Yves Edwards vs. Joe Stevenson
A good first round, which I’d give to Edwards. He did a good job of fending off Stevenson for the most part, and he scored with a great looking high kick.
Stevenson totally dominated round two, but the real story was the bleeding from Edwards off the cuts to his head. The canvas was splattered with Yves blood, and was a sight to see.
Going into round three, I have it 19-18 to Stevenson.
The doctor stops the fight, though, and Stevenson gets the victory. No complaints with the stoppage, because that was a cut that just wouldn’t stop bleeding and it was going to impair Yves’ vision.
Frank Mir vs. Dan Christison
Christison did just enough to win a very boring round.
Mir was totally blown up and did very little. Neither did Christison, but he did get an armbar on Mir that came close, so I’d go with Christison again.
Not a very lively round, but Mir did more than enough to win it, but it won’t save the fight for him with me.
I gave it 29-28 to Christison. Mir won it 29-28 with all three judges, and it’s not a decision I really agree with.
Ken Shamrock vs. Tito Ortiz
This has the atmosphere of something special. Hopefully, we’ll see a special ass kicking from Ortiz.
Ortiz wins by ref stoppage in 1:18. I’m not a fan of Ken, but that stoppage was way too premature. A terrible decision by Herb Dean, and I’d be chanting “bullshit” too.
Dana White calls out Wanderlei Silva and then Chuck Liddell and announces that, if Liddell gets past Sobral, which is likely, it will be Silva vs. Liddell in November. Holy shit, I am there.
Josh Neer vs. Josh Burkman
There were some good exchanges in what was a very even round.
Burkman did enough, including a great takedown, to win the round. It goes into round three 20-19 for Burkman.
Third round was even, but Burkman, I think, did enough to win the round and the fight.
I have it 30-28 for Burkman. Burkman wins it by unanimous decision.
Andrei Arlovsky vs. Tim Sylvia
The first round was mostly action, with Arlovsky doing more than enough to win the round for me.
There was a lot of back and forth action in round two, but I don’t think either man did enough to win it.
The third round was dangerously close to being without any merit. Sylvia did get decent punches in, but they didn’t win him the round in my eyes, though. It’s 30-29 for Arlovsky so for in my book.
Round four = snooze. No winner. 40-39 so far on my card.
More of the same in round five.
I have Arlovsky winning 50-48, but I’d hardly call him a winner based on his performance. The judges have it 48-47, 49-46 and 48-47 for Sylvia. This fight was beyond boring as shit. Round-by-round, I had Arlovsky winning, but if I were to judge the fight based on overall performance, I’d call it a draw. Neither man did anything to warrant being called the UFC Heavyweight Champion, and the heavyweight division needs a lot of rehab to overcome this debacle.
Overall Outside of the terrible call in the Ortiz vs. Shamrock fight, the announcement of a possible Wanderlei Silva vs. Chuck Liddell fight in November, and Yves Edwards bleeding like crazy, there was absolutely nothing of note on this PPV, and it had the least merit of any UFC PPV for a long time.
HTQ on Brock Lesnar and Spike/UFC vs. USA/WWE
Brock Lesnar
The biggest international wrestling story this week concerns Brock Lesnar and his on again/off again status in regards to his working the October 18th Dome event for New Japan Pro Wrestling. His participation has changed from being rumored to assured to turning into a definite maybe. The biggest hold up is, of course, his ongoing lawsuit battle with WWE over the non-compete clause that he signed as part of the agreement to allow Lesnar to leave WWE last year. The actual non-compete clause is worded as follows:
That doesn’t seem so bad, until you find out that this clause lasts until June 30, 2010
Yes, Brock Lesnar is legally barred from participating in professional wrestling or MMA anywhere in the world for the next ten years. Such a clause seems excessive on the surface, and really it is, but the key point to remember is that Lesnar willingly signed such a clause, and you’d think he’d be bound by it no matter what, right? Well, not necessarily. While the non-compete clause seems airtight on the surface, a little checking into the legal facts and background show that Lesnar has a reasonable chance of winning this lawsuit.
The lawsuit is being held in Connecticut, and Connecticut law doesn’t hold up non-compete clauses if they are shown to be unreasonable in terms of length and geographical consideration, and preventing someone from working in their chosen profession anywhere in the world for ten years would seem to fit that bill.
Brock’s lawyers also have ammunition in WWE allowing Ultimo Dragon to work in Japan while still under contract, and when WWE released a number of talents recently their non-competes did allow them to work in Japan. If they can argue that WWE is being unfair in allowing others to work in Japan while still under contract, and point out that WWE has no trouble letting others work in Japan as part of their non-compete clause, then they may have a much stronger case than a lot of people are giving them credit for.
Spike/UFC vs. USA/WWE
The biggest story in the US wrestling scene is the impending war that sees Spike TV and UFC taking on the USA Network and WWE. With Raw moving back to USA on 10/3, it was a given they’d go the extra mile to make it special and they going to do that by bringing back Triple H. However, things got interesting when Spike TV decided to put a live UFC special on 10/3 to go head-to-head with Raw. This move was inspired when Spike got word that, for the first time ever, the 8/29 edition of Ultimate Fighter beat Raw in the Males 25-34 demographic, which is Spike’s key demographic age group. Not only that, but Spike are also adding a reply of the new TNA show to their Monday night line-up as well. USA and WWE very quickly fired back, and it was announced that Raw would start early at 7:55pm, and would be a three-hour ‘Night of Champions’ Special, with the returns of Steve Austin, Hulk Hogan, Triple H, Vince McMahon and Mick Foley (though Foley might not be there as he’s meant to be in Australia the next day, and unless he tapes something for WWE he won’t be able to take part). Not only that, but immediately after Raw, USA would be airing a one-hour special to highlight the best of Raw on USA.
When you add in the UFC Unleashed show and the UFC reality show Ultimate Fighter, which will now be kept on Monday’s, the line-up for 10/3 looks like this:
Spike
8-9pm: UFC Unleashed
9-11:05pm: UFC Live
11:05-12:05am: The Ultimate Fighter 2
12:05am-2:10am: UFC Live replay
3:10am-4:10am TNA Impact!
USA
7:55-11:05pm: RAW 'Night of Champions'
11:05-12:05am: RAW Exposed
For wrestling and MMA fans, 10/3 is going be a very historic night, as a potential new ‘Monday Night War’ could be starting out. How this all unfolds won’t really be known until the ratings come out. For this to be a true Monday Night War, then UFC has to do numbers that Spike are at least satisfied with. Anything less than a good rating will see Spike pull back from being behind UFC and going ahead with the new Monday night line-up. However, a really good rating, and a thrilled Spike, will undoubtedly see Spike get firmly behind UFC, and TNA in their quest to remain the kings of Monday Night cable. How Spike sees the UFC ratings will be in part determined by how they eat into Raw’s ratings, which themselves will be of importance. Anything less than 4 is going to be seen is a big disappointment, and you’ve got to believe that WWE are going to expect something in the high 4’s for this one.
Personally, I’m thinking the live UFC does a 1.8 but does strong in the Male 25-34 demographic, and that Raw will get a 4.2, with their peak being a 4.5 at best. That’ll lead to more UFC on Spike, TNA getting a good replay slot on Mondays, and a brand new Monday Night War for us all to watch and enjoy.
NOAH Destiny
Tsuyoshi Kikuchi, Mitsuo Momota and Katsuhiko Nakajima v Masashi Aoyagi, Takashi Sugiura and Suwa
This was an enjoyable opener, with good moves from both teams. Finish saw Suwa pin Kikuchi with a pedigree, that looked great.
Tamon Honda and Go Shiozaki v Takeshi Morishima and Mohammed Yone
Shiozaki looked good here, and he should do really well in the future. The match itself was decent enough, with Yone pinning Shiozaki after a kinniku buster.
Masao Inoue, Kishin Kawabata, Akitoshi Saito and Shiro Koshinaka v Akira Taue, Takuma Sano, Jun Izumida and Haruka Eigen
Not bad, but kind of just 'there', Inoue pinned Izumida after an ax bomber lariat.
Black Mask v Mushiking Terry
This match had some great high flying moves, but little in the way of transitions or psychology. These were two characters aimed at kids, and to that end it did it's job, as they kids were into it. Terry won with a german suplex.
KENTA v Yoshinobu Kanemaru for the GHC Jr title
This was good stuff, and it included a sick looking spot with Kanemaru coming off the second rope and catching KENTA with a leaping DDT and KENTA coming straight down on his head. The other highlight of the match was KENTA hitting Kanemaru with a flying knee and Kanemaru taking a 360 bump. KENTA picked up the win, and the GHC Jr Title, with another flying knee.
Jun Akiyama and Makoto Hashi v Minoru Suzuki and Naomichi Marafuji for the GHC tag titles
This was a really great match, that went over 20 minutes. Nothing too wild in terms of moves, but the story of the match was Akiyama and Hashi fighting to not only win the tag titles, but to stay a team, as they vowed never to team again if they lost. The crowd really got into this near the end, and there were some great near falls. In the end, Marafuji nailed Hashi with a shiranui off the top rope to get the win.
Hiroshi Tanahashi v Takeshi Rikio for the GHC title
This was above average, but that was all down to Tanahashi who worked his ass off to get something out of Rikio. Rikio just does not have it to be GHC champion, and he absolutely is not main event material. Sad to say that Rikio picked up the win with his muso, and while it's understandable why Rikio retained, they have to get the belt off of him fast, because he's doing less than nothing to make the title mean something.
Genichiro Tenryu v Yoshinari Ogawa
Fun stuff, all due to Tenryu being the greatest 53-year old badass on the planet. Tenryu picked up the win after shotgun lariat.
Kensuke Sasaki v Kenta Kobashi
OUCH!!! These two just beat the piss out of each other, with the highlight being a five-minute portion in the middle of the match where they just stood there, going back and forth with super stiff chops. After that was done, you could see bruises and welts on both their chests, and it even looked like Sasaki's chest was getting scarred. The big spot of the match was Sasaki hitting Kobashi with a Northern lights bomb off the apron. The finish saw Kobashi hit 4 spinning chops, get this weird smile on his face before hitting a fifth one, and then finally hitting a stiff lariat for the pin. Both men got a standing ovation after the match, which was more than deserved. This is one to go out of your way to see.
Toshiaki Kawada v Mitsuharu Misawa
Kawada and Misawa were in a bad position having to follow the previous match, and they couldn't rise to the occasion. The match was ok, with all of their usual spots, but it wasn't ever going to live up to the reputation of their previous matches, and coming right after a MOTY candidate didn't help things. The finish saw Kawada kick out of a some hard elbows, before Misawa hit a final super hard elbow to get the win. Another standing ovation followed, though it was borne more out of nostalgia and respect than the quality of the match.
Overall, I'd give Destiny a solid thumbs up, and it's easily the best major event of the year so far.
Ultimate Fight Night 6: Round-by-Round
Josh Koscheck vs. Jonathan Goulet
Koscheck totally controlled the fight and was never close to being in danger. Koscheck continues to show that he could be a title contender down the line. Guess I’m going to have to wait a while for Josh to finally get the shit kicked out of him.
Dean Lister vs. Yuki Sasaki
A very slow start but it turned into a good round. Lister controlled the direction of the fight and clearly won the round, but Sasaki put up more than enough of a defense to avoid being blown out, so I have it 10-9 for Lister.
Round two was again controlled by Lister who tied Sasaki up in knots on the ground, but Sasaki somehow weathered the storm and escaped to get things standing for the last few seconds. The question is does Lister win 10-8 for such dominance, or does he only win 10-9 for not being able to finish? I’ll go with 10-9, making it 20-18 for Lister going into the third and final round.
The third round saw Lister gassed out from trying to put Sasaki away in round two, but Sasaki was equally gassed and was unable to take advantage. 10-10 round, so I have it as Lister winning 30-28.
All three judges give it 30-27 to Lister. There was very noticeable booing from the crowd to that, probably from Lister actively trying to stall during round three.
Chris Leben vs. Jorge Santiago
Round one was even, and neither guy did enough to make me give them the nod so I have it 10-10.
Round two was slow standing up until Leben hit home with a great left hand knocking Santiago out cold.
They showed the punch a couple of times in slow motion and it hit Santiago right in the face and he was out before he hit the ground.
Joe Riggs vs. Jason Von Flue
It went to the ground and Riggs controlled Von Flue en route to a great triangle choke. Von Flue flipped the bird and then quickly tapped out, which was funny.
Karo Parisyan vs. Diego Sanchez
Round one was very heated with the crowd being loud and noisy. Sanchez was awesome with how easily he was able to get Parisyan’s back. Parisyan was cut under one of his eyes, so that may give the round to Sanchez with the judges, but Parisyan was able to take Sanchez down with some excellent judo throws, so I score the first round even.
Round two was all-action and Diego again showed tremendous agility with his ground game. He was able to effectively neutralize Parisyan and dominated the round so I give the round to Diego. It’s 20-19 for Diego on my scorecard.
Round three was exciting with a hot crowd who never let up. Diego was again in command with Karo trying to hang in there, getting limited respite. Karo did get a throw in there, but Diego was just dominating in this round and I’d give it to him 10-8. With that, I have him winning the decision 30-27.
The judges gave it Sanchez with scores of 29-28. 29-28 and 30-26.
An awesome fight, and a real FOTY candidate.
UFC 63 Hughes vs. Penn II - Round-by-Round
Joe Lauzon vs. Jens Pulver
Wow. Lauzon stunned Pulver, and most of the MMA world with this one. Lauzon caught Pulver early, and didn’t give him a chance to mount any offense. I think a combination of Lauzon trying to end it early, which was his best chance of winning, and, it seems, Pulver taking his opponent lightly, led to this most stunning of upsets.
Jason Lambert vs. Rashad Evans
Rashad controlled the first round, and while Lambert did fight for a kimura, and somewhat got it, Rashad was never in any real trouble while Lambert was backing up a lot. Rashad wins this 10-9 for me.
Rashad dominated Lambert and took him down easily, en route to a brutal TKO win. Lambert’s biggest problem was that he didn’t appear willing to take the fight to Rashad and was waiting to play counterfighter and it cost him big.
Gabe Ruediger vs. Melvin Guillard
Guillard completely dominated the first half of the round, to where I was anticipating a 10-8 round. Then, things slowed down and Ruediger wound up turning the tide in his favor and was very close to upsetting Guillard. Guillard controlled for longer than Ruediger, but his easing up, and then coming close to losing, makes this round even for me. 10-10.
It started slow and then Guillard struck with a hard right to the solar plexus. A second one soon followed and Ruediger crumpled into a heap and it was all over. Quite the finish to this one.
Mike Swick vs. David Loiseau
First round was pretty methodical, with neither man really advancing forward, but Swick did pick things up in the second half the round and for me he did enough, just, to win the round. 10-9 for Swick.
Round two was very boring round, with neither fighter seemingly willing to be the one to get things going. Swick did try and do a few things late on and while he did give Loiseau a small but, it wasn’t enough for me to give him the round, so I scored it even, 10-10, with Swick ahead 20-19 going into the third and final round.
Round three was mostly slow but both fighters picked up the pace halfway through. Loiseau seemed ready to pounce as Swick appeared to gas out badly, but he never really took advantage and Swick was content to let time run out. Swick got a takedown right at the end, but I don’t view it as enough to win a very even, and none too exciting, round. 10-10 draw, so I have Swick winning 30-29.
The judges all scored 29-28 in favor of Swick.
David Lee vs. Tyson Griffin
Lee tried to start big and it wound up costing him in a big way, as Griffin got him down and kept him there. Eventually, Griffin was able to get a rear naked choke on, and Lee did try to work his way out of it but to no avail and was forced to tap out.
BJ Penn vs. Matt Hughes
Hughes tried to take Penn down almost right away, but Penn showed excellent takedown defense and blocked it. Penn managed to tag Hughes a couple of times, and Hughes’ face reddened up a bit. The poke to the eye was unfortunate, but it didn’t take away from a round that Penn clearly won, through great defense and solid offense. 10-9 to Penn, and Hughes really needs to try something new.
Round two was incredible. Hughes was finally able to take Penn down after a struggle, but things managed to got worse for Hughes after that as Penn fought him off Hughes and was able to get his back. Penn had Hughes in trouble with a rear naked choke but Hughes fought out of it only to get trapped with a triangle choke and armbar combination and he was damn near close to being choked out but he was able to hold on to the end of the round. Penn wins round two as well, and I’d say it was enough to make it a 10-8 win, meaning I have Penn up 20-17 so far.
The third round saw Hughes turned things around in a big way. He got Penn down again and managed to slip past Penn’s guard, grab side control and tie up Penn’s arms. This left Penn open to a barrage of punches, and Penn had no way to escape and eventually John McCarthy had to stop the fight to give Hughes the TKO win, in a fight that he came very close to losing.
As a fight, the main event was really good, but as a story it was incredible.
Eddie Sanchez vs. Mario Neto
The first round was relatively uneventful, and while Neto did get some offense in, it wasn’t enough to win a very sedate round. 10-10
The second round didn’t last long before Sanchez nailed Neto with a strong left hand and, after a couple more strikes on the ground, it was all over.
Overall: This was a pretty solid card of action, with a relatively strong undercard and a main event that more than delivered, which is what you really want out of a PPV. It was better than UFC 62 and was obviously streets ahead of UFC 61, but I don’t know that I’d call it a great PPV. If you judge a PPV by the overall quality, then it was good but great, but if you judge a PPV by how well the main event delivers, then it was off the charts.
TNA's Bound For Glory 2006
X-Division Battle Royal:
At least Austin Starr's gimmick has a chance of letting him stand out, I can say that much about it that's positive. I think Kevin Nash endorsed his own mic, because it couldn't work without help. An X-Division battle royal with a non-X Division wrestler, a one legged man, a woman, a midget and a referee who decided to take part just for the hell of it; yes, Vince Russo is indeed back with TNA. Booking aside, at least this thing got the crowd warmed up.
Four-Way Tag match
Too short to be bad but also too short to be any good. With The Naturals getting a tag title shot, why didn't they win so that, A) They look strong going into their title match, and B) the tag titles are being challenged for by losers. What does it say about the belts that losers are getting a title shot? And if The Naturals gimmick is that of losers, would it not make sense for them to win, have Shane Douglas get excited for them getting into their stride heading into their title shot and then beat them and set up the split with Douglas? I can see them not beating AMW because they are about to turn babyface, and I can see them not beating Team 3D because they just returned, but were the James Gang of such high importance that they couldn't lose? Well, Jeff Jarrett is meant to be teaming with them in some fashion when he turns babyface, so I guess we know why they couldn't lose.
Samoa Joe vs. Raven vs. Abyss vs. Brother Runt
Or Joe versus one person he shouldn't ever wrestle and two guys he shouldn't be in the ring with until he gets the NWA Title. If it's Anything Goes, why does it matter if Joe was in the ropes? You can smack someone across the back with a chair but you'd better make sure he's not in the ropes. Joe beats Raven after Jake Roberts DDT's him. And Joe couldn't win clean because...? Jake was going to use the snake on Raven after the match anyway, so why not leave the DDT until then? That way, Joe wins clean but Jake still gets to lay Raven out. The match was just there, with the only real heat coming when anything crazy happened and when Joe did, well, anything really.
Eric Young vs. Larry Zbyszko
Two weeks ago, Eric Young lost a match that he had to win or he would be fired. Now, here he is wrestling a match where he has to win or he will get fired. Don't forget, the selling point of the main event is that Sting has to win or he'll have to retire. And people wonder why stipulations mean nothing anymore. Very short, not very good, complete with a ref bump after about 90 seconds. Eric wins after using Larry's own foreign object. Again, is there any reason Eric had to win thanks to a ref bump and foreign object? Was there a brilliant reason he couldn't win clean?
Samoa Joe and Kurt Angle brawl again
Ok, here we go. This was pretty much the exact same thing they did on Impact. An angle, I might add, that a lot of people, in their rush to ignore the stupidity of giving away the first Joe/Angle confrontation on FREE TV with zero hype, were proclaiming would get people to buy the PPV to see Joe and Angle go at it. Well, anybody who did just that isn't going to be happy, because they just paid $34.95 to see the same thing they saw for free three days before. Bear in mind, that the people who insisted the angle was great did so because they felt it would get people to buy the PPV to see Joe and Angle collide again. Well, there was what those people paid to see. Can you imagine being happy with that?
Chris Sabin vs. Sen Shi
Now this was damn good. I'd say it was in the ***1/2 range.
Christian Cage vs. Rhino
This had some terrible psychology. Rhino started out the big babyface and the crowd wound up not only booing the guy but cheering the heel for BEATING THE HOMETOWN BABYFACE HERO, which itself was bad booking. Someone, anyone, tell me how any of that is a good thing? Whether Christian had to be kept strong for Sting or not, and now he might not even be wrestling Sting for a couple of months, someone defend the psychology of a match that turned the hometown babyface hero into a heel. There was some decent brawling here, I won't deny that, but the psychology was all fucked up and I guarantee a number of wrestlers backstage were shaking their heads at that.
LAX vs. AJ Styles and Christopher Daniels
Another good match, but since when have the rules of the match been disregarded because the referee said so? When Daniels used the fork in retaliation for Homicide using it, the referee went to stop him but let it go. Why? Because Daniels said the heels used it first. Aren't referee's meant to only call what they see? And if all it takes is claiming your opponents used the fork first to get the rules changed in mid-match, why don't the heels just claim that to begin with? Then they wouldn't have to hide it.
Sting vs. Jeff Jarrett
Tenay claiming this could be the last time we see Sting could carry more weight if TNA hadn't already established that stipulations can be ignored at will if they feel like it. Why is the heel outwrestling the babyface? Since when does it make sense for the heel to cleanly outwrestle the face? If they're going to use the storyline of Sting not wrestling for two months as a reason, fine, but can the heel at least cheat seeing as that is how heels are meant to outdo babyfaces? Why is Kurt Angle getting bumped? Kurt shouldn't be put in a position to sell until the match with Joe. That must have been one hell of a crossbody, because both guys would have been TKO'd if not for Angle attacking the referee. Can Jeff at least make it look like he's raising his shoulder on a cover rather than just lifting his arm up? Jeff should not be using the ankle lock. That spot should have been saved for Joe when he faces Angle. In any event, it would make more sense for Jeff to use Sting's hold, because it would be more insulting for Jeff to retire Sting using Sting's own hold, and Sting is the one he's wrestling. The match and heat was disappointing until Sting no-sold the guitar shot. I know Jeff's turning babyface soon, but couldn't they have held off on praising him so much until Impact? Shouldn't they focus on pushing Sting, the guy who just won the World title and avoided being forced into retirement?
All in all, Bound For Glory had some good action for the most part and the crowd had a good time. The major problems, as always with TNA, were with quality control and the attention to the little details that TNA seem happy to let slide. I know some people, most people actually, here will dismiss them and tell me not to be so negative, but you can't hide from the facts forever. It's those little details that slowly chip away at a company. Stipulations are ignored and devalued when the main event is being sold on one. Guys meant to be pushed strong have to rely on interference to beat a virtual midcarder and someone who need not be protected. The specialness of the first Joe vs. Angle match is lessened slightly each time they brawl. The big hometown babyface not only loses but the match is worked in such a manner that the heel gets cheered as the match goes on and the crowd pop for him winning. Rules get changed in mid-match, simply because a wrestler said so. And Kurt Angle sells for a minor bump when he shouldn't be leaving his feet for anyone who isn't Samoa Joe for a very long time. On their own, they might not be major, but together these small details add up and until someone in TNA actually bothers with attention to detail, then TNA will not achieve the heights they want to and have the talent to reach.
