ROH: Live in Tokyo DVD

ROH's overseas trips have added a new dimension to the company and helped create shows are that are completely unlike their regular venues in Manhattan, Chicago or Dayton. The recent UK shows featured raucous, passionate fans who chanted like they were at a football match, while the recent Japanese tour brought the more respectful, Oriental atmosphere for a wrestling show. Unfortunately the combination of this quieter crowd, mixed with an under-whelming card of matches meant that these shows are not even close to the excellent UK shows in terms of watchability, let alone some of the higher standard US shows.

Once again, Morishima failed to get me into his world title match with Nigel McGuinness and the under-card featured too many tag matches featuring NOAH guys I have never seen before and so it felt like a very mixed bag of matches. With the need to include so many Japanese talents, it meant that some of the more entertaining ROH mid-carders, like Claudio, Chris Hero, Kevin Steen and El Generico were left behind and as a result the shows lacked the sense of fun that these guys are beginning to bring to the under-card of the US ROH shows.

Having said that, there is one saving grace on that DVD and is the match between Go Shiozaki and Bryan Danielson. Danielson has been on a great run since he returned from injury and this match is probably his best bout in ROH to date. Once again his character has continued to evolve as Danielson begins to evolve into this clinical, wrestling machine who picks apart his opponents and out thinks them in the ring. The match begins slwoyl and Shoizaki resorts to a series of stuff strikes, but Danielson weathers the storm and begins to slowly neutralize Shoizaki's offense by working over his arm and his leg. It is simply stunning, technical wrestling as Danielson literally out-thinks his opponent and it may seem cliche to say it, but this match really is the equivalent of human chess. If ever a show deserved buying for one match it is this one. The rest of the card simply does not live up to the high standard that this match sets and Danielson has once again set the bar shy-high in terms of ROH match quality.

Overall verdict: B+
" A one match show, but what a match. Worth experiencing for the different atmosphere of the Japanese crowd but only worth re-watching for Dragon vs. Go"

CM Punk, ECW champion (at last!)

Because straight edge means, I don't get suspended!

We're getting the wrestling, but where's the entertainment?

Another month and another WWE pay per view passes by without a single memorable moment. When was the last time a championship changed hands on PPV (Wrestlemania, March), when was the last time we had a classic match (Royal Rumblem January), hell, when was the last time we even had a memorable promo?! I'm not saying they should follow TNA's example of hot-shotting the title around from one guy to another on a monthly basis, but doing something of interest would make the fans at least get some value for the money they spend to watch these shows. At the moment, Raw and Smackdown are pretty entertaining shows, but the PPVs are the shows that matter. These are the one's that people actually have to pay money for, so shouldn't they actually be half-way decent?!

Ok, so this month we had the return of HHH and Rey Mysterio and you could argue that that makes them more important, but what did they actually do that was so notable that it couldn't be done on TV? Answer nothing? HHH beat Booker, as expected and Mysterio beat Chavo - big deal! Add to that 3 championship matches where the only interesting thing that happened was that nothing interesting happened and that is supposed to be one of the big four shows of the year! At least when they book the ga-ga crap it is memorable, albeit in a bad way. However WWE right now is actually worse off creatively as it is boring. When it is bad, at least people still talk about it, I think most WWE fans would be hard pressed to even remember what happened at this show in a couple of weeks time and that is something WWE need to drastically redress if they are going to start getting their fans back into the product.

So how do they do this? Well, a surprise would be nice. How about, HHH doesn't win his first night back. How about John Cena loses to someone he should easily beat? How about someone, other than the chosen few (Cena, HHH, Lashley, Batista) get a title shot and actually win). Or simply, how about they give one of the young guys with talent, like CM Punk, a Matt Hardy or a Ken Kennedy the cahnce to run with the ball. Perhaps then, they can rbeak out of the current monotony that is the WWE product.

CM Punk vs. Vince

As hokey as all this Vince MacMahon paternity angle is, it provided one of my favourite WWE moment of the year this week as Vince accused CM Punk of being his illegitimate son. But of course with Punk bing straight edge, it means he doesn't believe in promiscuous sex (however I am sure Traci Brooks, Daphne etc. will disagree) and he soon shoots down Vince's suggestions. Without a doubt this is the closest we have got to seeing the 'true' CM Punk in WWE and bodes well for the future of the character

Total Non-stop Angle

TNA iMPACT!: Kurt Angle Action Short

Posted Aug 08, 2007

Can Kurt Angle take on the henchmen of his nemesis?

Just in case you wondered who the top dog in TNA is, here's a quick reminder. But he's not bitter, oh no!

TNA Hard Justice 2007

It was business as usual for TNA this month with their Hard Justice pay per view, which unfortunately is not a good thing. The in-ring stuff was as always, very good, however the booking completely ruined any good work they might have done. Match of the night was probably the opener, which was really good fun, but was overshadowed by all the Pacman Jones/Karen Angle crap and pretty much set the tone for the rest of the evening. Rhino vs. Storm was a good brawl that was ruined by the stupid props and the way the anounce team constantly bleated on about alcoholism (is this something they should be over-selling on a wrestling show?!) and WTF was that mannequin and toilet bowl all about?!

On a side note, the announce team is really starting to annoy me now. I have stood up for them for years, but right now they are just another part of TNA that I am starting to hate - stop telling us what someone just said Don West, we heard it the first fucking time you cretin!

Apart from that match I though the undercard was pretty forgettable. Harris vs. Black Reign was painfully slow and completely pointless (plus Black Reign looks like a twat!). Roode vs. Young I couldn't care less about, same with LAX vs. VKM. Steiners vs. Team 3D was Ok, but really showed the limitations of all involved.

Then we get to the main events, but first a word from their special guest, Pacman Jones and Jesus Christ is that guy a charisma-less void or what?! At least Killings is getting a bit of a push out of this, but Pacman is just a joke. This angle needs to end soon!

When it comes to the main events, I thought the Doomsday Chamber of blood was fine for what it was - which was a complete and total cluster-fuck - but was a nice blood-soaked cage match. The only problems I have are: 1. Styles should not be in these matches as a bump machine for Test. 2. Too much glass is being used in TNA right now. The tacks were one thing, but everyone is taking bumps into glass right now and it is completely over-killing it. There's no need and it should be a once or twice a year thing, not every month on PPV and every other week on Impact.

Then we get to the main event, and where do I even start with this? To me, this match sums up TNA perfectly. Really strong in-ring work which manages to overcome a stupid build-up, but is then ruined by an over-booked angle at the end. Until the end I thought this was actually the best of their matches so far (from an in-ring perspective) but as soon as the ref bump happened it was the signal that the good part of the match was over and that the silliness could begin. Karen Angle interferes, Joe looks like a complete dolt for trusting here (especially because he was in control of the match and winning!) and then the Angle's leave with all the gold. Also, who the hell was that bald guy she was with and why the hell should we even care! Angle has the belts, Joe's momentum is completely killed and the Kurt ego-trip can continue.

Overall verdict: C-
"More of the same mixed bag from TNA. Some good wrestling, but you have to filter through a lot of crap to find it."

Vince is back

As the ratings drop then WWE return to what brought them to the dance and that means the return of Vinnie Mac. Raw was packed full of angles and sports entertainment garbage, not wrestling. On the plus side though, William Regal is General Manager on Raw which is a great use of his talent.

ROH's Road to the Top Tournament

Congratulations to Claudio Castagnoli for winning the ROad To The Top tournament. Despite nearly being signed by WWE, Claudio is back in ROH and set for an MVP year in 2007. He has the size and the charisma to be something really special for ROH and by giving this big win in the inaugural tournament they given Claudio some much-needed momentum going into his title match with Morishima at Death beofre Dishonor weekend.