus vs. Evan Bourne: **3/4

Santino Marella & Vladimir Kozlov vs. William Regal & Zack Ryder: *

Wade Barrett vs. Mark Henry: 3/4*
__________________

If you didn't mark when Miz was ready to cash in his MITB, you either didn't see it or hate wrestling. That was, well...AWESOME stuff -- and the crowd was going NUTS.

WWE's 7 vs. Nexus 7 at SummerSlam. Looks like quite a match.

In my opinion, one of the best RAWs in a while.

Sunday, July 18, 2010

7/18/10 Money in the Bank

Kane vs. Kofi Kingston vs. Dolph Ziggler vs. Christian vs. Cody Rhodes vs. Matt Hardy vs. Drew McIntyre vs. The Big Show (Smackdown MITB Ladder Match): Excellent match. Wow. The match went about half an hour, and was filled with a lot of carnage. Cool spot with Big Show getting the reinforced ladder in the ring. Also a cool spot when Show got buried in ladders. I totally did not expect Kane to win -- now the tallest and biggest MITB winner in history. Shows how much the internet people know. Everyone really had their moment in the match. ****

Alicia Fox vs. Eve Torres (Divas Title): And of course, we must have a divas match right after an awesome match. The two actually made it a little watchable, but the crowd really didn't care for the most part. 3/4*

Tyson Kidd & David Hart Smith vs. Jey Uso & Jimmy Uso (Unified Tag Team Titles): So wait a minute, WWE refuses to acknowledge Umaga by name now? What's the deal with that? Anyway, good action here, but the match was quite short and the Usos only controlled the action for a little while. It was a mostly basic match that threw in a few fancy moves. *1/2

Rey Mysterio vs. Jack Swagger (World Title): So they call it the "World Title" or "World Championship" for the time being because Rey is not considered a "heavyweight" in the usual sense of the term. Very nice action in this one. Pretty cool that they recreate the spot Eddie Guerrero did against Kurt Angle several years ago with loosening the boot to get out of the ankle lock. ***

Kane vs. Rey Mysterio (World Title): Poor Rey. He never gets a proper world title reign. That's all I have to say. N/A

Layla vs. Kelly Kelly (Women's Title): No no no. More filler. One comment: the spot where KK fell on the ring apron looked pretty awkward and could have really hurt. I did not like this match. 1/4*

The Miz vs. Randy Orton vs. Mark Henry vs. Ted DiBiase vs. John Morrison vs. Chris Jericho vs. Evan Bourne vs. Edge (RAW MITB Ladder Match): Great match. Very nice spots involved. Orton got huge pops in this one, especially when he was going for the briefcase. Same with Bourne. I felt the match was not as good as the Smackdown MITB match. The right man won in this one. Miz has come so far in the last two years, and he really has made it to the big time. ***3/4

Sheamus vs. John Cena (WWE Title): This was a decent title match. Nice use of the cage. A couple of false finishes...liked that as well. Nexus made their impact, as promised. Sheamus won and managed to escape through the crowd, and of course, Cena was pissed and took out 2-3 Nexus members. The match accomplished its purpose: Sheamus won, Cena lost, and Nexus played a role in that. Does it make Sheamus look like a credible champ? Barely, if at all. Sure, he at least kicked out of the Attitude Adjustment, but he still tapped in the STF while the refs were nuked or occupied. Typical heel win. ***
_________________

MVPs: Miz. He deserved to win MITB more than anyone on the roster. A man who has come so far in such a short time. I look forward to seeing him as WWE champion in the very near future.

Overall Rating: It was a good PPV, but not mind-blowing. I really did not like Kane winning the Smackdown MITB. Fine, so he is trying to figure out who took out Taker. Based on the MITB win, I am almost certain one of two things will happen: (1) Swagger admits taking out Taker; or (2) Kane will just say he was the one who did it.

I really feel for Rey Mysterio. The poor guy cannot catch a break. Both of his World Title reigns were basically horribly booked and made him a mere transitional champion. I understand he's small and does not fit the Vince prototype, but can you really hold that against him, especially when he's so popular with the fans? If Vince can shove Cena down our throats over and over again, can't WWE push Rey to the moon and give him a proper reign just ONCE?!

Rumors are circulating that John Cena could turn heel and join up with Nexus. Frankly, I would love that. Cena likely wouldn't be boring and stale anymore. The big problem is obviously merchandise. Cena moves more merchandise than anyone else in WWE, and until someone else can step up (i.e., Bourne, Orton, Kofi, Morrison, etc.), then Cena will likely be stuck as a face.

The other name bounced around to be the mastermind behind Nexus is HHH, as the Game has wanted to turn heel for a while now (and since there is no HBK, he's really free to do so now). However, that seems unlikely -- at least for now. HHH will be out a while longer to recover from surgery.

Four nice matches, but both divas matches were predictable stinkers, and the tag match was not too impressive (other than that Samoan drop). The bad matches really took away from the show for me. I look forward to seeing how they book Miz and what WWE will do with Cena/Sheamus/Nexus. ***

7/9/10 Uprising

(taped May 8, 2010; aired July 9, 2010)

Masaaki Mochizuki vs. Akira Tozawa: Great match. Crowd was very much into it. Very intense match all the way, lots of hard hitting and great moves. A couple of false finishes. Nice pick for an opener, but I wanted it to go at least five minutes longer. ***1/2

Jon Moxley vs. Jimmy Jacobs (No DQ): Very entertaining street fight. I wish that woman did not interfere as much in the match, but the spear she suffered at the end was pretty good. Good use of weapons. Crowd was not as into it as the first match. I thought the interference took away from the contest a little, but not too much. ***

Naruki Doi & Pac vs. Jigsaw & Mike Quackenbush: Whoa. Outstanding stuff. I have no idea who Pac is, but he really impressed me tonight. Insane action and a number of false finishes. Lots of big spots and high-impact offense. I can't help but point out the noticeable botch by Pac during the spotfest to close the match -- it's the only reason why this was not the MOTN. Nice sportsmanship by Quackenbush after the match. ****

Rip Impact vs. Johnny Wave: So much for these guys getting any PPV time. Brodie Lee took them both out -- including the ref -- before the match started. Oh well. N/A

Yamato & Shingo vs. CIMA & Dragon Kid: Another awesome match. After a slow start, the pace picked up late in the match. Loved the numerous standing switches spot. This is exactly why I watch Dragon Gate USA. The match of the night in my book. ****1/4

BxB Hulk vs. Masato Yoshino (Open the Freedom Gate Title): A fantastic main event. Nice back-and-forth action. DGUSA does a great job of even making the losing party look strong. ***3/4
__________________

MVPs: Yamato/Shingo vs. CIMA/Dragon Kid was my favorite match, but honorable mention goes to Pac for an impressive DGUSA PPV debut.

Overall Rating: DGUSA gave us another fine example of why they are one of the top promotions in the world. While they still have a long way to go to break ground in North America, it's clear that they are gaining tons of followers each time.

Crowd reaction was amazing for every match. Each of the five matches that actually started got at least three stars from me. Another PPV that is worth your time to watch. ****1/4

Friday, July 16, 2010

7/16/10 Smackdown

Kofi Kingston vs. Cody Rhodes: **

Drew McIntyre vs. Christian: **3/4

Chris Masters & Kelly Kelly vs. Trent Barreta & Layla: DUD

Dolph Ziggler vs. Matt Hardy: **3/4

7/15/10 Superstars

Chavo Guerrero vs. JTG: *1/4

Curt Hawkins & Vance Archer vs. Matt Cross & Jamin Canceco: 1/2*

Brie Bella & Nikki Bella vs. Maryse & Jillian: 1/4*

Chris Jericho vs. Yoshi Tatsu: **3/4

Thursday, July 15, 2010

7/15/10 Impact

Sarita vs. Taylor Wilde (Street Fight): 1/2*

Brian Kendrick vs. Douglas Williams (I Quit): *1/4

Samoa Joe vs. Rob Terry vs. Desmond Wolfe: *1/2

James Storm & Robert Roode vs. Chris Sabin & Alex Shelley (Ladder): ***1/2

D'Angelo Dinero vs. Matt Morgan: *

Jeff Hardy vs. Jay Lethal: *1/2

7/12/10 ROH

Necro Butcher vs. Bobby Beverly (Butcher's Rules): 1/4*

Eddie Edwards vs. Andy Ridge: *

Austin Aries, Rhett Titus, & Kenny King vs. Tyler Black, Jerry Lynn, & Delirious: **3/4

Tuesday, July 13, 2010

7/13/10 NXT

Mark Henry & Lucky Cannon vs. The Miz & Alex Riley: *3/4

Battle Royal (Nexus, WWE Pros, NXT Rookies): DUD
______________

Here are the official NXT rookie's records as of 7/13/10:
Michael McGillicutty: 4-0
Eli Cottonwood: 2-1
Alex Riley: 2-2
Lucky Cannon: 2-3
Husky Harris: 1-2
Percy Watson: 1-2
Kaval: 1-3

Monday, July 12, 2010

7/12/10 RAW

Alicia Fox vs. Gail Kim: DUD

Jimmy Uso, Jey Uso, & Tamina vs. Tyson Kidd, David Hart Smith, & Natalya: *

Edge vs. Randy Orton: **3/4

The Miz vs. Mark Henry: N/A

Santino Marella, The Great Khali, Vladimir Kozlov, & Goldust vs. William Regal, Zack Ryder, Primo, & Doink the Clown: DUD

Wade Barrett, Justin Gabriel, Heath Slater, Skip Sheffield, David Otunga, & Michael Tarver vs. John Cena: *1/2

Sunday, July 11, 2010

7/11/10 Victory Road

Douglas Williams vs. Brian Kendrick (Ultimate X; X-Division Title): This was OK, but not what I really wanted it to be. Good moves, but I honestly wanted more. Ending seemed a bit abrupt to me. **1/4

Brother Ray vs. Brother Devon vs. Jesse Neal: Storyline progression was good. However, Jesse really never got in too much offense and I found Brother Ray's offense too basic and boring. *1/4

Angelina Love vs. Madison Rayne (Career vs. Title; Knockouts Title): OK, this is getting horrible. The ending created more questions than answers and was just bizarre to me. Really? A person on a motorcycle? Really? Andrew Thomas just deducing it was a Beautiful People member? The only thing memorable about the match was the Botox Injection sending the chair into Rayne's face. 3/4*

AJ Styles & Kazarian vs. Samoa Joe & Rob Terry: Finally, a great match. Crowd was going nuts throughout the match. Lots of great moves...match went back and forth. Terry got a chance to shine in this one. These guys work very well together. Very solid finish. Wish it had more time. ***

Hernandez vs. Matt Morgan (Cage): This was a good match that told a good story. Nice use of the cage in this one. Nice sick spot with Hernandez missing the splash from the top of the cage. Hernandez botched two potential Border Tosses, however, and that really took away from the match. I did like the solid finish. **1/2

Jay Lethal vs. Ric Flair: And this is likely the biggest win of Lethal's career. Very good crowd reaction in this one. I will never get the image of Flair's ass out of my head. Can't recall the last time Flair tapped to his own submission move. **3/4

Chris Sabin & Alex Shelley vs. James Storm & Robert Roode (Tag Team Titles): And here is your MOTN, folks. Incredible match. This match had such high expectations because these were two very experienced tag teams -- and they did not disappoint. Once the ref let all four guys go in the match, that started a tidal wave of good chaos. Crowd loved every minute of it, and so did I. I liked the double pin and the subsequent restart because the fans got what they wanted -- more time to watch these two teams go at it. ****1/4

Kurt Angle vs. D'Angelo Dinero: Yet another outstanding match. There's a reason why many say Angle is the best in the business, and this is yet another example of that. Lots of near falls and a couple of false finishes. The go-home sequence was amazingly smooth and solid. But then again, what else do you expect from Angle? ***1/2

Rob Van Dam vs. Jeff Hardy vs. Mr. Anderson vs. Abyss (World Title): Really? This was the main event? Yuck. It was a good attempt to entertain, but frankly, I felt it failed to really keep my attention. The crowd was interested, but they were not super gung-ho about it (save for a couple of chants). Tower of Doom was nice. The end saw some chain wrestling, three people hitting finishers, and that's it. I honestly think this match may have also suffered due to the awesomeness of the two previous matches. **1/4
__________________

MVPs: Guns vs. Beer Money FTW.

Overall Rating: Overall, this PPV looked decent on paper. The show started off with a whimper, but definitely picked up starting with the fourth match. And although, in my book, the show finished on an average note, we had several nice matches, topped by the tag title match. Flair impressed me tonight with a match any 60-year-old would be happy to have. ***1/4

Friday, July 9, 2010

7/9/10 Smackdown

Dolph Ziggler vs. MVP vs. Chavo Guerrero: **1/2

Curt Hawkins & Vance Archer vs. Christian & Matt Hardy: *

Drew McIntyre vs. Kofi Kingston: ***1/2

Cody Rhodes vs. JTG: *

The Big Show vs. Jack Swagger: *
__________________

Smackdown is doing something right...it's wanting me to watch the non-wrestling segments now. First Kane, then the SES deal. Good stuff. Sure the Teddy Long/Drew McIntyre exchange was good too, but I could skip most of that.

Monster Kane is awesome.

Cody Rhodes' new theme is horrible.

7/5/10 ROH

Claudio Castagnoli & Chris Hero vs. Jon Davis & Korey Chavis: **3/4

Daizee Haze vs. Jamilia Craft: *1/2

Davey Richards & Eddie Edwards vs. Christopher Daniels & Roderick Strong: ***3/4

7/8/10 Superstars

Yoshi Tatsu & Gail Kim vs. Primo & Jillian: *

Zack Ryder vs. Goldust: *1/2

Michelle McCool & Layla vs. Kelly Kelly & Tiffany: *3/4

Thursday, July 8, 2010

7/8/10 Impact

AJ Styles vs. Kazarian: *3/4

Angelina Love vs. Daffney: 1/2*

Rob Van Dam vs. Samoa Joe: ***1/2

Jeremy Buck vs. Douglas Williams: **1/2

James Storm, Robert Roode, & Matt Morgan vs. Chris Sabin, Alex Shelley, & Hernandez: **1/4

Jeff Hardy vs. Mr. Anderson: *1/2

Tuesday, July 6, 2010

7/6/10 NXT

Michael McGillicutty vs. Percy Watson: *

The Miz vs. Kaval: **

Cody Rhodes & Husky Harris vs. Mark Henry & Lucky Cannon: *1/2
______________

Here are the official NXT rookie's records as of 7/6/10:
Michael McGillicutty: 4-0
Alex Riley: 2-1
Eli Cottonwood: 2-1
Husky Harris: 1-2
Percy Watson: 1-2
Kaval: 1-3
Lucky Cannon: 1-3

NOTE: "Showtime" Percy Watson won the "Talk the Talk" challenge and will host his own talk show next week on NXT. As a note, I liked Alex Riley's and Michael McGillicutty's promos. Watson didn't do horrible, but he really only won because he has the WWE Universe to back him.

Monday, July 5, 2010

7/5/10 RAW

Ted DiBiase vs. John Morrison: *

Santino Marella & Vladimir Kozlov vs. William Regal & The Great Khali: DUD

The Miz vs. R-Truth: N/A

Randy Orton & Evan Bourne vs. Chris Jericho & Edge: **3/4

Alicia Fox vs. Eve Torres (Divas Title): -1/4*

Sunday, July 4, 2010

6/28/10 ROH

Kevin Steen vs. Bobby Shields: 1/4*

Grizzly Redwood vs. Erick Stevens: **1/4

Christian Able & Josh Raymond vs. Cheech & Cloudy: **3/4

El Generico vs. Tyler Black: ***3/4

Friday, July 2, 2010

7/2/10 Smackdown

Kofi Kingston vs. Dolph Ziggler: *1/2

Kane vs. Luke Gallows: N/A

MVP vs. Chavo Guerrero: 1/2*

Kelly Kelly vs. Michelle McCool: 1/4*

Rey Mysterio & The Big Show vs. Jack Swagger & Cody Rhodes: **

7/1/10 Superstars

Zack Ryder & Primo vs. Goldust & Yoshi Tatsu: **

Nikki Bella vs. Jillian Hall: *

Christian vs. Curt Hawkins: **1/2

6/19/10 Death Before Dishonor

Kevin Steen vs. El Generico: Holy crap, what a start. This longstanding feud led to a lot of hard hitting...a lot. Outstanding crowd reaction. Several false finishes. Super ending. ****

Kenny King & Rhett Titus vs. Cheech & Cloudy: Great match. Nice double-team moves and the crowd was really into it. **3/4

Delirious vs. Austin Aries: I really liked the match...it was filled with physicality and had a nice back story to it. I marked a bit when Aries missed that Heat Seeking Missile and crashed hard into the barricade. However, in the end the DQ really took away from the match. ***

Toronto Gauntlet Match (Roderick Strong, Tyson Dux, Eddie Edwards, Shawn Daivari, Colt Cabana, Steve Corino): Pretty good overall. the Dux/Edwards match was the best of these matches (I gave that match a **3/4, as a note). The others were not as good. Strong wins and has some nice momentum to stay at main event status and a possible world title shot in the future. My official rating basically combines all the matches. **1/4

Christopher Daniels vs. Kenny Omega:
Phenomenal match. Typical slow start when going for a while, and then it picked up in the last 5-7 minutes especially. There were a couple of false finishes. I applaud the conditioning of both men...amazing stuff. ****

Claudio Castagnoli & Chris Hero vs. Jay Briscoe & Mark Briscoe (No DQ; Tag Team Titles): When I heard no DQ, I knew this match would be good. They kept the traditional tag rules, but still mixed in all hell breaking loose at times. All the wrestlers bled, we saw choking (and no one was fired), and a lot of weapons were used. Fan reaction was off the charts. I love non-PG wrestling. ****1/2

Tyler Black vs. Davey Richards (World Title): And ladies and gentlemen, we may have a winner for Match of the Year. Just incredible, hard-hitting action. The fans were going apeshit. This, in a nutshell, had just about everything you really could want in a match. I read that people were giving this the full boat, and I was real skeptical. While in the end I decided not to give it the full boat (see below for update), this totally delivered on so many levels.

Apparently, Davey Richards is retiring at the end of the year. Tyler Black is still in his mid-20s. This match was the defining match in both their careers. Black will have more ****+ matches, and no doubt that Davey will attempt to go out with a bang, but this match was THE match wrestling fans will remember. ****3/4

(UPDATE: I had originally given the full five stars to this match, but after sleeping on it and giving much thought to other matches I have rated five stars, Black/Richards didn't quite measure up after all. However, that should not take away from their amazing performance -- and it doesn't change my thoughts on this match, either. We still have a potential MOTY winner here.)
__________________

MVPs: Davey Richards and Tyler Black. No argument there.

Overall Rating: This is one of those times where I felt paying $15 -- even to see the replay -- was virtually stealing from ROH and GoFightLive. Just look at the card. There were ZERO bad matches on the card, and the main event was incredible. I am a big Davey Richards fan, and I'm very sure many people will know why if they saw this show. In a nutshell...BUY NOW. ****1/2

Thursday, July 1, 2010

7/1/10 Impact

Chris Sabin & Alex Shelley vs. Shannon Moore & Jesse Neal: **1/4

Samoa Joe vs. AJ Styles: **1/2

Brian Kendrick vs. Desmond Wolfe (Submission): *1/4

Jay Lethal vs. Matt Morgan: *1/2

Madison Rayne vs. Taylor Wilde: 1/4*

Jeff Hardy vs. Abyss: **