I am a big anime fan and last night I stayed up till 11:30 at night watching One Piece until I got to episode 236 (note I started at around the 220 mark) for one reason, I wanted to see the Luffy/Usopp fight. I was excited for it and it lived up to the hype but it got me thinking, what if it had let me down? And so to relate this to wrestling I got to thinking about those "Big Shows" that just let you down in retrospect. I'm only going to look at 5 shows and I'm going to highlight the lesser known ones before the shows that everyone knows but they are still big shows to me.
FWA British Uprising 3-13th October 2004
If you're not a British wrestling fan you may not know about this company but let me explain. The FWA (Frontier Wrestling Alliance) is one of the longer running & bigger British wrestling companies, there big shows were known as British Uprising. The company decided to go big for this show and got some bigger names for the show including Colt Cabana, D'Lo Brown, Jimmy Hart, Terry Funk and AJ Styles. A lot of the matches on the card were feud ending matches and were built up well, at the time the FWA had a TV slot on the Wrestling Channel (I miss you channel) which helped show the story and build the feud. As a result the company decided to risk it and hold the show at the Coventry Skydome, a bigger arena that held 3,000 plus people. Sadly they did not get close to filling it and the show overall wasn't get. The 6 man tag with Funk was just a mess which was only highlighted by Funk, an overly gimmicked Hampton Court duo won the tag titles in a silly match, Alex Shane vs. Doug Williams for the FWA title was a Raven vs. Sandman/Dreamer run in over the top type match that did not help things. Luckily James Tighe vs. AJ Styles main evented the show in an Ironman match which was probably the best match on the show. And as a side note the Wrestling Channel would hold a Supershow called "International Showdown" at the Skydome and it would sell out the place, it would rely heavily on US talent & Japanese talent (it even got Mitsuharu Misawa in a 6 man tag) and is one of the reasons why so many UK companies rely on outside talent to draw a crowd which is a sad state of affairs.
CZW Cage of Death X-13th December 2008
Cage of Death is the final show of the year and it basically ends the bigger & longer feuds within the company (something other shows do as well but we'll get there). Throughout 2008 the main feud in CZW was Danny Havoc vs. Necro Butcher, Necro had appeared in the Wrestler and had changed his gimmick to "Hollywood" Dylan Summers, the two hadn't touched and was originally planned to end it within the Cage of Death. However John Zandig, then owner, got pissed at Necro for him choosing a ROH show over CZW and didn't book him destroying everything that had happened. The month before they rushed with some stupid storyline of the talent wanting more money. So the Cage of Death match was a 6 way to grab £10,000 which was above the cage, Zandig was the surprise last entrant and won it. It was a huge mistake and the match was a huge mess, everyone involved admits that it was a horrible match including Zandig himself. Elsewhere on the card we got a "Who are they" 6 man tag involving Adam Cole, this was early on in his career, the overly done teams of the H8 Club going against BLK Out was just a waste of time, Deranged against DJ Hyde was another rushed storyline and just an excuse to do a deathmatch on the show, oh and we also got Jon Dahmer killing some kid just because. Luckily we got a 6 way Ladder match, which had a special referee for some reason, a 4 Team Tag title match and B-Boy vs. Sonjay Dutt to save the show a little bit. But overall the biggest show of the year just seemed to deflate the fans when it should of excited them for more to come.
ROH Final Battle-23rd December 2011
Much like Cage of Death ROH's Final Battle is the last big show of the year and is done to end or begin certain feuds, the Steen/Generico feud started and ended on Final Battle shows. This show was really built around Davey Richards defending the ROH World title against Eddie Edwards and the potential full time return of Kevin Steen. Sadly one of these killed the crowd and partly the show. Looking at the show the Tommaso Ciampa vs. Jimmy Rave match should have had more importance but was just another match, the 5 team gauntlet got a lot of time but it didn't us it well, Chris Hero's surprise return (he had signed with WWE but was yet to move to FCW) against Roderick Strong fell extremely flat, the Briscoes vs. WGTT was the beginning of an endless feud and then the main event happened. Davey is known for doing/wanting to do too much in his matches and this was an example of that. Him and Eddie went over 40 minutes and it just never ended, it really dragged and potential had the fans turn on them. The only saving graces on the show was Jay Lethal vs. El Generico vs. Mike Bennett and the incredible weapons brawls between Steen and Corino, which started off the best thing in ROH which is Kevin Steen.
WWF Wrestlemania 15-28th March 1998
The Grand Daddy of them all came off as just another "B" show in 1998. This was my second wrestlemania as a fan and that's sad in retrospect. This was done during the "Boom" period of wrestling and shows that wrestling was just hot at the time very little could go wrong. Usually the main event of Mania has at least some build to it but this one was just kind of thrown out there. The Austin/McMahon feud ate up most of January and February, the Rock/Mankind feud for the WWE title started in November and lasted until February. The match between Austin/Rock at Mania was just gonna happen as Austin had to be the main event and Rock was the heel in the other feud, this match didn't have the big time feel their other matches would become known for it didn't help that Austin went to the ring in a t-shirt because he legit forgot his vest. The match wasn't bad but it was the typical crazy brawl the Attitude era was known for. It was probably the best match on the show. Elsewhere we got a random duo challenging for the tag titles, held by another random duo which strangely could happen in today's WWE. We got Butterbean killing Bart Gun in seconds, Triple H getting DQ'd over Kane, an abysmal Sable/Tori "match", Shane McMahon being carried by X-Pac as best he could and the forgotten Hell in a Cell between Taker and Bossman, a match that didn't even match the Hell in a Cell DVD set showing how bad it was. Oh we also got a Triple Threat hardcore title match, a 4 way match for the Intercontinental title but was more about 3 guys banging Ryan Shamrock and Mankind vs. Big Show. Overall this has to be known as one of the worst Mania's ever, 25 and 11 are considered some of the worst but I haven't watched them so I'm putting 15 here.
WCW Starrcade -28th December 1997
WCW did many things wrong during it's run but one thing they did right was build up the Sting/Hogan feud. When the NWO formed in mid-1996 this feud really began and was one of the longest feuds in modern wrestling, partly because it wasn't overkill. It was the perfect slow build and by Starrcade 1997 it was a big match everyone wanted to see. Sadly when it happened everything died, the 2 have never been known for their work rate (Hogan more than Sting) and it showed here. The match was just terrible and the finish was meant to have referee Nick Patrick fast count Sting leading to Bret Hart saving the day, sadly Nick counted normally and it looked like Hogan was screwed. Sting would win the match and the show ended with a big celebration in the ring but 24 hours later the mess became clear. Another problem with the show was that this should have been WCW's big win over NWO but an NWO team beat a WCW team and Buff Bagwell beat Lex Luger earlier in the show, don't know why they should of lost to make it look like a turning point in the feud in my book. We got another confusing referee finish in the Larry Zbyszko/Eric Bischoff thankfully it was Bret Hart so at least it was consistent. The Raven/Benoit match just didn't happen and we got Saturn replacing Raven for the simple reason of "I don't know just cause" and an awful, AWFUL Goldberg/Steve McMichael match. While Eddie Guerrero & Dean Malenko started the show off hot and DDP/Curt Henning put on a good showing the show just came off as bad. It really showed off WCW's weakness at the time which is old guys not getting out of the way, something Hogan still is doing, and that they have no clue what they were doing. Hell they had Bret Hart, who after Montreal 1997 was the hottest wrestler on the planet, and they wasted him so badly.
Now I understand this is subjective and while I may find this shows as a let down other may not so please let me, I'm all for discussion. So thank you for reading and let me know what you think.
Monday 24 September 2012
Thursday 13 September 2012
King of Trios is This Weekend!
3.0 (Shane Matthews & Scott Parker) & Akuma vs. The Batiri (Kobald, Obariyan & Kodama): The odd combination of 3.0 & Akuma taking on the Batiri. The Batiri were originally under Kizarny's rule but he just disappeared and now Deliriou seems to be their leader and is building a army of his own. 3.0 & Akuma seem just odd to me, I get the feeling it's just something for Akuma to do and to help get him over as a face as 3.0 are super over. I have no doubt that this will be really good and will likely have comedy added into it well. When it comes to a winner I'm going with the Batiri. Really this is a toss up but I think it would be good to have that trio move forward and then you can get tag matches out of 3.0. Winners: The Batiri
Mike Quackenbush, Jigsaw & Manami Toyota vs. The Swarm (combatANT, deviANT) & Soldier Ant: Chikara has always been great when putting on a big, long storyline that the fans get into just look at the BDK storyline but this year the whole Swarm invasion has been a major let down and needs to end. I don't know if it's the wrestlers who are behind the masks or the fact it started as a ROH/Chikara feud and went no where (it's the same in ROH). Now Soldier Ant is not a Swarm member the Director of Fun (the guy who "runs" Chikara) thought it would be a good idea to mix members of the Colony, who won King of Trios last year, with members of the Swarm as they are Dream teams. I think they want to remove the dream of the Colony repeating as King of Trios from the get go. Their opponents were in the tournament last year, and we're treated to Toyota again. Quack has been very vicious as of late and has lost matches against the Swarm for excessive violence and to be honest I could see this happening in this match. Soldier will be the odd man out and Jigsaw will not be able to stop Quack from going to far. This could work out as we have 2 Joshi teams in the tournament so they're dreams could come true and they could work Toyota the next 2 nights maybe. Winners: The Swarm & Soldier Ant
The Colony (Fire & Green Ant) & AssailANT vs. Team Sendai Girls (Dash Chisako, Meiko Satomura & Sendai Sachiko): I'll be honest I only slightly know Meiko Satomura from Team Sendai Girls, I imagine they're all talented but I just don't follow Joshi wrestling. I see this match going one way (I'll probably be wrong) but I see the Colony working with the girls and having a straight wrestling match and it would end with AssailANT taking advantage of one of the girls and stealing the win in a underhanded way. Who knows maybe we'll get the Colony vs. The Swarm and we could see Solider & AssailANT switching sides. If the girls advanced it would likely be to see an all Joshi match in the next round but you could do Joshi matches on the next couple of nights. Winners: The Colony & AssailANT
Osaka Pro (Kikutaro, Ebessan & Takoyakida) vs. FIST (Chuck Taylor, Johnny Gargano & Icarus): This will likely be hilarious, I love Kikutaro and I've seen Kikutaro vs. Ebessan which was just funny. I think all of FIST can do comedy wrestling well and more importantly when this match breaks down I think everyone can go really well. Different versions of these teams have faced off in King of Trios splitting wins in 2010 & 2011. This version of FIST actually got to the finals last year and the version with Akuma won King of Trios. To be honest I'm going with FIST here, for some reason I see Kikutaro vs. Colt Cabana happening during the weekend at some stage and I think you need a group like FIST to go deep in the tournament to help build up teams, since they've done so well in the tournament in the past. Winners: FIST
The Spectral Envoy (Hallowicked, Frightmare & Ultramantis Black) vs. The Submission Squad (Evan Gelistico, Gary Jay, Pierre Abernathy & Davey Vega): For those of you who don't know the Submission Squad had one match in Chikara, at King of trios a couple of years back (2010 I believe) and it was awful, it really just sucked and they created videos recently blaming the fans and saying they wanted to come back in, the story that got them in the tournament. The Envoy however are one of my favourite trios, Ultramantis is one of my favourite wrestlers and they are just super over in Chikara. This has to be the Envoy killing the Squad and moving on. They may have improved since that match but to the best of my knowledge they stay in ACW in Texas and that speaks volumes. Winners: Spectral Envoy
Team JWP (Commando Bolshoi, Tsubasa Kuragaki & Kaori Yoneyama) vs. The Throwbacks (Mr. Touchdown, Dasher Hatfield & Matt Classic): Mr. Touchdown is coming is as the Young Lions Cup champion. Before I get started I see Classic cutting a line about how women shouldn't be in the ring. Again I don't know anything about Team JWP, really don't follow Joshi wrestling. The Throwbacks have never moved on from the first round, that version had Sugar Dunkerton instead of Touchdown, so I think they will finally move forward this year. I think Touchdown is such a hot story in Chikara right now and is doing a great job as a heel even if Dasher is still a face, it really works how they do it and I'm just a fan of Matt Classic overall. Like I said earlier you can do Joshi matches on the other nights if they're eliminated in the first round but you could do one in the tournament itself, in fact my original idea was that being the first round but it was not to be. Winners: The Throwbacks
The Faces of Pain (Warlord, Barbarian & Meng) vs. Team Ring of Honor (The Young Bucks & Mike Bennett) w/Maria Kanellis: It's Team Internet Heat vs. Team Old. The Bucks and Bennett get so much hate online, you could argue for good reason. It should be noted that the Buck are coming in as Campeones de Parejas (the tag champions) and it's funny their team ROH since the Bucks don't work in ROH that often anymore. The Faces of Pain are all much older but still look like monsters. I basically see this match as the Faces of Pain destroying Team ROH and then Team ROH stealing the win somehow and moving forward. No offence to the Faces of Pain but asking for 3 nights out of them may be too much and the match quality wouldn't be great, it'll be a nice nostalgia moment but shouldn't be much more. Overall one thing will come out of this, I'll be happy to see Maria and to be honest I think the combination of Bennett & Maria work extremely well together. Winners: Team ROH
Team WWF (1-2-3 Kid, Aldo Montoya & Tatanka) vs. Extreme Trio (Jerry Lynn, 2 Cold Scorpio & Tommy Dreamer): Speaking of nostalgi this match is full of it. Last year at King of Trios Sean Waltman brought back the 1-2-3 Kid gimmick and stole the weekend, he worked his ass off and was amazing he's seriously under-rated in my book. Justin Credible has brought back the Also Montoya gimmick elsewhere but it looks awful, he needs to up his gear. Jerry Lynn is on his retirement tour. In all honestly I think this match will be amazing, I think it will be the main event on Night 1. Kid, Aldo, Lynn & Scorpio can all go and even Tatanka & Dreamer can work really well when in the right situation. When it comes to a winner it's hard to choose I can see either moving forward easily but I'm going with Extreme Trio, I think they can produce better quality matches with a variety of teams overall. I could actually see that Trio getting far, Night 3 easily. Winners: Extreme Trio
Overall Winners: The thing with trios, much like my preview of BOLA, is that you could pick one to win but on the shows anyone can steal the show and win the entire thing. But to me I'm going with the Spectral Envoy to win. They're a Chikara trio for one, so the win would boost them up in storyline, they're really over and Ultramantis has never won anything big in Chikara so I think it's overdue. You could do the Envoy vs. The Batiri to help build up the Mantis/Delirious feud going into the Cibernetico but like I said anyone could win.
Night 2
On Night 2 the Quarter finals will take place but another match has been announced. Eddie Kingston will defend the Grand Championship against Tadasuke. Tadasuke won the Young Lions Cup tournament last year and never lost the cup, do you know why? Because he never came back! The Osaka Pro wrestler would defend the cup 1/2 times in Osaka Pro but would never come back to Chikara until now, a major mistake in hindsight. This kind of spells out the finish and King will keep the belt.
Night 3
We'll get the Semi-finals and finals on this night but 2 more matches have been announced. First is "The Annual 10 Team Elimination Winner Stays On Overly Long Over the Budget Tag Team Gauntlet Match" only 2 teams have been announced an old school Chikara team and the remaining BDK duo of (Jakob Hammermeir & Tim Donst), the other teams will likely be revealed during the match. The second match is women's wrestler Saturyne vs. Ophidian, I think this will be good and it's main aim will be to show how vicious Ophidian has become. I don't see Saturyne winning.
That's my personal preview of King of Trios. I think this will be a fantastic tournament, like always and a must watch for wrestling fans. It will have something for everyone on all 3 nights. One thing I love is how little is revealed for the other 2 nights as it shows how important the first night is.
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