wrestling / Video Reviews
Best of The Month – February 2016 Part Two
Loading...Best of February 2016 – Part Two
Last Luchador Standing- Fenix vs. King Cuerno from Lucha Underground 2-10
They trade blows and Fenix hits a handspring back elbow. Fenix puts Cuerno on the top rope and hits an enzuigiri. Frankensteiner by Fenix and Cuerno comes back with an uppercut. Single leg drop kick by Cuerno and Fenix backdrops Cuerno to the floor. Tope Con Hilo misses and Fenix crashes onto the floor!!! Cuerno sends Fenix into the post and he tosses Fenix all over the Temple. Fenix is up at 7. Clothesline on the floor by Cuerno and Fenix is up at 6. Back in, Fenix catches Cuerno with a super kick and he catches him with a missile dropkick. Basement dropkick by Fenix and he hits a springboard twisting plancha to the floor. Springboard corkscrew plancha to the floor by Fenix!!!! Back in, Fenix slams Cuerno and he goes up. Cuerno catches Fenix with an enzuigir, sending Fenix crashing down to the floor. Suicide dive to the floor by Cuerno!!! Cuerno charges at Fenix and drills him in the head with a ladder!!!! Cuerno sets up a table but Fenix catches him with a super kick. Fenix climbs the ladder but Cuerno follows up. Fenix hangs on to the top of the Temple and he kicks the ladder over, sending Cuerno crashing through the table!!!! Cuerno is unable to answer the 10 count!!!
Winner- Fenix ***1/2 ( Pretty much the same style of match they had last month but this time with weapons involved. The highflying and athleticism shown by Fenix was amazing and they had a great brawl where you really felt the hatred between the two. The finish was contrived and I wanted this to go a little longer but I’ve been impressed with the feud so far and I figure the blow off is going to be spectacular. )
IWGP Intercontinental Championship- Kenny Omega w/Cody Hall vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi from New Beginnings in Niigata
Feeling out process and Tanahashi is able to overpower Omega. Yujiro and Hall grab Tanahashi but Omega refuses to attack. He tells them to leave because he wants to do this on his own, not to mention the smart marks will knocks stars off this match if they interfered. They oblige and head to the back. Tanahashi escapes the One Winged Angel and he catches Omega with a back drop. He does the shaking stomp in the corner in tribute to Nakamura and he misses Nakamura’s corner knee lift. Omega snaps Tanahashi’s bad shoulder off the ropes and he goes to dump Tanahashi but he skins the cat. Omega catches him and hits a shoulder breaker, forcing Tanahashi to bail. Omega works over the shoulder on the floor and he goes to suplex Tanahashi into the front row but Tanahashi blocks. He snaps Tanahashi’s shoulder off the railings and he suplexes Tanahashi into some chairs in the front row!!! Springboard moonsault press off the railings by Omega and Tanahashi is able to make it back into the ring before the 20 count. Crowbar by Omega but Tanahashi quickly goes to the ropes to break. Omega bends his body back to extend the arm of Tanahashi and he throws some shots to the shoulder of Tanahashi. Key lock by Omega but Tanahashi fights out. Omega grabs a sleeper but Tanahashi drives himself down to the mat in order to break the hold. Flying forearm by Tanahashi and he goes up. Omega stops him and Tanahashi catches Omega with a dragon screw leg sweep. Leap frog bulldog by Omega and he goes back to the Crowbar. Tanahashi makes the ropes to break. Finlay roll by Omega and he goes up. Second rope moonsault by Omega gets 2. Tanahashi backdrops Omega to the floor and he goes up. Cross body to the floor by Tanahashi!!! Dragon screw leg sweep in the ropes by Tanahashi and he counters an enzuigiri into a second one!!! Rear dragon screw by Tanahashi and he grabs the Texas Cloverleaf. Cody Hall comes back out to distract the ref and the Young Bucks appear from under the ring!!! They double super kick Tanahashi and lay him out with the Indytaker!!! STYLES CLASH BY OMEGA GETS 2!!!! Release Dragon suplex by Tanahashi and both men are down. Omega fires away on Tanahashi but Tanahashi returns fire. Reverse hurricanrana by Omega and Tanahashi counters One Winged Angel into a reverse hurricanrana of his own!!! Straight Jacket German suplex by Tanahashi gets 2!!! Tanahashi goes up but Nick Jackson shoves him off the top. Omega tosses a trash can but misses Tanahashi and hits the ref!!! The Bucks double team Tanahashi and they put his arm in the trash can. Omega goes up but Michael Elgin comes out and cleans house of the Bucks!!! Tanahashi tosses Omega off the top and onto the trash can!!! Swinging neck breaker by Tanahashi and he hits Sling Blade for 2!!! Tanahashi goes up and hits a cross body off the top. Tanahashi goes back up and misses High Fly Flow!!!! Bicycle knee strike by Omega and he hits a second one for 2!!! Another bicycle knee strike by Omega and he hits One Winged Angel for 3!!!!
Winner and NEW IWGP Intercontinental Champion- Kenny Omega ****1/4 ( This was an incredible superstar making performance from Kenny Omega. He looked like Tanahashi’s equal throughout the match and I loved that he used Styles’ and Nakamura’s finishers before winning with his own to exemplify that he was the man now. The overbooking worked in the context of the story and as a total package this pretty much cemented Kenny Omega as a main event for the promotion, so it was an all around huge success. )
WWE Intercontinental Championship- Dean Ambrose © vs. Kevin Owens vs. Stardust vs. Tyler Breeze vs. Dolph Ziggler from Raw 2-15
Everyone brawls to start and Stardust and Breeze choke Ambrose in the ropes as Owens and Ziggler fight on the floor. Ambrose fights back and he catches Stardust with a back elbow. Ambrose goes up and hits a missle dropkick. Owens clotheslines Ambrose and he sends Ambrose sternum first into the corner. Ambrose fights back but Owens pulls him into the corner to regain control. Ambrose low bridges Owens, sending him crashing to the floor. Dropkick by Ziggler gets 2. Avalanche into a swinging neck breaker by Ziggler and he hits an elbow drop for 2. Ambrose clotheslines Ziggler to the floor and Stardust catches him with the Side Effect. Enzuigiri by Breeze knocks Stardust to the floor and Owens catches him with a clothesline. Owens POWERBOMBS BREEZE ONTO ZIGGLER AND STARDUST ON THE FLOOR!!!! Ambrose counters the pop up power bomb with a hurricanrana and he hits a suicide dive to the floor!!! Swinging neck breaker by Ambrose and he goes up. Standing flying elbow by Ambrose gets 2 as we go to break.
Back and Ambrose hits the corner forearm into a bulldog. Ambrose goes up but Stardust follows up. Ambrose fights him off but now Breeze follows up. Ambrose fights him off but Ziggler runs up and brings him off the top with a faceplant. Stardust hits the Disaster Kick on Breeze but he misses it on Owens. Super kick by Owens gets 2. Owens hits cannon balls on everyone but Breeze who catches him with a super kick. Beauty Shot by Breeze gets 2 as everyone breaks!!!! Ambrose back drops Breeze to the floor and Ambrose hits the Jawbreaker Lariat on Stardust. Zig Zag by Ziggler as Ambrose simultaneously hits Dirty Deeds on Stardust!!! Breeze dumps Ziggler and Owens catches him with the Pop Up Powerbomb for 3!!!
Winner and NEW WWE Intercontinental Champion- Kevin Owens ***1/2 ( This was one of the more fun Raw matches in some time, as this was all action that never slowed up. Everyone in the match had a moment to shine and they used the multi-man aspect of the match to do some really cool stuff. A fun chaos match and Kevin Owens was the right choice to hold the belt with Ambrose moving on to bigger things. )
ROH TV Championship- Roderick Strong © vs. Tomohiro Ishii from NJPW Honor Rising Night One
Strong stalls to start and back in, Strong throws some forearms but Ishii comes back with his own. Ishii overpowers Strong and he throws some chops. Suplex by Ishii and Strong bails again. Strong pulls Ishii off the apron and then dumps him back first onto the ring apron. Back suplex onto the railings by Strong and he stomps away on Ishii back in. Face wash by Strong gets 2. He grabs a chin lock but Ishii starts to fight out so Strong throws a boot. Strong rakes the face of Ishii and they begin to trade chops. Rear abdominal stretch by Strong but Ishii breaks with a hip toss. Olympic Slam by Strong gets 2. Chops by Strong and Ishii catches him with a power slam. Ishii throws forearms and chops in the corner and he overpowers Strong again. Saito suplex by Ishii gets 2. Ishii goes for a pile driver but Strong back drops out. Enzuigiri by Strong and he hits a release gord buster. Corner knee strike by Strong and he hits a release back suplex for 2. Ishii blocks the Stronghold and they fight for a suplex on the apron. STRONG CATCHES HIM WITH A BACK SUPLEX OFF THE APRON TO THE FLOOR!!!! Back in, Strong covers for 2. Chops by Strong but this fires Ishii up. Hard forearm by Ishii and he hits a corner lariat. Delayed superplex by Ishii gets 2!!! Powerbomb by Ishii gets 2. Rolling elbow by Strong and he catches Ishii with a knee strike, knocking both men down. Strong puts Ishii on top and follows up. Superplex by Strong and he hits the gut buster. Sick Kick by Strong gets 2!!! Strong throws a knee strike to block a lariat but Ishii is able to connect on the second try. Another lariat by Ishii gets 2. Sldiing D misses and Strong throws some knee strikes. Ishii DRILLS Strong with a head butt and he hits the Sliding D for 2!!! Brainbuster by Ishii gets 3!!!
Winner and NEW ROH TV Champion- Tomohiro Ishii **** ( Great main event as you knew these two would be natural opponents for each other. They worked a slower pace early on but once Strong hit that sick suplex to the floor, Ishii went into kill mode, just taking Strong’s best stuff and destroying him by the end. I loved the surprise title change and hopefully Ishii will be making some more ROH appearances as the champ. )
#1 Contender Match- Samoa Joe vs. Sami Zayn from NXT 2-17
Feeling out process to start and Joe throws an elbow to send a message. Zayn low bridges Joe, sending him crashing to the floor as we go to break.
Back and Joe throws some kicks at Zayn. Joe fires away in the corner and Zayn catches him with an arm drag. Urinage by Joe and he throws some forearms. Zayn fires back but Joe sweeps the legs to cut him off. Snap suplex by Joe gets 1. Uppercut by Joe and he throws a hard chop. Zayn catches Joe with a clothesline and he cleans house. Blue Thunder Bomb by Zayn gets 2. Inverted atomic drop by Joe and he hits a big boot into a back senton for 2. Joe throws some jabs and slaps but Zayn comes back with the flatliner. Snap power slam by Joe gets 2. Jabs by Joe and Zayn fires back with forearms. Back elbow into an enzuigiri by Joe. Zayn catches him with the exploder suplex and he goes for the Helluva Kick but Joe catches him in the Conquina Clutch. Zayn backs him into the corner to break. Joe puts Zayn on top and goes for the Muscle Buster but Zayn escapes. Helluva Kick by Zayn and he falls on top of Joe for 3. BUT WAIT!!! Zayn’s shoulders were on the mat as well, so it looks like this is a no decision!!!
Match ends in a Draw *** (I was really disappointed by this. I was expecting something with a little more drama and flair but instead we got a technically proficient match that lacked the drama and importance of a #1 contender’s match. It basically served to set up the rematch coming up but for a match between these two, I feel underwhelmed. )
Open the Dream Gate Championship- Shingo Takagi © vs. Jimmy Susumu from Dragon Gate: Open the Truth Gate 2-14
Shingo overpowers Susumu to start and they trade chops. Susumu catches Shingo with a suplex and he knocks Shingo off the apron with a lariat. Summersault plancha to the floor by Susumu!!! He catches Shingo with a DDT on the floor and back in, he works over the neck of Shingo. Swinging neck breaker by Susumu gets 1. Susumu grabs a chin lock but Shingo goes to the ropes to break. They trade lariats and Shingo begins to go after the arm that Susumu uses for the Jumbo No Kachi. Shingo nails Susumu’s arm with a chair, driving it into the post. They battle on the apron and Shingo snaps Susumu’s arm off the ropes before hitting the DVD on the apron!!! Back in, Shingo’s continues to work the arm and he hits a slingshot stomp. Susumu tries to fight back with chops but Shingo knocks him down and hits a knee drop. Rolling short arm clotheslines by Shingo and he goes up. Susumu quickly follows up and he knocks Shingo off the top with a lariat. Susumu fires away and he hits an exploder suplex into the corner. Exploder suplex by Susumu but Shingo answers right back with a Saito suplex. Release German suplex by Susumu but Shingo comes back with a T-Bone suplex. They catch each other with lariats and both men are down. Susumu backdrops Shingo and Shingo returns the favor. Susumu and Shingo go up and Susumu catches him with an exploder superplex. Lariat by Susumu and they head back up. Another exploder superplex by Susumu and Shingo sends a charging Susumu into the ref. Verserk come in and all charge at Susumu in the corner but Shingo catches him with the Pumping Bomber. Buckle Bomb by Shingo and he takes Susumu on top. Stay Dream by Shingo gets 2!!! He toys with Susumu and throw some forearms but Susumu fires back with his own. Rapid lariats by Susumu but Doi trips him up. He nails Susumu with a box and Shingo cradles him for 2. Shingo wins a forearm battle and he catches Susumu with a DVD. Susumu comes back with Jumbo No Kachi. Saito suplex by Shingo but Susumu answers back with another Jumbo No Kachi for 2!!! YAMATO trips up Susumu and he goes to throw powder but he misses and gets Shingo!!! Two Jumbo No Kachis by Susumu gets 2!!!! Double under hook driver by Susumu and he hits a basement Jumbo No Kachi for 2!!! Shingo fights back and goes after the bad arm again. Made in Japan by Shingo gets 2!!! Lariat by Shingo and he goes for another Made in Japan but Susumu counters with a wheelbarrow roll-up for 2. DVD by Shingo and he hits the Pumping Bomber for 2. They trade blows and Susumu catches him with the Jumbo No Kachi and covers Shingo on impact for 3!!!!!
Winner and NEW Open the Dream Gate Champion- Jimmy Susumu **** ( No company in wrestling does final stretches better than Dragon Gate, as this quiet, small crowd was going bananas for every near fall in the final few minutes. All that arm work early on was negated with Susumu throwing a billion lariats later in the match but otherwise this was a hell of match featuring Shingo playing the dick heel to perfection and the finish was brilliant, as Susumu being able to cover Shingo as he hit the Jumbo No Kachi exemplifies how big of an upset this victory was. )
Katsuhiko Nakajima vs. Minoru Suzuki from Pro Wrestling NOAH The Second Navigation 2-24
Feeling out process and we reach a stalemate. Big boot by Nakajima and Suzuki bails. Nakajima follows out and he sends Suzuki into the railings. Back in, Suzuki grabs the cross arm breaker in the ropes and he hits the PK Kick from the apron. They brawl in the crowd and Suzuki wraps Nakamjima’s arm in the barricade. Back in, Suzuki throws some kicks to the chest and Nakajima throws a big boot. They go up and Suzuki grabs a hanging cross arm breaker!!! Nakajima fires back with forearms but Suzuki breaks it up with one of his own. Suzuki throws some boots and Nakajima catches him with a dragon screw leg sweep. Yakuza kick by Nakajima and he hits a kick to the chest. Nakajima goes up and hits a missile dropkick on Suzuki for 2. Suzuki throws a head butt and he throws some slaps at Nakajima. Yakuza kick by Suzuki and he hits the PK Kick for 2. Suzuki throws some knees and Nakajima catches him with a drop toe hold into the corner. Knee lift by Nakajima and he hits a Saito suplex. Kicks to the chest by Nakajima and he hits a basement super kick. PK Kick by Nakajima and Suzuki catches him in the Fujiwara arm bar to come back!!! He converts it into the cross arm breaker but Nakajima gets his foot on the ropes to break. Suzuki throws some shorts to the arm but they hold him back as officials check on Nakajima’s injured arm. Nakajima throws some forearms with the bad arm which is clearly hurting him. Suzuki throws more shots to the arm and he grabs the sleeper. Suzuki releases the hold and goes for the Gotch piledriver but Nakajima backdrops out. Dropkick by Nakajima and he hits a super kick. A second one by Nakajima and he catches Suzuki with the Pele. Another dropkick by Nakajima gets 2. PK Kick by Nakajima and he hits the Brainbuster for 3.
Winner- Katsuhiko Nakajima ***1/2 ( I’m sure more people are going to like this more than I did but I didn’t like the way they followed up on the injured arm stuff. Nakajima trying to throw forearms with a significantly damaged arm is stupid and Suzuki, a master in psychology, didn’t even attempt another cross arm breaker or arm submission which in the story of the match was asinine and killed the final stretch for me. The match itself was really good, featuring the usual fun grumpy Suzuki stuff but you would think there were have been more energy involved with the Nakajima resiliency story, so the presentation as a whole was pretty disappointing despite the good ring work. )
NEVER Openweight Six Man Tag Team Championship- The Elite (Kenny Omega, Matt Jackson, and Nick Jackson) © vs. ACH, Matt Sydal, and KUSHIDA from ROH 14th Anniversary Show 2-27
KUSHIDA and Nick start. Feeling out process and we reach a stalemate. Tag to Matt and ACH. Dropkick by ACH and he cleans house on the Elite. Thesz press on Omega and he hammers away into the Austin elbow. Tag to Omega and Sydal. Kicks to the leg by Sydal and he hits a hurricanrana. Double hurricanrana to the Bucks and Nick DROPKICKS SYDAL OFF THE APRON INTO A GERMAN SUPLEX ON THE RAMP BY OMEGA!!!!! Suicide dives by the Bucks to the floor!!! Summersault plancha to the floor by Omega. Back in, Omega hits a back breaker and the Bucks hit the swinging neckbreaker/back breaker combo on Sydal for 2. The Elite work over Sydal but Sydal fires back with some kicks. Matt cuts him off with a back elbow but Sydal comes back with a springboard enzuigiri. Tag to KUSHIDA and he cleans house. Handspring back elbow to Nick and he looks to dive but Matt trips him up. Omega charges but hits Matt by mistake and gets caught with an enzuigiri from KUSHIDA. Back breaker by KUSHIDA and he goes up. Summersault senton to the floor onto the Bucks!!! Inverted atomic drop into a dropkick to the knee by KUSHIDA and he finishes it off with a basement dropkick. Moonsault by KUSHIDA gets 2. He goes for the Triangle Choke but Omega powers into the buckle bomb/stereo enzuigiri combo. Gut wrench power bomb by Omega gets 2. Rolling elbow by KUSHIDA and he catches Omega with a Pele. Tag to ACH and he knocks Omega and Nick off the apron. Tornado Flatliner to Matt and ACH goes up. Double stomp misses and he catches Matt with the Stunner for 2 as Nick saves!!! Slingshot X-Factor by Nick and Sydal fights back again the Bucks. KUSHIDA knocks them off the apron with capo kicks and ACH hits the springboard summersault plancha to the floor!!! Back in, ACH goes up and hits a double stomp to the back of Matt for 2. Tag to Sydal and Nick catches him with a superkick. Straight rights by KUSHIDA and the Elite come back with a triple super kick. SUPERKICK PARTY~!!!! The Elite charge at Sydal in the corner and the Bucks hit the guillotine Swanton Bomb. Release Dragon suplex by Omega and the Elite hit a triple super kick for 2!!! Rolling fireman’s carry by Omega and he goes for a Lionsault but eats knees. Sydal and matt go up and Sydal catches him with the Spanish Fly. Standing moonsault/450 splash combo by ACH and KUSHIDA gets 2 as the Elite save!!! Sydal goes up but Nick catches him with a super kick to bring him down. Meltzer Driver to Sydal and Omega follows up with One Winged Angel for 3!!!
Winners and Still NEVER Openweight Six Man Tag Team Champions- The Elite **** ( Kenny Omega continues to do a tremendous job filling the shoes of AJ Styles as he came off as a mega star in his ROH appearance in years. He’s an even better fit as a partner for the Young Bucks in terms of working a similar style and having a matching personality and they are going have an incredible run as a unit this year. This was the usual wild six man tag matches where once they blew through the heat segment with Sydal and went right into dive and spot mode they got the crowd hooked the rest of the way.)
