Jake Roberts vs. Brian Knobs – WPW- 6/12/1998 – steel cage match
Reason For Reviewing: When I randomly saw this match on my Youtube feed it immediately caught my attention. 1998 is when Jake Roberts is arguably at his worst in terms of addiction and overall health. Knobs is in limbo with WCW having not been seen on national television in two years, but here we are in a cage with Jake Roberts. Plus, Greg Valentine is in the corner of Knobs for whatever reason. Anyone that has followed this site for the past decade knows that I’m a sucker for a cage match and a potential cage match with a train wreck inside is too good to pass up.
Roberts starts off with a series of jabs and an atomic drop to stagger Knobs. Roberts takes Knobs down and tries to use the snake, but Knobs crawls away. Roberts sends Knobs into the cage face first a couple of times. Knobs fights back with a few strikes and a boot to the midsection. Knobs delivers an elbow drop and a leg drop. Knobs keeps Roberts on the mat with stomps and chokes Roberts. Knobs sends Roberts into the corner and Roberts drops to the mat again. Knobs chokes Roberts some more. Knobs climbs the the cage and tries to escape the cage. Roberts grabs Knobs and delivers a low blow. Knobs eye rakes Roberts followed by a leg drop. Knobs delivers an elbow drop and chokes Roberts on the mat. Knobs takes his time climbing the cage. Roberts grabs Knobs boot, but Knobs delivers a stomp and a headbutt to the lower midsection. Knobs connects with another headbutt and taunts the crowd. Knobs opens the door and is met with a shot by Roberts with the boot. Roberts tries to escape through the door, but Knobs grabs Roberts boot. Knobs delivers a low blow to prevent the escape.
Knobs hits Roberts with his own boot a couple of times. Knobs signals for pity city and rubs his arm pit in Roberts face. Knobs low blows Roberts again on the mat. Knobs climbs the cage, but Roberts gets to his feet. Roberts crotches Knobs on the top rope and delivers a strike. Roberts nails Knobs with a short arm clothesline. Roberts signals for the DDT. Knobs avoids the DDT with a strike. Knobs hits Roberts with his boot over the back. Greg Valentine has come down to the ring and gives Knobs brass knuckles. Knobs decks Roberts with brass knuckles. Knobs sends Roberts into the cage face first. Roberts has been busted wide open. Knobs sends Roberts into the cage again. Valentine has opened the door for Knobs. Roberts stops Knobs from leaving the ring. Knobs keeps Roberts on the mat and taunts the crowd. Valentine is attacked by someone on the floor. Roberts gets the snake on Knobs. Roberts hits the DDT on Knobs, which the cameraman missed. Roberts manages to escape the cage for the win. (*. It wasn’t the worst match I’ve ever seen, but it was obviously not very good. Roberts wasn’t doing much, but the crowd was responding well to the action. It surprisingly went by quickly but that’s likely because it’s such an odd match that I was interested in how it was going to go.)
Spencer Slade vs. Impact X-Division Champion Josh Alexander – X-Division Title
Reason For Reviewing: I think Josh Alexander may be my favorite modern day wrestler as I make sure to keep tabs on what’s he’s doing even if I don’t watch Impact on a regular basis. Slade is a young prospect on the Indies that has gotten a lot of hype in recent months and is a guy that I’ve wanted to check out. I’m figuring this will be a good wrestling match to clean my pallet from the cage match. By the way, both wrestlers wear headgear. This match occurs outside and it does rain a little bit.
Slade backs Alexander into a corner and cleanly backs off, but Alexander pushes Slade away with his boot. Slade takes Alexander down to the mat and Alexander counters with a head scissors quickly. Slade breaks free and regroups in the corner. Slade keeps wrist control on Alexander for a few moments. Alexander backdrops Slade to the mat and keeps Slade down with wrist control. Alexander slaps the back of Slade’s head causing Slade to reach the ropes. Alexander keeps a side headlock on Slade. Alexander shoulder blocks Slade, but Slade tries for a choke only for Alexander to break free and almost locks in an ankle lock causing Slade to bail to the floor. Slade works over Alexander with a few strikes, but Alexander hits a snap suplex. Alexander uppercuts Slade in the corner and delivers a few chops. Alexander misses a splash in the corner and tries for a boot, but Slade moves the referee and cheap shots Alexander. Slade tosses Alexander overhead with a suplex.
Slade tries for a cover, but Alexander kicks out quickly. Slade keeps Alexander on the mat with a sleeper. Alexander tries to battle out and hits a northern lights suplex for a two count. Slade works over Alexander in the corner with stomps. Slade chops Alexander over the back and connects with an elbow drop for a two count. Alexander hammers away on Slade in the corner and delivers a shoulder ram followed by another overhead suplex. Alexander gets out of a headlock with a leg sweep over the ropes and delivers a few strikes. Slade runs into an elbow in the corner and a big boot for a two count. Slade backdrops Alexander and gets a choke on Alexander, but is rammed into the ropes throat first. Slade elbows Alexander followed by a strike and a middle rope blockbuster for a near fall. Alexander tries for a under hook but gets a rollup for a near fall. Alexander gets an ankle lock on Slade, but Slade kicks free and gets a choke. Alexander almost bridges into a rollup. Alexander hits a rolling fireman’s carry, but Slade counters with a rollup for a two count. Alexander drop toe holds Slade and puts the ankle lock on Slade. Slade rolls through and hits a fireman carry slam for a two count. Slade goes back to the choke, but Alexander doesn’t give in. Alexander works over the leg and locks in the ankle lock to win the match in the middle of the ring. (**. Alright, so I didn’t realize that the match occurred in the rain, which I’m sure limited what they were going to be able to do in the ring in the first place. That’s a disappointing thing to have happen. But, I’m interested in seeing them in better conditions.)
Glamour Boy Shane vs. Steve Corino: Title vs. Title – IWA 11/25/2000
Reason For Reviewing: I’m a fan of Corino and any time I can watch a match of his I haven’t seen I’m going to make an attempt to watch it. I remember Glamour Boy Shane being touted as a top guy in Puerto Rico and I’ve never seen his work.
Corino shoves Shane to kickoff the match and Shane responds with a shove. Corino slaps Shane and ducks a strike. Corino hammers away on Shane a few times and misses a clothesline. Shane slaps Corino and drops Corino with a few right hands. Corino connects with a DDT and the fans chant for ECW. Corino covers managing a two count. Corino argues with the referee in the count before working over Shane with right hands in the corner and taunts the crowd. Shane comes back with running clotheslines and goes to the top rope, but is crotched by Corino. Corino hooks Shane on the top rope, but Shane hooks the ropes and shoves Corino off. Shane hits a flying crossbody for a two count. Shane chops Corino in the corner. Shane rams Corino into the corner face first. Shane chops Corino in the corner and plays to the crowd. Shane elbows Corino in the corner, but runs into a powerslam for a near fall. Corino hits Shane with a weapon that the referee didn’t see. Corino chokes Shane over the middle rope and yells at the referee. Corino tries for a reverse DDT, but settles for a knee lift. Corino continues to hammer away on Shane. Shane connects with a clothesline, but misses a diving headbutt.
Corino tries for a cover with his feet on the ropes, but the referee sees it. Corino grabs a steel chair and returns to the ring. Corino has the chair and fakes using it and instead sits on the chair to put a sleeper on Shane. Shane doesn’t let his arm drop three times and begins to fight his way up. Shane elbows Corino and rams Corino face first onto the chair for a near fall. Corino responds with a superkick for a near fall. Corino chokes Shane over the middle rope and struts to taunt the crowd. Corino puts a sleeper on Shane, but Shane counters with a sleeper of his own. Corino breaks free with a jawbreaker. Corino goes for a cover, but Shane kicks out at two. Corino takes Shane down to the mat and delivers a fist drop after a strut. Corino puts a sleeper on Shane in the middle of the ring and they go to the mat. Shane doesn’t let his arm drop three times and elbows free. Shane runs the ropes and they collide shoulders and Shane falls onto Corino’s groin. Shane chops Corino followed by right hands and a facebuster.
Shane continues with a leaping elbow strike as Corino came off the ropes. Shane nails Corino with a flying forearm smash for a two count. Corino low blows Shane and delivers an elbow strike. Shane crotches Corino on the top rope and hits a superplex and both men are down. Ricky Banderas comes down to ringside to cause a distraction. Shane goes for the cover, but Corino kicks out at two. Corino grabs a steel chair and wedges it in the corner. Shane sends Corino into the chair back first followed by a slam, elbow drop, leg drop and a forearm drop for a two count. Shane grabs the chair and slides it into the ring. Corino is able to drop Shane face first onto the chair for a two count. Banderas pulls the referee out and sends him into the ring post. Shane takes both men out with a slingshot crossbody to the floor. Banderas trips Shane and allows Corino to deliver a knee drop. Banderas gets in the ring and Corino teases a punch. They instead double clothesline Shane.
Shane comes off the ropes to hit a double clothesline and slams Corino. Shane hits a top rope elbow drop, but there’s no referee on the cover. Banderas misses a frog splash hitting Corino. Shane has a cover on both men. Savio Vega comes down to count the fall and the bell sounds acting as if that’s allowed. That leads to Corino and Banderas beating them down. (*1/2. The finish is a bit of a downer, but that’s not surprising with the title vs. title stipulation. There was good crowd energy, but the action was rather basic and kind of underwhelming. I was expecting something more violent and this was kinda tame.)
Rod Steel vs. Jeff Jarrett: IPW, The Aftermath 1/25/2003
Reason For Reviewing: Jarrett working an indie promotion is a rare sighting to see especially while he’s running TNA. Will it be a match or will it be a lot of stalling and Jarrett running through the motions?
Jarrett backs Steel into the corner, but the referee backs Jarrett off. Steel backs Jarrett into a corner and misses a right hand. The referee prevents Jarrett from delivering a strike. Steel backs Jarrett into a corner and misses a strike. Steel cheap shots Jarrett with strikes after the referee got involved again. Jarrett tries to fight back, but the referee stops him again. Steel misses a right hand and they have a standoff. Steel hip tosses Jarrett and taunts him. Steel hip tosses Jarrett and continues to taunt Jarrett. Jarrett hip tosses Steel and hits a splash over the middle rope. Jarrett tosses the referee down so he can strut. The referee no sells being tossed and quickly gets involved again. Steel clubs on Jarrett with strikes and an elbow strike for a two count. Steel gets a sleeper on Jarrett, but doesn’t get a submission. The referee tries to help Steel, but Jarrett fights out of the sleeper. Jarrett misses a splash in the corner and Steel connects with a slam and a leg drop. Steel does a few sit ups while pinning Jarrett. Steel goes to the top rope and misses a moonsault. Jarrett pummels Steel in the corner with right hands and the referee is knocked down again. Jarrett teases a punch to the referee, but doesn’t do it. Steel sets a chair up in the corner, but Jarrett sends Steel into the chair head first. Steel gets his boot on the bottom rope to break the count. Steel kicks Jarrett into the corner for a near fall. Steel delivers a neckbreaker and continues with right hands. Steel tries for a suplex, but Jarrett sends Steel into the referee. The referee continues to really not sell any collision. Steel has a guitar, but misses a shot. Jarrett grabs the guitar and smashes the referee with it. The referee is finally laid out. Steel hits a sit out powerbomb and forces the referee count, but another referee comes to prevent the count. Jarrett hits the Stroke and pins Steel with the other referee making the count. The original referee changes the decision to a disqualification to give Steel the win and retains the title. Jarrett hits the referee with an unprotected chair shot and the referee has to be thrown to the floor to sell it. (*. Honestly, the heel referee for this match was truly annoying and was a major distraction. The formula of Jarrett indie matches was followed here, but the twist being that Jarrett actually won and then got screwed out of the victory. It’s outings like this that would make me hesitant to use Jarrett on the indie scene.)
That wraps up this edition of Wrestling On The Internet. Feel free to leave suggestions or your thoughts on these matches if you check them out!
Thanks for reading.