Category: Written Reviews

Road to Royal Rumble – Royal Rumble Ramblings #1

Its my favourite time of the year wrestling wise; THE ROYAL RUMBLE. So to kick start my Road to Royal Rumble, every single day starting now up until the 27th (date for the 2013 RR) I will be posting my ramblings on each RR event! 25 days, 25 RR events! Then on the 28th, I will post my review of the 2013 Royal Rumble event! Of course I’ll also have some videos up between now and then as well :).

So to kick start the RTRR, my ramblings on the first ever RR event in 1988 (please note, these “ramblings” aren’t like my usual reviews. They originally started out as notes for a video I wanted to do, but I ended up fleshing them out so I could post them as written content instead lol)!!!

1988 Royal Rumble

Not a PPV, instead a TV special on the USA Network.

Match 1 – Rick Rude Vs Ricky Steamboat – There is a women in the front row with a megaphone screaming abuse at Rude all throughout the match, with the “Rudey Rudey Rudey” chant being my favourite. Nice arm work from Steamboat, Rude sells very well, especially once he regains control of the match and tries to pose but can’t raise his left arm. He attempts to pose a couple of times before he is able to do it. Match ends with a DQ after Rude pulls the referee in front of Steamboat who is coming off the ropes with a cross body. Rude gets Steamboat in the Rude Awakening submission hold and believes he wins when the bell rings, and even leaves the ring believing he has won until they finally announce that he got DQ’d. Good lengthy match between the two, though I can see people not enjoying it as much as me because it is a little slow, but never dull imo. ***1/4.

Dino Bravo attempts to break a world record with a Bench Press of 715lb. He starts off at 415, then goes to 505, 555, 595, 655 and does it easily. Then he gets to the record weight of 715lb and does it with help from Jesse Ventura who was his spotter. Frenchy, Bravo’s manager just saying shit in French all the time was somewhat amusing, but this segment lasted 17 minutes. The same amount of time as the Steamboat/Rude match. It was terrible. Good job this wasn’t a PPV because people would have probably demanded a refund.

Match 2 – Glamour Girls Vs Jumping Bomb Angels – 2 out of 3 falls – LMAO McMahon and Ventura don’t even know the names of the Jumping Bomb Angels from Japan. They call them “Red and Pink” for most of the match because of the colour of their outfits. Gotta love when the announcers don’t even know the names of the competitors in a match. Really gets you into it… That being said, this match is genuinely really good. I’d put it as a top 5 women’s match in WWF/E history. It’s THAT good. Well ok, even having it as a top 5 women’s match in WWF/E isn’t saying too much because outside of some matches involving Trish, Lita and Mickie, the division has sucked for the better part of forever. Women’s tag titles are on the line here too. No idea when women’s title tiles came about or where they went. Kinda like the actual women’s title. Sometimes it would show up, sometimes it would disappear for a decade. Shame, because if they could have found more teams like these two, they could have had a really good division. Ah well, I’ll just be happy that we got this. Nice change from Rude/Steamboat’s slower match, with both teams running around and jumping around etc. Plus the crowd needed something to get them going again after 17 minutes of Dino Bravo weightlifting. Plenty of great moves in this match too, including a lot of things I’ve rarely ever seen since, by women OR men. Love 2 out of 3 tag matches. Should happen more… but then again I don’t want to see the majority of tag teams go 1 fall these days. This gets 15 minutes, so again another lengthy match. Something that not only do we never get with diva matches nowadays, but something I don’t think I’d WANT to see these days. ***1/4.

Another segment now to break up the matches, and it’s a contract signing between Hulk Hogan and Andre the Giant for their WM 3 rematch that will take place on Feb 5th (Saturday Night’s Main Event? I forget, and they NEVER actually mention the name of the show, just the date lol). Gotta say, this might be one of the better contract signings ever… and neither man even cut a promo on each other. You have Jack Tunney (LMFAO at Tunney, what a fucking waste of space he is) making sure both men sign the contract, Mean Gene giving running commentary in the ring and Ted DiBiase mocking Hogan and saying how he’s gonna buy the title. Andre is an absolute fucking BOSS throughout this whole thing too. He comes out first and while waiting for Hogan to come out, just leans on the ropes and starts bouncing on them, hands in his pockets looking like the coolest guy ever. Then Hogan comes into the ring, sits down and waits for Andre, meanwhile Andre just keeps on bouncing on DEM ROPES. Finally he sits down, Hogan signs, and Andre… takes his time and reads the entire thing while DiBiase taunts Hogan who really puts Andre over as the biggest threat ever by looking pretty terrified that he’s actually signed to face him again. Andre signs, and smashes Hogan’s head into the table for good measure. Yeah, really enjoyed this tbh. Far better than the “Vince McMahon Masturbation Weight Lifting Segment” from before. Seriously, it probably lasted that long because Vince was jerking off to it.

Match 3 – 20 Man Royal Rumble Match – The first RR match! Sort of. They did a tryout of sorts on a house show the year before I believe, and it absolutely BOMBED, so they changed and tweaked some shit before putting the match on TV. I’d assume they tried the newer format out on a house show too… but yeah, who knows. One Man Gang was the winner of the 1987 Royal Rumble Match! Bret Hart and Tito Santana are #1 and #2. Oh man, there’s a kid on camera while THE FINK runs down the rules of the match, and he looks like he’s going to legit CRY out of confusion. Awesome. The match isn’t a classic Rumble, but it’s certainly fun. Starts off pretty good with talent like the Hart Foundation, Harley Race, Jake Roberts, Tito Santana, Butch Reed… then starts to go downhill with the likes of Danny Dangerous, One Man Gang, Sam Houston, Nikolai Volkoff and others. Good job this only lasted half an hour and was only 20 guys. Imagine another 10 jobbers and another 30 minutes! Oh yeah Duggan wins. **3/4.

Hogan promo! LMFAO at Hogan ripping off his shirt as he’s saying “When I think about you Andre”. Dirty Hogan! Bad Hogan! As bad as their matches together were, dammit, the build up and promos and whatnot we SO FUCKING GOOOOOOD. Makes me want to watch them even though I KNOW they suck.

Match 4 – The Islanders Vs The Young Stallions – 2 out of 3 falls – Urgh. Paul fucking Roma. I seriously despise him. He’s the Chavo Guerrero Jr of the 80’s/early 90’s. Except Roma was a Four Horseman. Chavo remained an absolute nobody. Jim Powers is also a nobody. The Islanders are Haku (aka the toughest bastard ever) and Tama, one of the lesser known/remembered Samoan wrestlers. He’s actually the brother of Umaga and Rikishi. Remember how I mentioned earlier about not wanting to see current teams in 2 out of 3 falls matches because they suck? Well the same can be said for this match. It’s terrible and aside from Haku, everyone in it fucking sucks. At least it’s the shortest match on the card, though still only 1 minute less than the women’s tag match which is infinitely better. Roma screws up a hip toss/arm drag move (not entirely sure what was supposed to happen), and Haku literally just powers him fucking over and slams him anyway. Nobody botches on Haku’s watch! Roma gets counted out for… first fall? Second fall? I don’t remember nor care. Anyway, Ventura always mocks referees about not being able to count past 3, so when the ref counts to 10 for a countout… Ventura claims he used his toes to go that far. I’m not sure Jesse realises how many FINGERS we have!

Oh man, this is classic. They actually STOP the tag match and have an interview with Andre and Ted DiBiase! You can see The Islanders in the ring in the background just waiting! That’s how fucking shitty the tag match is. They literally need to take a break in between so we can listen to Andre attempting a promo!

So we’re back for the second fall it seems… with Roma and Powers returning from the back! They seriously went backstage between falls? LOL. Roma is a retard. He has a bad knee that he injured when getting thrown out of the ring for the countout finish… so what does he do to block a splash? Gets his knees up. HUR DUH I PAUL ROMA I FOR HORSEYMAN. JESSE VENTURA SAY I NEED USE TOES TU COUNT TU FOR. Roma submits because his knee is fucked, and The Islanders win this one 2 straight falls. *1/4.

The Last of McGuinness Review

So earlier this year, I happened to come across a thread that had Nigel McGuinness in the title on a popular wrestling forum. And being a big Nigel fan, I clicked on the thread to see what it was all about. Inside was a link to a Kickstarter project that has been launched the day before. I’d heard of Kickstarter, but had honestly never even been on the site and had certainly never pledged any money to any project. However, after reading the description and watching the video Nigel had posted, and the fact I like every other wrestling fan in the world I wondered “just what DID happen to Nigel?”, I simply HAD to support him and his project. So I gave $50, not knowing if the project would get off the ground or not. A couple of days later… the project was fully funded and still had over 3 weeks left for more! At this point I knew the documentary would get done. For starters, the footage was already there. Plus, just from watching him as a pro wrestler, Nigel seemed like the kind of guy that wouldn’t let people down. Some projects on Kickstarter may get fully funded and just never happen. This never even crossed my mind. Not for Nigel. Not for this project that would be so personal to him.

 

Now, at the end of November, Nigel has finished editing and putting everything together. For those of us who were able to pledge a certain amount and above, we were given special access to an online version of his documentary before he sends out the DVD version of it. As I write this, I finished watched it 35 minutes ago. You know that feeling you get when you just watched a classic film or episode of a TV show for the first time? Where you kinda feel strange but in a good way, and can’t stop thinking about what you just saw? Well that’s how I currently feel. For me that doesn’t happen very often. Thanks to Nigel, I get to experience it. And I sincerely hope everyone else who had the opportunity to watch it today feels the exact same way.

 

As I started the documentary, the one big question on my mind was that same question I mentioned earlier; “just what DID happen to Nigel?”. For around 3/4 of the documentary, Nigel almost teases us with the answer. References to certain conditions here, numerous clips of his friends asking him why he isn’t doing this anymore. Every time he teases you, you begin to think that he’s finally going to reveal the answer. And then he doesn’t. But you don’t get mad. You don’t get frustrated. You don’t feel any kind of anger because he keeps the documentary going with tremendous footage of his final wrestling tour, with interviews of his friends, family and mentors in the business. You simply can’t feel anger in any way because everything is just so good. I have to credit Nigel immensely for some of the footage he chose to show us in this documentary. It’s as real and emotional as it gets. His wrestling career is over, and while everyone around him is telling him he should be happy with what he achieved… he isn’t. He’s angry. He’s upset. He fully understands that he SHOULD feel a sense of achievement for what he accomplished throughout his career, and that’s what I think he deserves all the credit in the world for showing us that despite all that he doesn’t feel that way. Not all the time of course. This isn’t a 2 hour long pity documentary where he is angry and upset about his career and everyone should feel sorry for him. It’s a journey. A journey that he took during his retirement tour that he very graciously allowed us to sit in on, through the good AND the bad. He holds nothing back, he doesn’t shy away from anything. He shouts, he swears, he cries. He also smiles and laughs, and at the end of it all, comes away with a new outlook on his own life, one that he may not have arrived at had he not made this documentary.

 

So does he finally reveal the answer to the big question? Well, yes and no. It seems that for a lot of us, myself included, the answer we were looking for, wasn’t for the question we were asking. The answer explains to us why he vanished from TNA for so long. For me personally, the answer we get is very much a relief. There were so many rumours around for so long, that while I didn’t want to believe them, almost had no choice but to almost “settle” for one and just assume that THAT is why he is no longer wrestling. Thankfully the rumours were just that; rumours. And the answer to the question as to why he left wrestling? Honestly, he never truly gives us an answer. However, watching the documentary and following him on his journey, you get the answer yourself. While it has nothing to do with his health, it’s a little heartbreaking. Not just as a fan of Nigel as a wrestler, as someone who would love to see him get back in the ring and be one of the best in the world like he was for a number of years before leaving, but as a person. To see someone come so close to his dream and never be able to reach it despite working harder than 99% of the people who DO make it truly is saddening. Part of me wants to grab hold of him and scream at him to never give up. Then part of me doesn’t blame him for his decision and seemingly his reasoning. However, none of that matters. What does matter is that Nigel has accepted his fate now. He’s happy for the experiences and now he’s going to move on. Move forward with his life and gain new experiences and memories. The documentary certainly doesn’t have THE happy ending that Nigel and wrestling fans would have wanted prior to it being finished, but I’ll be damned if it still doesn’t have A happy ending. I wish Nigel nothing but the best of luck moving forward, and I hope we will get to see him again in one of his new ventures, be it stand up comedy, TV, movies or even something completely different. Thank you Nigel, for your time in the wrestling business, and for giving us this incredible documentary.

 

The Last of McGuinness; The wrestler, but not the man.

Kurt Angle Vs Randy Orton – King of the Ring Qualifying Match – Smackdown April 14th 2006

This might just seem like random pairing for the KOTR tournament, and it is, but Angle has vowed to take out his frustrations from losing the WHC at WM out on Orton. With Angle being a fucking lunatic, I would not want to be Orton :P.

Orton knows this, so he tries to stay away from Angle by backing into the corner a couple of times and getting the ref to keep Angle away… but he quickly walks into a clothesline and a belly to belly. We are about a minute into the match, and out comes the Ankle Lock! Actually makes sense to be done this early, so well done Angle! 🙂

Of course, Angle’s intensity and aggression from the get go ends up being his downfall, as he ends up shoulder first into the ring post, and this can begin a control segment from Orton who works over the now injured arm.

Angle is still just a pissed off motherfucker though, and he finds an opening for another Ankle Lock, but a kick to the injured shoulder breaks the hold and Orton is back on top. I’m guessing Orton called this match lol, because he is grounding Angle’s lunatic offence, and creating openings for him to land a move or two before being grounded again instead of them going balls to the walls with moves like Angle would probably do all the time if he could (which he pretty much does in TNA these days lol, aside from the odd match with the right opponent).

Holy crap, did Angle just SELL the injured arm when he hit a European Uppercut? He did! Bloody hell!

Angle’s big hope spot is nice, as he reverses a suplex attempt on the apron, and sends Orton to the floor. Angle continues to sell the arm, and really well too… until Orton gets back in the ring and out come the Germans ( lmao at that lol)! Orton counters the Angle Slam and nearly gets the 3 count in a really nice cut off spot, and then Angle counters the RKO really nicely into an Ankle Lock. Angle quickly drops to the mat and grapevines the leg, no doubt to make up for his injured arm (more selling!), and Orton taps! It ain’t over though, as Orton ends up getting another Ankle Lock, and SNAP! There goes his Ankle, aka SUSPENSION!!!

Wow, this was a GREAT 10 minute match. Angle sold his arm really well, and Orton controlled Angle and his offence incredibly well. Everything just seemed to click, and the only thing really done wrong was Angle hitting 3 German Suplexes in a row with the injured arm, but he did sell it again after those, so all is forgiven. One of the better “make Angle look less like a retard” matches I have seen.

Rating: ***3/4

JBL Vs Chris Benoit – US Title – Steel Cage – Smackdown April 14th 2006

A WM rematch! Liked their match at WM, thought it was a hell of a lot better than it should have been given the fact JBL was involved.

Long comes out before it starts and announces that it will be a CAGE match!

Didn’t think this “feud” was ready for a cage match just yet, but WWE was about to start using the cage as often as a singles match (after they had kinda cooled down with them since the Attitude Era where we would have one every couple of weeks 😛 ), so I guess it doesn’t matter too much. Benoit takes it to JBL straight away, and Bradshaw has to brawl his way back into control, and once he takes down Benoit, he quickly tries to climb out. Benoit drags him off, and tries to climb out himself, which honestly doesn’t bother me too much since I didn’t think their were in a heated feud. Benoit pretty much wants to beat JBL to win the US title, not necessarily maim him… but if he has to do that to win, then he’ll do that.

We get a couple of medium sized cage spots, with a back suplex from the top rope (in the middle of the ropes, not the corner), and Benoit launched off the top rope when they were battling in the corner to escape.

Plenty of stiff shots from both guys too a you would expect. They don’t like each other so they do want to inflict damage, but overall I believe I am right in saying that both men simply want to win rather than destroy each other; destroying each other just helps with the winning lol.

Off topic here… never been a fan of Jillian in terms of looks… but those tits and THAT top… yum.

Both men end up exhausted, and JBL takes full advantage of this by locking in a sleeper hold, hoping that Benoit is already worn down enough for this hold to be used as a viable finisher for the first time in years. Surprise surprise though, its not over with a sleeper, instead it begins the Benoit comeback.

All through the match, any of the big spots (aka from the top rope) have been taken by Benoit, so when he finally gets to make his big comeback at the end, he makes damn sure JBL takes a bump too, and he busts out a top rope German Suplex! Looked AWESOME considering a guy the size of JBL took it.

Finish is pretty great, with Benoit crawling out of the cage and Jillian trying to ram the door into his head. The ref stops her, and while she gets rid of him, JBL shoves Benoit of of the way and is about to leave… but Jillian slams the door into HIS face! Ha! Crossface is locked in, and JBL taps out! Only Jillian makes up for what she just did by distracting the ref inside the ring when she tried to climb in.

JBL reverses the Crossface into a pin like at WM, but Benoit kicks out this time. They then fight to get out of the door, but a low blow puts Benoit down and JBL picks up the win.

Really enjoyed this match, maybe not enough to add it to my final list, but will be put into consideration. I liked how they worked with the cage stip, given where their feud was. It wasn’t a blood and hate filled feud, though both guys don’t like each other at all, its about the title (for this match, anyway. Benoit wants revenge for WM by winning back the belt). So they don’t work this cage match like they want to kill each other, they try to win. And like I mentioned, trying to destroy each other helps them on their way to winning. So considering all of that, I thought they worked this cage match better than most people have in the last 5 or so years (HHH/Flair is the only one I can think of that was worked better).

Rating: ***1/2

Johnny Nitro Vs Brian Kendrick – Smackdown April 14th 2006

Nitro wants revenge for last week when Londrick beat MNM in a non title match, and Kendrick wants to prove that their win last week wasn’t a fluke, and that any combination of Lonrick can beat any combination of MNM.

Before Nitro became Morrison and turned his singles matches in spot fests (before finally getting grounded a bit and turning pretty good), he was actually pretty good, and it showed in this match. His beatdown in this match, as short as it is, is really, really good.

Like last week though, Melina inadvertently costs her team (well, just Nitro this week), the match, with Kendrick doing a repeat of London last week by getting a surprise roll up pin!

No doubt all of this is just leading to a nice big tag title match with a decent amount of time to it. So while this was short, it probably served a purpose, and was good for the time it got as well.

Rating: *1/2

The Undertaker Vs Mark Henry – Smackdown April 7th 2006

A WrestleMania rematch here (so sad that this match happened at WrestleMania lol). Henry cuts a promo about how he passed out and almost passed on when he got stuffed in the casket at WM. When they opened the casket, he had a vision and saw The Undertaker’s future, and how it would never be the same.

Undertaker begins the match with his massive rights and lefts, but the massive Henry puts a stop to those with one huge clothesline. They keep going back and forth, with Undertaker using his punches and experience to take down Henry, and Henry using his power to counter ‘Taker as often as possible.

The match ends up on the outside, and Henry is getting his arse handed to him. Before he can try to finish the match, The Great Khali makes his debut by walking down to the ring, having a stare down with ‘Taker, then destroying the Dead Man in typical early 90’s fashion lol.

This match was actually starting to look good, but they only got around 4 minutes to work with before The Great Khali shows up and ruins everything, much like he would do in every match he is involved in lol.

Rating: *

William Regal Vs Paul Burchill – Smackdown April 7th 2006

The winner of this gets to decide how the other dresses next week (something like that, anyway).

Stiffer than their previous bout, and Burchill is a lot more aggressive too. Loved their battle of Elbows to the face and then European Uppercuts. MANLY~!

Regal throws out a half nelson suplex, and I mark. That’s the most “technical” move so far in this match (might have been an arm drag earlier as well), everything else is just stiff uppercuts, elbows and knees.

Knee Trembler is avoided, and Regal takes a C4 from Burchill to lose the match.

Better than their first encounter, probably because it was just more hard hitting and vicious. Not on the level as the Benoit/Finlay/Regal matches, but nearly as fun as those and more interesting than a lot of the stuff going on in WWE at the time.

Rating: **3/4

Rey Mysterio Vs Randy Orton – WHC – Smackdown April 7th 2006

This is Rey’s first title defence, and he only won the belt 5 days ago. Instead of Angle getting the first title shot since he is the former champion and never got pinned… Orton, the man who DID get pinned, gets the shot. Ummm… why exactly? 😛

Strange to see Rey taking things slow and going for a headlock early in the match, but it makes perfect sense. This is Rey’s first title defence, defending the title that was no doubt a dream of his to win. So he wants to take things slower than usual, be extra careful so he doesn’t make any mistakes early on that Orton can capitalise on.

Orton too doesn’t want to rush into anything. After losing at WM, a loss here might put an end to any title shots for some time, so he really needs to get the victory.

Its great to actually enjoy a headlock in 2006. Orton is one of the few people these days that has that ability. Being against Rey and having a hot crowd for the match certainly helped, but the way he worked the headlock was just fantastic. And the way he would release it and do some more damage to Rey before locking it back in again is great. And the dropkick to Rey while Rey is trying to springboard back into the ring is awesome as well.

Plenty of nice hope spots for Rey, and even better cut offs from Orton. Had to laugh at Rey countering an elbow from the ropes by Orton by putting his feet up, and Orton landing head first on them. Not sure where he was planning to elbow Rey :P.

Great finish to this great match too. 619 using the ring post, which makes Orton go loopy and fall onto the ropes at the other side so Rey can get another 619, and then hit the springboard legdrop!

Should have happened at WM. Would have been a great WM moment for Rey to win the title in this match, as well as defeating Orton on a big stage for everything Orton had done to Rey and had said about Eddie.

I definitely enjoyed the match more on this watch. Not by much, but a little. However, I still don’t think its as good as NWO.

Rating: ***3/4

MNM Vs Paul London & Brian Kendrick – Smackdown April 7th 2006

LMAO at London and Kendrick sneaking up on Melina from behind and grabbing her while she is in mid entrance.

Kendrick start the match off in control, but then Melina gets revenge for earlier and causes Kendrick to lose control of the match for his team. I’ve mentioned in a past SD 06 review about Melina probably being the best booked Manager/Valet in years, and its things like that (revenge spots etc) that are the reason.

MNM do a wonderful job working over Kendrick and making the Southern Tag Formula as interesting as they can given the fact they are working in WWE. Loved how Kendrick nearly got over to his partner only to be stopped by Nitro, who hits a fancy spinny leg drop thingy on him and makes a cover, all the while staring and smiling at London because he knows MNM is in control.

The hot tag is teased numerous times, and even happens at one point but behind the refs back. It FINALLY happens, and London comes out on fire. MNM try to cheat their way to another victory, but London kicks out and nearly wins the match for his team! The last couple of near falls are well done and are all believable as finishes for the match.

Melina gets involved again, but her interference bites her team in the arse, and Londrick get the win!!!

Really enjoyed this one, much better than their previous match from…. whenever it happened before :P. MNM’s control segment was fantastic, and the finishing stretch was really nice too without going crazy or anything.

Rating: ***

Kurt Angle Vs Randy Orton Vs Rey Mysterio – WHC – WrestleMania XXII April 2nd 2006

Gotta admit, not looking forward to this match. I currently have it at ***1/2 or ***3/4, but given the fact my tastes have changed so much since I last watched it, I don’t imagine thinking its very good.

Well, its at least starting good. Orton attacks Angle and sends him out of the ring, which gives us some more Orton/Rey which is pretty much what this match was based on. I agree with whoever said Angle had no place in this match other than the fact he was the champ.

The triple German suplex, while essentially meaningless, is still fucking AWESOME. A couple more pointless but cool moves (all Angle pretty much), and then it starts to become a singles match, first with Orton/Angle and then Rey/Angle. Rey tapping out to the Ankle Lock while Orton distracted the ref pissed me off. I agree with Andy when he talks about heels getting the “phantom win”. It just makes the babyface look weak and like they are cheating the heel out of the victory if they win in the end. Doesn’t work quite the same here I know, but when he makes Rey, the ultimate babyface tap out and NOT get the win, then it does fit here imo.

Speaking of making people look weak… Angle is just throwing both guys around like they are nothing. He’s already made Rey tap, and holy fuck he’s just made Orton tap while Rey distracted the ref! No wonder the fans are pissed off when anyone does anything to Angle. He should have won TWICE now.

So yeah, Rey wins. And who does he pin? Orton of course! Now, I both like and hate that at the same time. Like, because he beat ORTON for the belt, the guy who nearly took his WM title shot from him, and made all those comments about Eddie. Hate, because Angle still ended up looking like a fucking beast because of how much he dominated and the fact he didn’t get pinned to lose the belt… plus he made both opponents tap out. Add to that, the fact that this was only followed up on SD with Angle getting a title shot (as did Orton, which made the Angle title shot seem like they were just giving them out for the hell out it). Had it been done on PPV, with Angle saying how he never got beat etc etc and they made a program out of it, it might not have been bad.

Other than a few (and I mean a FEW, not many at all compared to what I remembered) awesome looking SPOTS~!, this match is pretty bad. Angle throws moves left right and centre, looks the better of the three, and doesn’t help make them look good AT ALL. Rey winning the belt felt like the biggest fluke ever rather than what it should have been; an emotional battle where he really looked like the winner in the end.

Rating: *