Match of the Day: Danielson vs Storm

ROH - Better Than Our Best, 1st April 2006

With my matches of the week, I've tried to have a variety to show different eras and, I suppose, different styles. I'm not too hot on describing the differences in styles, but hopefully I'll see it more and more clearly as the weeks go on and I see more and more matches.

I've got a few aims in doing this particular feature on the blog: I want to show my favourite matches and memories from my fandom. I also want others to have the opportunity to see these matches from different times - this is probably the most important part of it. I can imagine that I'm not alone in finding it extremely difficult in finding what to watch when it comes to wrestling. There is just SO MUCH to choose from from the last thirty years. There's obviously a lot of sh*t out there, but there's a hell of a lot more QUALITY to be found from the last three decades (and beyond).

So far, I have had matches from NXT, WWE from 2001, WWF from the early 90s and last week I began to watch the Flair-Steamboat matches from 1989 NWA. This week follows that [random] trend(?!) with a Ring of Honour match from 2006.

I was round a friend's house the other week and looking through his collection of ROH DVDs, I noticed a few matches that caught my eye: Bryan Danielson (probably better known by his current ring name, Daniel Bryan) against Lance Storm jumped off the DVD cover at me to start with.

I've already had a Lance Storm match on my 'Match of the Day' series and that's for good reason. I've heard so many good things about Storm over the years, listened to him on various podcasts, and read a few articles by him on his feelings of wrestling and how it should be approached and performed. From being a guy that I didn't really think about too much, he has become someone that I feel is a fountain of knowledge that should be listened to to further anyone's education in the world of wrestling.

This match is 28 minutes of pure enjoyment. It gives you a tonne of wrestling for your money and, in all honesty, probably hasn't been seen by as many people as it should have been.

Unfortunately, I've only been able to find a Youtube link to the highlights of this match. It's 5 minutes worth, so not too bad, but I would urge you to find the full match, either on DVD or if you have much better skills of finding stuff on the internet than me (hint: you probably have!).

I'm not too big on ROH (only watching a few of their weekly shows a few months ago), but someone like Lance Storm coming in and putting your champion over is a great thing in any promotion's history. Putting him over in a near-30 minute joy-to-watch, is even better. I'm not sure if the WWE were keeping tabs on Danielson back then, but showings like this, against proven guys, can't have been a bad thing for the guy's career.

@jimmosangle

The Positives and Negatives of Southside Wrestling

Spoiler: As I start to write this with no idea how many of each there will exactly be, there will DEFINITELY be more positives than negatives!

As I make my way through the wrestling promotions of the UK (or more specifically, England)(or more specifically, where I feel I can travel to), I have wanted to get up to a Southside show for a while now. The last two times that I've wanted to go, genuine life things have gotten in the way and I've been disappointed that I couldn't make the trip up. This time nothing would get in my way... almost.

Just to be sure that the journey would be smooth and as direct as possible, I typed the address into the sat-nav and away we (me and the missus) went to St Neots. Things were going well until we came across a small village along the way where a electricity cable was blocking our way through. Great. Unfortunately, as we drove away, hoping the sat-nav would reroute us another direction, all it seemed to want to do was send us back down the same country lane!

Eventually, we took a chance on another direction and the sat-nav would follow our lead and finally reroute us to a more direct, and less village-orientated, way of getting up to the venue. I was a little nervous that this would make us miss the start of the show, but thankfully a lot of people were still finding their seats when we arrived at The Priory Centre.

Now that I've been to a Southside show, I can happily say that my preconceptions of it were wrong; I had gotten myself into the thinking that Southside was a promotion that attracted around 200 fans to a show, similar to most shows that are about. Now I'm not saying that 200 fans isn't a respectable amount, but when you're bringing in former WWE and ex TNA guys, I'd have thought that you would be a little reliant on a good draw (amount of fans) to help contribute to your costs that come with such additions.

Anyway, enough ramblings...

Positive: A Great First Impression
The venue, The Priory Centre, seems perfect for a wrestling show. There were a lot more than 200 there - normally, I have a bit of a headcount, but there were enough in there that I couldn't be bothered to spend the time to do so! - and the layout was impressive, too. There were the usual few rows at either side of the ring, with the addition of tiered seating as you entered from the bar. This is where we sat and it was a great view.

Negative: Uh Oh, It's Rob Maltman...
I hadn't seen Rob Maltman on a show since one of the first NBWA (Banbury) shows at the start of last year. Unfortunately, I wasn't impressed back then and I wasn't on this showing either. As a ring announcer, he did an ok job of announcing guys down to the ring. His skills were a bit lacking on the presentation and MCing of the show. What I mean by this, in this case, is that the ring announcer shouldn't just be there to announce wrestlers down to the ring, he should also welcome and warm-up the audience ready for the evening's action. As a new fan to Southside, I might not be aware of what happens and any factors that Southside does differently than other promotions and it's the ring announcer/MC's job to do this for me. This didn't happen.

Positive: The First Match... Once It Got Going
The first match of the evening was a good choice as it got the audience a little more excited about the show than the MC did. It was a four-way match for Kay Lee Ray's Speed King (Queen?) title, with Robbie X, Jimmy Havoc and Zak Northern challenging her. Towards the end this got quite good. This made up for the constant need to do three, or four-person spots for the sake of it. In a way, this made the match different from other four-ways that I'd seen, but it did make me chuckle for the first ten minutes. Another positive of this match was that despite him being a c*nt (and a damn good, hated heel) at PROGRESS, Havoc is kind of liked by the Southside fans.

This is how I'm remembering Marty Jannetty...

Negative: The Limitations of Marty Jannetty
It saddens me to put Jannetty as a negative but it needs doing. He was the first ex WWE, ex TNA etc etc guy to appear on this show and it filled me with dread for the rest of them to come. He got a lukewarm reception from the fans at best (this will be addressed in a post on imports at a later date...), and was half the man he was back in his Rockers days. I realise that this match was second for a reason (in regards to the structure of the show), but it felt like Stixx was on the outside, or stalling for way too long. The positive of this match was the heat that Stixx gained in doing so, but as for a match between the two, it was awful. There was little wrestling from the two before Robbie X caused the distraction for Jannetty to get the win.

Positive/Negative: Flippy Tag Matches/Too Much Dives To The Outside
The third match would see a burst of pace with The Hunter Brothers going against Will Ospreay and former TNA star Chris Sabin. This was an exciting little match but highlighted something that I'm seeing way too often in British Wrestling. Now, I realise that a lot of guys' 'thing' is to jump and flip and fly and stuff, but at most shows I go to, everyone, up and down the card, is doing the 'dive to the outside' thing FAR TOO MUCH. I get that it's exciting and looks impressive, but the more it's done, the LESS impressive it starts to look. Eventually - if it doesn't already - it'll be perceived that anyone can do it = not so special anymore. It also brings about the 'this is awesome' chants everytime it happens. If all these dives are happening for that purpose then please come up with something original in your matches because just because fans have been conditioned to say 'this is awesome' at the drop of a hat, it doesn't mean that it is.

Positive: The Structure So Far
Nobody probably gives a sh*t about this, and maybe I've looked at it wrong here, but the structure of the show flowed very well in the first half (and the second half, too). The audience was woken up and excited in the first match. They were then brought down in the second match (WAY down) before being thrilled and excited (again) in the third match. The fourth match would bring them back down to earth again before getting a hard-hitting and different kind of tag match from the first, when Project Ego and The Sumerian Death Squad clashed, which aroused them (mildly) further before the interval. I can't remember who told me about this rollercoaster analogy for the structure of a wrestling show, but it seemed firmly in place here!

Positive/Negative: 8 Matches or 5 Before The Break, 3 After
I can't complain about the quality on display on this show. That's why this is a positive more than a negative. Great to see a good amount of British talent mixed in with current American talent in Sabin and Strong, and the nostalgia of having HBK's little buddy and a real, live Native American. But eight matches seems a lot and having five of those before the interval drained me a little. It probably didn't help that it was pretty stuffy in the venue, which made the concentration wonder at times. I assumed that after the fourth match we would get the interval, so went out for a toilet break and drink only to realise that another match was starting! Not a huge moan, but worth noting that it's a lot to take in over the course of a show.

Sumerian Death Squad (photo credit: Brett Hadley)

Negative: Where's All The Heels At?
Again, a tiny thing really, but where were all the heels in the first half? The first match didn't seem to have any heels; they all shook hands at the end; everyone got a good reaction throughout and on leaving. The Hunters and Ospreay/Sabin were all following the rules, RJ Singh and Tatanka were very polite to each other despite the cultural differences that they probably have coming from two different Indian walks of life. That only really left Stixx and The Sumerian Death Squad as obvious heels? And even the SDS (Sumerian Death Squad is quite long to type!) got a huge cheer at the end of their match?!

I realise that wrestling fans are smarter than the average bear these days but was this a case of Southside following Vince McMahon's crazy idea that there are no babyfaces and heels these days? I hope not as the MOST basic and fundamental aspect of wrestling is 'good vs evil' and that should always be adhered to. I can imagine that it didn't help having the former WWE/TNA etc etc on the show in this case, as nine-times-out-of-ten they're going to get cheered regardless!

Positive: Did I Mention This Is A Good Venue?
Unlike a lot of venues I've been to, at The Priory Centre you didn't need to queue for the toilets or bar, there was a good amount of space to chill out, take a walk outside during the interval, or even have your photo taken, and get an autograph, with your favourite babyface (take your pick out of them from the first half!). These are the small things that make a big difference.

Match of the Night due to the nature of it

Positive: The Fight At The End Of The Interval... Oh Wait, It's A Match!
As Maltman started the second half, a fight seemed to break out in the entrance way, below the tiered seating. It appeared that someone had been slammed into the wall below us and some of the reactions from the faces in the audience that I could see would suggest that this was a proper fight between a couple of fans. A few seconds later, I could now see who was fighting and all was right in the world again... it wasn't a couple of worked-up, 'it's still real to me, dammit!' fans going at it but the ACTUAL start to the second half as a street-clothed-wearing Paul Malen would take on his former tag team partner, Joseph Connors.

I'm not too familiar with this feud, but I've seen and read enough to know that the former Predators (wrestlers, not sex attackers) were now fighting (in Southside, at least) and it was becoming quite the rivalry. Knowing that made the start of this match all the more enjoyable. I really liked that instead of the usual ring entrances and blah blah blah, they just said 'f*ck it, there you are! BOSH!'... and the fight's on. It gave the match an edge and showed the hatred that has been building up between them to the point that they can't wait for the hotel reception bell to ring and make this official.

Negative: The Hotel Reception Bell
I know I'm being picky here, but as the show went on I could see the efforts of everyone and, as I said before, knew my preconceptions of Southside were wrong. This is clearly a set-up that are looking to move forward and progress, but that bell needs getting rid of! At the start of a match I need a 'BONG! BONG! BONG!' or whatever noise a wrestling ring bell makes(!) and not a 'ding! ding! ding!' sound that a hotel reception bell makes.

Positive: The Best Chris Masters Match There's Ever Been...
I realise that he probably had a few in WWE, and also whilst he's been over here for whatever promotions he's worked for, but to me Chris Masters will always be the guy that did the Masterlock Challenge FOREVER and never really had a match until he faced Shawn Michaels. He went into obscurity when John Cena came along and was the first(?) to break the hold... because, y'know, John Cena ruins everything and all that...

Positive/Negative(unfortunately): Former WWE And TNA Guys, Current ROH Guy And Nostalgia
Chris Masters got the biggest 'former WWE/TNA, current ROH guy' pop of the night. Marty Jannetty, Tatanka, Chris Sabin and Roderick Strong got 'ok' reactions. I really thought Jannetty would get a bigger reaction, and maybe he did on Saturday's shows, but yesterday (Sunday), nobody really cared. Or a better way of putting it would be that not enough people cared. As their matches went on Tatanka, Sabin and Strong did get better reactions but they faced a similar problem to Jannetty - the bottom line is that the majority of the audience (and this is the case with a lot of family-orientated shows) don't really know these guys, or remember the older ones. Masters probably got the best reaction for three reasons; he's been over here doing the rounds for a while now; he looks like a typical, jacked-up wrestler; he's more relevant as he's not been gone from WWE for that long (in comparison to the other WWE guys).

Positive: Taking The Missus To Wrestling Shows
On a personal note, it's getting very pleasing to take the girlfriend to wrestling shows. She's probably been to more shows than a lot of 'wrestlers' have been to and she comes away pleased that we made the trip, and even compliments the things that went on throughout the evening. When watching wrestling shows, she sees things a lot simpler than I do. She hasn't been exposed to what happens behind the scenes and can appreciate what she's seeing without judging it too much. I envy her for this because I lost that a long time ago, and while I enjoy watching the shows, and doing these posts, I sometimes wish that I wasn't so critical at times. It's also funny to me when The Hunters come out and she likens them to Orlando Bloom (we were a little way from the ring!), so now they will affectionately be called the Bloom Brothers when she sees them.

Ok Chris, you win; I lose...

Her new favourite wrestler, probably not overtaking Tyler Bate when she thinks about it, is Chris Masters. She explained to me that nobody really interests her enough to get her phone out of her handbag for a photo, but Chris Masters definitely DID! One day I'll have a body to be proud of, like Chris Masters, and I'll get her attention back! Hmmmm...

Positive: Roderick Hitting Some STRONG Backbreakers
Really enjoyed the main event with Southside Champion, Mark Haskins going against one of the best that ROH has ever had in Roderick Strong. This was a nice opportunity for Haskins to go against a recognised worker from America and nice for the fans who know him and ROH. For some reason, I remember the backbreakers that Strong delivered to Haskins in this; one of them was across his shoulder and looked really painful.

Results

• Speed King Championship: Kay Lee Ray (c) defeated Jimmy Havoc, Robbie X and Zak Northern in a four-way match
• Marty Jannetty defeated Stixx
• Chris Sabin & Will Ospreay defeated The Hunter Brothers
• Tatanka defeated RJ Singh
• Southside Tag Team Championship: Sumerian Death Squad (c) defeated Project Ego
• Grudge Match: Paul Malen defeated Joseph Connors
• Chris Masters defeated Eddie Dennis
• Southside Heavyweight Championship: Mark Haskins (c) defeated Roderick Strong

Overall, this was a great use of a Sunday afternoon. Despite the sat-nav f*cking around for a lot of the journey, we made it up to our first Southside show, it impressed me in so many ways. A lot of shows I go to are one-offs so that I can see what they offer. Although a lot of them are really nice, very few make me want to come back for more and see what's next, but Southside makes me want to do so.

I'll happily admit that, despite growing up watching WWF/E and watching guys that were on this show, they don't sell this show to me: BRITISH talent sells this show to me - guys like Mark Haskins, RJ Singh, The Hunters and Project Ego, just to name a few. These are the guys that make me go to shows and see what they'll come up with next.

If you can get along to a Southside show then I urge you to. Find them on Facebook and Twitter, follow them and look out for the latest info on future events!

Support British Wrestling

@jimmosangle

Tag Teams

After looking through my previous 'match of the day' picks, I realised that I haven't put a tag team match in there yet. Obviously, it's early days and it'll definitely happen, but this also got me thinking of how I view tag team wrestling...

I think that the more and more I listen to JR's (Jim Ross) podcast, the more I'm becoming an old man about my wrestling. A great example of this is agreeing with his view that heels should be heels (cheating, and generally being hated by all fans, as is the job description). Along the lines of this old-school thinking is my view on tag teams. For me, tag teams should be actual teams; they should dress in the same attire (or colours), have a common goal, and, ideally, have a team name. More often than not, this doesn't happen.

Maybe this is just my view and it's been happening forever and I've been blind to it.

When I was growing up, I remember great teams such as The Legion of Doom, The Rockers, The Hart Foundation and The Natural Disasters (maybe not on everyone's list, but at least they had things in common and all the factors that I listed before). Now we have a few 'proper' teams, such as The Usos, The Wyatt Family and... and... I'm at a loss to list more.

Maybe I'm being picky, but Rybaxel (Ryback and Curtis Axel) and Goldust/Stardust don't quite cut it for me. In both cases, they are TWO individuals that have been thrown together because creative had nothing for them. Proof of this is their current best-of-157 that they seem to be having on weekly TV. In the past, this 'throwing guys together' had a purpose, and maybe it still does; one of the great teams I mentioned earlier, The Hart Foundation, were originally formed as there was nothing for Bret Hart and Jim Neidhart to do. Throw in Jimmy Hart and this team's future wrote itself. Sadly, that same spark hasn't been seen since between two individuals floating in the wind.

There's also been several pairings of individuals for the purpose of furthering a feud. Stone Cold and Shawn Michaels were tag team champions; Stone Cold and Undertaker were, too; rivals Kane and Big Show also captured the gold. My reason for including these examples is that there were two individuals, thrown together, that, somehow, became 'the men' of the tag division at that time.

I realise that to further these feuds, these makeshift teams needed something big to emphasise their demise, and continue their feud, but winning the tag team gold each time from proper teams isn't the way to go, is it? Surely, this weakens the tag division each time? It's probably cool years later to say "did you know that despite having great matches and great rivalries, these two guys were tag team champions with each other, too?", but at the time it says that anyone can team together for a week and beat these other sh*tty tag teams that have been working together for months/years.

Other than being black, what made Kofi and Truth a team?

I read a couple of Brandon Stroud's (uproxx.com) columns on Raw and NXT, and one of his beefs just lately has been proper tag teams losing to two guys that have been thrown together. Not just two guys that have been thrown together, but two guys that struggle to coexist, but STILL manage to pull off the win against guys who apparently SPECIALISE in this type of wrestling.

It's somewhat different on the UK scene, as a show or promotion doesn't have the luxury of having a weekly TV spot. Therefore, if you're a tag team guy then, generally, you're a tag team guy for a long, long time. Teams such as The Alpha Males, Bhangra Knights, London Riots, Magnums and Hunter Bros., are generally booked as a team for the tag team match of a particular show. All these teams have the characteristics that I mentioned earlier in this post.

@jimmosangle

Film Review: Boyhood

Note: This is a little different for the blog! No, this isn't wrestling related, but a need of mine to broaden my writing...

Boyhood

I've just arrived home and felt the need to get what I felt about the film that I saw this evening of my chest.

Leading up to this film, I was intrigued by the idea that it had been filmed over twelve years, and used the same cast. Wow, what a fresh idea! It seemed like it would be my kind of film, too. What I mean by this is that I'm not much of a Hollywood Blockbuster film watcher; I much prefer my films to hit me with dialogue and substance; instead of wowing me with explosions and witty (crap) one-liners, I'd rather have a speech that shows me the layers of the character that I'm watching on screen.

Boyhood is a great example of this. And then some.

I'm not too hot on remembering who writes and directs certain films, but I was pleased to see, in the end credits, that this film was written and directed by Richard Linklater. Now, I'm not a huge fan of his, who knows everything that he's ever done, but I am aware of the Before series of films, starring Ethan Hawke (who plays an important role in Boyhood) and Julie Delpy. The first film of that series, in particular, blew me away when I first saw it. Quite simply, it is about two people who meet in the middle of Europe, enjoy each other's company, talk about everything and anything, and grow closer as the film moves forward. There's no dramatic explosions or crises; just great dialogue and interactions that allow you to see who these characters are.

From what I understand of Linklater's work, it's what he brings to all his films: real people in real situations. The Before series brought this by the bucket load and so does Boyhood.

The most pleasing thing about this film is the fact that it used the same actors over the twelve year period. Ethan Hawke can do no wrong in my eyes; his performances in the Before series hooked me in, and despite not seeking out all his other films on Netflix or other methods, if I see him advertised for an upcoming role I'm interested in what might be.

The boy, himself, that is the focus of this film, Mason (Ellar Coltrane) is also a great factor of this film. I'm not saying that they could have put any kid in there to do this role, but it's really pleasing to see the same actor grow up before our eyes over the twelve years that this is set. It's also pleasing to see him go through the same experiences that we all do when growing up; but unlike most films that skim over these experiences, and with different actors playing the different stages of life, this was so unique to see the same boy, with different haircuts, take us through this journey. It felt more personal, and almost like we knew the young adult that he turns into due to seeing him grow-up in front of us over the two-and-a-half hour duration.

@jimmosangle

Match of the Day: Flair vs Steamboat

Chi-Town Rumble 1989 - 20th February 1989

I've been wanting to look at the Flair-Steamboat matches from 1989 for a long while now, and after watching the Ricky Steamboat documentary on the WWE Network (thanks WWE Network!), it pushed me further to take a look at them and see what all the fuss is about.

These series of matches have been described as 'setting the bar' for matches since so there must be something to it, especially seeing as it has two of the best ever pitted against each other.

Other than the wrestling on show, the thing that stuck out for me here is the commentary provided by Jim Ross and Magnum TA. Ross, in particular, really impressed me (although, didn't surprise me) with how he stuck to the wrestling side of things throughout. I say this because I have been conditioned, for a long time now, to think that the way Michael Cole, JBL and Jerry Lawler present a show is the norm. The beauty of Ross' commentary is that he simply calls the moves, helps tell the story of the match, and rivalry - simple things such as Flair is the party-guy; rich, with all the girls, whereas Steamboat is the working man; the family man. This simple storytelling adds so much to the match and keeps you engrossed further and firmly behind one or the other. There are no 'app plugs' or other sporting/pop culture references that take you away from the match; it's to-the-point and wrestling-focused.

This match was Steamboat's defining moment as he would become the World Champion (for the only time) when being a world champion still meant something.

Dailymotion video - Chi-Town Rumble '89 - Flair (c) vs Steamboat

The icing on the cake here is when Ross concludes that Ricky Steamboat just became the World Champion by beating the best champion that the NWA has ever had... what a compliment to pay to both guys.

I'll be taking a look at the other two matches that these guys had, and will probably put them up here for all to see...

@jimmosangle

Match of the Day: Austin vs Angle

This is a few days late, as it was a busy last half to last week...

Raw - Monday 8th October 2001 - WWF Championship: Kurt Angle (c) vs Stone Cold Steve Austin

As I continue to look through the Invasion angle of 2001, I was looking through heel turns of the angle. I found this one where Commissioner Regal turned his back on the WWF by setting up the finish to allow Stone Cold to regain the WWF Championship.

This was probably "known" or "predicted" by most smart-arse wrestling fans who like to suck the enjoyment out of it for everyone, but for me it was another great twist to this angle that I enjoyed.

I loved it that Regal ejected Debra and sat at ringside himself to ensure fairness throughout. He then stopped Austin at every opportunity from getting a steel chair. As Austin retrieved the title belt and entered the ring, Regal again entered the ring to intervene, taking the belt from Austin only to turn around and smash Angle with it.

The best part about the finish for me was that Austin didn't get the job done with that belt shot, so was forced to use his ultimate trump card in using the Stone Cold Stunner - how great does it make your finish look if it ends up being more definitive than a chair shot. Superb!

Two other things of note here is that you have two of the best in the ring (three, if you count Regal) along with two of the best on commentary in JR and Paul Heyman; massively underrated as a pairing, playing off each other so well. Heyman, in particular is how a colour commentator SHOULD act - COMPLETELY on the heel's side.

@jimmosangle