The best of the best tournament is one of my favourite things that happens in wrestling every year (although we did not get one last year we get it early this year). Ever since I watched BOTB 2 on the Wrestling Channel I had to see more and I now own a great deal of them. So with this in mind I'm going to have a little look at the tournament and the other matches announced, will share my views and share who I think will win the matches and the tournament overall.
So first lets look at the 2 non-tournament matches announced.
Jun Kasai (c) vs. Danny Havoc-Dream Deathmatch for the UVU title
When CZW re-established a working relationship with Big Japan there were high hopes in terms of talent coming over and boy do we have it. Jun Kasai made huge impacts in CZW early on and now returns at Best of the Best. As a fan of deathmatch wrestling I cannot wait for this match, Danny Havoc is one of my personal favourites and Kasai is just insane. I don't know what type of match it will be but being in Philly they are restricted however this hasn't stopped classics from happening before. This is really a toss up as either man could win, it would be wise for Danny to win the title though as Kasai won the title in Japan by beating Yuko Miyamoto who won it 4 months before the title hasn't been back in CZW full time since late 2009 and it needs to be back. However Kasai retaining would mean he'd be coming back a lot more. Either way we win but since I have to pick one I'm going with Danny.
Winner: New UVU champion Danny Havoc
The Briscoe Brothers (c) & Devon Moore vs. Robert Anthony (c) & Philly's Most Wanted (Sabian & Joker)-6 man tag for CZW Tag & World title
For me this one is already decided, Anthony only won the title in February and won't lose it here so expect him and Philly's Most Wanted to win. Robert Anthony has a lot more he can do as a heel champion and while the Briscoes have been at every CZW show since returning we can only assume that there'll come a time where they'll do a ROH show instead. If you combine that with the fact there is no great depths in the tag division at the moment there's not a lot left for the Briscoes to do. But we can expect this to be a classic match up.
Winners: Still CZW Champ Robert Anthony and New CZW Tag champions Philly's Most Wanted
Now for the 4 opening rounds
Akuma vs. Jonathon Gresham vs. Zack Sabre Jr.-3 Way Elimination
Akuma is in the midst of a push where he hasn't lost yet in CZW so he could very well win this match, however he hasn't really gotten over as much as he should have. However you have two sleepers to deal with as well. While I like Gresham I feel like he hasn't connected with the crowd as well as he should have. And Zack Sabre is making his American debut, a big star in the UK and Germany he's one of the best in Europe. It's the old problem of putting over the international guy in the first round so you get your moneys worth. It wouldn't be a bad move, he could face Adam Cole in the next round in a rematch from CZW's Germany shows which was a fantastic match. So my finally view is that Sabre will win.
Winner: Zack Sabre Jr.
Adam Cole vs. Kyle O'Reily vs. Johnny Gargano-3 Way Elimination
Probably the highest profile match in the opening round. Cole is coming in as CZW Jr. Heavyweight champion and as one of the best heels in CZW, combine that with the fact it's been a real breakout year for him and he could easily win the whole thing. Ironically his ROH tag partner Kyle O'Reily is in this match, the two actually had the best opening match in Chikara's Young Lions Cup last year and could repeat it here if Gargano is the first to go. Speaking of which, Gargano is growing more and more in wrestling becoming a major part of Chikara, Dragon Gate USA and Evolve. A real mix of styles here with Gargano being unique and flashing, O'Reily being a hard hitter and Cole mixing strikes and speed. But since this is CZW's tournament you have to go with Cole here, since he's the champion and one of CZW's own.
Winner: Adam Cole.
Sami Callihan vs. A.R. Fox vs. Jake Crist-3 Way Elimination
Probably the easiest to pick a winner here. Sami Callihan has become a huge star in CZW and is super over. A.R. Fox did have a great year going from unknown to one of the companies biggest up and comers. And Jake Crist is apart of one of the best tag teams on the Indies with his brother as Irish Airborne. For the simple reason that he's usually a tag wrestler and is debuting in CZW Crist is not gonna win here, while he's great in the ring this is likely to be a one off appearance. And we can rule out Fox as well, while he may have become a fan favourite he cannot compete with Callihan. Sami has won the Jeff Peterson Memorial Cup and wXw's 16 Carat Gold tournament over the last few months and he's one of the favourites to win the whole thing.
Winner: Sami Callihan
Brandon Gatson vs. Chuck Taylor vs. Daisuke Sekimoto-3 Way Elimination
This is really a pick 'em match in my eyes. Gatson is making his CZW debut and I don't know how he'll go over with the Philly crowd (who can be dicks, let's be honest). Chuck is returning to CZW and has gone to the finals of BOTB before, he was even Jr. Heavyweight champion before. While Daisuke Sekimoto has wrestled in the US several times and in front of the Philly crowd. I expect to see some insane shows of strength from Sekimoto during this match and a little comedy from sexy Chucky T. When it comes to a winner anyone could win. I'll rule out Gatson as CZW may not want to put high hopes for someone who hasn't wrestled in that area before. While I like Chuck and the fact he has history with the company could help him move forward I'm afraid he'll fall victim to the get your money's worth theory I pointed out early. So I'm going with Daisuke
Winner: Daisuke Sekimoto
I don't know how the rest of the tournament will play out but in my view there can only be one winner and that's Sami Callihan. The guy has exploded over the last few months and is just a few wins away from becoming CZW World champion, I think winning the Best of the Best would give him that little extra push he needs. At the least he will be in the finals but I'm going with Sami as Best of the Best X winner.
I plan on doing a few more of these when the time is right. The next planned 'Special look' will be when Chikara announced all 8 opening rounds for this years King of Trios tournament. Until then it's business as usual with this blog. As always cheers for reading.
Saturday, 26 March 2011
Sunday, 20 March 2011
That's Shawn and that's Marty
I've had this blog idea in my mind the last few days and it's funny because just last night a perfect example occurred. When an established tag team breaks up the fans question which one will get the push, the most famous is that of the Rockers. When Shawn Michaels and Marty Jannetty broke up no one expected to see Shawn rise the the ranks and become the legend that he is today and no one expected Marty to end up disappearing. Ultimately fans remember Marty for being underrated and mis-used. So when tag teams now break up we ask ourselves who will go on to big things and who will not be so lucky. In this blog I'm going to look at tag teams that broke up and those who were meant to get a push ended up getting overshadowed, in a way, by their tag partner.
The perfect example of this happened last night at Ring of Honor's Manhattan Mayhem IV where Eddie Edwards won the World title. He had teamed with Davey Richards as the American Wolves and when they broke up and focused on singles careers Davey was the next pick to be World champion, so it was very surprising to see Edwards win the World title.
El Generico & Kevin Steen
When the team broke up at Final Battle 2009 many expected Kevin Steen to go on to big things. His heel character was amazing and his ring work was just as great. Now Generico is one of the best wrestlers going today as a commentator once said "I've never seen Generico have a bad match" but the one drawback to Generico is his promo skills, he can't cut a really good promo that makes sense which is his gimmick and why Steen worked so well with him. So image the surprise when Steen lost a match to Generico and left the company. Steen seemed like a natural pick to be a top heel in the company and could of been a great champion but now he doesn't have a chance. And while Generico may not be the next world champion in terms his promos his ring work suits it and if he doesn't get a run as World champion then he should surely have a run with the TV title.
BJ Whitmer & Jimmy Jacobs
Jimmy & BJ teamed in 2005 and we're the ROH tag team champions in an odd choice as the two were just thrown together. However they worked really well together. Now ROH seemed to use Whitmer nearly all the time before the team and many believed that when they broke up that Whitmer would go on to a big push, he was a big part of the CZW vs. ROH feud and seemed like he could get a chance in the main event however he would go on to do very little of substance and ultimately leave the company, whereas Jimmy would get a bit more of a chance. After the feud between the 2 ran it's course it ended with Jacobs being injured, he would return and become part of a faction called the Age of the Fall which was a big deal. Jimmy would then be part of the main event picture and would often end shows with the feuds he was in, and while he never got the world title he would of been a good choice. It's strange to note that Whitmer had every thing that was needed to be a top performer but it seemed that something just didn't click or he was extremely unlucky. Jacobs should of been a proper main eventer and had a run with the ROH world title but regardless of that he still got more of a push than BJ.
America's Most Wanted
Chris Harris and James Storm were the first break out team from TNA and became multiple time tag team champions. Now at one time during their tag run Storm was injured and Harris wrestled as a singles guy, during which time he got a push for the NWA World title. So when the team broke up we expected Harris to get a proper push for the World title. Harris would get to be in the King of the Mountain match for the title and a match with Christian Cage, who was an established main eventer. But after that Harris got an awful feud with 'Black Rain' and then disappeared from TV. During that time James Storm went from feud to feud and was always on the Pay Per Views in a match. He is now a part of the team Beer Money which has become one of the greatest tag teams going today. Harris would get signed by WWE and become a full blown joke in wrestling. Who would of imaged that James Storm would become the wrestler he is today and Chris Harris would end up disappearing.
John Morrison & The Miz
The team was thrown together as they had nothing for either of them. Morrison had had several runs with the Intercontinental title and the ECW title, so he was more of an established star then the Miz who was awful at the time. The two together were a great team and made each other better but that didn't chance the fact that when they split up Morrison would go on to get a big push and maybe even a World title run. So as we head into Wrestlemania where is Morrison, still trying to establish himself as an main eventer and coming up short and Miz we'll he's the WWE champion. The Miz would grow and grow as a performer getting better and better, he became one of the most hated guys in wrestling so to see him as WWE champion was a great thing. Now I won't go into how his title run has gone down but the fact is that he is the main guy on Raw right now and will likely remain there for a while. Hopefully Morrison can eventually break out into the main event spot as the company needs new faces in that spot and Morrison has been so close for so long now. It's safe to say that no one expected Miz to be the WWE champion before Morrison.
So there you have it. This was harder to make then I expected, I thought it would be easy to find examples of this but turns out that it wasn't.
Would like to say thank you if you've taken the time out to read this and let me know what you think.
The perfect example of this happened last night at Ring of Honor's Manhattan Mayhem IV where Eddie Edwards won the World title. He had teamed with Davey Richards as the American Wolves and when they broke up and focused on singles careers Davey was the next pick to be World champion, so it was very surprising to see Edwards win the World title.
El Generico & Kevin Steen
When the team broke up at Final Battle 2009 many expected Kevin Steen to go on to big things. His heel character was amazing and his ring work was just as great. Now Generico is one of the best wrestlers going today as a commentator once said "I've never seen Generico have a bad match" but the one drawback to Generico is his promo skills, he can't cut a really good promo that makes sense which is his gimmick and why Steen worked so well with him. So image the surprise when Steen lost a match to Generico and left the company. Steen seemed like a natural pick to be a top heel in the company and could of been a great champion but now he doesn't have a chance. And while Generico may not be the next world champion in terms his promos his ring work suits it and if he doesn't get a run as World champion then he should surely have a run with the TV title.
BJ Whitmer & Jimmy Jacobs
Jimmy & BJ teamed in 2005 and we're the ROH tag team champions in an odd choice as the two were just thrown together. However they worked really well together. Now ROH seemed to use Whitmer nearly all the time before the team and many believed that when they broke up that Whitmer would go on to a big push, he was a big part of the CZW vs. ROH feud and seemed like he could get a chance in the main event however he would go on to do very little of substance and ultimately leave the company, whereas Jimmy would get a bit more of a chance. After the feud between the 2 ran it's course it ended with Jacobs being injured, he would return and become part of a faction called the Age of the Fall which was a big deal. Jimmy would then be part of the main event picture and would often end shows with the feuds he was in, and while he never got the world title he would of been a good choice. It's strange to note that Whitmer had every thing that was needed to be a top performer but it seemed that something just didn't click or he was extremely unlucky. Jacobs should of been a proper main eventer and had a run with the ROH world title but regardless of that he still got more of a push than BJ.
America's Most Wanted
Chris Harris and James Storm were the first break out team from TNA and became multiple time tag team champions. Now at one time during their tag run Storm was injured and Harris wrestled as a singles guy, during which time he got a push for the NWA World title. So when the team broke up we expected Harris to get a proper push for the World title. Harris would get to be in the King of the Mountain match for the title and a match with Christian Cage, who was an established main eventer. But after that Harris got an awful feud with 'Black Rain' and then disappeared from TV. During that time James Storm went from feud to feud and was always on the Pay Per Views in a match. He is now a part of the team Beer Money which has become one of the greatest tag teams going today. Harris would get signed by WWE and become a full blown joke in wrestling. Who would of imaged that James Storm would become the wrestler he is today and Chris Harris would end up disappearing.
John Morrison & The Miz
The team was thrown together as they had nothing for either of them. Morrison had had several runs with the Intercontinental title and the ECW title, so he was more of an established star then the Miz who was awful at the time. The two together were a great team and made each other better but that didn't chance the fact that when they split up Morrison would go on to get a big push and maybe even a World title run. So as we head into Wrestlemania where is Morrison, still trying to establish himself as an main eventer and coming up short and Miz we'll he's the WWE champion. The Miz would grow and grow as a performer getting better and better, he became one of the most hated guys in wrestling so to see him as WWE champion was a great thing. Now I won't go into how his title run has gone down but the fact is that he is the main guy on Raw right now and will likely remain there for a while. Hopefully Morrison can eventually break out into the main event spot as the company needs new faces in that spot and Morrison has been so close for so long now. It's safe to say that no one expected Miz to be the WWE champion before Morrison.
So there you have it. This was harder to make then I expected, I thought it would be easy to find examples of this but turns out that it wasn't.
Would like to say thank you if you've taken the time out to read this and let me know what you think.
Thursday, 3 March 2011
What the WHAT?
As wrestling fans we all do it, we watch something and say 'What the hell were they thinking doing that?' and lets face it it happens a lot in wrestling. So here are just a few examples of things that have made me say 'What the hell?'
IWA Deep South Carnage Cup
I am a death match fan and a few years back there were 4 tournaments that you had to see if you were a death match fan, these were the CZW Tournament of Death, IWA Mid South King of the Death Matches, IWA East Coast Masters of Pain and the Carnage Cup. The winners would be important as it would mark one of the best death match workers going. But that hasn't been the case for 2 of the tournaments the last few years. Now the Masters of Pain and IWA EC has closed which is kind of said but I always felt that the winners of the tournament in that company made little sense but that's a different subject.
The Carnage Cup has really been a bit weird the last few years, whether it's the winner, the slim number of rounds (last years only saw 2 rounds) or the actual participants there is always something there that makes me question what they are thinking. When you look at who they announce for the tournament and who actually takes part it's a fair cry a part, I mean they actually announced 'Wildfire' Tommy Rich for last years tournament and it's a regular occurrence for them to announce Chikara talent who later say 'I never agreed to do a death match tournament'.
If you want to see what I've talked about when it comes to this tournament check out this years Cup which happened about a week ago, a very mixed cast with many not taking part in death matches before and Pinkie Sanchez winning it, no offence to Pinkie I think he's awesome but before that show he had competed in 1 other tournament and no other death matches he was not the right choice to win.
TNA since Hogan/Bischoff regime
Turning Point 2009 was regarded as one of the best TNA Pay Per Views they ever put on so with that said many thought they could carry that momentum into Hogan and Bischoff coming in, oh how wrong we were. Instead of moving TNA forward and to the next level where they could actually be a threat to WWE even in a slight way, TNA moved backwards and became what it is today which is a joke. Bringing in washed up wrestlers who shouldn't be in the ring, pushing guys who shouldn't be pushed, doing story lines that make no sense and have no meaning and relying on former WWE talent to bring in the fans. Can it change? Yeah of course. Will it change? Not any time soon. TNA have this focus on being WWE not challenging WWE, while that's the case nothing will change. I don't want to crap on TNA as everyone else is always doing it so I don't have to.
Sheamus as WWE champion and Jack Swagger as World Heavyweight Champion
WWE were able to pull over some major surprises in late 2009 and early 2010 that I feel truly shocked the fans.
The first was Sheamus defeating John Cena for the WWE title. While this could of been a chance to establish a new face in the main event it was a waste. His 1st reign lasted just 2 months in which time he lost to John Cena and won by DQ against Randy Orton, finally losing in the Elimination Chamber. His 2nd reign which happened later in the year saw him just about escape Cena in a cage after the Nexus came in and get DQ'd against Orton, he would lose it in a 6 way match to Orton just 3 months after winning it. Now he may have had 2 runs with the belt, he was built as a coward who couldn't win against any opponent. And now he's back in the mid-card with the occasional reminder that he is a 'main event talent'.
So while Sheamus had 2 runs, Swagger only got 1. Going into the Money in the Bank match at Mania last year my picks were Christian, Kofi or Drew McIntrye to win it so I was truly shocked to see Swagger win it and it was just as surprising when he cashed in nights later and won it. He was given a 3 month run with the belt but in that time they didn't do the right thing with him. After winning the belt he was on both Raw and Smackdown losing to everyone, he was putting on good matches but you remember the loses more than anything. He would retain against Orton in a Extreme Rules match but the problems came after that. He got himself DQ'd against Big Show and then lost the title in a 4 Way to Rey Mysterio. They would then build to a one on one match between him and Rey and during that time he looked like a killer who could snap a ankle when he wanted, they even made Big Show tap out to him. My question is, why didn't they do that in his match with Show? Since his lose to Rey he hasn't been in the title picture at all or even involved in any major story lines.
To me this shows WWE's short sightedness from time to time, if they had wanted they could of put so much into this guys and made them full time main event stars, which they need right now, instead they have to protect their babyfaces and make them look like fluke champions.
1PW constantly using American talent
For those who don't know One Pro Wrestling is a British wrestling company that has closed down because of bankruptcy on 2 occasions and has been reopened. The company brings in so many big names from American it's untrue. For example since reopening for the second time they've announced X-Pac, Road Dogg, Billy Gunn, Diamond Dallas Page & Kevin Nash for one weekend alone. They've also announced Shawn Michaels for a Q & A at the Anniversary show and yesterday they announced Vader, who is booked for a Q & A and to wrestle.
Now to be fair they're doing what many companies do, use outside stars who are legit big names to draw a crowd however they forget the other thing they have to do which is establish their own stars. These stars will only be in for the one show and will cost them a lot of money, also some of the names they've announced are fair past their prime and shouldn't be wrestling that much.
To me it's more annoying then anything else, I love the company and what to see it succeed but they're doing the same thing they did the last 2 times which is rely on this talent to draw the crowds. Do you know that it about over 3 years until they had a World champion who was British? Steve Corino, Abyss and Sterling James Keenan dominated the title picture and their all American. I hope this is just gonna happen for the next few shows and then they'll rely on home based talent and bring in one or two names who can work.
Well there you have it, a few things that had made me say 'What the hell?' while being a wrestling fan. Thanks for reading a let me know what you think.
IWA Deep South Carnage Cup
I am a death match fan and a few years back there were 4 tournaments that you had to see if you were a death match fan, these were the CZW Tournament of Death, IWA Mid South King of the Death Matches, IWA East Coast Masters of Pain and the Carnage Cup. The winners would be important as it would mark one of the best death match workers going. But that hasn't been the case for 2 of the tournaments the last few years. Now the Masters of Pain and IWA EC has closed which is kind of said but I always felt that the winners of the tournament in that company made little sense but that's a different subject.
The Carnage Cup has really been a bit weird the last few years, whether it's the winner, the slim number of rounds (last years only saw 2 rounds) or the actual participants there is always something there that makes me question what they are thinking. When you look at who they announce for the tournament and who actually takes part it's a fair cry a part, I mean they actually announced 'Wildfire' Tommy Rich for last years tournament and it's a regular occurrence for them to announce Chikara talent who later say 'I never agreed to do a death match tournament'.
If you want to see what I've talked about when it comes to this tournament check out this years Cup which happened about a week ago, a very mixed cast with many not taking part in death matches before and Pinkie Sanchez winning it, no offence to Pinkie I think he's awesome but before that show he had competed in 1 other tournament and no other death matches he was not the right choice to win.
TNA since Hogan/Bischoff regime
Turning Point 2009 was regarded as one of the best TNA Pay Per Views they ever put on so with that said many thought they could carry that momentum into Hogan and Bischoff coming in, oh how wrong we were. Instead of moving TNA forward and to the next level where they could actually be a threat to WWE even in a slight way, TNA moved backwards and became what it is today which is a joke. Bringing in washed up wrestlers who shouldn't be in the ring, pushing guys who shouldn't be pushed, doing story lines that make no sense and have no meaning and relying on former WWE talent to bring in the fans. Can it change? Yeah of course. Will it change? Not any time soon. TNA have this focus on being WWE not challenging WWE, while that's the case nothing will change. I don't want to crap on TNA as everyone else is always doing it so I don't have to.
Sheamus as WWE champion and Jack Swagger as World Heavyweight Champion
WWE were able to pull over some major surprises in late 2009 and early 2010 that I feel truly shocked the fans.
The first was Sheamus defeating John Cena for the WWE title. While this could of been a chance to establish a new face in the main event it was a waste. His 1st reign lasted just 2 months in which time he lost to John Cena and won by DQ against Randy Orton, finally losing in the Elimination Chamber. His 2nd reign which happened later in the year saw him just about escape Cena in a cage after the Nexus came in and get DQ'd against Orton, he would lose it in a 6 way match to Orton just 3 months after winning it. Now he may have had 2 runs with the belt, he was built as a coward who couldn't win against any opponent. And now he's back in the mid-card with the occasional reminder that he is a 'main event talent'.
So while Sheamus had 2 runs, Swagger only got 1. Going into the Money in the Bank match at Mania last year my picks were Christian, Kofi or Drew McIntrye to win it so I was truly shocked to see Swagger win it and it was just as surprising when he cashed in nights later and won it. He was given a 3 month run with the belt but in that time they didn't do the right thing with him. After winning the belt he was on both Raw and Smackdown losing to everyone, he was putting on good matches but you remember the loses more than anything. He would retain against Orton in a Extreme Rules match but the problems came after that. He got himself DQ'd against Big Show and then lost the title in a 4 Way to Rey Mysterio. They would then build to a one on one match between him and Rey and during that time he looked like a killer who could snap a ankle when he wanted, they even made Big Show tap out to him. My question is, why didn't they do that in his match with Show? Since his lose to Rey he hasn't been in the title picture at all or even involved in any major story lines.
To me this shows WWE's short sightedness from time to time, if they had wanted they could of put so much into this guys and made them full time main event stars, which they need right now, instead they have to protect their babyfaces and make them look like fluke champions.
1PW constantly using American talent
For those who don't know One Pro Wrestling is a British wrestling company that has closed down because of bankruptcy on 2 occasions and has been reopened. The company brings in so many big names from American it's untrue. For example since reopening for the second time they've announced X-Pac, Road Dogg, Billy Gunn, Diamond Dallas Page & Kevin Nash for one weekend alone. They've also announced Shawn Michaels for a Q & A at the Anniversary show and yesterday they announced Vader, who is booked for a Q & A and to wrestle.
Now to be fair they're doing what many companies do, use outside stars who are legit big names to draw a crowd however they forget the other thing they have to do which is establish their own stars. These stars will only be in for the one show and will cost them a lot of money, also some of the names they've announced are fair past their prime and shouldn't be wrestling that much.
To me it's more annoying then anything else, I love the company and what to see it succeed but they're doing the same thing they did the last 2 times which is rely on this talent to draw the crowds. Do you know that it about over 3 years until they had a World champion who was British? Steve Corino, Abyss and Sterling James Keenan dominated the title picture and their all American. I hope this is just gonna happen for the next few shows and then they'll rely on home based talent and bring in one or two names who can work.
Well there you have it, a few things that had made me say 'What the hell?' while being a wrestling fan. Thanks for reading a let me know what you think.
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