Indy Power Rankings for the Week of January 12th, 2015

Indy Power Rankings for the Week of January 12^th, 2015

1.   Blake Steel (@BlakeIsOK)-After really getting on a roll in 2014, he struggled down the stretch towards the end of 2014 and missed out on the 2014 IPR 100 entirely. On January 10^th, he sought redemption in the form of the PGP Ryan Buckley Memorial Tournament. It was the first of its kind and Blake Steel came to fight that night. Despite an attack by Ethan Page post-match that injured his left arm, Steel was able to defeat Tommaso Ciampa in the Finals after knocking off Louis Lyndon and then Ethan Page earlier in the night. A 3-0 weekend and the first ever Buckley Memorial Cup winner not only impressed over the weekend, but made it almost impossible for the official voters not to vote for him. We hope to see more big things out of him as 2014 rolls on. Also of note, this was a TIGHT voting race between 1-3. As always, the fan vote MATTERED as while Sugar Dunkerton had more votes than Blake Steel, Blake received just another votes in the fan poll to sneak him ahead of Dunkerton this week in the “total points/votes.” Tied for #5 in the online poll with 27 votes.

 

2.  Sugar Dunkerton (@SugarDunkerton)-In October 2014, we talked to Sugar Dunkerton on IPR Live on Weekly Wrestling Podcast (now under the Elite Podcast umbrella) and we discussed him never being able to be “the guy” in any company he’s worked for. He’s been a key piece and integral part of a card anywhere he goes, but over the weekend, he took the bull by the horns. First, he defeated Chris Hero in what was described as a fantastic match and then he won the Strong Style “Defining Moment” Battle Royal to become the first ever Strong Style Wrestling Champion. Truly a phenomenal weekend for a wrestler who hasn’t gotten nearly enough credit for what he does in and out of the ring. #2 in the online poll with 191 votes.

 

3. Rich Swann (@GottaGetSwann)-Going into WWN Live’s HUGE weekend in Florida, Rich Swann may have been the overlooked man as far as their champions went. Between Johnny Gargano, Rich Swann, and Drew Galloway, many expected Gargano and Galloway to have the better weekend. Swann succeeded a bit more than them in terms of shear match quantity. 3 matches. 3 wins (albeit with one of them being a DQ and one being a 6 Man Tag). A win is a win is a win however as Swann conquered Florida once again over the weekend to jump back into the Top 10. After JUST missing out on the 2014 IPR 100, Swann has some good momentum in the early part of 2015. He came very close to being higher, but the fans didn’t come to his aid this week as he received ZERO fan votes. Again, fan vote matters.

WWE Monday Night Raw Review - January 12th, 2015

WWE Monday Night Raw Review - January 12th, 2015

1) John Cena vs. Seth Rollins - Lumberjack Match
The segment that opened the show and set up this match was pretty decent. It did what it set out to do so I can't complain. As for this match, I really enjoyed it. I honestly liked it even better than their matches on Raw late last year. The counters were brilliant and they brought out the best in each other as we saw Cena break out some stuff we rarely see him use such as a sit out power bomb. The chemistry they have reminds me of the early chemistry we saw between CM Punk and John Cena during their first few TV encounters. Hopefully it continues to develop and we get some classics between Rollins & Cena in the future. The interference near the end caused me to drop my rating a bit as I originally had it at ***3/4. The match these two had on Smackdown in December 2013 has yet to be topped in my opinion, however this one came close. Had there been no interference and it went a bit longer, it very well could have surpassed it. Really good match worth checking out none the less.

Match rating - ***1/2

2) Cesaro & Tyson Kidd vs. Xavier Woods & Kofi Kingston

ROH TV Review - January 10th, 2015

ROH TV Review - January 10th, 2015

1) Mark Briscoe vs. Roderick Strong
I tuned in about half-way through this match so I can't give my thoughts on it as a whole although what I saw was very good. So good that I might try to catch the replay of this week's show so I can watch the entire thing from start to finish. In the few minutes that I did watch, there was a sick move where Mark was hanging from the second rope about to fall to the floor and Roddy grabbed his legs and slung him up in the air and Mark came crashing down on his neck on the apron. Brutal bump! This looked like a great action packed opening bout.

After the match, Roderick Strong gets on the mic and declares his intentions to win the ROH World Title again. That's something I'd be on board for, especially if Roddy is the heel. His work in PWG and Evolve has been superb as of late.

Indy Power Rankings for the Week of January 5th, 2015

 1.  Yuko Miyamoto-What a week for the BJW Death Match Heavyweight Champion (and DOVE World Heavyweight Champion) as he had a time limit draw, teaming with Isami Kodaka vs Kohei Sato and Shuji Ishikawa at BJW on 12/30, then teamed with Kodaka to win the three-organisations tournament, beating KUDO and Yukio Sakaguchi in the first round, Makoto Oishi and Shiori Asahi in the second round, Ryuji Ito and "Kokutenshi" Jaki Numazawa in the semis and then Yuji Hino and Yuji Okabayashi in the final, all on 12/31, then teamed with Ikuto Hidaka, Fujita Hayato and Isami Kodaka on 01/01 to beat KAMIKAZE, Daemon Ueda, Kengo and Voodoo Mask 15 at Zero1 and then beat Kankuro Hoshino at BJW on 01/02 to retain his title; then teamed with Isami Kodaka to beat Heisei Yakuza Duo (Kankuro Hoshino and Masato Inaba) in a ladder and steel cage death match at BJW on 01/04 to go 7-0-1 for the week. Miyamoto proved last week that the international influence has truly taken over the Indy Power Rankings and there may be no going back. Can Miyamoto continue this type of astonishing success (SEVEN wins in one week) for the rest of 2015? Doubtful, but it’s definitely possible for him to continue to win consistently. 

 

2. Jake Crist-1/2 of OI4K (or 1/3 if you prefer) had another great week this week after retaining his Rockstar Pro title TWICE in one week vs. very stiff competition. The multiple federation tag team champion teamed with Chris Hero to defeat Dave Crist and Aron Williams in a Double Jeopardy tag team match to retain his singles title on 12/31 and then defeated Chris Hero to retain the title again on 01/02 to continue his dominance of the Dayton-based promotion. 2 weeks into 2015’s rankings, he is the model of consistency after being absolutely unstoppable in late 2014. He has carried that success into 2015. With challengers lining up at Rockstar Pro and a lot of tag title defenses to come as well, can he keep up this pace? #5 in the online poll with 26 votes.

3. Doug Williams (@DougWilliamsUK)-Here’s a name we have not seen for a while in the IPR Top 10. The ACW German, Scottish Heavyweight, WAW Heavyweight and POW Intercontinental Champion defeated Josh Faulkner in the semis and Zack Sabre Jr in the final of the Worthing Trophy Tournament at Premier Promotions on 12/29 to go 2-0 for the week. With wins in 7 of his last 8 matches, the former TNA star has been crushing Europe in his recent appearances. Grand way to start of 2015 for one of the best in the world. If this week was any indication, you may need to keep an eye on him in 2015 as he looks to shine the bright spot light on himself once again.

TNA Impact Wrestling Review - January 7th, 2015

TNA IMPACT Wrestling Review - January 7th, 2015

After a month or so away from TV, Impact Wrestling returns on a new network with a supposedly revamped product. Destination America seems to really be taking the ball and running with it as far as promoting TNA so heading into tonight's show, I was really interested to see what went down. Would it live up to the hype? Was it a total revamp? Let's find out.

The opening video package was pretty cool. It was WWE level production although it wasn't a carbon copy of something they would do, it was different, which is a good thing in the world of wrestling today.

The show began with a massive brawl that can only be best described as a clusterfuck. It was wild and all however the shotty camera angles and bad lighting took away from it for me. I've seen this type of thing from TNA before so I wasn't really impressed. Maybe it took some new fans by surprise and got them pumped, but it didn't do much for me as I was just anxiously waiting on Kurt Angle's music to hit.

Thankfully his music did hit and he came out to cut a great promo. Angle is a really underrated mic worker, he's always been one of the most intense guys around. He makes some announcements until he's interrupted by MVP, another underrated mic worker. This leads to a match between the two that Angle says will be a Street Fight. Hot start to the show, the crowd is on fire.

1) Kurt Angle vs. MVP - Street Fight

The 80 Elite Wrestlers of 2014

I've already released Year in Reviews for WWE, TNA, the Indies, & New Japan Pro Wrestling however I've yet to release a list that encompasses the entire world of Pro Wrestling. Until now, that is. This is the first ever Pro Wrestling Truth "Elite 80" list. It pretty much speaks for itself as it is a list of the Top 80 Wrestlers in the World in 2014. I'm planning to make this a yearly thing if all goes well so be sure to tweet me your thoughts after checking it out.

1) Shinsuke Nakamura - Delivered consistently amazing performances throughout the entire year. Made the IWGP Intercontinental Title feel just as important as the IWGP Heavyweight Title. Held the IC Title on three different occasions throughout the year and closed out the year with the title around his waist. Best overall performer in the world today.

2) Ricochet - Dominated every promotion he stepped foot in. Won New Japan's Best of Super Juniors Tournament by defeating Rysuke Tagachi in the semi-finals and KUSHIDA in the finals. Won PWG's Battle of Los Angeles by defeating Chris Sabin, TJ Perkins, Kenny Omega, Johnny Gargano, & Roderick Strong. Ended Johnny Gargano's record breaking reign as Open The Freedom Gate Champion.

3) AJ Styles - Began the year as TNA World Champion. Returned to the Indies & New Japan in 2014 and went on a hot streak immediately. Defeated Kazuchika Okada to become the IWGP Heavyweight Champion. Had a classic match with Minoru Suzuki at the 2014 G1 Climax Tournament. 2014 was Styles' best year in quite some time.

4) Brock Lesnar - Broke The Undertaker's streak at WrestleMania 30. Destroyed John Cena for the WWE Championship on two separate occassions. Closing out the year as one of the most dominant champions in WWE history.

5) Kazuchika Okada - The Rainmaker solidified his spot as the future of New Japan this year by winning arguably the best G1 Climax Tournament in history. He held the IWGP Heavyweight Title for several months before losing it to AJ Styles in a remarkable match.

6) Kyle O'Reilly - Possibly the most well rounded man on this list when it comes to success and in-ring ability. Won prestigious titles in both singles & tag team divsions across the world. Defeated Adam Cole for the PWG World Championship in May. Held the ROH World Tag Team Titles with Bobby Fish on two occassions throughout the year. Debuted for New Japan and won the Super Juniors Tag Team Tournament alongside Fish. Defeated Alex Shelley & KUSHIDA to become the IWGP Junior Tag Team Champions. Closed out the year with both the ROH & IWGP Tag Team Titles around his waist.

7) John Cena - Had another landmark year as he won the WWE Championship for the 15th time and despite losing to Brock Lesnar, he did a phenomenal job of making him look like a monster and delivered some of his best mic work yet. Had outstanding matches against the likes of Cesaro, Bray Wyatt, & Seth Rollins.

NJPW: Wrestle Kingdom 9 Review

New Japan Pro Wrestling Wrestle Kingdom 9 Review

I first discovered NJPW last year when I became virtually obsessed with professional wrestling. The American Independent Scene was my first discovery however it led me to checking out the Japanese style of wrestling known as puroresu. With New Japan being the second biggest company in the entire world and clearly the top promotion in Japan, it was the first puro I laid eyes on.

Since that time, I've watched some of the best matches from the past few years. Styles/Suzuki from last year's G1, Ibushi/Nakamura from the 2013 G1, Devitt/Omega for the Junior Heavyweight title, among others.

With that being said, I'm not completely new to the world of New Japan Pro Wrestling however my first time watching a full NJPW PPV event came with this event - Wrestle Kingdom 9.

Wrestle Kingdom is basically the WrestleMania of New Japan. It's the biggest show of the year where all the best wrestlers in the world come together for one night of unforgettable action.

This year's event is headlined by a rivalry that has reached the heights of Austin/Rock in recent years. That feud being between the IWGP Heavyweight Champion Hiroshi Tanahashi and former champion Kazuchika Okada. They face off in the main event of this show for the aformentioned title which Tanahashi won from AJ Styles. Okada comes into this match with a slight advantage considering he's 3-2 against Tanahashi. Can Okada regain the title he lost to AJ Styles and gain another victory of his arch rival or will Tanahashi even the score & retain his title in the process? That's the question going into the 9th annual Wrestle Kingdom event.

The other big match of the night is a rematch from the 2013 G1 Climax as Kota Ibushi challenges Shinsuke Nakamura for the Intercontinental Championship. Nakamura is known as the most charismatic man in wrestling and the king of strong style. He's been the most popular star and the workhorse of NJPW for the many years. On this evening, a new addition to the heavyweight divison in the form of Kota Ibushi will be attempting to take his title. It's going to be interesting to see how Ibushi adapts to the heavyweight division after spending years dominating the junior heavyweights. Can he hang with the King of Strong Style? Only time will tell.

Also on the card is a four-way match for the IWGP Junior Tag Team Titles between reigning champs ReDragon (Kyle O'Reilly & Bobby Fish), who also hold the ROH World Tag Team Titles and former champions The Young Bucks, Forever Hooligans (Alex Koslov & Rocky Romero), & Timesplitters (Alex Shelley & KUSHIDA).

AJ Styles will be facing off with Naito in a match that is essentially a #1 Contender's Match although it's not billed as one. A win could propel Styles back into title contention while it could also send Naito in the same direction.

That's just some background on a few of the matches taking place on the card. It's stacked from top to bottom and promises to be an amazing show. With it being my first full NJPW event as mentioned before, I couldn't be more stoked heading into it. Especially since arguably the best color commentator ever in wrestling, Jim Ross, will be under the headset for the first time in forever alongside Matt Striker.

So without further a due, let's take a look at the event that shocked the wrestling world on January 4th, 2015 - Wrestle Kingdom 9, LIVE from the Tokyo Domo in Japan!

1) ReDragon (c) vs. The Young Bucks vs. Forever Hooligans vs. Timesplitters - IWGP Junior Tag Team Title Match
What a way to start off the evening! When four teams of this caliber are in the opening match, you know it's a stacked line up. The action here was fast and furious just like you would expect from these teams. There were several tags however everything happened so quickly that it was difficult to keep up. None the less, all four teams got their chance to shine in a match that I would consider an exhibition as we saw the best that each tandem had to offer. From Chasing the Dragon to the Meltzer Driver, it was all here in this action packed opening match. In the end, Kyle O'Reilly & Bobby Fish picked up the win and retained the titles in a wild encounter with the best tag teams in the world. It was a huge win for them and they certainly did ROH proud. Perfect start to the show.

Match rating - ***1/2

2) Jeff Jarrett, Bad Luck Fale, & Yujiro Takahashi vs. Tomoaki Honma, Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Satoshi Kojima