Weekly Watchlist 001 - June 16 2024

 Entry number one in the Weekly Watchlist!

I knew I wouldn't be able to get a very lengthy post made up, given that I started this blog in the middle of the week, but still wanted to get something out right at the start. Get things rolling.

 

 

Here's what I watched for the week;

 

 

 

 

 

 

I should note: I do have star ratings for each match included on my spreadsheet but will not be adding them to any of my reviews (at least not right now). The star ratings are fairly arbitrary and are just a quick, easy way for me to see if I've actually watched a match and my overall enjoyment of it. I don't do half or quarter stars, and the difference between a 4 and a 5 star rated match on my spreadsheet could be a difference of what day in the week I decided to watch the match. 

In a tweet I made sharing my spreadsheet, I said "Please don’t take these rankings too seriously. Bret/Austin @ WM13 and The Boneryard Match from Talk n’ Shop are both 5* matches. I don’t make the rules." It really is as simple as that, folks.

Now! Lets do some reviewing, shall we?

 

Sheamus v Bron Breakker - WWE RAW - 06/17/2024

Two bulls ready to lock horns. WWE RAW

My god, what a great TV match this was. Sheamus and Bron are two of my absolute favourites on the roster. Sheamo has been my guy since I got back into wrestling almost 10 years ago now and Breakker can take this entire industry over if they aren't careful. His early NXT matches against Ciampa (my number 1 guy) were unbelievable. He improved every time the bell rang. 

"Pissed off and not afraid to let you know about it" Breakker is such a fun character right now. WWE is on fire and TV feels exciting each week. Having a dude who just wants to tear the roster to shreds and look like an effortless badass while doing it is incredible. I want Breakker to spear every. single. person he finds. Just complete reckless abandon. Take no prisoners.

That's the feel for this whole match. Sheamus is a guy who can give it just as well as he takes it and he took an absolute beating here. The majority of the offence came from Breakker beating the absolute hell out of Sheamus. There were moments where he was able to start mounting a comeback on Breakker, but he'd smother him quickly and keep him down.

Bron takes flight and absolutley flattens Sheamus. WWE RAW

Sami Zayn is ringside for the match and doesn't really play any sort of role throughout. They talk about him seemingly "scouting future IC title contenders," hopefully Sheamus is able to win that one final title before he calls it a career. He more than deserves it. Breakker too. Be an absolute monster of a champion.

Commentary also mentions that, allegedly, Breakker hits the ropes at 23 miles per hour. Now, whether you choose to believe that a wrestling company is telling you the truth about anything is up to you, I just think its cool they felt like mentioning how insanely quick Breakker is. Dude's like a bullet with legs.

We get a bit of a botch when Breakker tried to do his top rope headscissors and his feet slip at the top. It looks like he's about to do a split legged moonsault but Sheamo catches him and kinda turns it into a powerbomb. Could have been a whole lot worse.

The end comes after Sheamus refuses to back down to the unstoppable Breakker, who charges him for a spear and gets caught with a lethal knee strike.

Hard to spear a dude when your too busy counting your teeth. WWE RAW

 

Sheamus is able to get the upper hand again and starts clubbing Breakker with 10 beats of the Bodhran, leaving his gasping for air as Sheamus signals for the Brogue kick in the corner. Kaiser interferes, pulling Sheamus out by his feet resulting in him winning by DQ. They brawl to the outside as Sheamus dumps Kaiser over the barricade, only to turn around and get cut in half by a spear. 

Kaiser gets escorted away by security but that doesn't last long and... well, you can see for yourself what happens next.

 

We'll call the top half Ludwig and the bottom half Kaiser. WWE RAW

Breakker took Sheamus to the absolute limit here. No harm was done by having this end in a DQ when you have a brawl on the outside like this one. Looks like things between Sheamus and Kaiser are far from over and they'll probably end up having a few more matches on TV in the coming weeks, maybe even Kaiser and Breakker for a fun little match.  Breakker was taken up a few more notches by not only holding his own but dominating the matchup against Sheamus. Breakker is set to completely take over RAW at this rate. Loved it.

 

"Speedball" Mike Bailey v Colby Corino - DPW Carolina Classic - 10/15/2022

"Both these guys" chants filled the Durham Convention Center. DPW

 

 

I've been listening to the DEADLOCK Podcast for something like 3 years now and its genuinely one of the funniest pods I listen to. (Shoutout Pulse, Jawnny and Tony) If you don't already listen, get with the fucking program, dude. The joke for the longest time was always "we'll book this guy for DPW hes completely insane" and that's all it ever was, a joke for the boys. 

The day they announced that DPW was an actual, real life company, independent wrestling was never the same, and I mean that as genuinely as possible. 

I finally bit the bullet and subscribed last month when DPW Limit Break was announced because Roderick motherfuckin' Strong is gonna be there?! Your goddamn right I'm watching that. (I have not yet watched that) I've been working my way through the catalogue of events in chronological order since the first of May and man, DPW has not put out a bad show yet. Seriously, even the weaker shows are still stellar. 

One of the mainstays of DPW has been Colby Corino, son of ECW and ROH wrestler Steve Corino, who has consistently put on my favourite matches show after show. They tend to be hardcore in some way, and he always puts in an insane effort each time he's in the ring. "Speedball" Mike Bailey on the other hand is making his DPW debut in a first round match for the Carolina Classic Tournament. While this isn't my first time watching Bailey, I've certainly seen less of his work than Colby's.

The start of the match is pretty close back and forth, trading holds and counter holds, and making sure that neither man has a lot of time to recover. Bailey absolutely pummels Colby early on with strong kicks, and is able to get the upper hand early on. Colby finally gets some life back in him when Bailey decides to try and chop him, which urges Colby to respond in kind and wait for more. Nothing better in wrestling than a good-old-fashioned chop off.

Corino lays into Bailey with a nasty chop. DPW

 

The fun doesn't last very long, however, as Bailey drags out his chop attempt on Corino before cracking him with a lighting quick kick. He didn't earn that 4th degree black belt in Taekwondo from his looks alone, folks.

 

Bailey ends the chop party early with a kick to the face. DPW

 

 

 

The DPW faithful are quick to voice their opinion on this match with a loud "this shit fucks" chant. No more "this is awesome" folks, leave that in the 2010's. If a match doesn't "fuck" then I'm not watching it.

Colby is able to get a bit of a comeback rolling but Bailey shuts him down again with a single forearm smash before the pair trade shots in the centre once again. Even Bailey's hardest shots stop Corino for only a few seconds, he refuses to stay down for long at all. Corino even goes so far as to outright eat kicks from Bailey so he can hook the leg into a suplex or a driver of his own, using Bailey's best weapons against him. Fuckin' brilliant.

With unreal speed, Bailey tries to kick Corino but he's able to slide to the outside, but he doesn't get very long to breathe as Bailey immediately hits the corner and moonsaults to the outside. Just insane speed from a man called "speedball."

As soon as Corino hits the floor, Bailey is in the air. DPW

Bailey hit the canvas like a sack of spuds after this knee strike. DPW

There's one final flash of offence from both men as Corino drills Bailey with a wicked knee strike and goes for a pin off a top rope Air Raid Crash, only for Bailey to roll his way out and send Corino into the corner. A middle rope Ultimate Weapon (what an insane name for dropping both your knees across a dude on all fours) ends the match and sends Bailey to the 4-way Carolina Classic match later in the night.

Looks like an Ultimate Weapon to me! DPW

 This shit did, indeed, fuck. Colby Corino has quickly become a guy that, even if nothing else on the card really interests me, I'll always watch his match. He's been on fire in DPW in 2022 and I hope that continues as I progress further into the DPW library. 

With this being a short week for me, I'm gonna leave it at these 2 matches. Both Clash at the Castle and Carolina Classic were amazing shows, and even the matches I may have rated lower than the rest are still more than worth watching. I'm gonna continue to work my way through the DPW catalogue as the weeks go on until I'm fully caught up. I've also been working my way through CHIKARA and starting on CZW when I want to watch some older indies I really like. You'll probably also see some All Japan and NOAH popping up on here soon. I've been on a big Misawa/Kobashi kick lately so I'll be watching a lot more of their stuff.

All of this is to say, this blog will not be lacking in content. If you want to see more and come along for the ride, subscribe to the blog and bookmark the page so you can always find your way back here.

Drop me a line in the comments or at cliffmorganwstl@gmail.com if you have any match recommendations. I'm always down to watch something new.

 

Until next time folks,

Cliff Morgan