WWE PPV Review: Summerslam 2012

WWE PPV Review: Summerslam 2012 WWE's annual summer extravaganza remains one of the company's top pay-per-views of the year. Like The Royal Rumble and WrestleMania Summerslam is one event where we the fans know the matches will be lined up to please all. This year the main talking point was the encounter between Triple H and the as yet not as exciting as he should be Brock Lesnar. So did the card deliver? Here is Phil Allely's review of the show. WWE United States Title Match: Antonio Cesaro vs. Santino Marella This fun opener saw crowd favourite Santino tyr to unleash his 'corba' finihser early and Ceraso attempt to put him away with a few decent moves. The finish came as Askana interfered on Cesaro's behalf and Marella fell to a front piledriver. The US Title found a new home with Antoni, as a stunned live crowd watched on. Dolph Ziggler vs. Chris Jericho Opening things up proper (The US title scrap was a dark match) Dolph Ziggler attempted to regain some lost momentum, by battling veteran grappler Chris Jericho. With the smart fans knowing that Jericho is set for a short sabatical (to tour with his band Fozzy) this seemed to be Ziggler's night. However even with an injured Jericho and assistance form Vickie Guerrero, it was not meant to be. Ziggler proved to be a worthy opponent, but the wiley Jericho was still able to hold him off and lock in a 'Walls of Jericho' to gain a submission win. Kane vs. Daniel Bryan The once almost indestructible 'big red machine' Kane has lost much of his monster appeal in recent years. Although he is still a formidable foe, when matched with a decent in-ring partner. This bout with Daniel Bryan was one such match where everything worked well and Kane was able to strut his stuff. The men both traded near falls, teased finishers and much more in this by the numbers brawl. Bryan was fortunate to be able to counter a 'Tombstone Piledriver' and roll up Kane for the popular win. Kane went ballistic post-match. WWE Intercontinental Title Match: Rey Mysterio vs. The Miz Seemingly inspired by Batman Rey Mysterio gave The Miz a run for his money in this fast-paced encounter. The pairing worked well together and had some nice back-and-forth action going on in this one. Miz pulled off the surprise win to retain his belt, following a 'Skull Crunching Finale'. World Heavyweight Title Match: Alberto Del Rio vs. Sheamus Irishman Sheamus has been working hard to build himself up as a convincing champion. This scrap with Alberto Del Rio hd its moment, but also showed that Sheamus still needs some work to be a believable world title holder. The action was reasonably crisp, Ricardo tried to interfere as per usual and the champion retained. The end saw Ricardo's shoe used on Del Rio and Sheamus nail an 'Irish Curse' to keep his gold. ADR's foot was on the bottom rope, so did taint the win somewhat. WWE Tag Team Title Match: Titus O'Neil and Darren Young vs. Kofi Kingston and R-Truth We have written here before that the WWE are in dire need of new tag teams. This next match proves that point exactly. Champs Kofi Kingston and R Truth are a very good duo and as such deserve some above par opponents. O'Neill and Young are not too shabby, but there are better teams out there and the WWE need to get them on board if the division is to continue. The champions won with ease and will continue to do so until an equally talented pairing sign up to the WWE. WWE Title Match: Big Show vs. John Cena vs. Big Show As WWE Champion CM Punk has been a revelation. This is a man who for many years was buried by the WWE and was forced to tread water until he proved himself. His in-ring speech last year was the point where Punk's character took off and also the event that made Vince McMahon take notice of Phil Brooks. Now with the belt firmly in his grasp Punk is the man at present in the company and as such he needs to be fed the best quality competitors possible to maintain that momentum. Here he had the combo of Big Show and John Cena to face. Cena and Show are both former champions and have headlined many PPV's over the years. As a triple threat style encounter this was a superb one. This match raised expectations perfectly, the combatants worked very well indeed, even Cena pulled out all the stops to make Punk look good. Show may be nearing the end of his in-ring career, but he can still work a bout that allows him short breaks and breathing space. Punk kept his gold after knocking Cena out of the ring and covering Show. Triple H vs. Brock Lesnar The main event was perhaps the most highly anticipated match of the night. Brock Lesnar has yet to prove himself to be the monster he has been billed as and with Triple H as his opponent this was his chance to reclaim his throne. With Paul (ECW) Heyman in tow Lesnar makes for a formidable guy, his appearance and demeanour are truly scary. The match itself was a brutal affair, Triple H giving as good as he got throughout. The action went both in and out of the ring frequently and Lesnar finally looked as frighteningly powerful as he should do here. The match finished with a nice sequence where Lesnar applied his submission finisher and Triple H finally had to succumb to the pain. The show went off the air with a beaten Triple H barely making it out of the ring, lesnar celebrating and many in attendance believing that Triple H was not only the receiver of a broken arm, but on the cusp of making a retirement announcement. Summerslam was a show that looked good on paper, the matches were reasonable, but nothing special. The world title matches and Triple H/Lesnar bouts made this worth viewing and saved the PPV. This like other recent WWE live shows has proved that the company need to recruit some young (potential main event blood asap. Www.wwe.com By Phil Allely

Kurt Angle Interview Highlights

Alex Barie of WNW interviewed Kurt Angle earlier this week in his hometown of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Below are the highlights: Who convinced him to go to WWE over WCW: Kurt Angle: WWE, F at the time, was going through the Attitude Era. I actually, thank God, met Ric Flair. I asked him about WCW and he straight up told time right to my face to not go there and go to WWE. Ric pretty much scared me off. WCW would do nothing with you. Vince McMahon would make you a star. Ric was right. I am very grateful what Vince did to me. He utilized me the right way. I believe if I would have went to WCW, it would have taken a heck of a lot longer to get to where I am now. The program that "put him on the map": Kurt Angle: My favorite was Triple H and Stephanie. That is what really put me on the map. That was my first year wrestling. Triple H, God bless him, is a great leader . Talk about getting in the ring with somebody and just carried you through everything. I had a concussion at Summerslam that first year and I don’t even remember what I was doing. I don’t even remember the match, but I know watching it over again Triple H, Dawyne, The Rock, just kept telling what to do and carried me through it. When I was suppose to duck out of the way, they literally pulled my head down themselves to miss and hit the other guy. You can just tell if you look back that I literally knew nothing what I was doing. I learned a lot that year. But that storyline with Triple H and Stephanie was my favorite. That or the comedy I did with Stone Cold. That was different. We were both injured and Vince McMahon wanted both of us on TV. We just had great chemistry. One of those two. Would you ever believe you'd be working with Eric Bischoff? Kurt Angle: No. At first I didn’t like Eric Bischoff. I didn’t think he would do anything to help the company. Hulk Hogan…..I always liked Terry. I didn’t have a problem with him. I thought he had one of the top three minds in the business because he was around Vince McMahon so much and when you are around Vince McMahon so much, you learn a lot! Thank God. …Him, Bruce Prichard, and Hulk Hogan are going to take TNA to the next level. Have they yet? No, but it always takes time. Everybody is always expecting overnight result. It doesn’t happen like that. Will you ever return to WWE? I can’t answer that (he smiles). I will say that I signed a three year deal with TNA recently. They want to extend the deal. I probably will. But anything is possible. A lot of wrestlers like to retire at Mania. They like to go out with 80,000-100,000 fans watching you. I’m no different, but I like the way TNA treats me. I like the money they pay me. Put it this way, my schedule, which is a part-time schedule, Thank God, I’m making the same money in TNA, maybe more, than what I would make in WWE if I was on the same schedule, so why would I want to leave? It doesn’t make any sense.

Michael Hayes new song pays tribute to Terry Gordy

WWE star pays tribute to his former tag team partner in song! By Phil Allely In a recent article on WWE.com former Fabulous Freebird Michael 'P.S' Hayes talks about his new song 'Freebird Road' and how it was conceived as a tribute to his best friend (the late) Terry 'Bam Bam' Gordy. One of the original Freebirds line-up Gordy was rightly acknowledged as one of the toughest men in the wrestling business. The team had some of the finest feuds in history against combos such as the Von Erich's, Road Warriors and many others. Gordy also went on to headline in Japan alongside fellow hard-hitter 'Doctor Death' Steve Williams. Gordy's last main role before his sad passing in 2001, was as The Executioner for the WWE in a feud with Undertaker. In their prime The Fabulous Freebirds (Gordy,Hayes, Buddy Roberts) were the hottest team in the industry, they also innovated the concept of entrance music for grappler's. Their song of choice was appropriately 'Freebird' by Lynyrd Skynyrd. “I was listening to ‘Brickyard Road’ by [Lynyrd Skynyrd vocalist] Johnny Van Zant, which is a tribute song to his brother Ronnie, who died in a plane crash. Listening to the song, I started to notice the parallels between what the song was saying about Ronnie and how I felt about Terry,” Hayes elaborated. Hayes retired from the ring, taking up a major role with the WWE creative department and has moved up the ladder greatly since then, he now commands a high level of power on the Smackdown brand. He did of course manage The Hardy Boyz during their initial WWE run (as the colourful DoKHendrix) and has appeared on screen at times and been instrumental in some of the best and worst of the WWE product (depending on your views). His recent appearances have seen his dress sense lampooned by performers at the annual Hall Of Fame ceremony. A natural in-ring performer in his prime Hayes has always had music in his blood and loves step inside the studio. “The purpose of doing this wasn’t just to record another song, it was to teach people about this guy who was just born to wrestle,” Hayes explained. “I think Jimmy Garvin (one of the more recent incarnations of the Freebirds) said it best, ‘God put Terry Gordy on Earth to wrestle,’ and when you look at his career, it’s hard to argue with that. But more importantly, I wanted people to know the man outside of the ring.” Receiving a positive reaction the song seems destined to highlight the career and life of Gordy to a whole new audience, and embrace his legacy in the ring. “It’s one thing to know the competitor and the man, but it’s another thing to know someone’s dad or husband, that puts a whole different spin on things and what the song really means,” Hayes told WWE.com. “I really hope that people are able to see what a fun-loving guy Terry was,” Hayes said. “As much as he was a tough guy inside the ring, he was the opposite at home. Terry was a really good guy and I wanted to introduce him to a whole new generation of wrestling fans.” “This is one of those things that makes me content with my life,” Hayes said. “If I never do another thing with my life, I know I’ll be happy that I was able to honor my friend this way.” You can see The Freebirds in action on numerous WWE released DVD's and online.

Boogeyman Interview Highlights

Marty Wright, who portrayed The Boogeyman character in WWE from 2005 to 2009, addressed his wrestling career during an interview with Justin LaBar on Wrestling Reality on TribLIVE Radio sports station in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He said everyone in the sports entertainment organization was enjoyable to work with during his time there with the exception of one individual. “Donald Trump, however, he wasn’t the best. Actually, let me rephrase that. He was the worst. He didn’t want to sell the character,” Wright says. At WrestleMania 23 at Ford Field in Detroit, Michigan, Trump was shown in a backstage segment sitting on a couch with Miss America when The Boogeyman appeared from behind. Wright says Trump didn’t think he should appear scared, and didn’t. “I just wanted to bite his head off. He actually wasn’t the most favorable person to work with,” Wright says. Wright also reveals that he solely ate worms due to host arenas’ fears of other insects getting loose. “We had to pay an infestation clause, which would cost much more money,” says Wright, who wanted to use roaches, crickets and maggots for the gimmick. “Worms were the only thing we could control.” Wright credits Vince McMahon with allowing him to direct character and notes that he would like to return to the company one day. “I can’t say when, but just keep your eyes open. You never know when The Boogeyman is going to pop up again, but I’m definitely working toward that,” Wright says.

Jerry Lawler discusses Andy Kaufman feud

Jerry Lawler recently discussed his legendary feud with Andy Kaufman on WWE's Website. Here are some highlights. WWE CLASSICS: Out of all the great rivalries in wrestling and all the great pop culture moments, what is it about this one incident that 30 years later people are still so fascinated by? LAWLER: It was the first time something like that had happened. I don’t know if I should tell this or not, but one night I was flying back on the plane with Vince McMahon. And he said, “You know, King, I’ve never told you this before, but I was so jealous when you got Andy Kaufman and did all that stuff with him down there in Memphis. Because he was from New York, and I thought we could have done all that stuff up here.” But he also said, “But I’ll be honest with you. There’s no way on Earth we could have done it as well as you guys did it.” WWE CLASSICS: Wow. It would have been a totally different dynamic. LAWLER: Yes, but it would have been a first. Vince loves firsts. To this day, you hear on Monday Night Raw that you’re going to see something for the first time ever. That’s big. And this was the first time any big deal Hollywood star was involved to that extent in wrestling. Vince realized, everybody realized, because it got so much national exposure. Everything back then was still regionalized. Cable TV hadn’t hit yet. The country was divided up into wrestling territories because of TV coverage. Once Vince saw you could use a Hollywood star to get that nationwide exposure, here comes Cyndi Lauper with Captain Lou and Wendi Richter, and then Mr. T gets brought in. The ball got rolling, and it hasn’t stopped to this day. Just in the past year, Hugh Jackman was in there punching Dolph Ziggler. WWE CLASSICS: Yeah, you really could argue that Andy Kaufman is responsible for all of that. LAWLER: I really feel, in my heart of hearts, that he was responsible for that. I certainly believe that Andy Kaufman deserves a spot in the celebrity wing of the WWE Hall of Fame. Without a doubt, we would not be where we are today without his involvement. I really feel that way. Even at Raw 1,000, we had Charlie Sheen challenging Daniel Bryan to a match. It’s Andy Kaufman revisited as recently as last night.

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TNA Destination X 2012 Review

Destination X 2012 Review By Phil Allely Destination X is TNA’s annual homage to the sometimes overlooked, but exhilarating X Division. During the companies humble beginnings it was the high-flying roster members of this division who lit up arenas and made TNA a viable number two promotion in the US. This years event offered forth a great looking main event, an undercard focusing mainly on the X Division grapplers and a few surprises along the way. However the lack of big name draws and numerous little known wrestlers did mean some matches played to poor reception. Austin Aries vacated his X title to face World Champion Bobby Roode in the main event of the show and what a blistering encounter they put forth. Given Aries had already shown his mettle against larger foes such as Bully Ray, his tackling of the top company heel in Roode was a match to look forward to. Both men traded near falls and the advantage throughout, offering up a believable scrap where the finish could not be predicted. The end came as Roode pulled every dirty trick out of his bag (including a belt shot and referee bump), Aries nailed a nice ‘brain buster’ to score the shock win for his first TNA World Heavyweight Title. Elsewhere the show kicked off with the ‘X Division Tournament Last Chance Qualifier‘. Here Rubix, Mason Andrews, Lars Only and Dakota Darsow squared off for a spot in the next match and possible shot . at the vacant X gold later on the show. The spot-fest was quick and crowd-warming at best, which Andrews won after some reasonable exchanges. Kid Kash versus Andrews followed directly and built momentum up in the arena. Veteran Kash was on fine form, but fell to a roll-up. UK star Doug Williams fell to up and comer Kenny King in a reasonable match next. Former TNA wrestler Sonjay Dutt received a decent pop from fans as he beat Rashad Cameron. Dutt showed no signs of ring rust in this encounter. Zema Ion bested Flip Casanova in a far too quick match that did not highlight either mans skills. The Bound For Glory Series match between Kurt Angle and Samoa Joe was a welcome addition to the card. The back and forth action livened up things nicely and worked well amongst their highflying peers matches. The finish came when Joe applied the ‘rear naked choke’ and Kurt passed, netting Joe 10 points for the win. Former buddies AJ Styles and Daniels’ ‘Last Man Standing’ encounter was a blinder, both men risking life and limb in and out of the ring. Interference by Kazarian couldn’t help his fellow tag Team Champion Daniels though as AJ hit a ‘Clash’ through a table to win. Ultimate X was, as expected, a flurry of high-risk moves, tope rope spots and much more as the steel structure ‘X ropes’ came into play. Zema Ion overcame Dutt (via hairspray assist) to grab the title belt. The main event bout between Roode and Aries rounded this hit and miss PPV off in style. Destination X was yet another event where the company showed its support for its younger roster members. The crowing of Austin Aries as champ will shake up the title picture, and the emphasis on the once winning formula of X Division performers worked very well indeed. With no sign of Hogan and many others, this was a night that belonged to the often neglected and yet so refreshing high-flying TNA stars. We all knew Slammiversary would be a hard act to follow and that an X Division heavy event would be a hot and cold affair. That said this was a decent offering from the always improving Impact Wrestling crew.

Perry Saturn Interview Highlights

For him, Extreme Rising is more than a wrestling company. It's symbolic. Extreme Legend Perry Saturn has returned from the brink, found sobriety, and is rising back in wrestling. Now Saturns joins James Guttman on ClubWWI.com for a 35 minute shoot that will shock and awe with its blunt honesty. Among the many topics JG and Saturn discuss are his misery while in WCW, the political games of those in power, why he split with John Kronus, disappearing from wrestling, becoming homeless, his intense drug abuse, the night the Radicalz jumped to WWE, Goldberg, Hulk Hogan, and tons more. For a larger list of topics click here. Those who have been following Perry Saturn's return to wrestling know that he's been through the fires of hell. Returning from drug abuse and homelessness, Perry now is able to look back on his career with a new found enthusiasm. Unfortunately, the choices he made lead to the loss of some memories. As the ClubWWI.com begins, James Guttman asks Saturn about his run in WWF alongside "Moppy". The gimmick was funny, but Perry's response might be considered startling to some. "Yeah. The people, for the most part, really enjoyed that Moppy stuff. Unfortunately, I was so high all the time, I have such a clouded memory. I don't remember most of it…All the ideas were the writers. I had no idea. Like I said, I was so stoned all the time, I'm lucky I made it to the shows ,let alone come up with anything creative. WWE has an outstanding creative staff, they come up with stuff. They try to come up with ways to get everybody over and you do or you don't. I didn't have anything to do with that creative because at the time, I really hated it too…Now, I get the humor of it. At the time, my main concern was making sure nobody knew I was high." As Guttman points out, one of the most overlooked things about those who abuse drugs is that there is a constant fear that they could be caught in the act. It adds a level of paranoia and stress to someone who's already battling problems. Perry agrees. "I was so standoffish. I didn't want anyone to know what was going on." James notices how much effort Saturn put in to covering his habits in WWF at the time. Many fans assume that pre-Wellness Poilcy WWF was a place where drugs were openly done. But that couldn't be further from the truth. Despite the policy not being as solid, it still was something the company didn't tolerate. As the ClubWWI.com interview continues, Saturn explains why he made such efforts to hide it. "If they had found out, they would have sent me to rehab. They always, for whatever reason, took care of the guys as best they could. But I didn't want to quit doing everything. I didn't want to go to rehab. I wanted to keep doing things the way I was doing them. I wasn't a big drinker. So when you drink a lot on top of doing drugs, that's really hard to hide that. I think that's what helped me keep mine hidden was that I just did the opiates, which was easier for me to hide." Perry goes on to talk about the time he thought Dean Malenko, Chris Benoit, and Jim Ross were trying to trick him into an intervention, nearly killing himself accidentally, and much more. Of course, the names Chris Benoit, Dean Malenko, and Eddie Guerrero are almost always spoken with Perry Saturn. The four Radicalz were famous for their friendship. Perry shares his personal feeling with ClubWWI.com members about each person in the group. When James Guttman gets to Chris, Saturn talks about the man he knew and the shock over what he did. "All the time I'd been with Chris, I honestly don't think I've seen him mad. I'm sure he'd been upset, but mad? I've been mad where they've had to grab me and calm me down mad. Eddie's been so mad that I've seen Eddie throw a f****ing pool cue across a bar for just about no reason. I've seen Dean twice scream at somebody. I've never seen Chris do that. All those times I went out every night partying - because that's what I did - and on occasion I was able to drag these guys out with me. Chris told me on day one - and it never changed - that he didn't cheat on Nancy. Chris was a faithful husband and loving father. I have no idea what happened. I could never explain it and it blows my mind - the whole thing." Perry speaks in-depth about the night he and his friends jumped to the WWF from WCW and the misconceptions about the move. He also speaks out about his misery in WCW, being unhappy with his decision to go there, how the drug usage for many kicked up a notch while in WCW, management's adversarial relationship with wrestlers, top guys holding mid-carders down, and more. After listening to all that during the ClubWWI.com discussion, Guttman asks if Saturn is surprised that those who were in WCW management still find work years later. Without mentioning TNA owner Dixie Carter or TNA itself by name, JG asks and Perry lets them have it. "It's amazing. The 'Predictability of Stupidity' is unbelievable. To believe that someone could see what they did (in WCW) and use their own money to give these people another chance to do it again. Tell me TNA is going to be a successful business. That's hard to believe. Eventually that woman's going to run out of money and you have to think someone else will give them the same opportunity. Funniest thing I've seen in a long time was one of Vince Russo's Tweets, obviously after they let him go. He said he was sure glad to see the lucrative deal TNA signed with Hulk Hogan especially since Hogan's only appearances in TNA are during his Rent-a-Center ads. Nobody should ever get paid to stay home." It's that work ethic that lead to some of Perry's memorable moments in ECW. Now, years later, his career is coming full circle. Underneath the "Extreme Rising" banner (ExtremeReunion.net), Saturn is returning to his roots and working for a company that has the ECW feel. James mentions Perry's appearance on June 30th with the group and how it's offering the fans a chance to do something they haven't been able to do in over a decade - get the ECW feel at a live event. Saturn agrees and tells ClubWWI what made ECW so special…and how Extreme Rising has that same asset. "The ECW fans are totally different than any other fans. So it's wicked cool. I'm at Extreme Rising on the 30th this month. The show on the 29th is going to be outstanding too…I'm looking forward to it. I'm looking forward to my match more than any other match in a long time. I have no idea who I'm working with or anything, I'm just glad to be in front of the ECW fans again, you know…In ECW and WWE - both places - the guys worked as hard as they could. The difference was that that ECW fans made the whole experience different. They were special, man. They never had fans like that anywhere else." Remember, Perry Saturn is just one of over 300 top wrestling stars you can hear when you join ClubWWI.com. For up to the minute information on World Wrestling Insanity, follow us on Twitter @ClubWWI and like us on Facebook at Facebook.com/WorldWrestlingInsanity

TNA Sacrifice 2012 Review

TNA Sacrifice 2012 Review By Phil Allely Scarifice was main evented by a match that many thought could be the one where World Champ Bobby Roode would see his winning streak end. This was after all his challenger Rob Van Dam’s kind of match. The match itself worked well, both men went all out to impress and RVD was certainly not ‘phoning it in’ as he has been known to do. After a plethora of career shortening moves the Roode capitalised on a weakened Van Dan to grab his title and remain champ. The show kicked off with the team of Daniels and Kazarian facing off against the formidable unit of Magnus and Samoa Joe. Gelling well the teams traded near falls and power moves with ease, however champions Magnus and Joe fell to the cunning of their opponents and lost their gold. Next up Gail Kim retained her Knockouts Title in a short and reasonably sweet cat fight with Brooke Tessmacher. The ever improving Tessmacher worked hard but couldn’t beat Kim this time around. The TV Title match between champion Devon and Robbie’s E & T was nothing special, but did set up some tension in the Robbie’s camp. Devon took advantage of a miscommunication to nail both men and cover T for the win. Jeff Hardy and Mr Anderson had a fine brawl that highlighted their work ethic and in-ring ability. They both attempted each other’s finishers and battled in and around the ring. The end was controversial though, Anderson snatching a quick pin as Hardy seemed to kick out. Crimson’s impromptu encounter with Eric Young was a combination of comedy and stiff moves. EY and ODB both felt the wrath of the undefeated big man and got minimal fight to him, before Crimson took control and put EY down for the three count. Picking up the pace Austin Aries tackled Bully Ray in a really inviting bout. The size advantage of Ray balanced out the speed and agility advantage of Aries here. The crowd were well into this one and the result seemed to be anybody’s, the arrival of Joseph Park to ringside swung it but, allowing Austin to nail Ray and pick up the win. AJ Styles and Kurt Angle proved once again why they are true main event calibre grapplers in TNA next. Trading trademark moves, near falls and more form the get go the duo never let up (save the odd rest hold). The end sequence here was marred slightly by Daniels interfering to distract Styles, Angle getting a tap out win. A post match beat down on AJ by Kaz and Daniels saw Kurt make the save. This paved the way well for the ECW style ladder match main event. Sacrifice was a night of ups and downs for TNA, a few finishes fell flat (interference wise) and need to be eased out for more traditional definitive pinfall wins. RVD proved himself to be back on form in his challenge for the world title. Magnus and Joe’s tag title loss was a surprise and we have to hope they get a re-match asap. Anderson and Hardy will surely face off again. Style and Angle look set to team up and Austin Aries proved to the world that an X Division weight guy can stand toe to toe with the heavyweights. By Phil Allely

DVD Revew: TNA Genesis 2012

DVD Review: TNA Genesis 2012 By Phil Allely TNA’s Pay-Per-View assault on 2012 was a fun-filled one, each match had its fair share of high spots and most of them had results that fans at home and in person approved of. Genesis featured a nice ‘four corners’ X Division free for all for the title. There was also a hard-hitting match between Gunner and Rob Van Dam, living legend Ric Flair even turned up for this one to add to RVD’s woes. Gail Kim and Mickie James had a nicely paced fight over the Knockouts gold. The ‘Monster’s Ball’ war between Abyss and Bully Ray was an as expected exciting and brutal affair. We also got to see the new team of Samoa Joe and Magnus tackle the dominating duo of Matt Morgan and Crimson. The two most highly anticipated matches did deliver what they promised too, they were James Storm’s action-packed match with Kurt Angle and Jeff Hardy’s attempt to wrestle the world Title away from the very sneaky champion Bobby Roode. Genesis 2012 started TNA’s year off with a bang and makes for a fun DVD release. You can buy it now from all good retailers.

WWE DVD Review: The Best of King of the Ring

WWE DVD Review: The Best of King of the Ring By Phil Allely King of the Ring was at one time one of the jewels in the crown of the WWE pay-per-view calendar. KOTR was an event where superstars battled it out in a tournament to crown the company’s newest King, this accolade usually meaning the winner was being groomed for greatness. Many winners of the crown went on to raise the World title and embark on the best period of their career alos. This three disc set takes us on a nice ride through the 20 years of the KOTR PPV events and also helps fill in the gaps between the mid-1980s televised ones too. The tournaments early days saw the likes of Don Muraco, Tito Santana, Ted DiBiase, Harley Race, Randy Savage and Bret Hart raise the title. This is covered briefly here and makes for interesting viewing. Host Booker T (a former winner) is on nice form here throughout. The matches featured range from superb to decent and all are fun to re-view. Watch out especially for Bret Hart battling Bam Bam Bigelow, Owen Hart versus Razor Ramon and the infamous Stone Cold Steve Austin final against Jake The Snake Roberts. There are also a few pretty good more recent matches form the revamped PPV’s. Also on offer here are other matches from the KOTR events. These include Hulk Hogan tackling the huge Yokozuna, Shawn Michaels’ classic encounter with The British Bulldog and Undertaker’s WWE Championship scrap with The Rock. Of Course no KOTR DVD set would be complete without the much repeated and truly amazing Undertaker/Mankind Hell in a Cell match, the one by which all HIAC encounters are now judged. The Best of King of the Ring is available now from www.silvervision.co.uk and all good retailers.