wrestling / Columns

The Wrestling 5&1 3.10.12: Christy Versus Buggy!

March 10, 2012 | Posted by Greg De Marco

We go old school this week, and bring Versus back up to the top. Why? Because more than any other, I’ve gotten one request for Versus non-stop for the past twelve months. Why? Because it’s time…BRING ON THE GIRLS!

Last Week: Miss Elizabeth did garner some votes, and a little controversy as well. However, she did not keep Christy Hemme away from a week four showdown.

This Week: SO I was all set with a fourth opponent for Christy Hemme. I had it narrowed down to two, and felt confident on who was set to oppose the firecracker. But then The Greg DeMarco Show happened, and guest co-host Andy Critchell dropped a bomb that was not expected: “Buggy… when is Greg going to put you in Versus?” That was followed by questions of “Are you scared?” and “Don’t you believe in me?” from Buggy herself. So I was persuaded…and thus decided…that it’s time.

Does Christy become the Hall’s eighth occupant??

Or does Buggy Nova stake her claim among the best?

YOU MAKE THE CALL!

If she loses, I’ll never hear the end of it…

Christy Hemme vs. Buggy Nova. Take your pick!
Stay tuned as next week as I’ll reveal the winner…or tune in to next Tuesday’s Greg DeMarco Show for the early revelation!

Magnus teams with Samoa Joe to win the TNA World Tag Team Championship

If you’ve been paying close attention, you’ll have noticed a shift in TNA towards building newer stars in the main event. Last week you saw Samoa Joe, Magnus and Austin Aries appear in the main event of Impact Wrestling. This week you had Garett Bischoff and Gunner. TNA is focused on the future, and they’re telling slower, more drawn out stories on the way. But I think that when we pull out of their storytelling, we’re going to see one man on top. One man tapped to carry the company into the future. That man…is Magnus.

Magnus is a rare case of a guy who simply “had it” from day one. Magnus made his professional debut in England against Douglas Williams—in a 2 out of 3 falls match that was widely praised. And this was his debut! He toured England for a few years, finally making his way to TNA in 2009 as Mrutus Magnus, an evil gladiator. He found early success, but really took off after dropping the gladiator gimmick and joining the World Elite stable as a member of The British Invasion tag team. With Douglas Williams he won a world tag team championship and the IWGP tag team championships, but the group eventually disbanded and Magnus was paired up with Desmond Wolfe as the badass team known as London Brawling. It was McGuinness’s injury that forced the premature end to the team.

After a partner related hiatus, he returned as a member of The British Invasion once again. There he challenged for the world tag team championships, but did not win. In fact, the duo barely won a match before quietly disbanding after losing to Mexican America. Magnus remained a singles competitor at that time, winning the Xplosion Championship Challenge finals against Alex Shelley to earn a title shot of his choosing. It’s unknown if that title match ever took place.

Magnus traveled to India with a smaller TNA crew that was joined by a stellar group of independent wrestlers and local wrestlers from India to tape Ring Ka King. Dave Lagana, who was in charge of the product, praised Magnus’s work. In the most recent episodes, Sir Brutus Magnus won the RKK Heavyweight Championship from Matt Morgan, forming his own heel stable in the process.

His efforts in RKK definitely got Magnus noticed, as he was pushed—as a team—with Samoa Joe to win the Wildcard Tag Team Tournament. The duo lost their title shot at Genesis but won the rematch at Against All Odds to capture the World Tag Team Championships. And while former world champion Samoa Joe got the initial attention for the group, it’s Magnus who has really taken advantage of this situation to shine.

The updside of Magnus is tremendous. He has the size and the look. He can go in the ring. He can talk. And best of all, he’s merely 25 years old. 25! He was at least six years younger than everyone else involved in last week’s Impact Wrestling main event six man tag team match.

You Decide: Is Magnus the future of wrestling?

You might remember Buggy Nova detailing her time taping a commercial with the WWE, right after her first WWE tryout. Well, the fruits of that tryout appeared, unannounced even to Buggy—this week on RAW:

Can’t find both Buggy sightings? I’ll let my readers point them out to you.

As you should know by now, I’ve recapped Impact Wrestling for a few months here at the ‘Mania, and recently recapped ROH’s 10th Anniversary Show iPPV. One issue that everyone loves to take with my reports? The star ratings.

What?

The star ratings?

Seriously…who give a blue fuck about the star ratings?! Star ratings have got to be the dumbest thing ever associated with rating wrestling matches. It’s a damned opinion. Some people like a match more than others. Some people might rate a match with four stars, but someone else says “nope, three and a half.” AND THEN THEY ARGUE! Who gives a rat’s ass about half of a star?

So I ask you to take a look at the graphic I placed above. Looking at that picture, how many snowflakes do you see? 10,000? 20,000? 30,000? I see a shitload of snowflakes. But frankly, what a see is a cool picture, kind of romantic, brings back memories of standing in the snow at Virginia Tech with my future wife. The actual number of snowflakes means so little to me it’s not even funny.

That’s honestly how I feel when I watch a wrestling match. Maybe I’m in the wrong business, because I don’t watch a match to give it a rating—I watch it to be entertained. So when I rate the match, I rate my entertainment. A lot of different wrestling matches can lead to a lot of different levels of entertainment.

Example: when recapping ROH’s 10th Anniversary Show, I gave Jay Lethal’s Television title defense against Tommaso Ciampa a **** rating. People hated me over that, saying it was *** at best, more likely **1/2. And the opener between Charlie Haas & Shelton Benjamin and The All Night Express? I gave it ***, and the most prevalent response I saw was that it was more like **1/2.

Yeah, half of a star. BIG FUCKING DEAL! I was entertained by the match—highly entertained. So I rated it accordingly. Don’t like my star rating? I really don’t care.

Look at Dave Meltzer. People really care what he rates a match. In fact, when he gave CM Punk vs. John Cena at Money in the Bank 2011 a five-star rating, the IWC broke out into a civil war. Meltzer also gave the famous Samoa Joe-Kenta Kobashi match in Ring of Honor in New York City a five-star rating. Have you ever watched that match? It’s awesome. The atmosphere is amazing. Watch it. Then watch it again…with the sound off. What do you have? Lots of elbows. A few head drops. A match that ends with an elbow. What you basically have is ***1/2 stars. The crowd MADE that match. It was a three-star match in front of a five-star crowd.

So for my final Impact Wrestling recap (until the fall anyway), I completely abandoned star-ratings. I have a new rating scale:

I didn’t like it.
Meh.
I liked it.
I really liked it.
That was bad ass.
HOLY SHIT!
Best. Match. Ever.

This scale is far from official. I am developing an entertainment related scale set to debut soon, with the help of my good friend Chad Perry.

You Decide: Do you really care about star-ratings? If so…why?

Listen to the latest episode of The Greg DeMarco Show , with Greg DeMarco and Patrick O’Dowd, powered by 411wrestling.com and streaming WORLDWIDE! on the Voice of Choice Wrestling Nation at VOCNation.com as Greg & guest co-host Andy Critchell welcome Resistance Pro’s Screamin’ Serenity, Adam Tests of the Baltimore Sun & All American Pro Wrestling and Phil Stamper from the AIWF Krazy 8!

This week: Resistance Pro’s Serenity joins the program to talk about her career thus far, her experiences at Billy Korgan’s Resistance Pro, and her new & exciting upcoming bookings. Phil Stamper stops by to discuss this weekend’s AIWF Krazy 8 tournament, and Baltimore Sun’s Ring Posts blogger and All American Pro Wrestling staff member Adam Testa joins the show to talk AAPW’s landmark “Main Event” card and their upcoming events.

Buggy Nova stops by to discuss the debut of her commercial during RAW and throw the gauntlet for Greg DeMarco’s Wrestling 5&1 column at 411Mania, and Barbi Hayden returns to finish last week’s call!

Plus, Steve Cook and Tony Acero join the show to discuss the events of Monday’s RAW, and Chad Perry returns to help review Ring of Honor’s 10th Anniversary iPPV and more!

The Greg DeMarco Show with Greg DeMarco & Patrick O’Dowd, presented by 411Mania and streaming worldwide through the Voice of Choice Nation—airs live every Tuesday at 10:30 PM eastern time and is heard by over 10,000 listeners throughout each week. Discussing current events in professional wrestling—including RAW, Smackdown, TNA, Ring of Honor and many US independent promotions and regularly features guests from Ring of Honor, Pro Wrestling Guerrilla, Dragon Gate USA, Evolve and countless other promotions, Greg and Patrick present opinionated analysis on the wrestling world that remains rooted in a love, passion and respect for the business. The show is presented live on Tuesday nights by 411Mania at http://www.411wrestling.com/wrestling and streams worldwide each Saturday through Monday via Bruce Wirt’s Voice of Choice Nation at http://www.vocnation.com. You can reach the show via e-mail at [email protected], Facebook by searching for “Greg DeMarco Show” or Twitter @gregdemarcoshow.

Click here to listen to the program, or listen here:

Next week…

Christopher Mordetzky (formerly the WWE’s Chris Masters) joins the program!

And finally, check out the write-up of this week’s flagship VOCNation show, streaming at VOCNation.com and broadcasting on GFL.tv with Eric Bischoff and Melina!

Eric Bischoff joined the VOC Wrestling Nation Radio Program on 1360 WNJC Philadelphia. The full broadcast can be heard at http://vocnation.com. Among other topics, he discussed:

On working with his son on TV: “It’s a challenge and I have mixed emotions about it. At the end of the day, he’s doing what he wanted to do…I have a certain point of view about the wrestling business and the current state of it, and the opportunities that exist in the business today versus what has existed in the past. I tried to dissuade him from getting involved, but he’s doing what he wanted to do. Regardless of how I feel about it, he’s sticking to his dream and that’s an admirable quality.”

On working in the business now versus in WCW: “I live for the day today and I don’t spend a lot of time dwelling in the past. There is a big difference between what I do today for TNA versus what I did for Turner Broadcasting. I don’t have to deal with talent issues. That is a stressful job, even when talent is on their best behavior. It’s stressful having the futures and the welfare of that many people in your hands. Wrestling is a tough business to break into, and knowing that you’re in control of them being able to feed their families…I don’t like that.”

On The Ultimate Warrior’s run in WCW: “There was a certain level of expectation and it fell flat. We thought we had a decent way to use him…I’ll never forget this, it’s like scar tissue, it never goes away. On his first Nitro, he was supposed to cut a 5 or 6 minute promo, and when he got near the TWENTY-FIVE minute mark, I wanted to dig out my eyes. It was the most painful, excruciating, non-seneschal, disconnected interview I’ve ever heard in my life…it was horrifying, and went downhill from there.”

On his role with TNA Booking: “Bruce Pritchard is head of creative, and I oversee things and make sure that the Network gets what is asked for. I wanted to develop a long term plan for booking, and Vince Russo liked running things on a short term planning basis. Right now, we are very much on track with the creative direction that we laid out in October. I work very closely with the team and Dixie on the day of TV, but I’m not involved in management on a day to day basis.”

On Vince Russo’s Departure: “I don’t know why Vince and TNA parted ways, and I wasn’t involved in it. I haven’t spoken to him since, aside from an email wishing him success in the future. I haven’t talked to anyone in TNA about it either. He and I had philosophical differences on how to create primetime television, but I don’t think it’s unfair or unprofessional to acknowledge that. I enjoyed the challenge of working with him.”

On whether or not Ric Flair should appear at the WWE Hall of Fame Ceremony this year: “I’m not a decision maker, and whatever they decide, I’m going to support. But in my personal opinion, I think they should allow Ric to go to the Hall of Fame. Ric Flair is a very special individual…he is 63 years old…he’s not perfect, but there is not anyone in this business that deserves the respect and honor of taking center stage in the biggest event in our universe more than he does.”

Melina also joined the show to talk about upcoming appearances and future plans, and Joey Styles was announced as next week’s guest. The VOC Wrestling Nation can be heard every Wednesday from 5PM – 7PM ET on 1360 WNJC Philadelphia and WORLDWIDE at vocnation.com. The videocast from inside the studio can be seen every Thursday at 8PM at Go Fight Live TV by visiting http://gfl.tv.

Elizabeth is like that girl you see coming out of church. She’s so pretty that you decide to go to the annual church picnic just hoping she’ll be there. You finally work up the nerve to talk to her and she invites you to a youth group meeting. Afterwards you ask her out, but it turns out she has a boyfriend…a boyfriend who shows up at your school, wearing oddly bright colors and a matching cowboy hat, and proceeds to beat the ever-loving shit out of you. … Not that this ever happened to me, although it did happen to a friend of a friend of my brother. … Christy…still Christy.
Posted By: Frisco Kid

Frisco Kid: A god amongst men.

Liz, a THOUSAND times Liz..she wasn’t skanky hot, she was downright f’n beautiful in a classy way that will NEVER be duplicated again in wrestling.
Posted By: Team J-Rod

You bring up a good point. Would the “classy” vibe work in wrestling today? I think it would, but sadly, she’d be a heel.

Am I the only one who thinks it’s weird to want to add a person who’s passed on, to be in the hall of bang? or is this if she was still alive?
Posted By: Guest#9795

There are many times in wrestling that we celebrate the life of someone who left us too soon. And in all honesty, we rarely discuss Elizabeth anymore. Her name has come up from time to time, so I put her in. I never gave her passing a thought. Everyone is free to vote using their own criteria. I look at the competition as one where you vote on the woman at her best.

So, do you consider trolls to be people who intelligently and with class, point out the numerous mistakes you make? That is, I guess not surprising after surmassing the kind of human being you are.
Posted By: Guest#8427

“Surmassing?” Not a word.

PWNED. (Also not a word.)

I have to think Ryder might be on team Long instead of Foley. Johnny Ace cost Ryder the US Title and put him injured against Kane. I don’t know if anyone else as heard but Trish Stratus has been giving hints that she may be facing Phoenix at Wrestlemania.
Posted By: Guest#0868

I could see Ryder on team Long as well. Foley could play a different role. And given the recent reports about the possibility of a Diva’s match on the ‘Mania card, Trish or Kharma could be Beth’s only shot at the main show. And Kharma’s reportedly not ready.

“The internet is fucking stupid.” –Jay Briscoe
Sadly, truer words he has never spoken!”
Yet, you write on the internet (just like I do and others). Way to make yourself look like an ass five seconds into your column!
Posted By: Guest#9617

Yeah, I know. It usually doesn’t take nearly that long.

Or,God forbid,he has a sense of humor.
Posted By: Jason

I love it when my good readers put my idiot readers in their place for me. Thank you, Jason. (I’m pretty sure I know which reader you are, too!)

Demarco believes the Briscoes side of the story over a reporter covering the business his entire life? … Hey Greg! How is the Lucha Libre show doing? They weren’t canceled…huh? Nice exclusive press release you got! … Sorry, but this is yet another case of damage control. I trust the “reports” more than those dumb fuck hicks that wouldn’t last a week in WWE!
Posted By: Guest#8625

Wait, he’s covered the business for his entire life? The whole thing? He skipped out on kindergarten to grab results of the WWWF houseshow at the Boston Garden? Idiot. And to top it off, you’re believing a report that The Briscoes were offered a WWE contract and held back by ROH, then called them wrestlers who wouldn’t last a week in the WWE. Why, then, would you possibly believe the report that the WWE would offer a contract to a team that wouldn’t last a week? When, in fact, they have already lasted a week, and were told the one thing holding them back was that they weren’t “cosmetically pleasing.”

joey ryan = perez hilton
Posted By: Guest#0489

Hell no. Joey Ryan > Perez Hilton.

Christy. Is there another option?
Posted By: brian

Umm, yeah. It was Elizabeth.

About the Rock/Cena war: I think it is well established now among people with common sense that Cena has nothing on Rocky. Which makes me wonder why Rock didn’t “shoot” harder back at Cena.. Disappointing.
Posted By: Candy Bottocks

I don’t know. I really don’t know. The Rock is an act—more so than Cena. It’ll be interesting to see how this goes.

The high spots need to be in wrestling plain and simple. They are a part of wrestling. Wrestling is a dangerous job and if you don’t want to risk your life don’t get involved. Yeah there have been 3 bad spots and 1 REALLY bad injury in there, but it’s not happening all the time. You can’t take high spots out of wrestling because of those injuries. I think there should be less high spots, but wrestling needs to have high spots. If you get rid of the risky high spots then you get rid of a lot of excitement in matches like ladder matches, table matches, cage matches, HIAC, and others. It’s terrible when people get hurt in a big spot, but wrestling can’t get rid of them all because they think they will start happening all the time.
Posted By: Guest#2669

I’m okay minimizing the spots. I agree that they have a place, I just think that “place” has become too commonplace.

CHRISTY!!!!
Posted By: Guest#1954

OKAY!!!!!111~~~OMGLOLZ!

I’m not having it that one of those fat offensive/defensive linemen is more of on an athlete than the likes of say Kirt Angle.
Posted By: Guest#6915

That’s why “Third and Artrell” is an idiot.

Wrestlers are more rounded. Wrestlers need speed, strength, endurance, and intelligence. In other sports, you can still succeed by being just “very strong,” or just “very fast,” etc.
Posted By: Guest#3714

Not only that, but the best wrestlers are also great performers who can talk and really engage a crowd. Football has that, too. But not every football player is Ray Lewis.

Miss Elizabeth was always one of the great beauties of WWE/WCW (she even got hotter as she got older).
Posted By: Sledge

I’d imagine she would have been equally as hot (or more) at a younger age, too. But styles changed, and she did as well. Plus, she got implants. Boo on that.

Highspots should be significant, but I think we should parse what you mean by “highspot.” After all, two of the big blown spots last month (Truth, Wade) were more or less routine transition and battle royal spots. If you wanted to really nitpick, you could classify any spot where someone goes to the outside, or off the top rope as a highspot. Does that mean we limit Macho Elbows or the Royal Rumble? … I’d say that a good compromise would be to keep routine-type highspots routine, but do them more safely. If a battle royal calls for a toss spot, have it take place on the ramp side of the ring–not in front of the announce table. If you’re going for a plancha, make sure your catcher is in position and let him know if he’s not. It’s better to show up in Botchamania in an “Everyone talks too much” segment than to take the bump Truth took. … Higher-risk highspots, in turn, should be used less frequently. I’d classify those as things like Asai moonsaults and suicide dives. Save those for big matches, and only if you’ve had a lot of training and practice. And for God’s sake don’t do them where the guard rail is too close.
Posted By: Matticus

I’m okay with every single thing you said. That you makes you…

Those aren’t the most flattering pics of Lizzy, you know. Can’t believe that’s the best you could find. It makes me wonder if memory hasn’t just embellished her a little, like maybe she was only SO HOT because she was the only chick around. I’m not sure she’d play well today. There’s probably 30 girls hotter than her working now. Opinions?
Posted By: J-Mo

I looked long and hard for the Elizabeth pics, much longer than anyone else. I actually almost used Liz for the WrestleMania Edition of Versus I did last year, but I couldn’t find nearly the pics I found this time.

Miss Elizabeth was in a category of class unto herself, and in my opinion you dishonor her memory by including her in this contest. … I abstain from voting this week. You should think long and hard before including her again.
Posted By: Dr. Doctor

Really? She was portrayed as classy, but let’s not forget that she had multiple romantic relationships in the business, and died of a drug overdose. And because of the era that she appeared in, we know far less about her personal demeanor than we do of the Divas and Knockouts of today.

Theres really no comparison. Football players are atheletes. They play a game where anything can happen within a set of rules. Professional wrestlers are performers. They already know whats gonna happen. Theyre more like ballerinas.
Posted By: Guest#5680

Very athletic ballerinas.

Rather than being fans, I think most wrestlers, especially those making a living as a wrestler, fall into “doing a job that they’d do for free, yet they get paid to do it” category.
Posted By: scipio2009

So are you saying they forgot where they came from?

Although I think it’s in bad taste to include someone who’s passed on, I still pick Elizabeth, or “Elzabeth” as the graphic says.
Posted By: Guest#7296

THANK YOU! I looked at that damn graphic so many times knowing something was off, and couldn’t put my finger on it.

Miss Elizabeth is the beautiful and classy woman you marry. Christy is the kind of woman you bang. Elizabeth doesn’t need this to be the most beautiful woman in wrestling history. Since it’s the Hall of BANG, I vote for Christy.
Posted By: John

To be fair, Hall of Bang is just a name. And it existed long before I took this column on. In all honesty, if it started with me it would have a different name. I don’t know what, but it would be different.

I think Elizabeth should already have a posthumous spot in the hall
Posted By: tom

Hall of Fame, yes. I wonder, with inductions like “The Four Horsemen,” if the WWE Hall of Fame could induct “Randy Savage accompanied by Miss Elizabeth.”

I love Elizabeth and I’m completely at a loss at all the overly sensitive other comments.
Let me get this straight: You guys are saying that once a lady passes away we’re not allowed to honor her beauty and sexuality? … That’s utterly ridiculous.
Posted By: Barry O

Great point from Uncle Barry.

I really hope someone gets that reference.

@ Frisco: You’ve made me LMAO for 4 Saturdays straight and for that I thank you. Send DeMarco an email.
@ DeMarco: beg Frisco Kid to write an opening for the Hall of Bang contestants. Comedy is never a bad thing.
Posted By: RVMC

He already has. And that’s not a bad idea…

Zack Ryder totally needs to come back with a vengeance, challenge Kane, and actually look competitive against him. I realize that Orton would be more convincing as an opponent for Kane, but I think that Ryder taking on Kane would be a better WrestleMania moment, especially if Ryder got the rub. Elimination Chamber showed how limited the WWE roster is, and since Zack Ryder is popular enough, he really should be built as a part of the future. Orton is already established. Kane being used to put over a guy who, before injury, Kane pretty much owned, makes more sense.
Posted By: Nick V

This brings up a conversation we had on The Greg DeMarco Show three weeks back. The modern day WWE is too protective of certain talents, and one of them is Kane. Kane could totally put Ryder over, and the crowd heat would be amazing.

I just wanted to add a few thoughts to the high spot debate:
I look at Dynamite Kid and the fact that all of his revolutionary high spots and reckless bumping has left him crippled and I think high risk high spots should be done safely and rarely, if at all. … I look at Chris Benoit and how his wonderful high spots and reckless bumping left him severely brain damaged and I think high spots should be reconsidered. … I look at Jeff Hardy and how his fantastic high spots and reckless bumping has to have played at least some part in his battles with addiction and I have to question the wisdom of taking on the risks. … When you take narcotics for pain it is a slippery slope into addiction. All of the above mentioned wrestlers fit the same profile. We can all make fun of or castigate them, but that’s the reality. … So even putting aside the accidents that can leave somebody severely injured, consider the ramifications to those who perform high spots with relative safety, and it’s apparent to me that DeMarco was not overreacting. He was being smart.
Posted By: Anonymous

THANK YOU! I’m glad someone sees it my way (even if he made my argument better than I did).

And do you really want to use the phrase “playing catcher” in reference to wrestling?
Posted By: TROOF

Why not? It’s not like wrestling is one of the most homosexual, homoerotic and homophobic industries in the world, right?

Elizabeth may have been the first, but she’s far from being the best. And for all those people calling her “classy”, you do know how she spent the last few years of her life, right? … Hogan used to be the idol to millions of children and was seen as a legitimate, standup, All American type of guy. Doesn’t mean it was true. Same can be said for Liz, sadly.
Posted By: Guest#5516

Quoted for Truth.

Miss Elizabeth in VS? are you kidding me? That is so wrong. Who’s next, Nancy Benoit?
Posted By: Guest#3889

Admittedly, I have never considered Nancy Benoit for Versus, and I never will.

So, I had a great idea for Impact this week, so of course this is the week you don’t talk about Impact at all. That’s all right, I’ll put forth the idea and you can shoot it down in next week’s column. (Or maybe discuss why you like it, if you do.) Look, we all know Impact needs to get the hell out of the Impact Zone. At the same time, we know that TNA doesn’t want to spend the money to take it on the road. I figure there must a small arena or auditorium, somewhere in central Florida, where they could shoot the show. Get an audience of a couple thousand, charge a nominal admission fee to cover costs (and give the fans a stake in enjoying the show), it would be a much better show. If that works, maybe try just moving around Florida a little, hitting Tampa, Miami, etc. Fresher, larger audiences, better shows, maybe things start to grow. Anyway, that’s my bright Impact idea for the week.
Posted By: the ghost of Buddy Rogers

They could work more Florida cities into the rotation, but if you’re not careful it will have the same effect as the Impact Zone. It happened to Ring of Honor when they filmed all of their HDNet program in Philadelphia. The crowd was watered down and took a long time to recover.

Miss Elizabeth, actually its unfair cause we all know that guys vote for the one that show the most nudity and to do that at Elizabeths time was impossible.
Posted By: The only girl on 411

Really? Because Trish is #2 and Layla is #3.

Graphic credit: PWPonderings.com

Ring of Honor presented its 10th Anniversary Show last weekend, and it was met with mixed reviews. This event was at just $9.99, which was an all-out steal given the matches presented. Here are the results:

* The All Night Express (Rhett Titus & Kenny King) beat Wrestling’s Greatest Tag Team (Charlie Haas & Shelton Benjamin
* Mike Bennett pinned Homicide
* Kevin Steen confronted special guest CHIKARA Grand Champion Eddie Kingston
* Roderick Strong & Michael Elgin beat The Amazing Red & TJ Perkins
* Television Champion Jay Lethal battled Tomasso Ciampa to a 15-minute draw
* World Tag Team Champions Jay & Mark Briscoe beat The Young Bucks (Nick & Matt Jackson)
* Kevin Steen pinned Jimmy Jacobs in a no-disqualification match
* Adam Cole & Eddie Edwards beat World Champion Davey Richards & Kyle O’Reilly
* Kevin Steen ran down Davey Richards from the balcony to end the show

Overall, this was a great show. Bennett’s victory over Homicide was the worst match of the night, but that doesn’t make it a bad match. It was good, and a great win for Bennett. Roderick Strong & Michael Elgin beat The Amazing Red & TJ Perkins in an all-out war—a match so great that it caused me to put aside my hatred of TJ Perkins—even if for just one show. I loved Lethal-Ciampa, far more than anyone else I’ve talked to. The pace was perfect considering what match went on before it, and it made Ciampa look legit. He’ll likely win that title in Florida during WrestleMania weekend.

Following the intermission, The Briscoes beat The Young Bucks in a match that underdelivered. Now, I have it three & a half stars (whatever that means), but I still expected more. I’d love to see these teams go at it again with more time. Kevin Steen’s win over Jimmy Jacobs was a good hardcore brawl—and I’ve grown out of liking hardcore brawls. And the main event was off the charts. I know there was less selling than we normally see, but I expected that going in. Adam Cole pinning Davey Richards to end the show was perfect, as he & Eddie Edwards beat Richards & Cole. Kevin Steen then showed why he is the best talker in the company by controlling the entire crowd from the balcony. During that promo, Steen was the face and Richards was the heel—at least in the eyes of the fans.

Overall, there were a few production issues, like hearing the house audio while video packages played. But if you ordered this show, you paid $10 bucks. That’s an amazing price for a show of this caliber. You didn’t order for the video packages. I’d say it was $10 well spent.

You Decide: Did you drop $10 on this show?