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Ring of Honor Scramble Madness November 16th, 2002

November 16, 2002

American Civic Center in Wakefield, MA

Your hosts are Jeff Gorman and Chris Levy



The show starts with the Prophecy talking backstage. Once again Xavier wrestles in a non-title match, this time against Jeremy Lopez. Samoa Joe and Daniels get into a beef when Joe yells at Daniels about not being paid enough to disrespect the Code of Honor. Dunn & Marcos then interrupt with their schtick and asked for a shot at the Tag Team Titles. Daniels goes off on them before telling them that they will be facing Samoa Joe in a handicap match. The problem with the Fallen Angel gimmick is that Daniels played it too goofy to be taking seriously. Joe showed some personality here at least.


Jay Briscoe and Amazing Red are in the ring. Jay said that he picked Red as his partner then calls out his brother Mark, who calls out his partner, which turns out to be Christopher Daniels. The Fallen Angel comes out and says that not only is he Mark's partner, he is his master as we now know that Mark is in the Prophecy. I like the idea of Mark joining the Prophecy. It gives them a lot of ways to further his feud against Jay and the story that he is splitting their family apart and it sets up for a nice turn down the road when he breaks away from them.


Jay Briscoe & Amazing Red vs. Mark Briscoe & Christopher Daniels

Mark starts the match by attacking Jay from behind. Jay fights back and they trade kicks. Red tags and they work a crisp fast-paced sequence that the crowd appreciates. Daniels tags and hits a shoulderblock but Red comes back with a headscissors and a dropkick. Jay tags and beats on Daniels for a bit. Mark tags and he takes it to the mat with his brother as they go back and forth. Jay gets the best of that and holds up his brother, allowing Red to hit a springboard STO. Daniels then sends Red to the floor and drops him on the guardrail. Red plays face-in-peril for a bit as Mark and Daniels use quick tags to cut off the ring. Red manages to catch Daniels in a small package but Mark distracts the ref. Mark gets two with a back suplex then puts Red in a surfboard. Super Ace Crusher gets two. Red goes to the wrong corner for a tag then gets powerbombed by Mark. Daniels charges but Red boots him in the face and hits a hurricarana before making the tag. Jay runs wild on Daniels. Gordbuster gets two. Fisherman's Buster gets two. Mark comes in and Jay plants him with a DDT. Daniels hits Jay with an enziguiri then Mark clotheslines him as they both spill to the floor but that was after he tagged Red, who hits Daniels with a missile dropkick. Spin kick gets two. Code Red (Sunset Bomb) gets two. Red tries a rana but Daniels blocks that then gets the win with the Last Rites (15:47) **3/4. After the match, Mark walks up the ramp and laughs at his parents, who are on the verge of tears.

Thoughts: Decent match but really nothing more than that. The angle with Mark joining the Prophecy was more impressive to be honest. The match dragged in the middle as the heat segment on Red went on for far too long.


Joey Matthews is backstage with Special K. Izzy is shaking a pill bottle as Joey wants to know if they are with him. Alexis Laree interrupts and wants to know why he did not have his back last week as Joey is all fucked up and laughs. Laree leaves and says that she wants nothing to do with him if he going to act like this. Sadly, I think this was the case on real life too.


Mace w/ Allison Danger vs. Alexis Laree

Mace pie-faces Laree then taunts the crowd. Laree comes back as the announcers talk about how Buff E has left Mace and that their team is done. Laree hits a headscissors and a dropkick then flies out with a tope. She rolls Mace back into the ring but gets hit with a suplex. He taunts Laree, who comes back with a low blow then hits a tornado DDT that looked horrendous but it gets the win (2:37) 1/4*. After the match, Danger comes in and kisses Laree but ends up getting hit with an inverted DDT.

Thoughts: This was pretty bad but it was kept short. The finish was botched too. The feud between Danger and Laree continues.


Steve Corino cuts a promo on Homicide and how he got attacked by him with a fork last week. He even has his eye patched up. Corino puts over how he has a full-time job with Japan and despite his best efforts, the fans do not respect him and he says that he doesn't care about Philly as he will go back to Japan and will also get his revenge on Homicide. Corino cut a solid promo here.


Jeremy Lopez vs. Xavier w/ Simply Luscious


Xavier grounds Lopez and attacks the arm. Lopez comes back and they battle over a key lock. Lopez hits a pair of armdrags and a dropkick but Xavier puts on the breaks on the second dropkick attempt. Xavier beats on Lopez then rams him in the corner. Brainbuster gets two then Xavier applies a chinlock. Lopez fights out but Xavier yanks him down by the hair and follows that with a backbreaker for a nearfall. Lopez fights back again but Luscious trips him up and that allows Xavier to send him to the floor with a knee smash. Xavier beats on Lopez before ramming him into the post. In the ring, Xavier hits the X-Slam for a nearfall then Lopez works an ankle lock. Xavier escapes and knees Lopez in the face. They trade chops and Lopez wins that battle. Lopez comes back with a Yakuza kick then gets two off of a neckbreaker. Xavier blocks a tornado DDT attempt but Lopez comes back with a double underhook tornado DDT. Tiger Bomb gets two. Xavier stops a charge and comes back with a nasty Cobra Clutch Suplex that gets two. He signals for the X-Breaker but that gets countered and Lopez hits him with his finisher, the Chicken Wing DDT, but that only gets two. Xavier floats over on a suplex attempt and knees Lopez in the back of the head before hitting the X Breaker then getting the win with a 450 splash (10:45) **1/4.

Thoughts: Average match. Having your champ face off in a competitive match against a former WCWSN jobber is not going to do them any favors. The crowd was practically silent for the duration of the match.


Matt Thompson & Tony Mamaluke vs. Da Hit Squad

Thompson is really tall and skinny. Who is billed at 6'8 but weighs about 175lbs. Mack and Mamaluke start the match on the mat. Mamaluke grapevines the leg for a minute. Mamaluke makes a blind tag to Thompson who comes in with a springboard crossbody then hits a headscissors. Thompson eats a clothesline then gets caught with an overhead belly-to-belly before tagging Mamaluke. Mafia beats on Mamaluke in the corner to the fans delight but Thompson makes the save when he goes for the pin. Da Hit Squad use quick tags to beat on Mamaluke as Mack gets a nearfall with a wheelbarrow suplex as Thompson made the save. Thompson is really green by the way and just about everything he does looks mistimed. Mamaluke continues to get his ass kicked. Mack hits Mamaluke with a dropkick as the announcers make reference of Maritato being called "Nunzio" in the WWE. Thompson roughs up Mack outside the ring as Mamaluke hits Mack with a leg drop inside. The crowd wants Thompson in the match as Mamaluke hits a tornado DDT as both men are down. Thompson tags and hits a fanastic quebrada for two. The match breaks down Mamaluke gets slammed down in midair then Mafia picks up Thompson and hits the Burning Hammer for the pin while Mamaluke had Mack in the Butterfly Lock but the pin was made before Mack tapped out (9:50) *1/2.

Thoughts: Not a whole lot to this match. Thompson did a few nice highspots but in reality was far too green overall. On commentary, they pushed that this was his 4th or 5th match ever. I have no idea what became of the guy.


Joey Matthews & Izzy & Slim J & Deranged & Angel Dust vs. Quiet Storm & Spanish Announce Team & Amazing Red w/ Trinity

Jose starts off by overpowering Deranged. They take it to the mat and it is just okay. Deranged looks decent but also looks to weigh about 140lbs. Jose hits a snap powerslam then hammers on Deranged outside of the ring. Slim J and Red are in the ring now as in Scramble rules, anyone can enter once someone leaves the ring. Slim blocks an armdrag but ends up getting turned inside out with a clothesline. Izzy and Joel work a sequence as Levy (Sapolsky) bashes those dismissing these matches as a "Spotfest" due to the athletic ability these guys possess. Izzy looked good. Angel Dust and Divine work a solid sequence and now everyone is on the floor except for Storm and Matthews, who works a headlock on the mat. Now all of Special K is in the ring and they all dive onto the opposing team who are on the floor in a car crash sequence if there ever was one. Back in the ring, Deranged gets beat on by the SAT's and Red. Deranged eats a flying knee smash from Red that gets two. Storm tags and puts Deranged in a tree of woe then after the rest of Red's team knock Special K off of the apron, they all take turns hitting Deranged with baseball slides. Divine gets two with a brainbuster but gets caught with a tornado DDT that gets two. Matthews tags in and gets hit with a crossbody. He does come back with a clothesline as Divine gets hit with a triple enziguiri as Deranged's timing was WAY off. He actually attempted the move after Divine was on the mat. Special K takes turn hitting Divine with elbow drops. Red then hits Slim J with some sort of powerbomb variation that I have never seen before and this triggers a sequence of all sorts of powerbombs and DDT's that is too fast to recap. Storm hits Matthews with the Spinal Shock then after Red hits Matthews with a running flip dive, the remaining members of Special K all get powerbombed off of the top rope, which is followed by Special K hitting the other team with moonsaults. Slim J gets killed with the Storm Cradle Driver but that gets broken up and that leads to another sequence of hot moves that ends with Joel powerbombing Deranged five times until hitting a backdrop driver then shortly after that, Red gets the win with the Infrared on Angel Dust (17:47) ***1/4.

Thoughts: The crowd went nuts for this match, which was fun to watch at least. Some of it was really sloppy at points but the choreographed stuff was at least new. Izzy continues to impress and stands out as the most promising member of Special K. I remember Slim J wrestled a match for TNA in the infancy of the company and never really impressed me and just kept grabbing his crotch. He only did that once here but still had the Eminem look going. As you will notice, a few wrestlers were pulling double duty, with Red being one of them.


Handicap Match
Dunn & Marcos vs. Samoa Joe

Dunn & Marcos charge Joe but just end up bouncing off of him. Joe slaps them around and gets two with a powerslam on Dunn. He pulls Marcos' shirt over his head and hits him with the Island Driver then hits Dunn with the Island Driver after that for the win (1:39) 1/4*.

Thoughts: Just a quick little match to put Joe over as a monster.


Street Fight
Paul London & Rudy Boy Gonzalez vs. Michael Shane & Bio-Hazard

Shane and Bio-Hazard attack their opponents from behind on the ramp. Shane and London are in the ring as Rudy Boy is beating on Bio-Hazard on the floor. London hits Shane with a few kicks as the camera work keeps switching around and it makes it tough to get into the match. Rudy Boy and London beat on Shane in the ring. They hit him with a few double team moves then Rudy Boy fucks up when he tries to fake a dive to the outside as he gets caught in the ropes then London hits both guys with a somersault plancha. Rudy Boy roughs up Shane in the ring as London hits Bio-Hazard with a standing moonsault on the floor. Rudy puts Shane in the Tarantula as London sends Bio-Hazard through the guardrail. Shane then hits Rudy with a DDT on the floor as Bio-Hazard hits London with a flying mare as he was seated in a chair inside the ring. Bio-Hazard hits London with a Death Valley Driver then asks the cameraman where he can find a ladder. He finds it and places it across the guardrail but London comes out and rams him into the post. London then lays it across the apron and guardrail as Shane gets a nearfall on Rudy Boy. London stands on the ladder but Bio-Hazard kicks it and London crotches himself on a rung. Shane gets shoved off of the top rope and through a table as everyone is down. In the ring, Bio-Hazard suplexes Rudy Boy onto the ladder then follows that with a Swanton Bomb. London comes in and holds a chair as he moonsaults Bio-Hazard then heads up top but gets cut off by Shane. Rudy Boy then super kicks Shane and London hits the Shooting Star Press but Shane kicks out as London is shocked. Bio-Hazard yanks out London and whips him into the guardrail. Shane catches Rudy Boy with a super kick but London comes back in and dumps him outside. London then places Bio-Hazard on top of Rudy Boy's shoulders who hits him with a top rope powerbomb then London finishes him off with a running Shooting Star Press (14:24) *1/4.

Thoughts: This match was a mess. It had no heat at all, the layout was terrible as was the camera work. It was like two separate matches were going on at the same time. Crowd was dead for this one too.


Carnage Crew & Masada vs. Alex Arion & Don Juan & Fast Eddie

Eddie and Masada start things off with a back-and-forth sequence. The faces then clear the ring as Eddie hits them with a quebrada. In the ring, DeVito beats on Arion. He takes him down with a dropkick then Arion gets hit with a triple-team move. Arion fights back and chops down Loc as Don makes the tag. Loc hits him with a back suplex then tags Masada, who hits Don with a powerbomb. Don continues to play the face-in-peril as he kicks out of a few pin attempts. He manages to roll away from a moonsault attempt by DeVito and makes the hot-tag to Arion, who takes out all three men. Fast Eddie tries to snap Masada off of the top rope with a rana by leaping off of Arion's back and he botched the move badly. Arion then hits Masada with a splash but as the ref was ordering Eddie back to the apron Loc hits Arion with a chair in a spot that took way, way too long to develop but could only get a two count. Really bad sequence there by everyone involved. Fast Eddie hits Loc with a springboard dropkick but gets overmatched and hit with the spike piledriver from the top rope as the Carnage Crew & Masada get the win (7:27) 3/4*.

Thoughts: Masada did not look bad in his RoH debut. Physically, he looks like a mix between Matt Hardy and Chris Hero, which is not ideal. The last few minutes were awful though. Arion was the most competent wrestler in the match by far.


Homicide vs. Samoa Joe

This match came about after Homicide stabbed Joe's buddy Corino in the eye last week. Also, Joe made Homicide pass out in the Coquina Clutch at the same show in a six-man tag. They trade front facelocks on the mat to start. Joe then murders him with all sorts of strikes then backs him into the corner. He boots him in the face a few times then gauges his eyes. Homicide catches him with a drop toehold and attempts an STF but Joe manages to escape and duck outside. Homicide then flies out with a somersault plancha that wakes up the crowd. Back inside, Homicide chops Joe hard then returns the favor and gauges his eyes before hitting him with a running knee strike. Homicide hits some more chops until he gets caught in a uranage. Homicide rolls outside and Joe whips him into the guardrail. Back inside, Joe gets a nearfall with a Dragon Suplex. Homicide fights back and takes Joe off of the top with a rana that gets two. He then hits front-to-back clotheslines but Joe comes back with a Death Valley Driver. Homicide then comes back with a back suplex and gets two off of that. Homicide kicks Joe in the face a few times to little effect and he ends up hitting Homicide with a powerbomb then locking on an STF. Joe then switches to the Coquina Clutch but Homicide is able to reach the ropes. They trade slaps and chops until Homicide ducks a clothesline and rolls him up for the win (9:56) **1/2. After the match, Joe abides by the Code of Honor.

Thoughts: The match was going along fine but the finish came out of nowhere and felt anti-climatic. However, the match showed that Homicide could hang in there with a guy like Joe and helped establish him as a singles wrestler.


#1 Contender's Trophy Match
Christopher Daniels w/ Simply Luscious vs. AJ Styles

The story here is that Daniels wants to win the trophy so the belt can remain in possession of the Prophecy. AJ works a side headlock to start. He keeps going back to the move as the announcers put over AJ's work in TNA. They trade armdrags until the collide after both attempting crossbody blocks. AJ hits a dropkick and follows that with a neckbreaker that gets two. Daniels sends AJ into the corner with a monkey flip and they take it outside. Daniels drops AJ across the guardrail and yells at the fans. He whips AJ who does the spot where he leaps over the guardrail then catches his opponent with a super kick when they charge after him. Back in the ring, AJ hits a facebuster then puts on the bridging Indian Death Lock. Daniels reaches the ropes and AJ hits him with a wheelbarrow facebuster. He heads up top but Daniels cuts him off then hits a DDT. Daniels then goes to work on the neck then takes him down with a flying forearm. They are now choking out each other but Daniels breaks that up with an eye poke then hits a back suplex for a nearfall. Eye of the Hurricane gets two. Daniels hits an STO and tries the BME but lands on his feet. He catches AJ with a Flatliner and that gets two. AJ comes back with a neckbreaker as both men are down. AJ is up first and hits Daniels with a dropkick and a discus clothesline. Brainbuster gets two. Daniels comes back with a Blue Thunder Bomb as both men are down again. Daniels hits another STO then hits the BME but AJ kicks out. AJ fights back and they have a reversal sequence that ends with AJ hitting an inverted DDT for a nearfall. They now have a pinfall reversal sequence that finally ends with AJ catching Daniels with the Styles Clash and getting the win (15:12) ***. After the match, the Prophecy attacks AJ until Jay Briscoe, Amazing Red, and the SAT's make the save.

Thoughts: Good match but disappointing considering who was involved. Daniels wrestling at the beginning of the show could have also played into the match being slower paced than usual. AJ will now get a shot at the title the next show.


30 Minute Iron Man Match
Doug Williams vs. American Dragon

The match starts on the mat with Williams working the leg. He then switches to the arm until Dragon gets a quick rollup for two. Dragon then works a stepover toe hold as a fan chants "boring." He then puts on the Muta Lock but Williams elbows his way out of that. Dragon takes Williams down again and acts cocky which allows Williams to escape. More matwork follows until Dragon runs into a clothesline. They now battle over a key lock until Dragon takes him down. He works the arm for a bit then grabs a side headlock. Williams is now working a neck vise until Dragon drops down to escape. They are now trading Judo throws then Dragon beats on Williams in the corner before working a side headlock on the mat. Williams counters that with a headscissors as Levy runs down the next show on December 7th called "Night of the Butcher." Bryan puts on a rear naked choke as this match is getting repetitive with all of the back-and-forth matwork. Dragon uses headbutts and chops to knock down Williams. He steps on the back of his neck and drops an elbow as we are at the halfway point. Dragon gets aggressive as he hammers away on Williams and chokes him out in the ropes. Williams gets him up in the Gory Special then turns it into a backslide for two. Dragon sends Williams into the corner and boots him as he is hanging off of the ropes. Dragon then hits a superplex and that gets two. Northern Lights Suplex gets two. Dragon is pissed and they work a reversal sequence that ends with Dragon hitting a Dragon suplex for a nearfall but Dragon follows that with a second one and scores a pinfall (18:23).

Daniels tries for the Cattle Mutilation but Williams turns that into an Ace Crusher that gets two. They trade European Uppercuts until Williams knocks Dragon to the floor then follows him out with a tope. Back inside, Williams gets a nearfall with a pair of flying knee smashes. Williams hits a release German suplex then locks on the Cobra Clutch and swings him around. Dragon fights back and hits a snap suplex then hits a diving headbutt that gets two. Dragon dumps Williams outside as he avoided the Chaos Theory and they end up fighting on the top rope, ending with Williams countering a super back suplex in midair that gets two. Williams gets a victory roll for two as there are just five minutes left in the match. Floating DDT gets two. He hits the Chaos Theory but Dragon just kicks out at two, shocking the announcers. Williams slams Dragon and heads up top for a  flying knee smash but that only gets two. Williams hits a few more German suplexes and then another Chaos Theory but Dragon gets his foot on the ropes to break the pin. Brainbuster gets two. Dragon fights back and dropkicks Williams in the back of the neck. He sets Williams up on the top rope as there is just one minute left in the match. Dragon hits a super back suplex and goes to cover but Williams reverses it into a crossface as time expires with Dragon winning 1-0 (30:00) ***1/4.

Thoughts: Up until the first and only pinfall, this felt repetitive and more like an exhibition than a match. It was back-and-forth mat wrestling just for the sake of it rather than building up to something. It picked up near the end but I was not a big a fan of this one as some people were. The crowd did not really get into this until near the end either.


Dragon is backstage talking about how Williams was close to beating him for the second time but no one beats him twice. He reiterates that point and says that they are the two best indy mat wrestlers around and he knows that Williams will come back to RoH to face him one more time.


They catch up with a pissed off Williams backstage who says that in England, they wrestle best of three falls matches and challenges Dragon to that style of match, saying that he will beat him.


The Prophecy are backstage as Daniels looks like a goof with Luscious on the phone blowing him off and Joe punking him out after reminding him how he is just a hired gun. This is supposed to be the leader of the top heel group and the valet treats him like a joke. Joe leaves then Daniels tells Xavier that he will retain the belt next show.


AJ is with Alexis Laree when he gets jumped by the Prophecy. Xavier holds up Laree so Luscious can slap her. Daniels then yells at AJ about how the belt is not leaving the Prophecy.


Final Thoughts: I was not too thrilled with this show. The angle of Mark Briscoe joining the Prophecy was good and they are pushing Homicide as a singles wrestler, which is good as the crowd likes him. However, the middle of the show was pretty bad and burned out the crowd. None of the matches were memorable, to me anyway, and the depth of the promotion was shallow here with a few guys having to pull double-duty and a lot of the newer guys being at a lower level who did not impress. Another thing that bothered me was Levy (Sapolsky) on commentary. He was so obnoxious in stating how the fans in RoH were better than everyone else as they do not try to put themselves over, which was not the case, and in hyping up the promotion as the best in the world.


Here is my schedule for the next several days:

Sunday: WWF Saturday Night's Main Event 10/4/86
Tuesday: WWF Wrestling Challenge 10/5/86
Thursday: Highspots Shoot Interview with Mike Awesome
Friday: WWF Superstars of Wrestling 10/11/86
Saturday: RoH Night of the Butcher 12/7/02




Comments

  1. That Iron Man match was pretty boring for the most part. Was not a fan of Doug Williams in early ROH. I don't even remember this show at all. Really forgettable.

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  2. I always look forward to your ROH reviews. I've seen all these shows but probably not since they had just come out to the public so it's a nice nostalgia trip.

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  3. "Xavier stops a charge and comes back with a nasty Cobra Clutch Suplex that gets two."



    Jesus. A move like that, in the 3rd match, and only for a two. RoH is silly sometimes.

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  4. Plus, the move dropped Lopez right on his head. It looked sick

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  5. It was a forgettable show. Lots of filler

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  6. Yeah, it's not the safest move on the planet to begin with...which is why it's a finisher. Jesus, early RoH, you really didn't give a fuck, did you?

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  7. I never understood the love for Doug Williams. He's technically sound, but his matches are generally monotonous and elongated. .

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  8. He bored me most of the time.

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  9. Good worker, no look or charisma. We call this Dave Taylor Syndrome.

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  10. It's kinda amazing to think about how different ROH was just three years later, despite being booked by the same person and featuring a lot of the same talent. The company really evolved.

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  11. I liked him but a lot of the allure was that he was a (relatively) big guy who was able to keep up with the smaller guys. He wasn't a super worker or anything and as the years went on and the overall workrate was elevated for most workers, he kinda became redundant.

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  12. Yeah but it's what the fans wanted, especially back in 2002. Head drops were the in things on the indy's.

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  13. Thanks man, I appreciate it

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  14. good review just how I remember the show. shame mark briscoe being in the prophecy is dropped too quickly

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  15. Just wanted to say I really enjoy these.

    I haven't seen 95% of these early sbows

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  16. They're not that great. They worked for the ROH formula back then (sell DVDs) because they almost always featured at least one "must-see" match (this one not withstanding) that served as a DVD seller but there's A LOT of unnecessary garbage on the shows. It also seemed like they felt into the indy troupe of constantly having super long shows, even by ROH standards.


    Things started to tighten up in 2003, especially after the One Year Anniversary Show when Cary Silkin came in as a financial backer because the company was about to go bankrupt due to the amount of "name" guys they used on their shows.


    They started to really nail the formula in 2004 after the split with RF and they also started to turn around the DVDs much quicker than they did in their first two years, despite running shows more often.

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  17. Thank you

    A lot of these shows are inconsistent aaa they struggled to find their identity

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  18. Yeah, the length of these shows, three hours is way too long. Especially when they are long matches

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  19. Sapolsky was such a shit commentator. Was he screaming "DANGEROOOUUUSSS!" at this point, or did that come later?

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  20. I find him grating in all aspects really

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  21. Fine; Dave Taylor/Alex Wright/Joe Malenko syndrome. Mostly destined to be a tag team wrestler, as they are the workhorse, and the partner usually has the charisma or gimmick.

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