Tuesday, November 17, 2009

11/15/09 Turning Point

Amazing Red vs. Homicide (X-Division Title): ***1/2

ODB, Taylor Wilde, & Sarita vs. Velvet Sky, Madison Rayne, & Lacey Von Erich (Knockouts Tag Team Titles; Knockouts Title): **

Brutus Magnus & Doug Williams vs. James Storm & Robert Roode vs. Chris Sabin & Alex Shelley (Tag Team Titles): ***1/4

Tara vs. Awesome Kong (Cage): ***

Rhino, Brother Ray, & Brother Devon vs. D'Angelo Dinero, Matt Morgan, & Hernandez: **3/4

Scott Steiner vs. Bobby Lashley (Falls Count Anywhere): *1/2

Kurt Angle vs. Desmond Wolfe: ****1/4

AJ Styles vs. Daniels vs. Samoa Joe (World Title): ****1/2
______________________________

Match of the Night: AJ Styles vs. Daniels vs. Samoa Joe. A VERY close second is Kurt Angle vs. Desmond Wolfe.

Trash of the Night: Scott Steiner vs. Bobby Lashley. It was not complete trash (backstage spots were nice), but it was still a slopfest.

Five Stars: Usually it's three stars, but AJ Styles, Daniels, Samoa Joe, Desmond Wolfe, and Kurt Angle all share the top spot.

Analysis: The card looked great on paper. I just hoped it would deliver.

The opener between Red and Homicide was fantastic. It was fast-paced (which I like), and Don West helped to keep the crowd loud. I thought it was well done and showcased the X-Division very well.

The Knockouts six-woman tag match was good for what it was, but not great. Lacey Von Erich (easily the weakest in wrestling ability of the six) was kept to a minimum in ring time. Please send Lacey to wrestling school.

Tag Title match was very good. It's safe to say the tag division is a strong point for TNA.

The Tara/Kong cage match was awesome. I never thought I'd see Awesome Kong do a missile dropkick, and Tara's dive off the cage was a great finish.

Six-man tag match between the veterans and the younger guys was also good. I liked that Dinero, Morgan, and Hernandez each got time to do their stuff. However, in the end, I was just not into the match as much as most of the other matches on the card.

Steiner vs. Lashley was very sloppy. Lashley either held back on the weapon shots or doesn't know how to hit people with it. Glad it was a falls count anywhere, no-DQ match, or else it really would have been a snoozer. I really got concerned when Steiner landed on his head attempting the Frankensteiner from the top rope. Why they gave Steiner the win puzzles me. I don't really want to see this feud go long. I did give extra points for the backstage spots.

Angle/Wolfe really delivered. Wow. Outstanding match with a couple of false finishes. The various submission holds each man delivered really impressed me. It is even more amazing when you consider that Angle threw his back out early in the match (as reported the day after the PPV). This is why Angle is one of the best in the world today at what he does.

And finally, the epic triple threat. Holy bleepity bleep. Words otherwise really can't describe the match, other than it did as well as it could to live up to their five-star encounter from Unbreakable 2005. Basically, they tried, but did not quite equal it. I know a bunch of people will think this match deserved the full five, but it was still clear to me that Unbreakable 2005 was better. As much as I would love Meltzer to rate this five, I don't think it's happening. My guess is that he rates it ****1/2 to ****3/4.

Turning Point 2009 was an outstanding PPV. Steiner vs. Lashley was a downer, but the others were great and the crowd was loud all night. TNA did a fantastic job with giving matches sufficient time. It is definitely worth the time and effort to see this PPV.

Overall Rating: ****1/4

Sunday, November 15, 2009

11/6/09 Untouchable

Dragon Gate USA
(Taped 9/6/09, aired 11/6/09)

Dragon Kid vs. Masato Yoshino: ****1/4

Jigsaw & Mike Quackenbush vs. Yamato & Gran Akuma: ***1/2

Naruki Doi vs. Bryan Danielson: ****1/2

CIMA vs. Brian Kendrick: **

Davey Richards vs. Shingo: ****1/2

Ryo Saito & Genki Horiguchi vs. Matt Jackson & Nick Jackson (Open the Twin Gate Title): ***3/4
__________________________

Match of the Night: They all epic win.

Trash of the Night: None.

Three Stars: Everyone again.

Analysis: Could it live up to the first Dragon Gate USA PPV? Oh hell yeah. While we had edited matches (such as CIMA/Kendrick), we had epic matches in Doi/Danielson and Richards/Shingo.

For the Richards/Shingo match, I was pretty much spent after that. Certainly one of the most amazing matches I have ever seen. Please go out of your way to see it.

Another unbelievable PPV. Again...YOU BUY NOW!

Overall Rating: ****1/2
___________________________________

NOTE: Here are Dave Meltzer's ratings from the Wrestling Observer Newsletter:

Dragon Kid vs. Masato Yoshino: ****1/4
Jigsaw & Mike Quackenbush vs. Yamato & Gran Akuma: **1/2
Naruki Doi vs. Bryan Danielson: ****3/4
CIMA vs. Brian Kendrick: N/A
Davey Richards vs. Shingo: ****1/2
Ryo Saito & Genki Horiguchi vs. Matt Jackson & Nick Jackson (Open the Twin Gate Title): ***1/2

Friday, November 13, 2009

11/13/09 Smackdown

CM Punk vs. R-Truth: *1/2

Natalya vs. Mickie James: 1/2*

Drew McIntyre vs. Finlay: 3/4*

John Morrison vs. Dolph Ziggler (IC Title): **1/2

Beth Phoenix vs. Lisa Taylor: DUD

The Undertaker vs. Chris Jericho: **3/4

11/12/09 Superstars

Matt Hardy vs. David Hart Smith: **1/4

Shelton Benjamin vs. Zack Ryder: *3/4

MVP vs. Ted DiBiase: **1/2

Thursday, November 12, 2009

11/12/09 Impact

Dr. Stevie vs. Abyss: 1/2*

Alissa Flash vs. Traci Brooks: 1/4*

Jim Neidhart vs. Jay Lethal: 3/4*

Awesome Kong, Velvet Sky, Madison Rayne, & Lacey Von Erich vs. ODB, Taylor Wilde, Sarita, & Tara: *1/4

Amazing Red, Chris Sabin, & Alex Shelley vs. Homicide, Sheik Abdul Bashir, & Kiyoshi: **

James Storm & Robert Roode vs. Brutus Magnus & Doug Williams: *3/4

Samoa Joe vs. AJ Styles: *3/4
___________________________

The match ratings suffered likely because not enough time was given in each bout.

11/9/09 ROH

Kevin Steen & El Generico vs. Super Smash Brothers: **3/4

Chris Hero vs. Bobby Dempsey: 3/4*

Skullkrusher Rasche Brown vs. Sal Rinauro: 1/4*

Davey Richards & Eddie Edwards vs. Bryan Danielson & Roderick Strong: ***1/2
_________________________

Next week: Bryan Danielson's last televised ROH match! His opponent? Roderick Strong!

Tuesday, November 10, 2009

11/10/09 ECW

Goldust vs. Paul Burchill: *

Vance Archer vs. Jason Blackwell: DUD

Christian vs. William Regal (ECW Title): ***3/4
____________________________

Great main event from ECW once again!