Saturday, April 18, 2009

Matt Cage vs. Tank Roberts

Matt Cage vs. Tank Roberts
Special Referee: Victor E. Doom
QCW Blood Feud Brawl
March 26th 2009

Lock up with a clean break by Roberts. They lock up again with Roberts gaining a headlock. Cage goes for the hair, to which his other arch nemesis, Doom, breaks. Third lock up gets a break in the corner. The bald Cage claims his hair was pulled. The commentator reminds Cage that there’s no rule against pulling skin. Headlock by Roberts. Doom then applies a headlock of his own on Cage! But that’s not fair! Cage scurries to ringside to assess the situation. Cage returns and nails some uppercuts on Roberts. Roberts reverses a whip and nails a clothesline. Scoop slam by Roberts and a big splash gets 2. Side slam by Roberts gets another cover for 2. Cage rebounds, poking the eyes and pummeling Roberts into the corner. Hard whip and clothesline by Cage. Roll-up by Roberts but Cage rebounds with a clothesline. Doom yells at Cage for targeting the eyes. Cage chokes Roberts on the ropes. Swinging neckbreaker by Cage, but a slow 2 count from Doom. Reverse headlock by Cage. Roberts elbows out but Cage nails a drop kick for 1. Mounted shots in the turnbuckles by Cage, but it’s countered into an atomic drop. Roberts plants Cage hard for 2. Roberts catches Cage for a black hole slam but only gets 2 on the cover. Cage escapes the Lock n’ Load and nails an enziguri. Cover by Cage gets a slow 2.5. Cage blocks the finisher again and applies a crossface! Roberts manages a rope break. Cage argues with the referee, but Roberts misses a clothesline and knocks out Doom. Hard closed fist shots by Cage gets the slowest 2.5 count. Cage yells at Doom, but gets pushed into the Lock n’ Load. That’s enough for the win at 10:47. Cage was robbed, man. Solid, well rounded match up, I was genuinely into the story here. ***
Winner: Matt Cage


SUPPORT INDY WRESTLING!

Thursday, April 16, 2009

Matt Cage vs. Zach Gowen

GAW Central States Championship:
Matt Cage © vs. Zach Gowen
January 3rd 2008

Cage is sure to take his sweet time getting to the ring, much to the annoyance of some rowdy individuals in the crowd. Cage has his hands full tonight, as he’ll be squaring off with the one legged wonder who beat the Big Show. Gowen takes even longer to get the ring, as he seems to be under the impression that fans like him (just kidding, they do). Cage makes out with his belt before the match begins, and who can blame him, his challenger used to pal around with Hulk Hogan! They lock up and Cage easily corners Gowen before mocking his challenger’s obvious handicap. Gowen threatens with a golf club, which Cage doesn’t seem to like one bit. They lock up again, this time Gowen corners and slaps Cage across the face. That douche! Cage regroups at ringside. Back to the ring, Cage gets caught in a side headlock takedown. Cage counters into a pinning predicament, but Gowen keeps the hold. Head scissors counter by Cage, and the match restarts to a loud “Gowen” chant. Gowen goes back to work on the head. Cage counters into a head scissors, I think he’s trying to make Gowen jealous. Gowen uses a head stand to escape and drop-kicks the head. Cage retreats to ringside and gets heckled by a fan in the front row. Cage returns and the match restarts, with Cage targeting the midsection. Gowen kicks him off and nails a missile drop-kick! Cover by Gowen gets 2! Cage takes a hike and eats a drop-kick on his way back in. Gowen takes a swig of water and throws the bottle violently at Cage. Back to the ring, Gowen whips himself onto Cage for a near fall, but Cage drops him neck first on the ropes. Enziguri by Cage gets 2! Cage has established control and is targeting the head and neck area with his attacks. Cage dances but misses an elbow drop. Cage tries again, but Gowen is too quick. Gowen retaliates by slapping and gets a small package for 2. Clothesline by Cage hits hard. Cage continues his assault at ringside. A fan is desperately trying to get his “Tiger Woods on welfare” insult over but no one is buying. Gotta love indy fans. Gowen sits Cage in a chair and wipes him out off the apron! Back to the ring, Gowen smashes the head but gets rammed into the corner. Cage charges with a head of steam into Gowen’s boot. Cage repeats his mistake and stumbles to the mat. Gowen attempts a moonsault, but Cage pushes the referee into the ropes to knock him off. Cover by Cage gets 2. Cage fetches a cane and fights with the referee over it, ultimately knocking the official down. Low blow by Gowen and a small package, but the ref is out! Gowen checks on the ref but Cage spears him out of his boot! Cover by Cage gets 2.9! FALSE FINISH! Cage is upset and decks the referee. Cage grabs the golf course and prepares to finish what Brock Lesnar started all those years ago. Unfortunately, one of Cage’s rivals runs in and powerbombs him. Gowen hits the moonsault and the intruder makes the ref count to three. Gowen appears to have won the belt at 15:55! I am extremely impressed by how much Cage has improved since the last time I reviewed one of his matches, he’s a much more well rounded performer and worked well with Gowen (who is also much more well rounded than I remembered him). Sadly for Gowen, an official reverses the decision due to outside interference, so Cage retains! ***
Winner by DQ and still GAW Central States Champion: Matt Cage





Shifts in the wrestling fan landscape.

Just wanted to point out that I've been hearing some rather smarky chants on WWE programming that I used to only hear on ROH and other indy shows, and in early TNA events.

Batista returned to Raw to "welcome back" chants. That's an odd sign of genuine respect that you don't see from the WWE fanbase very often. It's especially odd since it's Batista, who the majority of hardcore wrestling fans flat out dislike.

I'm mad at myself for not remembering the specific match, but it was either the Hardy extreme rules match or the Money in the Bank ladder match at Wrestlemania, but I have heard the "This is awesome!" chant pop up. I find that amusing because I can remember an era on wrestling forums where people would look down on that chant as some sort of indy fan version of masterbation.

Go back and watch Unforgiven 2008. For a few minutes during the Smackdown scramble match, The Brian Kendrick was the WWE Champion. During those few minutes, CM Punk was still the reigning World Heavyweight Champion. For such a brief moment, two former indy standouts were the top two champions in North America. Sure, Punk had to vacate the belt later that night and Kendrick's title win wasn't official, since it was in the midst of the scramble match, but that still counts for something, right?

Just some random thoughts.