Hey
Guess who was at both shows
Yeah that's right.
First things first, both shows are better than last year's UK shows, by a mile. They might not have the 1 or 2 outstanding matches of Unified, but they were better all-around shows by FAR.
I shall now attempt a briefish recap.
Night 1
Homicide vs Davey Richards
Decent, but not great. They had some miscommunication early on, but got it together as they went on. Homicide was waaaaaaaaaay over, and Davey got some good heat. Homicide via cop killer for the win.
Allison Danger vs Sara Del Ray
Ok, but nothing special. Unfortunately as always there are a few assholes when it comes to women's wrestling. Sara is great, and ridiculously hot in person, Allison is kinda hesitant a lot of times and very skinny. Seriously, if you've ever seen Del Ray on a SHIMMER DVD or whatever, she looks like a giant, but in reality she is perfectly proportioned. Sara wins via butterfly suplex.
Colt Cabana & BJ Whitmer vs Jimmy Rave & Jimmy Jacobs
Decent. Cabana is always way over in the UK, BJ was prett popular, Jacobs had his fair share of fans, and I don't know of anyone who doesn't hate Jimmy Rave. Couple nice spots, Jacobs wins (somewhat surprisingly) by pinning Whitmer after a Contra Code.
Matt Sydal vs Delirious - 2/3 Falls
Very good. Sydal's gradual heel turn is in full effect now, as he cheated for both his falls. He can be a great smug cocky heel if he keeps progressing. Delirious got a pop of Homicide-like proportions and was over for pretty much anything he did/said. Some nice one-liners as you'd expect. Sydal wins the first fall after distracting Sinclair and hitting a low blow before small packaging Delirious. 2nd fall has Sydal tap out to the Cobra Stretch. Final fall, Delirious was going for a move off the top, however Sydal bumped Sinclair into the ropes causing Delirious to slip, before Sydal hit the moonsault belly-to-belly (Flux Capacitor?) for the win.
Roderick Strong vs Pac - FIP title
Pac can fly really, really well. Unfortunately he might as well be a robot, as he has next to no personality. Strong had his fair share of fans but got some boos as well, so I think the turn is taking. Strong wins after Pac missed what looked like a reverse Phoenix Splash, big boot -> Gibson driver.
Briscoes vs Doi & Shingo - ROH Tag Team titles
You know how the Briscoes have been really awesome the last year? Yeah. The DG guys brought it all the way too, and this was easily match of the weekend for me. Shingo in particular was great, and by the end the crowd was coming somewhere close to a 50/50 split between who to support. I don't remember the finish, I *think* Shingo pinned Mark.
Samoa Joe vs Nigel McGuinness
Good, good stuff. Unfortunately there were a bunch of drunken pricks around where I was sitting who decided to just chant the most random bullshit and almost ruined the match, ended up having to move away but it worked out as got a better seat for the end. Joe hit Nigel with a muscle buster onto the apron, and they did an injury angle as Nigel was being helped out. Joe repeatedly asked for a handshake before calling Nigel a pussy, which prompted him to return to the ring and slap Joe square in the face, after which he *almost* pulled off the Superman comeback, before passing out in the choke.
Night 2
Colt Cabana vs Delirious
Fantastic comedy match. Far too many things to list here, but if you can find a clip of Big Daddy on youtube or something you will have a vague idea of what Cabana's schtick was here. Delirious wins with a rollup.
Sara Del Ray & Allison Danger vs Jetta & 'Jezebel' Eden Black
Challenge match after Jetta and Black called out the SHIMMER girls the night before. Kinda ties in as Black will be wrestling on the next SHIMMER taping, so it works. Better heat than the singles match the night before, Jetta and Black wrestled as total heels. At one point Black had Danger in a triangle choke (her finish) but Del Ray made the save. Sara picks up the win with the butterfly choke into suplex on Jetta (I think)
BJ Whitmer vs Jimmy Jacobs - Falls Count Anywhere
Match started before the women had even left the ring, as they brawled through the back of the crowd. Solid pro-BJ support with a smattering of Jacobs fans. At one point Jimmy hit a sweet balcony dive. Whitmer got spiked 3 or 4 times and had a total crimson mask, bled all over the ring. Jimmy started rolling around in the blood, maniac that he now is. Whitmer hit a brainbuster on the ramp for the win.
Matt Sydal vs Pac
Nice little high flying match. Pac blew a spot or two but nothing horrible. Sydal's subtle heel schtick is coming along nicely, before long I think he will be something pretty special. Sydal wins with the SSP
Jay Briscoe vs Mark Briscoe
If you've seen a Briscoes match in the last year, you can guess what this was like. If you don't like their stuff, you'll hate this. If you like it, this will be right up your street. Head drops, high flying, spots galore. Match ended in a draw after neither man could answer the referee's 10 count.
Roderick Strong & Davey Richards vs Shingo & Doi - ROH Tag Team titles
The DG guys were *over*. Strong and Richards had some nice heat but to be honest it was almost all for Davey - he's doing really well in playing off the crowd. Strong is basically the same guy he was before he turned and he needs to do something to change up a little, IMO. In both his matches he did tease the chops a few times before doing an eyepoke or little stuff like that, but whereas Sydal is gradually turning and that sort of thing works for him, Strong is already meant to be full-blown heel.
Anyway, rant aside this was very good again, not as good as the Briscoes - DG match but still very good. Again Shingo stole the show for me, the crowd were waaaaaaaaay behind him in particular. Doi pins Davey after a top rope fireman's carry into faceplant (yes I know there's a name for it
)
Nigel McGuinness vs Jimmy Rave - Fight Without Honor
I dunno if Jimmy is quite a main eventer yet, but he can take an asskicking. My God, did he take an asskicking. All I'm gonna say is, Tower of London onto a guardrail.
Nigel wins with the rebound lariat.
Samoa Joe vs Homicide
Julius Smokes is great. At one point Homicide wiped out 4-5 people in the front row with his tope con hilo because they weren't looking. Other than that, I'm not really gonna write much about this cause chances are if you're reading this, you'll want to see it for yourself. Good match, better than I expected (and I feared the worst)
So yeah, there you go. Great, great shows both. Liverpool (or at least, the area around the Olympia) is not the greatest, but it was worth the 5 hour coach ride and all the other crap, easily. Definite DVD purchases - seriously, I am the most jaded, cynical, thinks-he-knows-it-all bastards there is, and at LEAST 4 times over the weekend I was shocked/stunned/gobsmacked by what I saw.