Royal Rumble 2011

Royal Rumble time again. My favorite PPV of the year. This is because The Royal Rumble Match is my favorite match of the year. 30 guys most years, 40 this year. Big things can happen. Here are my predictions

First Two Participants:
For the past few months, nothing has been going Ted Dibiase's way (ignoring him beating the United States Champion on NXT a few days ago) and I think that continues here. Ted Dibiase draws #1. #2 will be even worse news for Dibiase. I think The Big Show gets it.
2011 Prediction: #1: Ted Dibiase #2: The Big Show

Final Four:

2011 Prediction: Alberto Del Rio, Rey Mysterio, Sheamus and John Morrison

No. 40:
2011 Prediction: Sheamus

The Kane Push: Who will get to eliminate a bunch of guys but not win?

Kane is only a few away from the record but there are also a few other big guys in the match who have a chance. Guys like Mason Ryan and Ezekiel Jackson. I think Jackson gets it

2011 Prediction: Ezekiel Jackson

The Chris Jericho-Christian Rule: What alliance will fall apart in the match?

There aren't many teams in the company, let alone the match. They have been teaming up on Superstars so Primo and Zack Ryder. I do have another guess but will not reveal it due to his participation not being confirmed

2011 Prediction: Primo and Zack Ryder

"He's Not Supposed to Be Here!:" Who will show up and screw somebody over after they've already been eliminated or were never in the match to begin with?

I don't know if Alex Riley is in the match. If he is I can see Jerry Lawler interfering and costing him the match. Special mention to Ricardo Rodriguez for Alberto Del Rio

2011 Prediction: Jerry Lawler/Ricardo Rodriguez

Elimination Shocker: Who will pull a Maven this year?

In 2010 I said Yoshi Tatsu eliminating The Big Show. Since Show is a face this year, I doubt that will happen. So I will say Yoshi Tatsu eliminating Wade Barrett

2011 Prediction: Yoshi Tatsu by eliminating Wade Barrett

Cowardly Heel: Someone will stall outside of the match and not want to come in. Who will it be?

Up until Smackdown this week I would have said Cody Rhodes. He claims he is no longer in the match so I doubt it will be him. David Otunga?

2011 Prediction: David Otunga

Like a house of fire…whoops: Who'll come in and clean house only to be dumped almost immediately?
2010 I said Jack Swagger.

2011 Prediction: Jack Swagger

Skin-the-cat Champion: Who will be on the verge of elimination very often but keep coming back?

2011 Prediction: Ted Dibiase

The Chris Jericho-Hurricane Rule: Who will be eliminated and
look like they blew out every muscle in their leg?

Must….resist…..spoilers……

2011 Prediction: Without the inclusion of the special entrant I have heard today, I say Ezekiel Jackson.

I say the final two in the match come down to Alberto Del Rio and John Morrison. Del Rio wins.

The ironman for the match will be Ted Dibiase. Enters first, lasts the longest. I think he is in the final ten.

Gone Hollywood #3

This is the episode that aired on October 15^th

Here is what is on the docket for tonight

MAIN EVENT for the NWA Heritage Tag Team Championship: ;NWA Heritage Tag Team Champions
The RockNES Monsters puts the titles on the line against former NWA World Tag Team Champions
Los Luchas!- "Rock Superstar" Joey Kaos makes his NWA Hollywood debut!- The arrogant duo of Natural Selection is in Tag Team action!- The Lethal Ladies of the NWA do battle as Shelly Martinez tangles with Lucky O'Shea! PLUS: Appearances by "Pretty" Peter Avalon, Willie Mack, Scorpio Sky, Joey Ryan, and much more!

First out are the team of Natural Selection. Apparently just before this Percy Pringle introduced them. This was not shown on the show, only mentioned so I am not sure. I would think that they would have shown it. Perhaps there was a legal reason why they couldn't (Pringle was on WWE TV at this point) but I do find it strange they would mention it but not show it. Natural Selection's opposition is Peter Avalon and Mike Reign. Most of the first part of the match was Natural Selection beating on Reign. Reign got a brief tag to Avalon but Avalon quickly saw the opposition and bailed, tagging Reign back in. Avalon left Reign. Natural Selection hit their finisher on Mike Reign and got the pin. Their finisher was a Powerbomb/Bulldog combo. The WWE's version Pitbulls Jamie Noble and Kid Kash used a similar move once on Smackdown. Post match, Natural Selection got on the mic and talked about themselves and talked about setting their sights on Tag Team gold. Good interview. Shaun Ricker and Brian Cage comprise Natural Selection.

Hype time for a Galaxy Theatre taping with The RockNes Monsters and then a replay of Episode #2's main event. This is followed up by Scorpio Sky talking about Rocky Romero and Claudio Castagnoli. He ends the segment by challenging Romero, Castagnoli and Adam Pearce for a match next week. His partners will be Joey Ryan and Willie Mack. A graphic follows confirming that the match will indeed take place next week

Jeff Resnick is backstage with Joey Kaos.

After a clip of Shelly Martinez talking about herself, Lucky O'Shea comes out to the ring for her match with Martinez. Shelly is announced as being from "Fun Town USA" Shelly ended up winning with a throat claw/legsweep

Jeff Resnick is backstage with The Tribe. They talk about how they are coming for the tag team titles. Considering the opening and the main event and this interview and The RockNes Monsters interview that was used for the Galaxy Theatre plug, this show is tag team centric. The first two episodes were focused on the World Title so I am happy they are focusing on the tag titles. Makes them seem important, unlike other companies that do not treat their tag titles with the same respect.

Joey Kaos is out to the ring for his match with Ray Rosas. Joey Kaos controlled the match and secure the win after his finisher "The Gonzo Bomb"

Phoenix Star and Zokre

who comprise Los Luchas come to the ring for their tag team title battle against Johnny Yuma and Johnny Goodtime who comprise The RockNes Monsters. Quick passed match. The RockNes Monsters did several unique double team moves and controlled the majority of the first half of the match, Phoenix Star cut off Johnny Yuma while the refs back was turned by kicking him in the balls (Yuma, not the ref). The finish of the match came as kind of a surprise. A good few minutes of combo attacks and drama ended by a simple backslide.

Overall: Worst of the three episodes I have watched so far. The main event did not live up to the preceding two main events. Skip it. Next weeks main event looks good though.

 

 

 

Gone Hollywood #2

 

Aired October 8^th 2010

Dave Marquez welcomes us to the show and runs down what we will see. Willie Mack, The debut of "Very European" Claudio Castagnoli and NWA World Champion
"Scrap Iron" Adam Pearce puts the title on the line against Scorpio Sky

Out to ringside with Todd Keneley and James Morgan. Claudio Castagnoli comes out and joins them on commentary. Gets off a few lines about how he dislikes the pollution and how it is so pathetic how all the people in Hollywood fancy themselves as actors and actresses, considering how ugly they are. Rico Dynamite is in the ring and out comes Willie Mack. Mack is deceptively quick for someone as large as he is. The match wasn't much but Mack's finisher was pretty nice. He caught Rico Dynamite off a crossbody and transitioned it into a powerbomb for the pin. Post match Claudio Castagnoli came into the ring. Mack offered him a handshake and he refused.

After a break and a non NWA Hollywood lucha match (which I skipped), Jeff Resnick is backstage at NWA Hollywood with the NWA Heritage Tag Team Champions
The RockNES Monsters which are Johnny Goodtime and Johnny Yuma. Johnny Goodtime did most of the talking here but he seemed nervous.

Back out to the ring. Nick Madrid comes out and he will face Claudio Castagnoli. Before the bell rang, Claudio slapped Nick Madrid with his scarf. The match was so one sided in Castagnoli's favor it was uncomfortable. Madrid did have a brief comeback but it got cut off by missing a dropkick. Castagnoli wrapped him up in a Stretch Muffler and Madrid quickly tapped

Zokre and Phoenix Star are backstage with Jeff Resnick. They comprise the team Los Luchas. I have no idea what they said but they did mention The RockNES Monsters so I assume it was a challenge for the NWA Heritage Tag Team Belts

Main Event time

Scorpio Sky vs. NWA World Heavyweight Champion Adam Pearce

Early in the match Adam Pearce indicated to the referee that Scorpio Sky pulled his hair. The humor in this, you see, is Adam Pearce is bald, thus there is no hair for Sky to pull. Adam Pearce is a liar. Soon after this, Pearce bites Scorpio Sky's head in the corner. Sky returns the favor soon after and bites Pearce's head. Scorpio Sky controlled the middle of the match by focusing on Pearce's arm. At one point Sky had Pearce down on the mat and went to the top rope. Pearce neutralized Sky by kicking the ref into the ropes and this caused Sky to fall. Why the ref did not DQ Adam Pearce for this, I do not know. The previous week, The Sheik challenged Adam Pearce, so this week Adam Pearce decides to send a message to Sheik by putting Scorpio Sky in The Sheik's trademark hold The Camel Clutch (which also happens to be the signature move of many other Arabic wrestlers. Scorpio Sky got a near fall after a frog splash, Pearce almost got one of his own with his feet on the ropes. A few more near falls followed including one after a Scorpio Sky top rope dropkick. Pearce stopped all Sky momentum with a mule kick to the balls and a piledriver. Pearce retains the title. Scorpio Sky looked like he had the match won at several points. Pearce tried after the match to attack Scorpio Sky. Sky fought him off but out comes Rocky Romero who attacks Scorpio Sky. Joey Ryan is out now to even the sides. Claudio Castagnoli and Willie Mack out next. Willie Mack, Joey Ryan and Scorpio Sky are left in the ring as Castagnoli, Romero and Pearce bail to end the show.

Overall: The World Title match was very very good. It is the only thing that saved the show from being a waste of time. I preferred the first episode much more. I do have to say however, Todd Keneley and James Morgan were better on this show than on the October 1^st episode

 

 

Gone Hollywood #1

This episode aired on October 1^st 2010

Colt Cabana welcomes us to the show and after the opening credits, Dave Marquez welcomes us and gives us a preview for the night by telling us who will appear. Colt "Boom Boom" Cabana, NWA North American Champion The Sheik, The team of Navajo Warrior and Hawaiian Lion known as The Tribe and the Main Event of "Hollywood's Own" Joey Ryan vs. TJ Perkins.

Now we go ringside to Todd Keneley and James Morgan

Peter Avalon is in the ring. What they did next was good, they showed a video of Peter Avalon explaining who he was. He proclaimed himself as the future. Interview wasn't great but I liked it the fact it was included. They did something similar during Dave Marquez' show rundown where when he mentioned who would be appearing they showed a brief clip of them as he spoke. Avalon's opponent was Colt Cabana. Cabana came out to the ring with a lot of energy. Jumping, swinging his towel, dancing. He even snapped the towel at Avalon. When the bell rang, Cabana toyed with Avalon, frequently pulling him down to the mat. The impression I got from his interview is Avalon is supposed to be the heel in this, the bad guy, but Cabana's actions in this really made him out to be a dick. He was toying with Avalon the whole time. He got in his signature moves, The Flying Asshole (Flying Apple according to the announcers, however I understand the change) and The Billy Goat's Curse. Easy win for Cabana. After the match, he grabbed the microphone. He said he liked having a good time as evidenced to the previous few minutes but the best time will be when he beats Adam Pearce for the NWA Heavyweight Championship.

Andrew Hellman comes to the ring, for what apparently is an NWA North American Title match. He will be challenging The Sheik. The Sheik brings his prayer rug out to the ring with him. Which does not make him very popular to the crowd. He does his prayer and as he does this Hellman makes the mistake of turning his back. The Sheik attacks him and the match begins. Hellman's wrestling shorts are designed like an American flag. So the basic story of this match would be "Evil Foreigner" vs. "American Patriot". The Sheik seems to be a typical Arabic gimmick, the curled boots, etc. He won with the camel clutch. Afterwards Jeff Resnick got in the ring and got a word from The Sheik. The Sheik said that he also had his sights set on the NWA Heavyweight Championship.

Jeff Resnick is backstage with "Milk Chocolate" Willie Mack (complete with a shirt that says "Willie Mack Milk Chocolate", stylized like a Hershey Bar). Nothing much was said. In the ring are Todd Chandler and Brandon Parker, their opponents are Navajo Warrior and Hawaiian Lion aka The Tribe. The Tribe were guided to the ring by Olivia. The size difference between the two teams is quite big. The Tribe are much bigger. Todd Keneley has gotten Brandon Parker's name wrong several times, calling him Bryan. The Tribe tossed Todd Chandler over the top rope and apparently hit their finisher on Brandon Parker. I couldn't tell what it was because the camera was focused on Todd Chandler outside the ring. The ref rang for the bell and disqualified The Tribe. I guess tossing someone over the top rope is a disqualification. They never explained it, if that was the case and tossing someone over the top is a dq, it would have been nice of them to explain it.

We go to "Earlier Today" where Claudio Castagnoli is outside. He talks about being European. Not just European, very European. Back into the arena and the NWA Heavyweight Champion Adam Pearce is on his way to the ring to speak. Jeff Resnick is out there to ask him about his feelings on NWA being back on TV, he said it felt good, he then was asked about Colt Cabana and The Sheik's challenges from earlier in the night. After kicking Jeff Resnick out of the ring (a decision I approve of), he said that he was the champion and it was gonna stay that way. I don't know if he was accepting the challenges or not.

Now it is Main Event Time.

TJ Perkins vs. "Hollywood's Own" Joey Ryan. Ryan even has Hollywood on his trunks. Joey Ryan looks far less sleazy than I am used to him being. The two men were moving very fast and doing a game of "can you top this?" After a break, the match slows down and they start doing holds. At one point Joey Ryan hit a pumphandle T-bone suplex but it only got a two count for him. After a suplex that went over the top rope the announcers finally explained that an over the top rope toss was a DQ in the NWA. This was not a DQ in this match because the referee decreed that momentum took them over and it was not intentional. Late in the match, it looked as if TJ Perkins was close to victory, but Joey Ryan cut him off with two superkicks and got the victory.

At the end of the show, Dave Marquez announced what is gonna happen at the next show. Willie Mack and Claudio Castagnoli will be in action and the main event will be Scorpio Sky vs. NWA Heavyweight Champion Adam Pearce.

Overall: The tag match was bad. Even before the finish, I was not to happy with the match. I expected The Tribe to dominate but instead Todd Chandler and Brandon Parker got in a lot of offense. Other than that, it was a good show. Everything was simple but made sense. Thumbs up for tonight.

For more information on NWA Hollywood and to watch this episode I reviewed and others which I will review visit http://www.nwahollywood.com/

Tradition. History. Respect

The first episode of NWA Hollywood opens with NWA Champion Adam Pearce talking about the importance of the NWA. He explains it pretty well. The governing body of Professional Wrestling. Much like the International Olympic Committee. Ring Announcer Angelo Trinidad, NWA Broadcaster David Marquez and wrestlers Andrew Hellman, Johnny Yuma and Nick Madrid follow. Each one of them put over the importance of NWA and how it is both staying true to its roots but adapting to the landscape of modern pro wrestling. I take this to mean less skits than other wrestling companies but a more advanced wrestling style, perhaps a mix of Lucha Libre and Puroresu influences along with the technical style.

A match from 1956 between Argentina Rocca and Lou Thesz is shown

Afterwards NWA Broadcaster Jeff Resnick, Adam Pearce, Willie Mack (wrestler), and Dave Marquez each talk about Lou Thesz and what he meant to the NWA. Thesz was a champion for decades and a consummate professional, both inside and outside of the ring.

Brief break and a return to an old midget tag match. This, I guess, is the segue they are using to verge into the "character" discussion. Don't see the connection between midgets and characters. They aren't playing a character, they were born that way. Announcer Todd Keneley mentions The Missing Link, due to his unusual look . Angelo Trinidad brought up Iceman King Parsons and refered to him as "Mr. T before there was a Mr. T". Adam Pearce mentioned Dusty Rhodes and even did a Dusty Rhodes impersonation. Willie Mack mentions "The Birdman" Koko B. Ware. While doing these they show pictures of the legends that are mentioned and Willie Mack could pass for a young Koko B. Ware. Jeff Resnick is talking about Kamala. Resnick does not mention exactly what Kamala's gimmick was. He was a Ugandan Cannibal.

An old match now between Abdullah The Butcher and Some Unfortunate Bastard. S.A.B's name was apparently Fred something. Abdullah wins. This takes the show to a break. After it returns another old match Carlos Colon vs. Dory Funk Jr. Back to the studio and James Morgan (wrestler) is talking about his favorite wrestler. His is Bret Hart, Nick Madrid picks Shawn Michaels and Chris Jericho due to the size similarities between them and himself. Shaun Ricker (wrestler) picks Ric Flair because "he likes to talk, he likes to walk, he likes to do everything that I like to do". Dave Marquez picks "Classy" Fred Blassie. Johnny Goodtime (wrestler) says Sean Waltman, also for the size similarities. Adam Pearce also says Ric Flair. He does a better job than Shaun Ricker of explaining Flair. Speaking of Flair, a match follows of Ric's.

Break time again.

Todd Kenely talks about the influx of Lucha Libre talent into the NWA in recent years. Adam Pearce explains Lucha Libre's importance in Mexico very well too (I am sensing a pattern here). All this Lucha Talk leads to a lucha match that goes on for a while.

Brief talk on the Galaxy Theatre, which is where NWA from Hollywood is based. In this segment Dave Marquez lists off several venues that are no longer around and says the Galaxy Theatre is basically the only one they had left. I know it was not his intention but it really didn't make the Galaxy Theatre seem important. He gave off the impression that they were stuck with it. After that came the guys talking about how NWA Championship Wrestling from Hollywood gives them a great opportunity.

 

Overall: The show was not what I expected it to be. I planned on going through the NWA Hollywood Website and watching the episodes in order. It did a lot to explain what the NWA is and for that I do have to give it positive reviews. However what it does not do is explain who the people are. First impression wise, I am liking Adam Pearce (it helps that I have seen him before), he is well spoken and came across as a class act. Who I do not like is Jeff Resnick. Being as he is an announcer, this probably isn't a good thing. He gave me a morning DJ vibe. Like Ryan Seacrest. Jeff Resnick is like Ryan Seacrest.