JoeDirt

Stole this stuff from the CZWfans board, figured some people here might want to read it: "Top to bottom one of the best Chikara cards to date. Mano Metalico and Sabian layed into each other with some brutal high impact spots and tons of stiff kicks and chops. Trik Davis made a good debut for Chikara against Black Jack Marciano. Trik looked good but the crowd really didn't dig him too much. If you're reading this, YES Armbars are cool. Hero vs. Kingston S-T-I MOTHER FUCKIN F-F. Picture a bar room brawl for the hottest woman in the universe, but it makes sense and involves really good wrestling and that defines this match. I don't know how either man is walking after probably the sickest headbutt I've ever seen in my life. 8 Man tag was the main event really well put together with a great aftermatch set up which leads to a best of 7 series between Larry Sweeney's team and Jigsaw's team in a best of 7 singles match series between both teams. I assume this will begin the next show, also next month, Chris Hero and a "Perfect Partner" vs. The Wildcards. I really hope the "Perfect Partner" is someone who can work as well with the Wildcards as I think he can. Top to bottom, again, well worth the cost of the ticket, definetly pick up the tape from the ONLY video distributor you need, www.smartmarkvideo.com" ===== "Real great stuff in front of an awesome crowd. Chikara's shows have slowly been getting better and better but I really think they turned a corner tonight, delivering a well-rounded show that flowed perfectly and entertained from start to finish. Hero vs Kingston was absolutely amazing, honest to god one of the most brutal matches I've ever seen. Eddie Kingston looked amazingly solid in this (both his selling and his strikes which look great), I really hope someone in CZW sees this match and gives him a shot in a singles bout. I swear I heard skull crack on that one headbutt (and the forearms they exchanged made me want to puke) but for a match as sickening as this it was largely storybased and far from a simple stiff-fest with Kingston refusing to lose on his own turf and doing whatever it took to win. Hero also proved to be a total lunatic by laying Kingston on the outside and hitting him with a tope con hilo into a swanton bomb. Think about that. And who the hell throws ice at someone during a wrestling match?? The Sharecropper is my new favorite wrestler if only for his mask which is an ear of corn with green leaves where the hair should be. This was a fun little opener with some classic Senior Assualt Team stuff, the old man took a bite out of one of his kernals at some point. Yeah, that sounds gross but it was nice wholesome fun. Sabian and Mano Metalico had a classic cat-and-mouse type match that was given some great time to develop. Really liked the formula of mixing up the multiman matches with experienced guys and newer dudes, that match was real fun and a bit less chaotic than most of their 8-mans. This one was Jigsaw, Jolly Roger, Shane Storm and Mr Zero vs. Rohrshack, Sweeney, Crossbones and some guy who looked like Abysmo Negro. Jolly Roger could be the most improved wrestler of 2004 and looked real good here, as did Rohrshach and Jigsaw. Larry Sweeney has a fun gimmick and a great presence, didn't see too much of him in the ring though. But at least the technicos finally win a match!! If you've ever wanted to check out Chikara but slept on it, this is the tape to pick up. Hero/Kingston a total must-see and this is one of those not-a-FF-match-on-the-tape type things. If you're not watching Chikara you're definitely missing out."

Yeah, that should be a GREAT week for indy wrestling. Actually, September as a whole will be completely amazing, with IWA-MS, ROH, CZW, PWG, and so many others having big shows.

I've learned that women I don't like are "jezebels". I've learned that if I don't like my boss, I should just challenge him to a steel cage match for control of the company. I've learned that a title belt is the MOST DEVASTATING WEAPON _EVER_~!~!~!

Dammit, meant for this to be in General Wrestling. Can someone move it for me? Thanks.

They can be from the WWE, the indy scene, Japan, Mexico, whatever. Who are your five current favorites?

That is fine. But thats not what JoeDirt said. How is it different? Noble is pissed, so he beats down Kidman in revenge. He believes he's in the right, which is when heelish behavior is the best. Kidman believes he's in the right, since it was just an accident. It's not a worked shoot...it's just taking advantage of a real situation and making it into a story, which has been done a gazillion times before.

Why can't the WWE sign anyone that can actually DO different moves? Why does everyone have to be Joe Vanilla McBlandsville?

Isn't there something like Smart Mark UK or something like that?

The official announcement: (I might as well hand over my September paychecks to Ian Rotten) Fans in the Louisville area who have been wondering how much longer they'll have to wait for the return of live IWA action to the region... the wait is over! IWA Mid-South Wrestling returns to the National Guard Armory (2909 Grant Line Road) in New Albany, IN (just minutes outside of Louisville) on Thursday night, September 16th. Bell time is 7:30pm. All seats $15. We're returning to the area in the fashion we came in back during 1996, with a Thursday night event, in what will now make the Ted Petty Invitational week a QUADRUPLE SHOT of live events: Wednesday 9/15 in Evansville, Thursday 9/16 in New Albany, and Friday & Saturday 9/17 & 9/18 in Highland. This will be IWA's first show this close to Louisville since August 2003. Already confirmed for 9/16 in New Albany: "The Phenomenal" AJ STYLES, CHRIS HERO, BJ WHITMER, and DANNY DANIELS. More stars of IWA Mid-South who will be in the area for the other TPI week events who will appear in New Albany will be announced during the coming days, in addition to matchups for the event. Mark your calendars! Add New Albany to your TPI road trip plans, Thursday night, 9/16! Stay tuned to the IWA web site for further details on the TPI week events as they become available. Call the hotlines at 502-569-1701 in Louisville and 630-585-3958 in Chicago. www.iwamidsouthwrestling.com www.midwestwrestling.com

I remember Meltzer writing that Chuck Palumbo moved to RAW because he had heat with a lot of guys on Smackdown. Don't know who, though.

Great points. I like the Hero/Cannon storyline a lot, though it seems like the fans are going to force them to HAVE to turn Hero unless something changes. I love that I have no idea where exactly they're going with it, but I really think that Hero's going to go heel sometime soon, if only in Highland and nowhere else. It's hard to say...but the Hero/Cannon feud is so simple yet effective, I'm enjoying it a lot. I really wish IWA had several more slow-burning feuds and storylines taking place, as there's really only Hero/Cannon and Daniels' split from Fannin and company.

Thanks Tom, I really appreciate it. I should add here that the postmatch Hero/Cannon/Dragon stuff is well done. Hero refuses to shake Dragon's hand. Arik Cannon comes out and interrupts and does the whole "I beat Dragon and you couldn't, Hero!" Dragon punks out Cannon by pretending he's going to smack him, and getting Cannon to flinch and back away. Dragon leaves it at that, and heads backstage. Cannon tells Hero that he's going to do one more thing tonight that Hero couldn't do in Highland, and that's beat Homicide in the middle of the ring. We get backstage interviews from Dragon and Hero. Hero talks about how he keeps telling himself he doesn't have a Highland curse, but...and walks off. Another interesting thing is that the Highland fans are really turning on Hero. Cannon got a pretty good response when he ran down Hero after the match.

CHRIS HERO vs. "AMERICAN DRAGON" BRYAN DANIELSON (IWA-Mid South, 8/21/04): With all the hype this match got ahead of time, I thought I'd do a review of it here, since it's going to take me a while to get through the entire 8/21 IWA-MS show, which is over 4 hours long, with eleven matches. I should note that the show starts with a cool segment where lots of IWA wrestlers predict who will win the match. Arik Cannon is great as a heel here, and predicts Dragon will make Hero "tap like a bitch at the 23 minute mark". Punk is even better, saying Dragon will win because "he has more international experience, he's more seasoned, and oh yeah...he actually goes to the gym once in a while. Try lifting some time Chris, it might help you." He winks and walks off screen. Each man is introduced, and Danielson gets a standing ovation. Hero gets a mixed reaction. They shake hands and we're underway. They tie up and Danielson takes Hero down and goes to work. They fight over some arm bars/holds. Dragon does a great bridging reversal and they break. They go to a knucklelock, and Hero runs through some usual stuff and goes to a cravat. The fans try the whole dueling chant thing again, but any attempts at that now just seem like trying to ripoff the Joe vs. Hero match. We get another clean break, and then another tie up. Danielson and Hero each do some reverals out of the knucklelock. Danielson tries a back slide and slowly takes Hero down and into a waistlock, and then back around, shoving Hero's shoulders to the mat for 2. Hero grabs Danielson's hand, so Amdrag just slaps it free. They are all twisted up like a pretzel on the mat and do this cool double hand stand double submission thing that is kind of hard to explain, and then get a break. They tie up again, and Hero snapmares Dragon and goes to a chinlock and then a surfboard. Dragon fights out, but Hero keeps a hold of his left arm. Dragon rolls over and reverses into a hammerlock on Hero. Hero lifts Dragon off the mat, but Dragon rolls over with a sunset flip-type pin for 2. They circle each other, and Dragon teases Hero with a few jabs, and Hero responds with a big kick attempt. They tie up again and Hero gets a waistlock while Dragon hooks his left arm, and they fight for position. Hero slams Dragon, who holds onto his arm and rolls through into an arm bar. Hero gets back to his feet and shoves Dragon to the ropes, and hits a dropkick. Hero hits a floatover snap suplex for 2, and then goes back to an arm bar. Dragon gets the ropes and a break, but then hooks Hero by the arm and wrings it. He gets a monkey flip, but Hero lands on his feet and takes Danielson down with his legs. Hero offers a handshake, so Danielson slaps him and hits some headbutts to a big pop from the crowd. He hits a big European uppercut and then some more. The match picks up in intensity as Dragon brings some stiff shots. Dragon keeps focusing on Hero's left arm, and they trade strikes before Dragon takes Hero down and snaps Hero's left arm around. Hero tries to fight back with strikes, but Dragon hooks his arm and takes him to the mat and into a mounted arm bar. Hero does anything to roll free, but Dragon keeps holding on. Dragon picks Hero up and hits a slingshot suplex to big cheers; Dragon has plenty of fans in Highland on this night. Dragon goes to a surfboard, which Hero escapes, but Dragon keeps him down with a dropkick and continues to work Hero over, even briefly applying a camel clutch while Hero is in the ropes. Dragon goes back to a surfboard, stepping on the back of Hero's legs to take him to the mat. Hero fights back up, and Dragon takes him right back down. Hero fights back up again and tries to spin out, but Dragon goes right back to it. Finally Hero kicks himself free and misses a strike, but catches Danielson coming off the ropes with a powerslam. Hero now realizes he needs to hit Danielson and hit him hard, and he brings the forearms and his twisting neckbreaker from off the ropes. He scoops Danielson up and slams him down, and then hits a senton. Hero tries a suplex, and has to switch sides before he can lift Danielson up, due to his shoulder. He gets a 2 count. Hero tries a powerbomb, but Dragon flips out and hits a roaring elbow to knock Hero down. Dragon does his airplane spin into a rolling slam on Hero, but then misses his headbutt off the top rope. They get back up and trade forearms. Danielson gets a rolling bridge for 2. Hero quickly rolls Danielson up for 2. Hero hits some forearms, and then makes a small mistake by hitting a forearm with his left arm, only to not sell it as hurting at all after the work Dragon did to it. He then powerbombs Dragon and goes to the Hangman's Clutch. Dragon fights to the ropes in a good sequence. Hero tries to Hero's Welcome, but Dragon is able to counter. Hero blocks the Cattle Mutilation and hits a backdrop driver on Dragon. Hero heads up top, but Dragon catches him and hits an armbreaker off the top rope right into the cattle mutilation for the finish at 23:00, just like Arik Cannon predicted. THOUGHTS: This was an interesting match. The work was just beautiful, and everything was smooth and well done. The first 18 minutes are well worked and a great build, but a build for a LONGER match. My problem with the match is that the last 5 minutes seemed slightly rushed. After a slow, back and forth 18 minute opening, the match really should have gone at least 10 minutes longer than it did, at least in my opinion. It was like a match with a good start and a good finish, but no real middle to it. Maybe that was just me...I'd love to hear other's thoughts on it. In all honesty, though, these guys had to live up to SO much for this match, so people giving it ***1/2 say it was a disappointment. I really don't think so. This was a beautifully worked match, and set the stage for a rematch down the road, a match in which each man has PLENTY left in the bag. Think about it: Hero didn't use the Hero's Welcome, Dragon didn't use his backdrop superplex, etc. I would LOVE to see a 45-60 minute match between these two sometime in the future. Bryan Danielson is simply one of the best workers in the world. He's so damn fun to watch, and everything he does is realistic and hard hitting. I read Tim Cooke's review of the match on the DVD boards and agree that Hero needs to vary up his arm work a bit. But really, Hero didn't have much of a chance to do that in this match, as Dragon really controlled the large majority of it. If you think about it, the underlying story of the match is interesting: Dragon dominates the match, outwrestling Hero, and causing Chris to rely on strikes to get himself back into the match, but with Dragon catching him when he tries for a big move and hooking the Cattle Mutilation for the submission. I liked this match a lot, just as I did in Dragon's match with Arik Cannon, which I gave ****. I have to put this match just slightly under that match at ***3/4, with hopes that Hero and Dragon get a 2/3 falls rematch or an Ironman match sometime down the road. I suggest you get the 8/21 IWA-MS show, sit back, relax, and enjoy this match, along with a lot of other great stuff on this tape. Hopefully I can get a full review of the show out sometime soon. Thoughts, comments, opinions, etc...they're all welcome!

I just think it would work because it's simple, makes sense, and would get people to take a tag team title feud at least SOMEWHAT seriously for the first time in how long? But instead we'll either get nothing, or like was said earlier, Paul London spraypainting "REDNECKS SUK" on a car.

I was doing some searching and found this thread, and thought it was worth bringing back for a bit. And as far as the Dreamer winning the title thing, I remember seeing clips on the TNN show, with Dreamer saying "I may not ever make it to Wrestlemania, and I'll sure as hell never be at Starcade, but I can finally say I was ECW world heavyweight champion!" Then Credible attacks, and Dreamer is all "RING THE FUCKING BELL!" and promptly loses the strap.

Except for the fact that it's a singles match and the actual xXx/AMW tag match doesnt happen till weds. No, read the spoilers...Wednesday is Naturals vs. XXX vs. AMW.

I'm looking to buy some ECW stuff from this time period. I can't promise I'll buy from you, but I'll entertain any good offers, depending on what shows you have, of course. PM me here or write me at [email protected] if you're interested.

How is it like Russo? I see no viagara on poles, no Judy Bagwell, no one turning on their tag team partner, no blood falling from the ceiling...

Rebuttal: This match is 9/8, and I don't think TNA's make or break day is 9/8. I want to see how they do on monthly PPV's first. But I agree with you...TNA is nearing it's last stand. Statement: TNA officials are right when they say that having squash matches on Impact is the best way to get talent over. (I'm sure I'll get a response here!)

Me too. And come on, it's not like this is booking genius here. It's just simple wrestling booking...maybe that's lost on the Smackdown writers.

I'd use this real situation to make an angle. Next week, Jamie Noble confronts Kidman. Kidman says it was just an accident, he was just trying to win the match. Noble accuses him of trying to take out Chavo, knowing that since they lost non-title to Chavo and Noble, they were about to lose their title. He challenges Kidman to a match, and since Chavo is hurt, he wants London banned from ringside. Kidman agrees. The match comes, and goes a few minutes. With Kidman down, Noble takes his tag title belt and DRILLS Kidman with it. He just beats the HELL out of Kidman, busting him open, yelling "how do YOU like it, you son of a bitch!" Maybe he beats him down so badly that Kidman has to be stretchered out. This sets off a big blood feud between the two teams, and when Chavo returns (hopefully by No Mercy), they're ready to have their big tag team title match. Any chance of this ever happening? Okay, so maybe not...but it'd be cool, right?

Cowardly heel champion hasn't been done for a while Because the last two times they tried it (consecuative years) it failed. Relying on a tactic because it worked 20 years ago (even though it failed two years ago) is bad business EXACTLY. Like JBL as champ or not, if they're gonna go with it, they need to make him credible, or else this whole title reign is worthless.

Cowardly heel champion hasn't been done for a while so it has the potential to see tickets. lord knows it sold them like hotcakes in Memphis SINCE THE DAWN OF TIME. But this isn't Memphis anymore, and this isn't the Honkey Tonk Man's IC title reign. I just see it working better nowadays if the heel champion is actually SOMEWHAT credible.

I hate Bradshaw in his neck brace thingy, looking like a buffoon. I HATE having the "cowardly heel champion" thing, especially when it's your main champion. It doesn't do ANY good. It didn't do any good for Angle during his first title reign...he only got over as a badass later when he started breaking Angle's, and therefore got over as a serious threat. It didn't do any good for Jericho in his heel run. If you're going to book JBL as champion, at least book him STRONG. That way, down the road, people might actually want to PAY to see him lose his title. I just think having the cowardly bumbling heel as the MAIN champion of your company just doesn't work.

The Rock: "Chris Jericho, you come to the WWF and you think you're a big star...why? Because you spent your time down south beating some jabronie named JUVENTUD?"