Survivor Series Reaction / Monday Night Raw Preview

I'm writing this at 2am in the morning. I can't get to sleep simply because of how hyped I am about the ending of Survivor Series. The reason I'm so pumped however might be different than most.

Most people are excited simply over the fact that Sting made his debut tonight and rightfully so. I've never been a huge fan of his so I'm not gonna pretend that I marked out over his return. However, I will say that it was an epic moment in the history of professional wrestling. Whether you're a fan of Sting or not, you have to admit that. So while most are flipping out over Sting, the main reason I'm excited is because tonight we saw Dolph Ziggler get launched into superstardom.

For years, Ziggler has been deemed by many as the next big thing. He's got the look plus the in-ring skills and charisma to back it up. WWE has pushed him several times over the years, but never quite like they did tonight at Survivor Series. We've seen Dolph win the World Heavyweight Title and even defeat John Cena in a Ladder Match in the main event of PPV. However, none of that compares to what took place tonight.

Before we get into that though, let's take a step back and think about how much of a surprise it was for Dolph to be the sole survivor. The whole match was built around Ryback in recent weeks. So much so that if anyone was going to be the sole survivor, I expected it to be him. When Ryback was eliminated early in the match, I was confused and a bit aggravated because I thought things would end up like usual - the odds stacked against Cena. Well thankfully, I was wrong.

Indy Power Rankings for the Week of November 17th, 2014

 

1. Johnny Gargano (@JohnnyGargano)-There was absolutely no debate this week among the official voters as to who was #1. This was as easy as it gets after Johnny Gargano went 4-0 at WWN Live in China and managed to dethrone Ricochet to win the DGUSA Open the Freedom Gate Title for a 2^nd time to cap off the week. It’s really hard to believe that Gargano has yet to reach #1 in 2014 after being #1 FIVE times (tied with Kevin Steen for the record at the time) in 2013. That being said, he’s definitely had a very solid 2013, but this was the week that really put him back on the map. Redemption is his. Now, can he build on this ranking and continue to improve his ranking in the 2014 IPR 100? #3 in the online poll with 18 votes

 

2. Caleb Konley (@CalebKonley)-1/2 of the DGUSA Open the United Gate Champions was as impressive as you can possibly be last week without getting the #1 ranking. Tough to overcome Gargano for that award, but regardless, Konley also went 4-0 with THREE successful tag team title defenses at WWN Live in China. While he hasn’t reached #1 in 2014 and he doesn’t have the PWX and WrestleForce Titles to his credit anymore…he has had a fantastic year despite all that. This is tied for his highest ranking this year as he continues to be one of the true work horses of DGUSA and EVOLVE.

WWE Match Rating Archive

This is a list of all the WWE matches I've reviewed that ranked in at *** or above which basically means they're worth checking out. I will update this list as I review/watch more matches. Thanks for checking out and supporting this blog, I hope this list will be helpful for you!

1986:
The Hart Foundation vs. The Killer Bees - Madison Square Garden - February 17, 1986 - ***3/4

1996:

Shawn Michaels vs. Vader - WWE Championship Match - SummerSlam 1996 - ***3/4

1997:
Owen Hart vs. British Bulldog - European Title Match - Raw - 3/3/97 - ****1/2

Bret Hart vs. Stone Cold Steve Austin - Submission Match / WrestleMania 13 - 3/23/97 -  *****

Owen Hart & British Bulldog vs. Steve Austin & Shawn Michaels - Raw - 5/2/97 - ***3/4

Steve Austin vs. Shawn Michaels - King of The Ring - 6/8/97 - ***1/4

The Great Sasuke vs. Taka Michinoku - In Your House: Canadian Stampede - 7/6/97 - ***3/4

The Undertaker (c) vs. Vader - WWE Championship Match - In Your House: Canadian Stampede - 7/6/97 - ***1/4 

The Hart Foundation vs. Stone Cold Steve Austin, Goldust, Ken Shamrock, & Legion of Doom - In Your House: Canadian Stampede - 7/6/97 - ****

Taka Michinoku vs. Tajiri - Raw - 7/14/97 - ***

Terry Funk vs. Mick Foley - Falls Count Anywhere Match - Raw - 9/22/97 - ***1/2

1998:
Taka Michinoku vs. Pantera - In Your House: No Way Out - ***1/2

2000:
Triple H vs. Cactus Jack - Street Fight - Royal Rumble - ****1/4
Edge & Christian vs. The Dudleys vs. The Hardys - Triangle Ladder Match - WrestleMania 2000 - ****1/2
Kurt Angle vs. Chris Jericho vs. Chris Benoit - 2 Fall Triple Threat Match for the IC & European Titles - WrestleMania 2000 - ***
Triple H vs. The Rock vs. Mick Foley vs. Big Show - WrestleMania 2000 - ****1/4
Edge & Christian vs. The Hardys vs. T & A vs. Too Cool - King of the Ring 2000 - ***1/2
Triple H vs. Chris Jericho - Last Man Standing Match - Fully Loaded - ****
Dudley Boyz vs. Edge & Christin vs. The Hardys - TLC Match - SummerSlam 2000 - ****3/4

2001:
Steve Austin & Triple H vs. Chris Jericho & Chris Benoit - Raw - 5/21/01 - ****1/4
Edge & Christian vs. Chris Jericho & Chris Benoit vs. Hardy Boyz vs. Dudley Boyz - Smackdown - 5/24/01 - ****1/4
Rob Van Dam vs. Jerry Lynn - No DQ Match - Sunday Night Heat - August 2001 - ***1/2

2002:
Rey Mysterio vs. Kurt Angle - Smackdown - ***1/4
Rey Mysterio vs. Kurt Angle vs. Chris Benoit - Smackdown - ***1/2
Eddie Guerrero vs. Rob Van Dam - Raw - 5/27/02 - ***3/4
Undertaker vs. Jeff Hardy - Ladder Match - Raw - 7/1/02 - ****1/4
Edge vs. Eddie Guerrero - No DQ Match - Smackdown - 9/26/02 - ****
Kane & The Hurricane vs. Rob Van Dam & Jeff Hardy vs. Bubba Dudley & Spike Dudley vs. Chris Jericho & Christian - Raw - 10/7/02  - ****
Rey Mysterio & Edge vs. Eddie & Chavo Guerrero - Smackdown - 10/24/02 - ***1/4
Triple H vs. Chris Jericho vs. Rob Van Dam vs. Booker T vs. Shawn Michaels vs. Kane - Elimination Chamber Match - Survivor Series 2002 - ***3/4

ROH TV Review - November 16th, 2014 - Lethal/ACH II

The big draw going into this week's show is the highly anticipated rematch between Jay Lethal and ACH for the TV Title. Their 30 minute time limit draw was a MOTY candidate. Now, the question is, can they top it? Let's find out!

1) Roderick Strong, BJ Whitmer, & Adam Page vs. Caprice Coleman, Tadarius Thomas, & Will Ferrara
The Decade has been having problems lately so I was interested to see how things would turn out in this match. Once again, Adam Page jumped the gun by trying to bring a chair into the ring which in turn pissed Roderick Strong off. This led to some miscommunication between the two that ended up costing them the match. That aside, this was a very fun opening six man tag with alot of action.

Match rating - ***

Match of the Week for November 9th - November 15th, 2014

It's been a few weeks since I've done a match of the week article, but a bout happened on Smackdown this Friday that I had to talk about. My last match of the week was a throwback, however as I mentioned before, this one actually happened just this week.

On Smackdown, The Authority continued stacking the odds against Dolph Ziggler by making him defend his title in a triple threat elimination match against Cesaro & Tyson Kidd. When I heard that this match was taking place, I was immediately excited.

I was excited simply because Dolph Ziggler & Cesaro have been producing quality matches over the IC Title for several weeks now and adding someone like Tyson Kidd to the mix would be a nice change of pace. Also considering Kidd's past history in multi-man matches (the NXT four way), I had a feeling these guys would steal the show.

As soon as the bell rang, that initial feeling of these three stealing the show came to fruition as we got a flurry of fast paced exchanges and roll ups to begin the bout. They cut to a quick commercial break which frustrated me because of how invested I was in the match. However, we return from the break and the match continues to unfold with a variety of double team maneuvers.

In fact, that's one of the things that made this match so good. They didn't follow the basic multi-man match formula by using the same old spots. We saw some unique moves such as a tower of doom variation, Cesaro suplexing Ziggler & Kidd at the same time, multiple submissions involving all three men, Ziggler holding Cesaro across his knees as Tyson came down off the top rope thus driving Cesaro's back further onto Dolph's knees, and Ziggler hitting a DDT/Facebuster combination on both Cesaro & Kidd.

Buyer's Guide for PWG's 5 for $40 Winter Sale

For the past several years, PWG has done a winter sale where you can get 5 DVD's for only $40. After months of waiting, the sale has finally returned! This sale is the perfect chance for you to save big on events (and compilations) from arguably the best wrestling company in America, Pro Wrestling Guerrilla.

With this sale brings the question - what DVD's should I get?

I've had many people tweet me asking this question because most are aware that I'm an avid PWG fan and while I don't have every single show, I have alot of them. And the ones I don't have, I've done my research on. With that being said, I've decided to put together a buyer's guide for this sale to help new fans of PWG decide what shows would suit them best.

If you've never watched PWG before, but have heard how awesome it is, now is the best time to pick up some events and see the spectacle that is PWG for yourself. So, below I've put together certain packs that you can choose from that may help you decide what shows to get.

But before we get into it - you can take advantage of this great sale by visiting prowrestlingguerrilla.com/merch/winter!

Please note, these aren't official packs put together by PWG, you can get any combination of the DVD's included in the sale, these are just packages I've put together to give new fans something to go by when trying to decide what DVD's to get.

The Five Star Package - 2007 Battle of Los Angeles Night 3, Guerre San Frontieres, Steen Wolf, Threemendous III, & 2013 Battle of Los Angeles Night 2

Tag Team Top 5 for the Week of November 11th, 2014

Tag Team Top 5 for the Week of November 10th, 2014 

 

1. reDRagon (Kyle O’Reilly @ROHOReilly & Bobby Fish @TheBobbyFish)-The ROH World Tag Team Champions and “best team on God’s green…” score their SIXTH #1 ranking this week after not only winning the New Japan Super Junior Tag Team Tournament vs. The Young Bucks (in the Finals on 11/3) but by adding more gold to their collection by defeating The Time Splitters for the IWGP Junior Tag Team Titles. This ranking puts them right behind Juicy Product (with 8) for most times in the #1 spot this year for a single tag team. They did everything any team could possibly do to get the #1 ranking yet again this week and they were rewarded among the official voters with a clean sweep of the ballot. Keep in mind our official voters consist of voters from across the world. reDRagon’s favorite quote may just be a reality at this point. Who can really argue with them? #3 in the online poll with 26 votes.

2. Young Bucks (Nick Jackson @NickJacksonYB & Matt Jackson @MattJackson13)-Had they defeated reDRagon in the finals of the New Japan Super  Junior Tag Team Tournament, the rankings could have looked a bit different this week, but their one loss cost them the #1 spot this week. Their week was still absolutely nothing to be ashamed of as they went 3-1 on the week. They have won 10 of their last 11 matches and the rankings the last few weeks have shown just how good they’ve been lately. Best tag team in the world? Possibly, but for the first time they’re not holding any major titles like they have in the past. Will that change before the end of 2014?

3. BULLET CLUB (Karl Anderson @machinegunka & Doc Gallows @ImpactDOC)-It’s been a few months since the IWGP Tag Team Champion cracked the top 5. They went through a slow period, but they have picked up their winning ways in a major way. They had a valid argument for #2 this week, but they end up with the #3 ranking as they have only 1 straight up 2 on 2 tag team victory in their last 10 matches. That being said, they’ve still been victorious in ALL of their last 10 matches, which is obviously easier said than done in New Japan with that level of competition. With the Tag Team Top 50 approaching, they’ll need to pick up some wins to really push themselves into one of the top spots before the end of the year.