klunderbunker
Welcome to My (And Not Sly's) House
Kingdom Come VII
Date: November 23, 2015
Location: Olympic Stadium, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Commentators: Sebastian Copeland, Catherine Conner, Jack Cohen
Yes I'm doing this again and I have no real idea why. So this time they're in Montreal, meaning I'm not likely to understand most of the chants. The big main event this year is actually a good idea with the hero Theron Daggershield vs. the evil Dr. Zeus in something like a fantasy version of Batman vs. the Joker. As usual I have a limited idea of what to expect here and I didn't read a preview or see any of the promos coming in. Let's get to it.
We open with a moment of silence for the victims of the attacks in Paris. Nice touch.
The opening video has the same theme it always does: one line of a speech and a clip of each match. Not a bad idea but I could go for something fresh.
The poster is of course awesome, as it always is around here.
Apparently there's an Elimination Chamber, a hardcore match and a last man standing match. You think you might be overdoing it with the gimmicks a bit there people?
EurAsian Title: Titus vs. Johnny Scumm
So we have.......holy flying buses on shore leave there's a tale of the tape! Well a recap called a tale of the tape but close enough. I've been wanting these things for years now and they're FINALLY here. It's about time already. Anyway Scumm is defending against a rapidly heel turning Titus, a legend who is going after the one title he's never won. Naturally that means Titus comes out second for reasons I'll never understand. I know this is becoming more and more common in recent years but the champion should come out second. Period.
After Scumm dances to the ring and grinds on the referee (why did he even bother showing up if this is the best he can come up with?), Titus does a cool red carpet entrance, thankfully minus the Melina splits entrance. Before the bell, Titus punches Scumm low but pulls him up at two. I'm hoping that comes back to haunt him but for some reason I really don't see that happening.
More big right hands and a spinwheel kick have Scumm almost out cold. A low blow and some punches put a champion out? Really? An elbow to the face busts Johnny open and Titus just unloads on him until the referee pulls him off Scumm. More punches have Scumm reeling but he fires off a few of his own, only to get crotched on top for his efforts. A top rope Tit Drop (so funny) knocks Scumm out cold and the referee finally stops it, giving Titus the title. Too short to rate but a total squash. I'm not sure why they started the show with this though as the fans are now ticked off and it's not exactly a good way to get things going.
Post match Titus beats up the medical crew taking care of Scumm. Johnny is wheeled up to the stage where Titus picks up both Scumm and the stretcher to throw onto the sound equipment. That's quite the power display from someone 6'2 and 225lbs.
James Howard vs. Veejay
Howard is a ticked off jerk who attacked Veejay before a recent show and this is about revenge. Veejay, accompanied by a good looking woman named Saffron, comes out to Ladies and Gentlemen, which already makes me like him a little bit more. Howard has a long crowbar, which I think makes it stop being a crowbar.
James gets in a cheap shot before the bell to make it two for two tonight. We hit an MMA style as Veejay gets taken down and pummeled, which really shouldn't be a problem. I mean, on WZCW.com it says that he can adapt to an MMA offense so he shouldn't be in trouble like this. Veejay lives up to his profile and comes back with strikes of his own, including an elbow drawing blood from Howard (two out of two as well).
Back up and Veejay wraps him up in a twisting leg lock, setting up even more hard shots to Howard's head. More elbows, including a middle rope variety, get two for Veejay and a knee drop (hitting only the mat as a bad camera edit shows) gets the same. Back up and Veejay misses an enziguri (You can't do an enziguri when you're on offense dude. It just doesn't work.), setting up a German from Howard.
That means more stomping, followed by a Cactus Clothesline to put both of them on the floor for a crash that should have been bigger. Veejay is sent into various metal objects with a shot to the steps drawing blood. Howard licks it off his hands, possibly to replenish some of the blood he lost earlier. After a quick break of the count (points for that), Howard posts him hard and goes after the cut. Like any nitwit girlfriend, Saffron begs for mercy from the psycho, causing Howard to grab her by the hair.
Veejay tries to get up but walks into a big spinwheel kick to knock him into Saffron. He might have known this was coming had he ever watched a match before. It's only good for a nine count though and that means it's time to yell at the referee. The distraction lets Veejay grab a Bubba bomb, followed by a running boot to the head. Well when all else fails, kicking the other guy in the head is usually a good tactic.
A DDT gets two on Howard but he counters a TKO (love that move) into one of his own (ok that's gimmick infringement). James grabs an Anaconda Vice and it's time to roll around on the mat expending energy, because that always works so well. Veejay gets to the ropes for the break and kicks Howard away, meaning we get a ref bump. It wouldn't be a big show without one. Saffron decides that she needs to do something else and tries to hit Howard with the crowbar, only to knock Veejay silly by mistake. Another Vice gives Howard the knockout win.
Rating: C+. Pretty solid brawl here with both guys hitting each other hard enough for a few minutes. The Saffron stuff made for a good little story and Howard came off looking like a villain. Veejay.....not so much. He felt like a guy who happened to be from India which makes him more like Alberto Del Rio, which isn't a good thing.
Abel Hunnicut vs. Garth Black
Heel vs. heel and not much of a story here as Garth was attacked at Ascension 100 to set this up. They start brawling on the floor before the bell (three for three) and it's on fast. Black elbows him out to the floor and we've already got blood (three for three) from Hunnicut's mouth. Abel takes his time getting back in so Garth takes him down again with a nice plancha. That means it's time for some stomping as you can see how aggressive Black really is.
Like any villain does though, Black takes too long listening to the crowd and gets kicked in the face as he heads back inside. A middle rope elbow gets two for Abel and we hit an abdominal stretch for the psychology portion. Abel starts slapping the ribs to add some pizazz, meaning we've found our Big E. We get the obvious hiptoss counter (is there another counter?) and Garth snaps off a Russian legsweep, only to run into a big sidewalk slam to put both guys down.
Back up again and Abel loads up another abdominal stretch (as we warp back to 1956) but gets suplexed down for a nice counter. Hunnicut misses a splash in the corner and it's time for some right hands as Black is taking to this face role quite easily. A monkey flip gets two (probably because it's a monkey flip) and the kickout surprises the fans, even though IT WAS A MONKEY FLIP.
Black is smart enough to try an actual finisher with a GTS but the ribs act up (despite the match seeming to be about six minutes old at this point), allowing Hunnicut to grab a tombstone for a really close two. With Abel stunned (by that devastating monkey flip I'm sure), cue Steven Holmes to shout some encouragement. A camel clutch is countered into a rollup to give Garth two, followed by the GTS out of nowhere (party on Garth) for the pin.
Rating: C. The match had an idea going for it with Black's ribs getting worked over but it felt like it was only about eight minutes long with a fifteen minute story packed in. Hunnicut is interesting and feels like an old power guy with the slow offense and rib work while Garth.....really doesn't feel like a heel. Maybe it's because he was the clear face in the match and the promos suggest otherwise but I had to keep going back and making sure that he was a heel for this to really add up.
King For a Day: Gino Galluci vs. Vee A.D.Z. vs. Kagura Daikonran vs. Cassanova vs. Kendrick Xavier vs. Noah Ryder
This is an Elimination Chamber match with the winner getting a shot at either midcard title at any time for a year. Well at least it's not the exact same thing as Money in the Bank. Unfortunately there's no tale of the tape here, likely because everyone in this was thrown together for the sake of having nothing else to do on the card.
Xavier and Ryder get things going with Xavier jawing with Cassanova for no apparent reason, allowing Ryder to get in a cheap shot from behind and score a very fast pin for the elimination. Well that's one less name I have to remember at least, though now we get to stand around for five minutes with nothing to do like at December to Dismember.
Thankfully Cassanova comes in anyway and they reset the clock because they're not stupid like whoever ran an ECW pay per view in 2006. Cassanova ripped a chain off the pod to swing at Ryder but only hurt his own hand when he punched a wall. You would think a book enthusiast would be a big smarter than that. At least he's smart enough to snap off a hurricanrana to send Ryder into the cage and it's time for a bunch of strikes because people think wrestling is MMA these days. A quick Sling Blade drops Cassanova and the fastest five minutes I can remember in years wraps up, bringing in Vee as the fourth entrant.
Vee springboards in with a cross body before suplexing Cassanova onto Ryder for two in a cool spot. A spinwheel kick drops Cassanova again so Ryder grabs a lockup to slow things down. You don't see that too often but it works well enough. We hit a wristlock from Ryder until Vee kicks him in the face to escape. When all else fails, kick the guy in the head. A quick DDT looks to set up something from the top but Cassanova crotches Vee and takes him down with a super reverse X Factor (that's a new one). Everyone is down again as Gino comes in fifth.
Gino goes for some covers which never work in this situation before flapjacking Noah for two. Dat Finisher Dough (I'm going to hurt whoever came up with that name) is broken up so Gino settles for a Thesz press. I'm assuming Vee and Cassanova are off watching a filmstrip on Feng Shui or something as Gino hammers away on Ryder. Cassanova comes back (now with a better understanding of Chinese culture) and punches Gino in the face with a fist wrapped in chain for two. That's not a great chain.
Instead of HITTING HIM AGAIN (why does that never happen?), Cassanova decides to choke Gino with the chain as long as he can without getting hit with a murder charge. He heads up top for something but gets kicked in the face by Vee (who must have had to ask the teacher for clarification on something in the filmstrip).
That means it's time for the required climb to the top of the pod, only to have Ryder run up and headlock drive Cassanova down so Gino can score the pin to get rid of the book lover. You uncultured swine. Vee dives off the pod with a shooting star legdrop (likely breaking his tailbone in the process) to eliminate Gino and score some revenge for the bibliophiles everywhere. Kagura comes in a few seconds later to give us a final grouping of Kagura, Ryder and Vee.
Kagura goes after Ryder first and actually uses the Chamber to tie him up in the steel. Some hard knees to the ribs and jaw have Ryder in trouble but Vee CRUSHES KAGURA'S FACE AGAINST THE CAGE with a dropkick in a rather awesome violent crash. Somehow that doesn't like, nearly kill her, as she hits Vee in the chest and chokes him out for an elimination to get us down to one on one.
Kagura misses a charge into the pod though and bangs up her knee, allowing Ryder to hit a semi-wicked clothesline for two. Since Kagura is Japanese we get some red mist but Ryder grabs a Blue Thunder Bomb anyway. Kagura is up before one (because she's indestructible) and grabs that choke again.
Since he's in big trouble and losing oxygen, Ryder is suddenly smart enough to grab the chain from earlier (well done) and blasts Kagura in the knee to break things up. Kagura's victory roll gets two and Ryder takes her head off with a clothesline. The chain comes back into play as Ryder has to take it away from her, allowing him to wrap it around Kagura's head for a headlock driver (freaking ow man!), drawing blood (five for five) and the pin to become King for a Day. Well maybe Prince for a Day because it's just the midcard title shot.
Rating: B-. This was a hard one to grade as it felt like a long Kagura vs. Ryder match with the other four just kind of there. That being said, this was well put together with the chain being a nice story piece throughout and coming in to play at the end. Aside from Chekhov's Chain, there were some creative spots in here that worked far better than I was expecting. Well done here as the Chamber continues to be a highlight of these shows.
S.H.I.T. vs. Barbosa
Old rivals here and billed as Monster's Ball, though I'm not sure if that's just a title or an actual stipulation. Given that S.H.I.T. pushes out a bunch of weapons, I think I should stop asking questions before seeing the entrances. Thankfully S.H.I.T. throws in A TON of weapons instead of the usual two or so. If you're going hardcore, go hardcore. Barbosa comes out to Can't Get You Out Of My Head because Kylie Minogue ripped off 3 Count's FAR better Can't Get You Out Of My Heart.
Actually scratch that (not the 3 Count part because they are forever) because there's no Barbosa. S.H.I.T. threatens fans until Barbosa is here....in a Sex and the City shirt? Did I miss something here? Well yeah I probably did as I only check out a single show a year from this promotion but a bit of an explanation might be nice. S.H.I.T. is tired of waiting and hits Barbosa in the face with a chair (dang it people enough with the attacks before the bell already) to get things started.
More chair shots just tick Barbosa off so he gets in a shot to the ribs of his own before going backstage. Maybe to find a Sopranos shirt instead? Like, for my sake? Even though I've only seen the first season? Walter (my new name for S.H.I.T. because I'm tired of typing all those periods) follows him backstage and gets blasted in the head with the chair. Barbosa gets in some more shots and takes it over to the production truck for a powerbomb against the wall.
Another shot to the back has Walter in trouble and they head into the truck where the production team is cowering in the corner (that made me chuckle for some reason). Walter is sent into some of the equipment and unfortunately the feed doesn't cut to an I Love Lucy marathon. Some headbutts have Barbosa in trouble and he gets thrown through some equipment for the required sparks.
They head outside with Walter ramming an anvil case into Barbosa's face. Somehow this doesn't knock him out cold as Barbosa gets in some knees to the ribs and they head back into the arena. Walter uppercuts him backwards and kicks Barbosa into the audio area because we haven't blown up enough stuff yet. A control board is ripped apart but since this is wrestling, nothing goes off the air or explodes.
Barbosa ducks and chokes with a cord before being thrown into the control panel, sending off a bunch of pyro (ignore the pyro guy setting those up because the area they're in isn't connected to anything because THAT WOULD BE REALLY FREAKING STUPID). They ram into the controls again....and the Chamber comes back down (ok that's actually a cool idea). Naturally the referee can't stop the thing because...uh....computers, and they all head inside for that big pile of weapons. Do they even have room to walk around in there?
Walter gets in some kendo stick shots to take over before wrapping the baseball bat up with barbed wire. Oh this could be fun. Barbosa pulls up a sign to use as a shield (smart) and eventually hits Walter in the face to make him drop the bat. Now it's Barbosa with the bat which he drives into Walter's ribs (or whatever he has), followed by a suplex onto the wire for two.
To really make this violent, Barbosa PULLS THE BARBED WIRE BAT OUT OF WALTER'S BACK. With Walter likely dead, Barbosa sets up a table. After nearly murdering the other guy, just a table isn't going to work chum. That's why Barbosa sets up two more (two on the bottom and one on top) and gets some lighter fluid but stops and looks at Walter instead. Smart to do that. Walter crawls out to the Chamber floor for a break (this can't end well) and now it's time for glass.
Neither of them can suplex the other through it though so Walter chops him in the head. After cracking the trashcan lids around Barbosa's head like cymbals (I've always found that funny for some reason), Walter puts him on the cart and drives everything into the glass door for the huge crash. Barbosa is of course busted open (see, this works after all the carnage instead of having the blood in the first thirty seconds) but says he wants to keep going.
That's not cool with Walter as he pours out the lighter fluid, only to have the Chamber rise up. I'm hoping Barbosa gets out of the broken pod before he goes flying through the air. Actually he doesn't at first until the Chamber stops, a good ten feet above the mat. Ever the bloodthirsty one, Walter grabs a ladder (again, this match is smart) and climbs up, only to get blasted in the face with some boots and a big piece of glass.
That means an oil leak (ok is he a robot or a person?) so Barbosa whips out a cheese grater and starts mutilating (one of my all time favorite lines). To continue the ECW lines, why don't we just light it on fire? Barbosa finds some matches and throws them on the tables but he can't piledrive Walter through the fire. I would use a line about murder laws but I think we've already covered that.
Walter grabs the cheese grater and blasts Barbosa in the head for the break because we haven't had enough blood here yet. Tired of all the violence, Walter TIGER DRIVES BARBOSA OUT OF THE HANGING CHAMBER AND THROUGH THE FIRE. Gasps are heard, extinguishers are used and thankfully Barbosa is pinned.
Rating: A. WOW. I mean......yeah. This was one of the most well thought out matches from start to finish that I've seen in a long time. You could see the effort being put into this and it made for a match where I wanted to see the ending. There's something to be said about total violence and carnage like this and it worked as well as anything I've seen in WZCW, save for another match involving an Elimination Chamber. Really good stuff here and I needed a breath after it was over. That's hard to do in regular wrestling, let alone here.
Titus is leaving but stops to mock the interviewer. This might sound like a waste of time, but Titus just happens to have a newly designed EurAsian Title to show off. Owner Mr. Banks (subtle) comes in and says there will be new designs to come.
Noah Ryder doesn't understand the King For a Day rules so the good looking interviewer explains the history of the briefcase. That's uh....rather unnecessary actually. Ryder completes the history and forgets his case. I get the idea of the character but this wasn't funny.
Banks comes out to unveil the rest of the titles, which works as well as anything else would to fill in all the time it's going to take to clean things up. The Elite X Title is now the Elite Openweight Title (not a fan of the name change) but the new World Title looks good. For some reason the Tag Team Titles go on last, which really shouldn't be the case. Apparently they were unveiled earlier, but that doesn't mean they should go after the World Title.
Tag Team Titles: Men of Mayhem vs. Phantoms of Chaos vs. Children of the Damned vs. Bearded Ants
Men of Mayhem are Logan McCallister/Armando Paradyse, Phantoms of Chaos are Ty Burna/El Califa Dragon (hey....), Children of the Damned are John Doe/Fallout, Bearded Ants are ElegAnt/Beard and I'm never going to remember these team names. This is under elimination rules and the titles are vacant coming in.
Mabel and Mo (Easier to remember than the other M.O.M. There's a good chance you won't get this reference.) try some weapony violence to start (you guys are a bit late for that) but it turns into a huge brawl as you might expect. The Phantoms get beaten down until the Bearded Ants make the save, eventually getting us down to Beard vs. Ty. Burna starts fast with right hands but runs into a knee to the ribs.
A DDT puts Beard down (on his beard) and it's off to Califa vs. Ant, the latter of whom is nice enough to let us have a fair fight. Things speed up again with Dragon grabbing a rollup for two, only to walk into a jumping knee to the face. Ant tries a Lionsault but Logan tags himself in, followed by Califa getting his knees up to make things even worse. Logan comes in and easily destroys both guys with power stuff. As is almost always the case: power vs. speed works as well as anything else in wrestling.
It's off to Armando for a dragon sleeper but since Armando is kind of a failure, Califa counters into a curbstomp. I have no idea how you would counter a dragon sleeper into a curb stomp but I guess it's a luchador power. Logan is smart enough to break up the hot tag but falls to the floor, meaning there's no partner for either to tag. Instead they settle for Beard and Fallout to give us a power brawl.
A quick kick to the face drops Fallout and draws in Ant and Doe just in case this was a regular match for any stretch of time. Califa dives through the ropes to drive Logan into the announcers' table and Beard gets two off a Cross Rhodes to Doe (again, not a move a guy his size should be using). Back up and Fallout avoids a Beard flying headbutt while Ant gets crotched on top, allowing Fallout to grab him for a super fisherman's driver for the pin. Well good as Ant is probably dead.
Ty gets back in but eats an ax kick, allowing Fallout to blast him with an ax kick. Something like a 3D is broken up (you knew Armando couldn't pull that off) and it's Califa coming back in to clean house. Everything stays broken down and two knees to Armando's chest are good enough for the pin to get us down to two on two. We're down to Ty/Califa vs. Fallout/Doe with Fallout hammering Califa into the corner to start.
Ty makes a quick save but turns into a Shining Wizard for two. A double big boot of all things gets a double cover for two each as this needs to wrap up. Fallout finally gets smart and goes after Ty's women (yeah he has two of them here in case I didn't mention that, which I know I didn't but it sounds better this way), laying one of them out on the floor. With Ty freaking out, Fallout tells him to lay down or the other chick gets it. Ty has no choice (well yeah he kind of did actually) and gets caught in a triangle choke for the quick tap to give Fallout and Doe the titles.
Rating: D+. I really wasn't feeling this one as the whole thing was a big mess. The ending came out of nowhere and felt like it was missing five minutes. That being said, I was wanting the match to wrap up by that point as it felt like they just threw four random pairings together and hoped for the best. I wasn't liking this one and it was the weakest of the show so far.
All three members of Cerberus are ready. This match had to happen at Kingdom Come and hopefully has been built up really well.
Elite Openweight Title: Eve Taylor vs. Ramparte vs. Flex Mussel
Eve is defending and this is the fallout from Cerberus breaking up. We get the big triple staredown to start and it's Eve getting double teamed (not a word from any of you) to start. That leaves the guys alone to slug it out, giving us the required YES/NO chants. The yes's have it here though as Flex takes over, only to get cracked by a Taylor chair shot. A brainbuster (former friend Aubrey's Sloan's finisher) onto the chair (impressive for someone her size) drops Flex again before turning to Ramparte, who seems pleased with this idea.
That's fine with Eve who drops him with some knees to the head and a hurricanrana (that sounds like more her speed), only to get taken down by a chair shot from Flex. Ramparte gets one as well but Flex covers Eve for two instead. Odd strategy but maybe the muscles went to his head. Off to a quickly broken half crab from Flex as Ramparte gets up and kicks Mussel in the chest.
Ramparte is smart enough to stay on Eve and Rock Bottoms her through a chair (freaking ow man) for two. That's quite the high spot this early in the match. Flex wants to get even more violent by bringing in a weight that he brought to the ring. Eve stares him down and tries to grab it away (which really shouldn't be a contest), causing the weight to fly into Ramparte's face. That means blood (in every match so far I believe) and a downed Ramparte so Flex tries to put the weight into Eve's face as well.
Ever the nice guy though, Flex drops the weight as he's about to bust Eve open and covers Ramparte for two instead. That was rather odd. Flex can't give her a torture rack either so she finally hits him in the face with the weight to put all three down. It's Flex up first with a double powerbomb to both of them but AGAIN he doesn't cover and goes to mess with the weight. Thankfully Eve kicks him face first into the weight to bust him open as well, only to take too long looking at him, allowing Ramparte to Pedigree her down.
For no logical reason whatsoever, Ramparte pulls her up at two and goes outside to grab a mic. Ramparte yells about Eve using the other members of Cerberus and Sloan to advance her own career. This goes on way too long until Eve crawls over and kisses him before pulling Ramparte down into a Koji clutch. Eve says she did everything Ramparte accused her of until he taps out to retain the title.
Rating: D. This one missed pretty badly for me. Between the quick match and the total lack of logic at times, I really couldn't get into it. I was expecting something big and impressive from these three and it felt more like a short TV match and angle rather than something I really wanted to watch. It's not really a bad match but this felt like something that was leading to something else rather than something big on its own, which is what the big blowoff match like this should have been.
Post match they all embrace in respect. I'm not really feeling this but I've never been a big Cerberus fan.
The announcers talk about Constantine vs. Showtime David Cougar for a bit. Well it's different than just having a long video that misses a lot of points. The basic idea here is they were both in the Elite (not exactly Adam Revolver and Ted the Trailer McNaler but close enough) and then split, setting up this final showdown.
David Cougar vs. Constantine
We get the big entrances and this feels like a huge deal already. They stare each other down to start until Constantine punches him square in the jaw to get us going. David comes back at him and eats a clothesline but Constantine still stands in place instead of following up. Interesting strategy. With nothing else working, Cougar starts posing on the ropes before heading outside and high fiving the fans.
Constantine doesn't seem pleased as Cougar poses on the announcers' table to kill even more time. It's finally too long for Constantine as he goes after David, only to get kicked in the face. I can dig some psychology. Constantine drives him into the apron though and takes over again (I guess?) but is quickly whipped hard into the timekeeper's area. David dropkicks him in the face and stomps away to really take over for the first time, much to the crowd's delight.
Nearly twenty stomps are finally enough for David before he throws Constantine back inside for one. Four straight legdrops get another near fall before we hit an armbar on Constantine. That doesn't go far as Constanting rips the skin off David's chest with a chop, only to get pulled back into the armbar. With nothing else working, Constantine bites the hand to break the hold. Cougar's hand is bleeding (check) and Constantine has to spit some skin out of his mouth. That's a new one.
Back up and Constantine bites the hand again to draw more blood. Cougar tries a chop with the bloody hand and hurts himself in the process. It could be because THAT WAS REALLY STUPID. Now it's time for Constantine to stomp away in the corner for a near fall of his own as the referee seems to be getting annoyed at some of the rule breaking. A nice delayed vertical suplex gets another near fall and frustration is setting in for Constantine.
With nothing else working, Constantine tries a sleeper, making sure to go after the bad hand in the process. It's only good for two arm drops though as Cougar elbows his way to freedom, only to charge into a side slam. Constantine stomps on the hand even more and drives a knee into the ribs to keep David in trouble. A fall away slam (fall away slam) is countered into a crucifix for two (nice counter) on Constantine, allowing David to drop him with a discus lariat.
Back up again and Cougar starts his real comeback with elbows and chops, capped off by a big Side Effect for two. Cougar takes too long going up though and gets crotched. Constantine goes up as well and this could go badly for David but he chops the injured chest as well to get a breather. The Final Act from the top is broken up though as Constantine shoves him backwards, only to get armdragged off the top. An armdrag in that spot? Really? Cougar can't get a Texas cloverleaf and gets kicked off the ropes, right into a nice Anderson drop for two.
That's countered as well but Cougar can't get a reverse DDT, instead having to settle for taking Constantine down and getting the cloverleaf. Constantine is close enough to the ropes that David has to break though and almost immediately grabs a cloverleaf of his own. Another rope is quickly grabbed so Constantine tries some backbreakers into a fall away slam.
The Isolation sends Cougar outside though (dare I say, into isolation?) and Constantine if frustrated. He finally gets Cougar on the apron but takes too long, allowing David to score with another dropkick. Back up and they both head to the top as again this can't end well. Constantine elbows him hard in the face to break up a C4 and grabs a HUGE super Angle Slam to knock Cougar senseless. David is DONE and a big spinebuster just caps things off as Constantine finally pins Cougar's unconscious body.
Rating: A-. I liked this one a lot as well as it felt like a main event match instead of rushing through it as is so often done on these shows. This was a main event level showdown and the only thing missing was a call back to the hand for the finish. The hand and chest injuries were a good back and forth story for the match and the whole thing worked quite well. Good stuff here.
Cougar is helped to the back.
Date: November 23, 2015
Location: Olympic Stadium, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Commentators: Sebastian Copeland, Catherine Conner, Jack Cohen
Yes I'm doing this again and I have no real idea why. So this time they're in Montreal, meaning I'm not likely to understand most of the chants. The big main event this year is actually a good idea with the hero Theron Daggershield vs. the evil Dr. Zeus in something like a fantasy version of Batman vs. the Joker. As usual I have a limited idea of what to expect here and I didn't read a preview or see any of the promos coming in. Let's get to it.
We open with a moment of silence for the victims of the attacks in Paris. Nice touch.
The opening video has the same theme it always does: one line of a speech and a clip of each match. Not a bad idea but I could go for something fresh.
The poster is of course awesome, as it always is around here.
Apparently there's an Elimination Chamber, a hardcore match and a last man standing match. You think you might be overdoing it with the gimmicks a bit there people?
EurAsian Title: Titus vs. Johnny Scumm
So we have.......holy flying buses on shore leave there's a tale of the tape! Well a recap called a tale of the tape but close enough. I've been wanting these things for years now and they're FINALLY here. It's about time already. Anyway Scumm is defending against a rapidly heel turning Titus, a legend who is going after the one title he's never won. Naturally that means Titus comes out second for reasons I'll never understand. I know this is becoming more and more common in recent years but the champion should come out second. Period.
After Scumm dances to the ring and grinds on the referee (why did he even bother showing up if this is the best he can come up with?), Titus does a cool red carpet entrance, thankfully minus the Melina splits entrance. Before the bell, Titus punches Scumm low but pulls him up at two. I'm hoping that comes back to haunt him but for some reason I really don't see that happening.
More big right hands and a spinwheel kick have Scumm almost out cold. A low blow and some punches put a champion out? Really? An elbow to the face busts Johnny open and Titus just unloads on him until the referee pulls him off Scumm. More punches have Scumm reeling but he fires off a few of his own, only to get crotched on top for his efforts. A top rope Tit Drop (so funny) knocks Scumm out cold and the referee finally stops it, giving Titus the title. Too short to rate but a total squash. I'm not sure why they started the show with this though as the fans are now ticked off and it's not exactly a good way to get things going.
Post match Titus beats up the medical crew taking care of Scumm. Johnny is wheeled up to the stage where Titus picks up both Scumm and the stretcher to throw onto the sound equipment. That's quite the power display from someone 6'2 and 225lbs.
James Howard vs. Veejay
Howard is a ticked off jerk who attacked Veejay before a recent show and this is about revenge. Veejay, accompanied by a good looking woman named Saffron, comes out to Ladies and Gentlemen, which already makes me like him a little bit more. Howard has a long crowbar, which I think makes it stop being a crowbar.
James gets in a cheap shot before the bell to make it two for two tonight. We hit an MMA style as Veejay gets taken down and pummeled, which really shouldn't be a problem. I mean, on WZCW.com it says that he can adapt to an MMA offense so he shouldn't be in trouble like this. Veejay lives up to his profile and comes back with strikes of his own, including an elbow drawing blood from Howard (two out of two as well).
Back up and Veejay wraps him up in a twisting leg lock, setting up even more hard shots to Howard's head. More elbows, including a middle rope variety, get two for Veejay and a knee drop (hitting only the mat as a bad camera edit shows) gets the same. Back up and Veejay misses an enziguri (You can't do an enziguri when you're on offense dude. It just doesn't work.), setting up a German from Howard.
That means more stomping, followed by a Cactus Clothesline to put both of them on the floor for a crash that should have been bigger. Veejay is sent into various metal objects with a shot to the steps drawing blood. Howard licks it off his hands, possibly to replenish some of the blood he lost earlier. After a quick break of the count (points for that), Howard posts him hard and goes after the cut. Like any nitwit girlfriend, Saffron begs for mercy from the psycho, causing Howard to grab her by the hair.
Veejay tries to get up but walks into a big spinwheel kick to knock him into Saffron. He might have known this was coming had he ever watched a match before. It's only good for a nine count though and that means it's time to yell at the referee. The distraction lets Veejay grab a Bubba bomb, followed by a running boot to the head. Well when all else fails, kicking the other guy in the head is usually a good tactic.
A DDT gets two on Howard but he counters a TKO (love that move) into one of his own (ok that's gimmick infringement). James grabs an Anaconda Vice and it's time to roll around on the mat expending energy, because that always works so well. Veejay gets to the ropes for the break and kicks Howard away, meaning we get a ref bump. It wouldn't be a big show without one. Saffron decides that she needs to do something else and tries to hit Howard with the crowbar, only to knock Veejay silly by mistake. Another Vice gives Howard the knockout win.
Rating: C+. Pretty solid brawl here with both guys hitting each other hard enough for a few minutes. The Saffron stuff made for a good little story and Howard came off looking like a villain. Veejay.....not so much. He felt like a guy who happened to be from India which makes him more like Alberto Del Rio, which isn't a good thing.
Abel Hunnicut vs. Garth Black
Heel vs. heel and not much of a story here as Garth was attacked at Ascension 100 to set this up. They start brawling on the floor before the bell (three for three) and it's on fast. Black elbows him out to the floor and we've already got blood (three for three) from Hunnicut's mouth. Abel takes his time getting back in so Garth takes him down again with a nice plancha. That means it's time for some stomping as you can see how aggressive Black really is.
Like any villain does though, Black takes too long listening to the crowd and gets kicked in the face as he heads back inside. A middle rope elbow gets two for Abel and we hit an abdominal stretch for the psychology portion. Abel starts slapping the ribs to add some pizazz, meaning we've found our Big E. We get the obvious hiptoss counter (is there another counter?) and Garth snaps off a Russian legsweep, only to run into a big sidewalk slam to put both guys down.
Back up again and Abel loads up another abdominal stretch (as we warp back to 1956) but gets suplexed down for a nice counter. Hunnicut misses a splash in the corner and it's time for some right hands as Black is taking to this face role quite easily. A monkey flip gets two (probably because it's a monkey flip) and the kickout surprises the fans, even though IT WAS A MONKEY FLIP.
Black is smart enough to try an actual finisher with a GTS but the ribs act up (despite the match seeming to be about six minutes old at this point), allowing Hunnicut to grab a tombstone for a really close two. With Abel stunned (by that devastating monkey flip I'm sure), cue Steven Holmes to shout some encouragement. A camel clutch is countered into a rollup to give Garth two, followed by the GTS out of nowhere (party on Garth) for the pin.
Rating: C. The match had an idea going for it with Black's ribs getting worked over but it felt like it was only about eight minutes long with a fifteen minute story packed in. Hunnicut is interesting and feels like an old power guy with the slow offense and rib work while Garth.....really doesn't feel like a heel. Maybe it's because he was the clear face in the match and the promos suggest otherwise but I had to keep going back and making sure that he was a heel for this to really add up.
King For a Day: Gino Galluci vs. Vee A.D.Z. vs. Kagura Daikonran vs. Cassanova vs. Kendrick Xavier vs. Noah Ryder
This is an Elimination Chamber match with the winner getting a shot at either midcard title at any time for a year. Well at least it's not the exact same thing as Money in the Bank. Unfortunately there's no tale of the tape here, likely because everyone in this was thrown together for the sake of having nothing else to do on the card.
Xavier and Ryder get things going with Xavier jawing with Cassanova for no apparent reason, allowing Ryder to get in a cheap shot from behind and score a very fast pin for the elimination. Well that's one less name I have to remember at least, though now we get to stand around for five minutes with nothing to do like at December to Dismember.
Thankfully Cassanova comes in anyway and they reset the clock because they're not stupid like whoever ran an ECW pay per view in 2006. Cassanova ripped a chain off the pod to swing at Ryder but only hurt his own hand when he punched a wall. You would think a book enthusiast would be a big smarter than that. At least he's smart enough to snap off a hurricanrana to send Ryder into the cage and it's time for a bunch of strikes because people think wrestling is MMA these days. A quick Sling Blade drops Cassanova and the fastest five minutes I can remember in years wraps up, bringing in Vee as the fourth entrant.
Vee springboards in with a cross body before suplexing Cassanova onto Ryder for two in a cool spot. A spinwheel kick drops Cassanova again so Ryder grabs a lockup to slow things down. You don't see that too often but it works well enough. We hit a wristlock from Ryder until Vee kicks him in the face to escape. When all else fails, kick the guy in the head. A quick DDT looks to set up something from the top but Cassanova crotches Vee and takes him down with a super reverse X Factor (that's a new one). Everyone is down again as Gino comes in fifth.
Gino goes for some covers which never work in this situation before flapjacking Noah for two. Dat Finisher Dough (I'm going to hurt whoever came up with that name) is broken up so Gino settles for a Thesz press. I'm assuming Vee and Cassanova are off watching a filmstrip on Feng Shui or something as Gino hammers away on Ryder. Cassanova comes back (now with a better understanding of Chinese culture) and punches Gino in the face with a fist wrapped in chain for two. That's not a great chain.
Instead of HITTING HIM AGAIN (why does that never happen?), Cassanova decides to choke Gino with the chain as long as he can without getting hit with a murder charge. He heads up top for something but gets kicked in the face by Vee (who must have had to ask the teacher for clarification on something in the filmstrip).
That means it's time for the required climb to the top of the pod, only to have Ryder run up and headlock drive Cassanova down so Gino can score the pin to get rid of the book lover. You uncultured swine. Vee dives off the pod with a shooting star legdrop (likely breaking his tailbone in the process) to eliminate Gino and score some revenge for the bibliophiles everywhere. Kagura comes in a few seconds later to give us a final grouping of Kagura, Ryder and Vee.
Kagura goes after Ryder first and actually uses the Chamber to tie him up in the steel. Some hard knees to the ribs and jaw have Ryder in trouble but Vee CRUSHES KAGURA'S FACE AGAINST THE CAGE with a dropkick in a rather awesome violent crash. Somehow that doesn't like, nearly kill her, as she hits Vee in the chest and chokes him out for an elimination to get us down to one on one.
Kagura misses a charge into the pod though and bangs up her knee, allowing Ryder to hit a semi-wicked clothesline for two. Since Kagura is Japanese we get some red mist but Ryder grabs a Blue Thunder Bomb anyway. Kagura is up before one (because she's indestructible) and grabs that choke again.
Since he's in big trouble and losing oxygen, Ryder is suddenly smart enough to grab the chain from earlier (well done) and blasts Kagura in the knee to break things up. Kagura's victory roll gets two and Ryder takes her head off with a clothesline. The chain comes back into play as Ryder has to take it away from her, allowing him to wrap it around Kagura's head for a headlock driver (freaking ow man!), drawing blood (five for five) and the pin to become King for a Day. Well maybe Prince for a Day because it's just the midcard title shot.
Rating: B-. This was a hard one to grade as it felt like a long Kagura vs. Ryder match with the other four just kind of there. That being said, this was well put together with the chain being a nice story piece throughout and coming in to play at the end. Aside from Chekhov's Chain, there were some creative spots in here that worked far better than I was expecting. Well done here as the Chamber continues to be a highlight of these shows.
S.H.I.T. vs. Barbosa
Old rivals here and billed as Monster's Ball, though I'm not sure if that's just a title or an actual stipulation. Given that S.H.I.T. pushes out a bunch of weapons, I think I should stop asking questions before seeing the entrances. Thankfully S.H.I.T. throws in A TON of weapons instead of the usual two or so. If you're going hardcore, go hardcore. Barbosa comes out to Can't Get You Out Of My Head because Kylie Minogue ripped off 3 Count's FAR better Can't Get You Out Of My Heart.
Actually scratch that (not the 3 Count part because they are forever) because there's no Barbosa. S.H.I.T. threatens fans until Barbosa is here....in a Sex and the City shirt? Did I miss something here? Well yeah I probably did as I only check out a single show a year from this promotion but a bit of an explanation might be nice. S.H.I.T. is tired of waiting and hits Barbosa in the face with a chair (dang it people enough with the attacks before the bell already) to get things started.
More chair shots just tick Barbosa off so he gets in a shot to the ribs of his own before going backstage. Maybe to find a Sopranos shirt instead? Like, for my sake? Even though I've only seen the first season? Walter (my new name for S.H.I.T. because I'm tired of typing all those periods) follows him backstage and gets blasted in the head with the chair. Barbosa gets in some more shots and takes it over to the production truck for a powerbomb against the wall.
Another shot to the back has Walter in trouble and they head into the truck where the production team is cowering in the corner (that made me chuckle for some reason). Walter is sent into some of the equipment and unfortunately the feed doesn't cut to an I Love Lucy marathon. Some headbutts have Barbosa in trouble and he gets thrown through some equipment for the required sparks.
They head outside with Walter ramming an anvil case into Barbosa's face. Somehow this doesn't knock him out cold as Barbosa gets in some knees to the ribs and they head back into the arena. Walter uppercuts him backwards and kicks Barbosa into the audio area because we haven't blown up enough stuff yet. A control board is ripped apart but since this is wrestling, nothing goes off the air or explodes.
Barbosa ducks and chokes with a cord before being thrown into the control panel, sending off a bunch of pyro (ignore the pyro guy setting those up because the area they're in isn't connected to anything because THAT WOULD BE REALLY FREAKING STUPID). They ram into the controls again....and the Chamber comes back down (ok that's actually a cool idea). Naturally the referee can't stop the thing because...uh....computers, and they all head inside for that big pile of weapons. Do they even have room to walk around in there?
Walter gets in some kendo stick shots to take over before wrapping the baseball bat up with barbed wire. Oh this could be fun. Barbosa pulls up a sign to use as a shield (smart) and eventually hits Walter in the face to make him drop the bat. Now it's Barbosa with the bat which he drives into Walter's ribs (or whatever he has), followed by a suplex onto the wire for two.
To really make this violent, Barbosa PULLS THE BARBED WIRE BAT OUT OF WALTER'S BACK. With Walter likely dead, Barbosa sets up a table. After nearly murdering the other guy, just a table isn't going to work chum. That's why Barbosa sets up two more (two on the bottom and one on top) and gets some lighter fluid but stops and looks at Walter instead. Smart to do that. Walter crawls out to the Chamber floor for a break (this can't end well) and now it's time for glass.
Neither of them can suplex the other through it though so Walter chops him in the head. After cracking the trashcan lids around Barbosa's head like cymbals (I've always found that funny for some reason), Walter puts him on the cart and drives everything into the glass door for the huge crash. Barbosa is of course busted open (see, this works after all the carnage instead of having the blood in the first thirty seconds) but says he wants to keep going.
That's not cool with Walter as he pours out the lighter fluid, only to have the Chamber rise up. I'm hoping Barbosa gets out of the broken pod before he goes flying through the air. Actually he doesn't at first until the Chamber stops, a good ten feet above the mat. Ever the bloodthirsty one, Walter grabs a ladder (again, this match is smart) and climbs up, only to get blasted in the face with some boots and a big piece of glass.
That means an oil leak (ok is he a robot or a person?) so Barbosa whips out a cheese grater and starts mutilating (one of my all time favorite lines). To continue the ECW lines, why don't we just light it on fire? Barbosa finds some matches and throws them on the tables but he can't piledrive Walter through the fire. I would use a line about murder laws but I think we've already covered that.
Walter grabs the cheese grater and blasts Barbosa in the head for the break because we haven't had enough blood here yet. Tired of all the violence, Walter TIGER DRIVES BARBOSA OUT OF THE HANGING CHAMBER AND THROUGH THE FIRE. Gasps are heard, extinguishers are used and thankfully Barbosa is pinned.
Rating: A. WOW. I mean......yeah. This was one of the most well thought out matches from start to finish that I've seen in a long time. You could see the effort being put into this and it made for a match where I wanted to see the ending. There's something to be said about total violence and carnage like this and it worked as well as anything I've seen in WZCW, save for another match involving an Elimination Chamber. Really good stuff here and I needed a breath after it was over. That's hard to do in regular wrestling, let alone here.
Titus is leaving but stops to mock the interviewer. This might sound like a waste of time, but Titus just happens to have a newly designed EurAsian Title to show off. Owner Mr. Banks (subtle) comes in and says there will be new designs to come.
Noah Ryder doesn't understand the King For a Day rules so the good looking interviewer explains the history of the briefcase. That's uh....rather unnecessary actually. Ryder completes the history and forgets his case. I get the idea of the character but this wasn't funny.
Banks comes out to unveil the rest of the titles, which works as well as anything else would to fill in all the time it's going to take to clean things up. The Elite X Title is now the Elite Openweight Title (not a fan of the name change) but the new World Title looks good. For some reason the Tag Team Titles go on last, which really shouldn't be the case. Apparently they were unveiled earlier, but that doesn't mean they should go after the World Title.
Tag Team Titles: Men of Mayhem vs. Phantoms of Chaos vs. Children of the Damned vs. Bearded Ants
Men of Mayhem are Logan McCallister/Armando Paradyse, Phantoms of Chaos are Ty Burna/El Califa Dragon (hey....), Children of the Damned are John Doe/Fallout, Bearded Ants are ElegAnt/Beard and I'm never going to remember these team names. This is under elimination rules and the titles are vacant coming in.
Mabel and Mo (Easier to remember than the other M.O.M. There's a good chance you won't get this reference.) try some weapony violence to start (you guys are a bit late for that) but it turns into a huge brawl as you might expect. The Phantoms get beaten down until the Bearded Ants make the save, eventually getting us down to Beard vs. Ty. Burna starts fast with right hands but runs into a knee to the ribs.
A DDT puts Beard down (on his beard) and it's off to Califa vs. Ant, the latter of whom is nice enough to let us have a fair fight. Things speed up again with Dragon grabbing a rollup for two, only to walk into a jumping knee to the face. Ant tries a Lionsault but Logan tags himself in, followed by Califa getting his knees up to make things even worse. Logan comes in and easily destroys both guys with power stuff. As is almost always the case: power vs. speed works as well as anything else in wrestling.
It's off to Armando for a dragon sleeper but since Armando is kind of a failure, Califa counters into a curbstomp. I have no idea how you would counter a dragon sleeper into a curb stomp but I guess it's a luchador power. Logan is smart enough to break up the hot tag but falls to the floor, meaning there's no partner for either to tag. Instead they settle for Beard and Fallout to give us a power brawl.
A quick kick to the face drops Fallout and draws in Ant and Doe just in case this was a regular match for any stretch of time. Califa dives through the ropes to drive Logan into the announcers' table and Beard gets two off a Cross Rhodes to Doe (again, not a move a guy his size should be using). Back up and Fallout avoids a Beard flying headbutt while Ant gets crotched on top, allowing Fallout to grab him for a super fisherman's driver for the pin. Well good as Ant is probably dead.
Ty gets back in but eats an ax kick, allowing Fallout to blast him with an ax kick. Something like a 3D is broken up (you knew Armando couldn't pull that off) and it's Califa coming back in to clean house. Everything stays broken down and two knees to Armando's chest are good enough for the pin to get us down to two on two. We're down to Ty/Califa vs. Fallout/Doe with Fallout hammering Califa into the corner to start.
Ty makes a quick save but turns into a Shining Wizard for two. A double big boot of all things gets a double cover for two each as this needs to wrap up. Fallout finally gets smart and goes after Ty's women (yeah he has two of them here in case I didn't mention that, which I know I didn't but it sounds better this way), laying one of them out on the floor. With Ty freaking out, Fallout tells him to lay down or the other chick gets it. Ty has no choice (well yeah he kind of did actually) and gets caught in a triangle choke for the quick tap to give Fallout and Doe the titles.
Rating: D+. I really wasn't feeling this one as the whole thing was a big mess. The ending came out of nowhere and felt like it was missing five minutes. That being said, I was wanting the match to wrap up by that point as it felt like they just threw four random pairings together and hoped for the best. I wasn't liking this one and it was the weakest of the show so far.
All three members of Cerberus are ready. This match had to happen at Kingdom Come and hopefully has been built up really well.
Elite Openweight Title: Eve Taylor vs. Ramparte vs. Flex Mussel
Eve is defending and this is the fallout from Cerberus breaking up. We get the big triple staredown to start and it's Eve getting double teamed (not a word from any of you) to start. That leaves the guys alone to slug it out, giving us the required YES/NO chants. The yes's have it here though as Flex takes over, only to get cracked by a Taylor chair shot. A brainbuster (former friend Aubrey's Sloan's finisher) onto the chair (impressive for someone her size) drops Flex again before turning to Ramparte, who seems pleased with this idea.
That's fine with Eve who drops him with some knees to the head and a hurricanrana (that sounds like more her speed), only to get taken down by a chair shot from Flex. Ramparte gets one as well but Flex covers Eve for two instead. Odd strategy but maybe the muscles went to his head. Off to a quickly broken half crab from Flex as Ramparte gets up and kicks Mussel in the chest.
Ramparte is smart enough to stay on Eve and Rock Bottoms her through a chair (freaking ow man) for two. That's quite the high spot this early in the match. Flex wants to get even more violent by bringing in a weight that he brought to the ring. Eve stares him down and tries to grab it away (which really shouldn't be a contest), causing the weight to fly into Ramparte's face. That means blood (in every match so far I believe) and a downed Ramparte so Flex tries to put the weight into Eve's face as well.
Ever the nice guy though, Flex drops the weight as he's about to bust Eve open and covers Ramparte for two instead. That was rather odd. Flex can't give her a torture rack either so she finally hits him in the face with the weight to put all three down. It's Flex up first with a double powerbomb to both of them but AGAIN he doesn't cover and goes to mess with the weight. Thankfully Eve kicks him face first into the weight to bust him open as well, only to take too long looking at him, allowing Ramparte to Pedigree her down.
For no logical reason whatsoever, Ramparte pulls her up at two and goes outside to grab a mic. Ramparte yells about Eve using the other members of Cerberus and Sloan to advance her own career. This goes on way too long until Eve crawls over and kisses him before pulling Ramparte down into a Koji clutch. Eve says she did everything Ramparte accused her of until he taps out to retain the title.
Rating: D. This one missed pretty badly for me. Between the quick match and the total lack of logic at times, I really couldn't get into it. I was expecting something big and impressive from these three and it felt more like a short TV match and angle rather than something I really wanted to watch. It's not really a bad match but this felt like something that was leading to something else rather than something big on its own, which is what the big blowoff match like this should have been.
Post match they all embrace in respect. I'm not really feeling this but I've never been a big Cerberus fan.
The announcers talk about Constantine vs. Showtime David Cougar for a bit. Well it's different than just having a long video that misses a lot of points. The basic idea here is they were both in the Elite (not exactly Adam Revolver and Ted the Trailer McNaler but close enough) and then split, setting up this final showdown.
David Cougar vs. Constantine
We get the big entrances and this feels like a huge deal already. They stare each other down to start until Constantine punches him square in the jaw to get us going. David comes back at him and eats a clothesline but Constantine still stands in place instead of following up. Interesting strategy. With nothing else working, Cougar starts posing on the ropes before heading outside and high fiving the fans.
Constantine doesn't seem pleased as Cougar poses on the announcers' table to kill even more time. It's finally too long for Constantine as he goes after David, only to get kicked in the face. I can dig some psychology. Constantine drives him into the apron though and takes over again (I guess?) but is quickly whipped hard into the timekeeper's area. David dropkicks him in the face and stomps away to really take over for the first time, much to the crowd's delight.
Nearly twenty stomps are finally enough for David before he throws Constantine back inside for one. Four straight legdrops get another near fall before we hit an armbar on Constantine. That doesn't go far as Constanting rips the skin off David's chest with a chop, only to get pulled back into the armbar. With nothing else working, Constantine bites the hand to break the hold. Cougar's hand is bleeding (check) and Constantine has to spit some skin out of his mouth. That's a new one.
Back up and Constantine bites the hand again to draw more blood. Cougar tries a chop with the bloody hand and hurts himself in the process. It could be because THAT WAS REALLY STUPID. Now it's time for Constantine to stomp away in the corner for a near fall of his own as the referee seems to be getting annoyed at some of the rule breaking. A nice delayed vertical suplex gets another near fall and frustration is setting in for Constantine.
With nothing else working, Constantine tries a sleeper, making sure to go after the bad hand in the process. It's only good for two arm drops though as Cougar elbows his way to freedom, only to charge into a side slam. Constantine stomps on the hand even more and drives a knee into the ribs to keep David in trouble. A fall away slam (fall away slam) is countered into a crucifix for two (nice counter) on Constantine, allowing David to drop him with a discus lariat.
Back up again and Cougar starts his real comeback with elbows and chops, capped off by a big Side Effect for two. Cougar takes too long going up though and gets crotched. Constantine goes up as well and this could go badly for David but he chops the injured chest as well to get a breather. The Final Act from the top is broken up though as Constantine shoves him backwards, only to get armdragged off the top. An armdrag in that spot? Really? Cougar can't get a Texas cloverleaf and gets kicked off the ropes, right into a nice Anderson drop for two.
That's countered as well but Cougar can't get a reverse DDT, instead having to settle for taking Constantine down and getting the cloverleaf. Constantine is close enough to the ropes that David has to break though and almost immediately grabs a cloverleaf of his own. Another rope is quickly grabbed so Constantine tries some backbreakers into a fall away slam.
The Isolation sends Cougar outside though (dare I say, into isolation?) and Constantine if frustrated. He finally gets Cougar on the apron but takes too long, allowing David to score with another dropkick. Back up and they both head to the top as again this can't end well. Constantine elbows him hard in the face to break up a C4 and grabs a HUGE super Angle Slam to knock Cougar senseless. David is DONE and a big spinebuster just caps things off as Constantine finally pins Cougar's unconscious body.
Rating: A-. I liked this one a lot as well as it felt like a main event match instead of rushing through it as is so often done on these shows. This was a main event level showdown and the only thing missing was a call back to the hand for the finish. The hand and chest injuries were a good back and forth story for the match and the whole thing worked quite well. Good stuff here.
Cougar is helped to the back.
