WWE 24: WrestleMania Monday Blu-Ray Review

THE GREAT HOME VIDEO CATCH-UP CONTINUES! 

WWE 24: WrestleMania Monday has been out in the UK since the start of April from all the usual outlets and has the WWE 24 episode, WrestleMania Monday as it's main feature. Having aired on the WWE Network on 27th March, this is the first time that an episode of WWE 24 (which has previously looked at behind the scene details of each WrestleMania since 30, Roman Reigns, Daniel Bryan's retirement amongst other topics) has been released, so it will be interesting to see how the set does and how this effects future releases. Alongside hour-long special, the Blu-Ray edition has twenty one matches and moments from the RAW after WrestleMania including the likes of John Cena, CM Punk, Chris Jericho, Shawn Michaels, Edge and more.

But is it any good? Let's take a look. 

24: WrestleMania Monday Documentary

If you've got the WWE Network, the chances are pretty high that you've watched a WWE 24 since the series debuted in January 2015, so you should know the formula by now, with this episode being no different. The show covers the day leading up to Monday Night RAW at the American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas, immediately following WrestleMania 32, focusing on the journey's of Enzo & Cass, Apollo Crews, AJ Styles, Cesaro, Zack Ryder and Maryse as well covering Karl Anderson & Luke Gallows backstage contract signing. All four of the main stories offer interesting tales, each compelling and engaging on their own levels, delving into what brought those names to that point in their career and their motivations. Each story carries it's screen time well, with perhaps their even being an argument for the Cesaro and Ryder stories deserving more focus, but overall the mix of faces and narratives creates a vibrant and busy documentary. The time spent on the origin of the super hyper RAW after Mania crowds and a handful of moments ties the whole package together well, with the likes of Daniel Bryan, Fandango, Paige, Goldberg and Dolph Ziggler providing a nice insight into their memorable time's on various post-Mania RAW's. 

The hour-long episode on it's own is well worth checking out if your interested into what goes into making a show like the one at American Airlines Center.

The Matches 

We begin in 1995 with a massively physical WWF World Women's Championship match as Alundra Blayze and Bull Nakano (in her last match with WWF), throw big moves at each other, before Bertha Faye [Rhonda Singh] makes her debut. From the same episode, a segment with Sycho Sid turning on Shawn Michaels during a Vince McMahon interview is bizarrely cut off in the middle of the break, meaning that majority of the footage is then shown windowed the following week's RAW, with Diesel making the save. Mankind [Mick Foley]'s WWF debut in 1996 in quick squash with Bob Holly [Hardcore Holly] is an odd watch as the new character hadn't quite settled. Jumping to '98 and we have a red-hot "Stone Cold" Steve Austin, coming straight off taking the WWF World Heavyweight title from Shawn Michaels, interview with Vince McMahon, which inevitably ends with a Stone Cold stunner and the Syracuse crowd losing all of their shits. From the same episode is X-Pac's WWF return, as he's introduced as a new member of D-Generation X by Triple H, leading to a big ol' shoot on Eric Bischoff, Hulk Hogan and WCW. 

Into the new millennium and we have a European title bout between Chris Jericho and Eddie Guerrero, which is notable for Chyna's turning on Y2J, but isn't on the same level matches in WCW three years earlier. '02 provides a wonderful segment with Hollywood Hulk Hogan and The Rock basking in the glory of their night the match earlier, both controlling a rowdy crowd and giving them exactly what they wanted. Kevin Nash and Scott Hall's reply isn't quite as fun and Hall especially seems a little lost, but once Rocky and the Hulkster starting turning their shooters on their new rivals it's golden. Brock Lesnar's debut, alongside with Paul Heyman, interrupting a Hardcore title match between Maven and Al Snow, that had already been interrupted by Spike Dudley, is a cool moment that makes Brock look like a beast straight off the bat. From the next year we have Steve Austin getting fired by Eric Bischoff, to storyline signal Austin's in-ring retirement, which in comparison to later retirements of Ric Flair and Shawn Michaels is, at best, uncomfortable to watch. Kane and Rob Van Dam winning the WWE World Tag Team titles from Lance Storm & Chief Morley [Val Venis] in a Three Way Elimination match with The Dudley Boyz is a decent jaunt, with a cool story and the Seattle crowd being super into Kane & RVD as a team. Completing a trifeca of '03 efforts, Goldberg debuts by spearing the shit out The Rock, as both men are booked perfectly and excel in their roles. 

There's no space for the brilliant 2004 segment with Christian and Trish Stratus, so we're onto '05 where we have ignore that Chris Benoit and Edge had a barn-burner and watch a solid and energetic Intercontinental Championship three-way with Shelton Benjamin defending against Chris Jericho and Christian. It's then a brilliant promo from Shawn Michaels as he interrupts John Cena in 2007, and whilst they tease a potential title rematch, Jonathan Coachman, the bastard that he is, makes them defend their WWE World Tag Team titles in a battle royal instead. Both battle royals from that show are included, with the first seeing Cena & Michaels take on Chris Masters & Kenny Dykstra, Cryme Tyme, Deuce N' Domino, The New Breed's Elijah Burke & Matt Striker, Eugene & Jim Duggan, The King's Court's King Booker & Finlay, ECW Original's Rob Van Dam & Sabu and The Highlanders in a generic brawly battle royal, with a cool finish. The second match includes Brian Kendrick & Paul London, Chavo Guerrero & Gregory Helms, Dave Taylor & William Regal, The Hardy Boyz, Johnny Nitro & The Miz, The New Breed's Kevin Thorn & Marcus Cor Von, Lance Cade & Trevor Murdoch, ECW Originals' The Sandman & Tommy Dreamer and Val Venis & Viscera for another 2007 nostalgia mid and lower card buzz, featuring confusing booking for Michaels and Cena and an awkward finish.  

Ric Flair's retirement speech from 2008 is wonderful, even with the slightly tainting factor of the fact he'd go on to face the likes of Frankie Kazarian, James Storm and Matt Morgan for TNA a few short years later. It's difficult to not be touch by how touched Flair is as Triple H brings a procession the likes of John Cena, Chris Jericho, Batista, the future Charlotte Flair and Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat out to send Ric's tear ducts into overdrive, although having past adversaries like Sting, Roddy Piper, Dusty Rhodes, Randy Savage or Hulk Hogan would've made it even better. A decent '09 Lumberjack match between Carlito & Primo and The Miz & John Morrison over the Unified WWE Tag Team Championship is probably the best bout to set on that point, although the most fun probably comes from working out who some of the Lumberjacks are. John Cena and The Rock are superb opposite each other, as they set-up their WrestleMania XXVIII bout a year early, in front of hotter than hot Atlanta crowd in '11. Whilst both kill it on the mic, throwing barbs back and forth, the conclusion with them fending off an attack from The Corre (Wade Barrett, Justin Gabriel, Heath Slater & Ezekiel Jackson) is unnecessary here. Flash forward a year and John Cena has just lost to The Rock, enter Brock Lesnar, add the feeling that RAW after Mania is becoming a "thing" and you've got a magic slice of TV. 

'13 offers us two moments, firstly Dolph Ziggler's Money in the Bank cash-in on Alberto Del Rio which has lost some of it's magic four years on, but the pop that Here to Show the World gets is still something special. Then it's onto Fandango v Kofi Kingston, which is all about the crowd kicking off the "Fandagoing" Revolution, rather than the match and Chris Jericho's assault on our hero. Ultimate Warrior's return to RAW in '14 and final public appearance provides a spine-tingling promo, less than 24 hours before Warrior passed it's almost prophetic in nature at points.  The same episode has Paige's main roster debut, as she interrupts an entertaining speech from AJ Lee, however their match isn't as strong as it should have been (with the same probably being true for Paige's entire main roster run, now I come to think of it)

Things really pick up in '15 as Daniel Bryan and Dolph Ziggler have a cracking wrestling match, full of strikes, wrestling and near falls in what is currently Bryan's penultimate TV singles match. It battles for match of the night with a stellar United States title match as John Cena defends against Dean Ambrose at the beginning of the Open Challenge gimmick. It's much more of a WWE-style contest with big money moves and false finishes, but just as fun as the previous bout. From the event featured in the documentary, a pair of well-handled promos lead us into Zack Ryder putting his Intercontinental title up against The Miz in an extremely satisfying match. It didn't make any Match of the Year polls, but it builds well to the conclusions as Zack's Dad gets involved and Maryse returns and set the wheels in motions for the wonderful run that Miz is still on to this day. The regular content concludes with the marvellous Fatal Four-Way #1 Contender's match with "The Phenomenal" AJ Styles, Chris Jericho, Kevin Owens and Cesaro, as the four pool their talents to create some breath-taking action in the squared circle. Paced perfectly with everyone on top of their games, both in terms of character work and grappling, this is the best match across the two discs.

Blu-Ray Exclusives 

Our exclusives begin in '98 with Faarooq being removed from the Nation of Domination after The Rock walks out on a curiously booked tag match against "The World's Most Dangerous Man" Ken Shamrock and "The Lethal Weapon" Steve Blackman. The Spirit Squad (Kenny [Dykstra] & Mikey [Mondo]) challenge for The Big Show & Kane's World Tag Team titles in '06 in a short, uninteresting bout. A match billed as a "WrestleMania All-Star" match more than lives up to it's billing in '09 as John Cena, CM Punk, Jeff Hardy, Rey Mysterio & Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat tag up against Chris Jericho, Edge, Kane, The Big Show and Matt Hardy, bringing together a number of storylines from the previous evening. The obvious standout is the unbelievable performance of the 55 year old Steamboat, as he keeps pace with the likes of Jericho and Edge and gives the match a character and watch-ability that might have been lacking almost ten years on without.

Perhaps surprisingly kept as an Exclusive is Shawn Michaels '10 retirement speech, which is, at least, on par with Ric Flair's two years earlier. Kept much more personal with only an appearance from Triple H on the entrance ramp, Michaels addressing the crowd has probably retained more value than the Nature Boy's monologue and still holds the ability to have an impact as HBK puts over the audience for believing in him, even when he didn't. An Intercontinental Championship match with Wade Barrett and The Miz is really only notable for the crowd's desire to boo a than bizarrely babyface Miz, as even with the title switch it's a nothing match. Alexander Rusev's debut over Zack Ryder in '14 is followed up by Enzo & Cass debuting two years later, with Enzo Amore running throwing bombs at The Dudley Boyz on the microphone in front of a crowd that absolutely adores the act.

Finally...

ATPW Scale Rating - 6.73/10 

A strong release here, that intrigues with it's concept and then delivers by adding to the strong documentary with a good mixture of matches and moments. All the major post-WrestleMania happening are here, as well as a few that might have slipped the memory or initially went underrated in the hustle and bustle of Mania weekend. For such a limiting pool to fish from, the returns are much more hit than miss, whilst those misses mostly have some nostalgia or reason for being included. My only qualm is that I feel more could have been done to enhance the Home Video release of the documentary, with perhaps extra interviews or deleted scenes, that would have validated any potential purchase, when the doc is already on the WWE Network. The same could've been said for individual interviews or special commentary for the matches included, but WWE doesn't seem interested in adding value to their Home Video content at the moment. 

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WWE Diamond Dallas Page: Positively Living Blu-Ray Review

I'm looking to catch-up on my WWE Home Video situation at the moment, so expect an influx of Blu-Ray and DVD reviews this week. Let's begin with Diamond Dallas Page: Positively Living, which has been available in the UK since the end of March from all the regular outlets.

The main feature is a new documentary that covers the life of Page Joseph Falkinberg and the story of his transformation into Diamond Dallas Page (legally Dallas Page since 2003), through his wrestling career in WCW and WWE and onto the spectacular rise of DDP Yoga. The Blu-Ray's 26 matches include outings with the likes of Chris Jericho, Bret "The Hitman" Hart, Ric Flair, "Hollywood" Hulk Hogan and Eddie Guerrero...but is this set worth your time and money? Let's take a look. 

Positively Living Documentary 

As you'd expect with pretty much every doc WWE produces, this is a great watch. The story involves Dallas driving around some old haunts as we follow the story of his childhood and onto his career. His journey into pro wrestling is fascinating and those that are unfamiliar with how Page got into the business will surely find the most enjoyment here. The run-time of just over an hour means that perhaps there's a lack of depth at points, but the structure and flow of the overall film tells a solid over-arching story that may have been damaged by taking further stops along the road. All those you'd expect are interviewed, including a nice surprise from Kimberly Page, with their words, and the narrative as a whole, creating a real feel-good film. The moment when Triple H calls Diamond Dallas Page to tell him he's going into the Hall of Fame is tingly stuff, with Page's reaction to the call making it special moment. 

I would have liked to have seen the documentary spend more time in places and to hear from a more varied pool of interviewees, but taken on it's own value this a great introduction for anyone interesting in delving into one of the more underrated performers in WCW history. 

The Matches

Kicking off with DDP's earliest TV match alongside The Diamond Studd [Scott Hall] against Chris Sullivan & Brian Lee (World Championship Wrestling, Dec '91), things swiftly move into a curious Lethal Lottery Tag Team match pitting Page & Mike Graham against Jushin Thunder Liger & Bill Kazmaier (Starrcade, December '91). My curiosity for this one quickly wore off and I'm still not quite sure why this relatively lengthy bout so early in DDP's career is included. There's improvements seen when tagging with Cactus Jack against Dustin Rhodes [Goldust] & Barry Windham (Saturday Night, Mar '92), but the bout is cut short just when it seems to be getting interesting. A six man tag alongside Vinnie Vegas [Kevin Nash] & Scotty Flamingo [Raven] opposite Marcus Alexander Bagwell, Brad Armstrong & Johnny B. Badd (Saturday Night, Dec '92) continues to show signs of DDP quickly developing as a wrestler, but not much else. 

The first singles bout is with Johnny B. Badd (Spring Stampede, Apr '94) and after a decent jump in time, DDP is still not particularly crisp, however the Battle of the Gimmicks is driven well by Badd and has a pleasant flurry of action to bring it to it's conclusion. The set then begins to move past Page's formative in-ring days, jumping to a United States Heavyweight Championship match with Eddie Guerrero (Starrcade, Dec '96) with the pair connecting nicely in the first truly enjoyable bout of the set. A random mid-match piledriver and a screwy nWo based finish, as well as an uninterested crowd, harm what could have been a much better outing for Guerrero and Page. At first glance a match with some guy called Mark Starr (Monday NITRO, Jan '97) isn't particularly interesting, but the post-match swerve with DDP "joining" the nWo is quintessential WCW viewing and one of the highlights of the Monday Night War. No Disqualification with Randy Savage (Spring Stampede, Apr '97) is a deck-stacker, storyline based epic of a scrap. Coming from one of DDP's most memorable feuds, it's a shame that the subsequent Great American Bash and Halloween Havoc matches aren't included as having the trilogy one after the other would've been a really cool touch. 

A World Heavyweight title bout with Hollywood Hogan (Monday NITRO, Oct' '97) showcases the kind of performer DDP developed into as he sells his arse off for Hogan and gets a DQ finish in return. The post-match angle with Sting making the save from the nWo (a rag-tag bunch including Konnan, Vincent, Curt Hennig, Scott Hall, Scott Norton & nWo Sting) doesn't make this bout anymore worth it's inclusion. Hennig is the adversary in the next bout (Starrcade, Dec '97), where DDP earns his first US Heavyweight title in a decent outing. The two mix a brawling and wrestling style well at points, with Hennig heeling it up to the max to result in a fun out of nowhere victory for DDP. A match with Chris Jericho over the same title (Monday NITRO, Jan '98) is included presumably just to put Jericho's name on the artwork. A Raven's Rules match with...um...Raven (Spring Stampede, Apr '98) has some value in it's brawly weapons and interference based tomfoolery, but it's still not a good match. 

A tag bout with basketball chap Karl Malone against Hollywood Hogan & another basketball chap Dennis Rodman (Bash at the Beach, Jul '98) is needlessly long, but not actually that bad. DDP's ability to allow the celebs to shine and still look a million dollars was a special skill that not many have ever possessed. This match wouldn't have worked without Page in his role. A similar match with DDP teaming with comedian, non-wrestler Jay Leno against Hogan and non-comedian, non-wrestler Eric Bischoff (Road Wild, Aug' 98) is not as good, with Leno & Bischoff lacking any real athletic ability. The fact that Hogan sold an arm wrench for Leno means that pretty much everything else that goes on here is irrelevant. It could have been much much worse, but it's still shit. 

One of DDP's top three matches is here as Goldberg (Halloween Havoc, Oct '98) is our unlikely hero for a perfectly simple World Heavyweight title bout in front of a molten Las Vegas crowd. The two do exactly what they need to do to get that audience whipped into a frenzy and it makes for a satisfying watch. The next night, it's Bret Hart over the US Heavyweight title (Monday NITRO, Oct '98) and another solid match, that's well worth a look-see. There's more silly WCW nonsense in the aftermath, but when DDP and Hart get it going in the ring, it's pretty sweet. 

Dallas' first World title win is present, but it's unfortunate that it comes in the form of a shit show of a Fatal Fourway with Hollywood Hogan, Ric Flair and Sting (Spring Stampede, Apr' 99), with Randy Savage operating as guest referee. You'd think with such a fine list of talent, that these five lads would, at the very least, be able to coast to something mildly engaging, and perhaps this is, but for all the wrong reasons. The booking is shit, the wrestling is shit, the finish is shit, this match is shit, you should watch it, because I did. Luckily, the night after against just Sting (Monday NITRO, Apr' 99) is DDP's best match, despite dropping the belt. The heel work from Page is juxtaposed well with his earlier babyface matches here, with the second half of the bout being full of top drawer near falls and reversals. It all comes crumbling down later on in the same show when DDP gets the title back in another Four-Way, this time with Kevin Nash and Goldberg, which manages to undo the good work of the earlier bout, as very little happens and when it happens it happens awkwardly.  

The final WCW match is a bizarre tag match with Bam Bam Bigelow against Perry Saturn and (a mostly absent) Kanyon (Monday NITRO, May '99), that whilst containing an impressive performance from Saturn, has a bollocks finish when Kanyon finally turns up. Things close up with the only WWF match, which is a fun clash with Christian over the European Championship (WrestleMania X8, Mar '02), and whilst it doesn't set the world alight it's still an easy watch. 

Blu-Ray Exclusives 

A Television title match with The Renegade (Fall Brawl, Sep '95) is not good, not at all good. Then there's a Battle Royal for a World title shot, with a bunch of crabcakes, namely Scott Norton, Ice-Train, Dirty Dick Slater, Earl Robert Eaton, Rocco Rock, Johnny Grunge and The Barbarian (Slamboree, May '96), which is as much of a farce as you could imagine. A US title bout with Bret Hart (World War Three, Nov' 98) is a slog of a bout. Seriously, there's nothing bad going on, but there's just so much meaningless slop and for a PPV main event you would've expected a lot more. Things aren't helped by the near 20 mins of action concluding with a screwy finish either. 

The Giant [Big Show] provides an intriguing opponent for DDP (Starrcade, Dec' 98) next, with the pair doing some strong big man/small man schtick, which is different from most of the content on the set. Beyond the story, it's hard to get past just how green Giant is at this point and the fact this is WCW means the booking is confused as hell. A steel cage match with Jeff Jarrett (Monday NITRO, Apr '00) concludes a poor selection of matches, as despite the cage having a roof WCW still managed to use a screwy finish, which is then fucked up further by Kanyon. 

Everything ends with the debut of DDP for WWF (RAW, Jun '01), with Dallas doing his best with having to do the Undertaker's wife's stalker gimmick.

Finally...

ATPW Scale Rating - 4.78/10

Positively Living is a strange release, because parts seem extremely well thought through, whilst others appear thrown together. The documentary is a strong film, telling it's story well and hitting most of the major points, whilst also creating a strong image of the man behind the character. The matches begin by following Page's arc of improvement and then jump about to title wins and then kind of gets lost. The match quality doesn't always reflect DDP's body of work, with matches against Raven (Spring Stampede, Apr '98), Chavo Guerrero Jr. (Fall Brawl, Sep '96), the aforementioned bouts with Randy Savage (The Great American Bash, Jun '97, Halloween Havoc, Oct '97) and Johnny B. Badd (World War 3, Nov '95) all missing, as well as a stellar three way with Raven and Chris Benoit (Uncensored, Apr '98) for obvious reasons. 

As a whole the match selection feels little bit like "Hah, wasn't WCW ridiculous?", instead of picking the stronger and most enjoyable matches of Page's career. With the WWE Network readily available, I'd personally want, if not all, of a person's best matches, at least, the majority to be here in one place. The lest said about the Blu-Ray exclusives the better.

This is a solid release, but had potential to be a lot stronger. 

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WWE NXT #247 Review (Aired 10/05/2017)

On 10th April, WWE aired the 247th episode of NXT, taped at Full Sail University in Winter Park, Florida on 19th April. The show's main event was a clash between Roderick Strong and Hideo Itami to determine a new Number One Contender for Bobby Roode's NXT Title. With action also featuring Aleister Black, Johnny Gargano, Tommasso Ciampa, Riddick Moss, Tino Sabatelli and something called a Cezar Bononi, let's find out how good it was...

Black def. Bononi

Aleister would take on Cezar Bononi in a surprisingly competitive encounter with the two trading strikes briefly before Black would hit the Black Mass for the win. When I say surprisingly competitive, I mean because this one actually suggested for a brief second that Black isn't bulletproof. I don't believe them, I think the man formerly known as Tommy End could scare the shit out of bullets. Black has the crowd in the palm of his hand and I think the WWE realise they have something special here, part of me hopes he doesn't have a proper match for a while because Black murdering people with a single kick is too damn entertaining.

• We are shown a recap of the madness of last week's Battle Royal but then cut to the disheartening confirmation that Ember Moon was legit injured and won't be at Takeover: Chicago. Still, a Triple Threat should still be a lot of fun.

• After the announcement of Tyler Bate v Pete Dunne at Takeover: Chicago, we get a brief video package to remind anyone who's forgotten who that beautiful bastard Pete Dunne is.

• We get a video package looking at Ruby Riot. What we learn is she has tattoos, she's getting a new one and that she's a really good wrestler.

• Nikki Cross has an odd segment where she tries to apply a sleeper hold on a man for attaching a microphone to her and then she does more crazy stuff like muttering and not answering questions. Cross sells the material well but it teaches us nothing new.

• Drew McIntyre is ludicrously tall in comparison to the woman interviewing him. Wesley Blake would interrupt telling McIntyre that he deserves his spotlight. Blake doesn't even deserve Blake's spotlight as that belongs to Murphy.

• So many bullet-points. But yeah, Patrick Clark, the Velveteen Dream, seriously Patrick, we have you and Nakamura as the artist FKA, we can't have two Prince wrestlers. There can only be one.

#DIY def. Sabatelli & Moss

Tommaso Ciampa, with a sweet bandana, and Johnny Gargano, with just his already sweet facial hair, were in the ring giving a promo making it clear that because they're owed their tête-à-tête rematch against the Authors of Pain and that the line starts behind them till out come Riddick Moss and Tino Sabatelli to inform them that in fact now that they're here the line starts behind them. I have two questions: 1. Is the line the NXT equivalent of RAW's yard? 2. Why would Moss & Sabatelli, a team with 1 televised match that they lost be anywhere near the front? Without answering either of my questions exactly, #DIY would knock the big American Football lads out of the ring and in doing so, apparently, start a match, look Tom Phillips said Regal just made it official so that's how it works, alright? Anyway, the match itself was a little lacking with Moss & Sabatelli, while this is developmental, still searching for the necessary villainy to enliven the early villainous control segment though Ciampa does fill the Sicillian-Psychopath-In-Peril role well. The match is enlivened by a beautiful hot tag sequence by Gargano including all the hits and by all the hits I mean he does that Springboard Apron-to-Ring Spear thing. The face team would eventually get the win hitting Meet in the Middle on Moss for the pin. While a pretty dull match overall, it did wonders to showcase that the virtue of a pairing like Gargano & Ciampa is that they can both fill any role required with the two men swapping hot tags every so often and are truly still the most versatile team in NXT.

• Post-match William Regal congratulates #DIY on being great, he says they can have their rematch. Paul Ellering and his nihilist murder boys come out and say such things will result in death, Regal announces it will be a ladder match.

• Kassius Ohno is also a very tall man. He does a practically beat-for-beat recreation of the Drew interview earlier with Almas filling in the Wesley Blake role. Lad. Next week: Ohno v Almas.

• Tyler Bate gets a video package too. You can tell it's just recycled footage from the last time we saw this package as he says he's only 19 and last I checked, he had his 20th Birthday in March. Then again, they also refused to acknowledge the existence of the UK Title match at PROGRESS Orlando a few weeks back so it's par for the course.

• Roderick Strong gets a quick pre-entrance promo saying this is why he's here and this is what he's worked for.

• Hideo gets one as well saying that Roderick is a great man but this is what he's working for and Roderick will be going to sleep. 

Itami def. Strong to become No.1 Contender

If you were wondering if Itami had been slowed down by his repeated injuries, going to war with Strong for over fifteen minutes shows he hasn't missed a step better than any number of quick squash matches could. While the two men haven't faced off in singles competition since May 2009 at an ROH on HDNet taping, they have exceptional chemistry, the kind that makes you think that should Itami win next week, a rematch for the title would not be something I'd say no to. The early sections of the match saw the two men going hold-for-hold with each other, testing strength, trading pinning combinations and generally sizing each other up. Itami would take over and control the action with a combination of kicks, strikes and a very rare thing: a headlock that actually looks painful. Just before the first of two ad-breaks, Itami would attempt to hit the GTS only for Strong to escape and roll out of the ring. Back from the break and Itami is back in the control with more kicks and headlocks, a frequent feature of the match that NEVER GETS OLD (you think I'm being sarcastic, it genuinely never does) throwing in some old faves like his running fake-out apathetic heel kick and three insanely stiff looking gut-shots. This would keep going until Itami attempts a suplex, only for Strong to finally hit R2 and get a reversal as he drops Itami on the ropes gut first, gets in some slaps of his own, a backbreaker, wears down that injured shoulder of Itami before hitting the first of many near-perfect false finishes of the match as Itami escapes briefly, Strong would hit him with a big boot to the shoulder for a close two count. The two men would trade back-and-forth with Itami kicking some more (seriously, never gets old), Strong hitting a beautiful standing dropkick, until Roddy is able to catch Itami and drop him backbreaker-style onto the ring apron to send us off to ad-break 2. From here on out, the match went insane, throwing out the expected structure with the two men just trying to hit that one big move to put the other away even going for one of the more convincing double-clothesline spots I've seen as both men put in superb performances full of desire and desperation. The finest section of the match would see Strong hit an ankle slam for a two count, Itami coming back with his quick slaps combination, sending Strong to the corner, Strong would catch Itami running at him for a single-leg dropkick into another pumphandle backbreaker, Strong placed Itami on the top rope for a superplex, the two traded strikes trying to take control till Itami hit a top-rope falcon arrow and somehow Strong did not die. After a high knee by Strong, the closing stretches of the match saw Strong and Itami frantically trading reversals in an attempt to find a finish to the match till Itami was able to find the GTS and get the pin. Even though there was a certain feeling that both men could do even better, they still produced a fantastic encounter, not quite the MOTY contender that other NXT Number 1 Contenders Matches like Joe v Zayn all night long but certainly a great symbol of the virtues of just letting great wrestlers wrestle and also a great way of both showcasing both wrestlers with both leaving looking so much better for participating.

• In a piece of post-match, online exclusive shenanigans SaNItY would invade the ring and hit their finishers on Strong. I wouldn't be surprised if this leads to Strong, Ohno and a returning No Way Jose vs the SaNItY lads at Takeover or on the post-Takeover NXT. Still, let's see where it goes...

Finally...

I couldn't rate this week's edition much lower than this because the main event was so damn good, especially with McGuinness able to provide a valuable insight having worked classics with both men in their ROH days, but the rest of the show was a little lacking. It's necessary sometimes to have this done to maneuver the show into the right position before Takeover but it did show a lack of effort in that #DIY's promo work was compelling as was their interplay with Moss & Sabatelli but the match was plodding for its short time and did little to enhance #DIY and less to showcase the younger team. Equally, while Black kicking people in the head is great, without any real plans or storylines on the horizon for the Dutch Metal Headkicker, they seem to just be filling time. If the plan is to work Takeover to Takeover, that's fine but at this point, NXT can afford to do a little longer term planning.

ATPW Scale Rating: 5/10

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NJPW Best of the Super Juniors 2017 Preview

New Japan’s annual Super Junior tournament is just around the corner and this year’s edition (BOSJ 24) looks spicier than ever before! It’s always a pleasure to watch this tournament unfold as the breakneck pace, highflying and technical prowess shines brightly, meaning you’re almost certainly going to see a top quality match no matter which night you tune in on.

So to get you in the mood for 3 and a half weeks of non-stop masterful wrestling, feast your beady eyes up this handy guide, hopefully it will get you as stoked for the tournament as I.

What is BOSJ?

Best of the Super Juniors is an annual Junior Heavyweight tournament that works in a similar fashion to the big-time Heavyweight tournament, the G1 Climax.

Competitors are split into two blocks of 8 wrestlers, A and B, in a round-robin style series of matches, whereby competitors score 2 points for a win, 1 for a time-limit draw (usually 30 minutes, but has been 20 in the past) and 0 for a loss.

After all 8 have collided the winner of each block then advances to the final 1 on 1, with the winner of that match taking home the trophy and also gaining an IWGP Junior Heavyweight title shot at Dominion, which is basically New Japan’s Summerslam.

Past winners of the tourney include Jushin Thunder Liger with a joint-record 3 victories, Tiger Mask IV who so far is the only man to win it consecutively, Prince Devitt (WWE's Finn Balor), Kota Ibushi and last year’s champion on his first attempt, Will Ospreay. Some big names I’m sure you’ll agree, only this year, things have grown even larger.

The Competitors

Block A

·         Dragon Lee – Rising faster than a well baked cake, at 21 years of age he is set to be the next big Lucha star both in Mexico and Japan. Current CMLL World Lightweight Champion. Gained much critical acclaim during his feud with Hiromu Takahashi thanks to their car-crash style incredible matches.

·         Hiromu Takahashi – Current IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion having won the belt from KUSHIDA back at Wrestle Kingdom. Los Ingobernables De Japon member. Murdering everyone in his path this year and whimsically talking to his prized belt. Could win based on his unstoppable recent booking but the champion usually has it rough in such tournaments.

·         Jushin Thunder Liger – Wiley old veteran and the most successful Junior wrestler in history having won this tournament 3 times and had an astronomical 11 Junior title reigns. Now relies a little more on comedy but can still produce the goods when called upon. With this being his last hurrah I expect a lot from him, I’d say second or third in the block overall.

·         Marty Scurll – Huge star on the UK independent scene, PWG Battle of Los Angeles 2016 winner and current ROH television champion. Being aligned with ROH means he should do quite well and I feel he would have benefitted more from being in the second block. How will his new alignment with the Bullet Club effect proceedings? We shall see. 

·         Ricochet – Won BOSJ in 2014 but has never held the belt. Won the Junior tag titles on two occasions with Matt Sydal. Arguably the best high-flyer in the business. The face of Lucha Underground as Prince Puma. Unfortunately may be lost in the sea of competitors with greater stories to be told this year, especially since he had a recent shot at Hiromu.

·         Taichi – Suzuki Gun member. 2 time IWGP Junior Tag Team Champion. Will likely be near the bottom of the pack. Yea, he sucks pretty hard, let’s move on.

·         Taka Michinoku – Best known from Michinoku driver fame and his WWF run. Another Suzuki gun member and held the Junior tag titles alongside Taichi. Getting older now so I wouldn’t expect him to do a great deal, he may even finish last.

·         Will Ospreay – Reigning BOSJ champion, looking to win back to back tournaments. Huge star in the UK and in PWG, especially after his match versus Ricochet last year. CHAOS member. Had a Heavyweight feud with Katsuyori Shibata in February. Hasn’t yet had a crack at Takahashi’s belt so would be a fantastic victor.

One word. Stacked.

Good lord this is quite possibly the greatest block in Super Junior tournament history. Pretty much all of the standout names have been shoved into this group, and at first, I was slightly perplexed at that. Why would you not sprinkle them across the two? Well, this way NJPW have pretty much ensured that there’s a must-see match being broadcast each night this block is in the building, forcing people to tune in on every occasion to avoid missing anything. It’s guarantee views and guaranteed money.

Narrative is more prominent than ever throughout the group too. We have the Junior Heavyweight champion Hiromu Takahashi, who has been on a rampage since returning when the New Japan Timebomb exploded late last year; Jushin Thunder Liger is partaking in his 26^th and final ever Super Junior tournament so he could perhaps sign off with a historic win; and of course, we have Ricochet and Ospreay together again, with the pair surely determined to break the wrestling internet for the second year running.

My Predicted Block A Winner - Will Ospreay, it’s a really tough choice given how many amazing names are bundled in here but I would have to go for my CHAOS boy as I expect he will be involved in a long awaited rematch with the Block B winner, more on that later…

  

Block B

        ACH – High flying wrestler who made his name in ROH. Appeared at Wrestle Kingdom as Tiger the Dark. Made it to the final of the Super Junior Tag Tournament with Ishimori in 2016, having impressive matches throughout. His stock is rising in Japan so I would expect him to do okay in his debut tournament appearance.

·         BUSHI – 1 time Junior Heavyweight champion and current NEVER Openweight 6-man champion as part of Los Ingobernables. Had a longstanding feud with KUSHIDA last year which will be rekindled in this block. Look out for shenanigans from his heel stablemates, the dreaded mist and him coming up just short of victory in the group standings when the dust settles.

·         El Desperado – Suzuki Gun member and won the GHC Junior Tag Championships with Taka Michinoku. Hasn’t done a great deal since returning to NJPW other than wear a cool mask. Bottom half finish inbound.

·         KUSHIDA – The Ace of the Junior division with a hugely impressive CV. Has held the Junior belt 4 times, the Junior tag belts 2 times, won last year’s Super J-Cup and BOSJ in 2015. On a downward spiral since losing to Takahashi at Wrestle Kingdom 11 but is surely the favourite to win this trophy for the second time. Capable of amazing high spots and submission wrestling, making him very diverse.

·         Ryusuke Taguchi – Largely a comedy wrestler but always gets serious for BOSJ, won it in 2012 and lost in a great final match against Ospreay last year. 2 time IWGP Junior champion and 5 time IWGP Junior tag champion, 4 of which with our good friend Finn Balor. Will finish high up the pack due to experience and the fact he often mixes with heavyweights.

·         Tiger Mask IV – A fallen star of New Japan. Has a glamorous past; 6 x junior champ, 1 x Junior tag champ and the only man to have won consecutive BOSJ trophies in 2004 and 2005. Really hasn’t had anything to shout about for the past few years and is firmly stuck wallowing in the lower card.

·         Volador Jr. – Massive star in Mexico as part of CMLL, having won various belts and fanfare. Almost won his block last year but lost out to Ospreay on the final day. Lost his mask in 2013 to La Sombra, who is now Andrade Cien Almas in NXT. I imagine him to do a little worse than last year and finish mid-table.

·         Yoshinobu Kamemaru – Holds the record for most reigns with both of NOAH’s GHC Junior straps, he has 7 reigns as the Junior champ and 4 reigns as a Junior tag champ. Beat Roppongi Vice earlier this year to win the IWGP Junior tag titles but lost them back to Roppongi not long after. At 40 years of age and being in Suzuki Gun, I don’t seen him making many wave in this year’s BOSJ.

On the face of things this block is significantly weaker in stature than the first. There enough solid wrestlers and supreme high-flyers in the mix to ensure that good matches and moments are produced throughout the group, but the star power is severely lacking in comparison to the aforementioned group A. I think just swapping in 1 of the fellas from the other group other than the Suzuki Gun guys could have bolstered this set of wrestlers significantly.

KUSHIDA, who has been the standout in the New Japan Junior division for the past couple of years, is the standout name of the 8 as he will be looking to resurge after his early 2017 woes, including losing to Hiromu in under 2 minutes last month. But don’t sleep on some of the others: Taguchi was a finalist last year and won the tournament back in 2012, Tiger Mask maybe getting on but he’s still a 2-time champion in this format and BUSHI, Volador Jr. and Kanemaru (the most successful Junior in NOAH history) will all be desperate to impress on this big stage.

My Predicted Block B Winner: All roads lead to KUSHIDA in this side of the draw. He longs for redemption after his rough 6 months and there is no better way to get back on top of the world than to win such a glamorous tournament. Plus, if my two picks make the final, we would finally get that Ospreay/KUSHIDA rematch that so many have longed for.

·         

Must See Matches

Forgive me for picking some of the most obvious ones here but some of the very top matches are clear as day, and most of which will come from A block given the sheer volume of amazing talents on display there.

Dragon Lee versus Hiromu Takahashi – Block A – May 17^th

Have you ever seen these two collide? If the answer was no then you’re doing yourself a disservice. They are wrestling soulmates (much like Mandrews and Pete Dunne) and their daredevil, smash mouth style is something to behold. Hiromu is seemingly up for killing himself in order to win and Dragon Lee isn’t far off that level of insanity either, so keep your eyes out for someone taking a disgusting looking bump. Oh and I almost forgot to mention, this is the main event for the first night of the tournament, so they’re starting at the peak!

Ricochet versus Will Ospreay – Block A – May 18^th

So just 24 hours after Lee and Takahashi collide we get another coming of the match that blew minds across the globe last year in BOSJ. Some people were elated and some people hated, but it was spectacle of wrestling and I personally loved it. They will likely bring out all of their signature spots (include the much despised indie pose-down) but still manage to produce something that you have never seen before, so hopefully they get people shouting about their match all over again.

BUSHI versus KUCHIDA – Block B – May 22^nd

After engaging in a near year-long feud these two may have been glad to see the back of one another in 2017, but wrestling works in mysterious ways and they’re about to collide again, this time not for one another’s blood, but for points in this prestigious tournament. Hopefully we will see some submission based exchanges between the pair mixed in with their usual agility as it could provide an interesting change of pace form the rest of the matches and really help them stand out from the pack. Plus, I love the Hoverboard Lock, it is mint.

Jushin Thunder Liger versus Marty Scurll – Block A – May 21^st

Marty and Jushin getting in the ring together just intrigues me. I feel like their styles could mesh perfectly and given that Liger does a few comedy spots nowadays I think Scurll, with the chicken wing and finger breaking stuff, could really get over with the New Japan crowd thanks to the legendary Junior. I don’t think it’ll be a masterclass in wrestling like the others listed here but it certainly could be a whole heap of entertainment, and that’s what wrestling is all about at the end of the day.

Hiromu Takahashi versus Will Ospreay – Block A – May 31^st

I strongly believe this will be the decider for group A, with the winner advancing to the final. As mentioned I think Ospreay will take it down in this CHAOS versus Los Ingobernables Junior super-showdown, it could even end in a draw for the final spot, which would be such a dramatic end. All I know is that the main event on the last day of either block is never one to miss, so grab you best snack and prepare for something beautiful.

Final Thoughts and Where to Watch

Maybe it was a little obvious throughout but I really feel like KUSHIDA will be crowned champion in this year’s Best of the Super Junior’s tournament. As he is currently experiencing a downturn in both result and in luck he seems certain to return to the pinnacle of NJPW’s Junior division, starting with a BOSJ victory and continuing with a colossal Wrestle Kingdom rematch against Hiromu Takahashi at Dominion on June 11^th.

So tune in to as many days as you possibly can as the tournament is a fantastic festival of pro wrestling. All of the matches will be available either live or on tape delay on New Japan’s streaming service, New Japan World (http://njpwworld.com/) for just £7.25 per month. It’s a steal!

Writer - Thomas Brady 

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