REVIEW: Lucha Underground Episode 12 (First aired 1/28/15 on The El Rey Network)

The show opened with highlights of last week when Big Ryck was turned on by his associates and Dario Cueto saying that Ryck couldn't get the job done.    Cueto was then shown talking to Cage, who was lifting weights because, you know, that's what makes a good wrestler.     Cueto said that in his debut he sent a man to the hospital and last week he sent a message to Prince Puma.    Cueto said Cage wouldn't have to wait because he would get his title shot tonight when he faces Prince Puma.   Cage corrected him "When I beat Prince Puma".    Cueto said something to the effect of "that remains to be seen", but I like mine better.

In some ways, I feel like Cage is a simpler version of Batista in the way that he just seems so one dimensional and stupid.    If he only had three words to say his whole life I'm pretty sure they'd be "I'm a machine".   Kudos to Prince Puma, who won the title back on January 7th and is now defending it twice within the same month since winning it.    I am mentally preparing myself for the match by thinking of World Champions who were worse than Cage could be (and it's a VERY short list), but let's hope it does not come to that.

Matt Striker and Vampiro check in on commentary.  Striker plays up an interview that will be shown later with Vampiro talking to Konnan and Prince Puma.   Striker says that Prince Puma won that Lucha Underground Championship in Aztec Warfare and if you have not seen it you should find a video and watch it.    Is he endorsing my illegal YouTube stream??


Introductions are sent to the ring for what Striker calls a very important match.


Match 1: Mil Muertes (w/ Catrina) vs. Fenix

So apparently if you lose your Championship match you have to face Mil Muertes.   Yikes.   Though the idea of Muertes vs. Cage is interesting, if only because it means Cage doesn't win the title tonight.  (And I really have no idea; I don't read spoilers for Lucha Underground)   There was a Mil Muertes chant early on.   Muertes hit a huge spear but it was only good for a two count.   There were then dueling chants for "Let's go Fenix" and "Fenix sucks".   Wow, this crowd is harsh.    Mil Muertes went up to the top rope for what Striker said would be a superplex but Fenix reversed it into... something and hit the three count.

This was an all right match, but the crowd kind of threw me off because they were cheering for the rudo.   Granted, it would have been nice to see Mil Muertes win so he could move up the ladder in line for a championship match but whatever.


A video package on Cage aired and I still do not care.


Match 2: Argenis, Super Fly and Aero Star vs. Cortez Castro, Mr. Cisco and Bael 

Apparently, the goons who formerly backed Big Ryck are still known as The Crew.    Kind of strange in professional wrestling in 2015 they don't have some kind of adjective and are simply "The Crew".    At one point, Argenis went to the top rope with Aero Star on his shoulders.    Wow.   The Crew hit some rapid fire spots.     There were "You can't wrestle" chants directed at I assume The Crew and this crowd is so rowdy.   I love it.    After a triple move by each member of The Crew on Argenis, which ended with one of them doing the double foot stomp ala Finn Balor, there was a close two count.   Matt Striker noted that Argenis reminded him of El Hijo Del Santo and Vampiro said that he's about two meters taller.    With everyone else outside of the ring, Aero Star had Mr. Cisco up on the top rope and gave him a head scissors onto the outside which landed Cisco on everyone and wow that was just an incredible move.    A 3D turned into a Codebreaker and Cortez Castro picked up the pinfall.    I was expecting this to be more one-sided since The Crew should have their act together and as far as we know this is the first time that the other three have teamed, but wow this was a solid match.  


Ahead of their sitdown interview Vampiro said "You couldn't cut the knife with the intensity".   Yes, really.  On a taped show.      In the sit down interview, Konnan does the talking for Prince Puma and says that Prince Puma is pissed off because he had to defend his title and then was attacked by Cage.   Konnan heeled it up and then got in the face of Vampiro.    Both of these guys are fairly old but I bet they can still go, so Konnan vs. Vampiro... please?


Match 3: Prince Puma vs. Cage for the Lucha Underground Championship

Prince Puma is introduced and the champion comes out first.   Ugh.  What is this, WWE?   Matt Striker actually asked if Prince Puma was 100% and, um, since he has had a title defense since winning his title and was beat down by Cage I'm pretty sure he's not 100%, Matt.   Dueling chants of "Let's go Puma" and "Let's go Cage" makes me wonder if they were handing out free booze in the Temple on this night.    After a fairly competitive match that could have gone either way but seemed to be drifting in favor of Prince Puma, Cage put his hands on the official and then hit a low blow on the champ for the DQ ending.   This lead to Cage continuing the beating on Prince Puma until Konnan came in to try and stop it.   Cage then beat down Konnan for his efforts and hooray for everyone in the universe except for me because this feud continues.

      Well, this hasn't been the worst episode of Lucha Underground.   The first match was all right while the second was really good, just above any expectations I had in place for it.    The main event left something to be desired because of the DQ finish, but really, what was I expecting?   Yes, I was hoping for Cage to lose and go back to where from whence he came, but I think I knew somewhere deep down inside that wasn't going to happen.   At least Konnan didn't end up turning on Prince Puma and align himself with Cage, which I thought might be coming.  

       Ideally, I'd like there to be some sort of ramifications for the actions of Cage.   I'd like for Dario Cueto to say, look, you had your chance.   We pushed you to the front and you not only got yourself disqualified but you also beat up Konnan.   Send him back down the ranks and have him face Big Ryck, Mil Muertes and whoever else and then possibly go back to him in time if needed.    But this will more than likely just continue to play out and possibly even with Konnan eventually turning on Prince Puma anyway.  

      And what the heck was that Angela Fong bit at the end about?   For someone who has been lurking in the shadows of The Temple, how did she get into the office of Dario Cueto?   Could I get into his office?   Perhaps he needs better security.

Fandango Could Main Event Wrestlemania! Royal Rumble Predictions 2015

[Please Note: I wrote my predictions for the WWE Championship match and Royal Rumble match itself prior to watching RAW on Monday when the Legends Panel picked the same three guys as me.   Oh well.  Coincidence or great minds think alike?] 


The Bella Twins vs. Paige and Natalya 

This match should only serve to further what should become Bella vs. Bella at Wrestlemania.   Anything else would be a waste of time, though Bella vs. Bella is also a waste of time so there's that.    When will the divas division have some life in it?   Oh well, this show needs a solid bathroom break before we sit through the long-ass Rumble match.   Does it matter who wins?   Not really.    This match will be forgotten before it even happens and if there is any justice in the WWE Universe then one of the other matches will go on too long and this will just be cut from the show.


New Age Outlaws vs. The Ascension

So The Ascension spent forever in developmental, in fact so long that they're not even the original team they once were, and when they finally get called up to the main roster they get humiliated by a bunch of legendary tag teams because they're walking around saying that they're better than the Road Warriors and Demolition and Powers of Pain even though they kind of look like a combination of all three of them.   I really must agree with Animal on this one as it makes little sense for WWE to do this when the original Legion of Doom can no longer compete.     The payoff here would obviously be LOD coming out and destroying The Ascension and then them complaining about it afterwards but that can never happen, so what is the end game with The Ascension here?   Does WWE even have one or will this just run its brief course and then The Ascension will find themselves exclusively on Superstars and Main Event?

I remember when New Age Outlaws were coming up and establishing themselves.   They had a feud with LOD where they ended up shaving half of Hawk's signature inverted mohawk and it felt like a really big deal at the time.   The commentators (especially Jim Ross) sold it as being such a huge display of disrespect that I just totally bought into it.    I kind of feel like WWE might be planning a similar moment here with these two teams but I'm not sure what it could be and I'm also not too optimistic with anything involving the tag team division in WWE any more.

This should be our feel good moment of the night as the New Age Outlaws defeat The Ascension and even though it might seem like the rookies are getting their just due it will only lead to them coming back angrier and eventually facing The Dudley Boyz at Wrestlemania because what else is there left to do?


A New Day vs. Adam Rose, Cesaro & Tyson Kidd (pre-show)

I'm kind of sad that this is a match on the show (or rather pre-show) because I would have liked to see any of these guys in the Royal Rumble match itself.   Cesaro would be a dark horse pick to win the Rumble match because, well, he could work as a face with either Seth Rollins or Brock Lesnar at Wrestlemania and sell tickets.   (Cesaro Swing on Lesnar?  Yes please!)    A New Day would have that idea of whether or not they'd work well together in the Rumble match or if they'd somehow fight each other.   Plus Kofi's many ways to not get eliminated...  Oh wait, since this is on the pre-show I bet most of these guys will come back and be involved in the Rumble match anyway.

So does it matter who wins here?   Not really, since both of these teams trade wins and losses with each other and Los Matadores on Superstars and Main Event.    So let's say that there is some sort of confusion between A New Day and Adam Rose scores a pin of Xavier Woods after Cesaro and Kidd hit their finisher.     I also fully expect this to lead to Adam Rose in the Rumble match as well as the return of The Bunny.   Yes, really.

[After I wrote about this match I saw on "Main Event" that it was to be an elimination style match but my general idea still stands]  


The Usos vs. The Miz & Damien Mizdow (WWE Tag Team Championship)

If Brock Lesnar is the WWE Champion, Wade Barrett is the IC Champion and Rusev is the US Champion it only makes sense for Team Mizdow to win this match because then all of the champions heading into Wrestlemania will be heels.   I honestly have no Wrestlemania plans yet for Wade Barrett or anything in the IC Title picture, but Rusev should keep his undefeated streak until then at least and I think that it might be kind of strange if *all* of the champions are actually heels going into Wrestlemania.   I imagine The Usos will still have the titles at Wrestlemania and will compete in what will likely be a fourway or gauntlet type of match but if WWE was smart they'd start holding a tournament right now to determine the next number one contenders to the Tag Team Championship which would be who The Usos would defend against at 'Mania.    Eight teams to enter the tournament would be Los Matadores, The Ascension, Lucha Dragons (who should get the call up from NXT by Wrestlemania) A New Day, Cesaro & Kidd, Slater Gator (Should they not choose to reunite Prime Time Playas), The Dust Brothers and then a makeshift team of sorts like Kane & Big Show or R-Truth & Justin Gabriel.    It would work and bring some prestige back to the WWE Tag Team Titles, which seem to mean less than their NXT counterparts these days.   Obviously after Team Mizdow loses this match The Miz will enter the Royal Rumble match in hopes of main eventing Wrestlemania.    I'm torn between whether The Miz should get eliminated by Mizdow or if it should be that when The Miz is eliminated he wants Mizdow to eliminate himself too and Mizdow chooses not to do that.    Either way, these two men need to split from their team and face each other at Wrestlemania.


The 2015 Royal Rumble Match

Since there are thirty competitors in this match I'm going to make three predictions.   Obviously, everyone out there is saying that the plan is for Roman Reigns to win the Royal Rumble and go on to main event Wrestlemania and win the WWE Championship from the unstoppable Brock Lesnar.     Given that everyone else is saying that, let me pick three people who are not Roman Reigns.     Also, I'm really hoping for a Big Stevie Cool (accompanied by the Blue Meanie) appearance in here, since we are in Philadelphia, and why not use this time to bring back Sheamus if he must return and send out feelers for an Alex Riley in ring return.    Who knows, maybe even Randy Orton returns in the Rumble match.

Scenario 1: Daniel Bryan Wins.

And why not?   What will Daniel Bryan be doing at Wrestlemania any way?   Even if Brock Lesnar didn't retain the title it'd be nice to see John Cena vs. Daniel Bryan (since the first time they fought was such a long time ago and they've both been through a lot since then in different ways) or even Daniel Bryan vs. Seth Rollins would be insane.   Imagine a scenario where after the Rumble PPV Seth Rollins cashes in and wins so that The Authority can further stack the deck against Bryan.    I think that Daniel Bryan returning should put all other plans on hold and put him back into the main event slot he shouldn't have had to share with Batista once so long ago.    Also, with the John Cena match it could be Bella vs. Bella in each man's corner.

Scenario 2: Dean Ambrose Wins.  

Ambrose is everything that Roman Reigns except... popular.    All of the reasons why Roman Reigns should win- to conquer Brock Lesnar and all that- apply just as easily to Dean Ambrose.    Ambrose is a scrapper and he can just fight with Lesnar in a way I don't think anyone else can.    Plus, Ambrose has proved time and time again that he can take a beating but he gets back up and takes some more.     Who better than to lead the WWE after Wrestlemania?   Dean Ambrose has faced a number of different competitors since The Shield broke up, but let's face it: he's unstable, which makes him neither a clear cut face or heel.   I remember matches Ambrose had with John Cena and it wasn't that face vs. face feel because no one's ever really established a moral compass for Dean Ambrose and as such he just kind of does what he wants and mostly just seems to fight because he likes to fight.    This is the perfect mentality (coupled with his undeniable popularity) which could have him as the next Stone Cold Steve Austin and, yes, it's a far shot but what a great feeling it would be to see Dean Ambrose win the Royal Rumble and hang with Brock Lesnar at Wrestlemania.

Scenario 3: Bray Wyatt Wins.

For everything that Brock Lesnar had last Wrestlemania against The Undertaker, here comes someone in Bray Wyatt who is looking to make his own streak.   Bray Wyatt is the destroyer of worlds and like Dean Ambrose he also has a certain appeal even though he is more clearly defined as a heel.    It would be such an interesting and unique match up that I feel like WWE would waste an opportunity if they didn't do it but I highly doubt that they will.   it's the longest of my long shots, but I really hope that it would still happen over the seeming inevitable Roman Reigns win.


Brock Lesnar vs. John Cena vs. Seth Rollins (WWE Championship Match) 

Right away you have to realize that Seth Rollins was seemingly added to this match as a last minute idea (And I understand that he brought The Authority back, but John Cena won a pretty big number one contender match what seems like forever ago) and because of that and him holding that MITB briefcase we can pretty much guarentee he doesn't win here.    In fact, if Seth Rollins is in this match because he brought back The Authority, then what about Big Show?  He was the one holding Edge down, so why not give him a break as well?   Since that isn't playing all fairly and everything then, you know, we can pretty much call this as Seth Rollins not winning.  

The plan here is that we have to make it so that someone can win who is not Seth Rollins and then also make sure that Seth Rollins doesn't cash in the MITB briefcase after the match.    So this pretty much writes itself when you start at the end and try to take it backwards.    Seth Rollins misses a curb stomp on John Cena, Cena hits the AA on Rollins but before Cena can go for the cover to pin he is hit hard by Brock Lesnar who then sets him up for the F5 and Lesnar wins, retains and stands strong enough so as not to give off the impression that Seth Rollins will be cashing in.

I also kind of toyed with the idea of Seth Rollins entering the Royal Rumble match, since that should headline, but yeah, let's not do that, okay?  (Same for Cena)    Brock Lesnar's story began at Wrestlemania last year and since then he has left a path of destruction that is unparalleled.    This story needs to end at Wrestlemania (if it has to end) and Brock needs to do it as champion.


Overall, I really don't expect much out of the Royal Rumble as a pay-per-view except for the WWE Championship match and the Rumble match itself.   I feel like at one point they were pushing towards a Ryback-Rusev match before Ryback got storyline fired but it will be interesting to see how this unstoppable monster that is Ryback is eliminated from the Royal Rumble itself.    Wouldn't it also be kind of neat to see Seth Rollins walk out as WWE Champion and Dolph Ziggler winning the Royal Rumble?  They could go like Steamboat vs. Savage if you really think about it.

REVIEW: Lucha Underground Episode 11 (First aired 1/21/15 on The El Rey Network)

After a shot of the band, we see Vampiro in some Konnan-like clothes and we are joined by Mr. Cisco, Cortez Castro and Bael in the ring.   Cisco made sure the ring announcer knew he was "Mr." Cisco, yet somehow I thought that Cortez and Castro were two different people but whatever.   This takes us right into our opening contest which I hope doesn't last long.


Match One: Mr. Cisco and Cortez Castro vs. Pimpinela Escarlata and Mascarita Sagrada

In the opening moments Matt Striker said Pimpinela reminded him of a cross between Chavo and Liberace, but then took it back and said he meant Charo *not* Chavo, but I'm still hopeful that Chavo Guerrero Jr. comes out before the night is over and destroys Matt Striker.   This match ended when the formerly known as Ricky Reyes gave the codebreaker to Mascarita Sagrada.    I don't particularly like the Pimpinela gimmick and as such I'm going to just leave this match and move on now.


Big Ryck came into the ring and said that he was going after the Lucha Underground Championship and didn't care who got in his way or was holding the title at the time.   The group I once dubbed Big Ryck and The Johnsons then came to an abrupt end as The Johnsons attacked Big Ryck.    Without a tag team division established it's nice to see wrestlers breaking up.    The trio then went into Dario Cueto's office.


Back from the break and Dario Cueto is shown talking to the trio that I don't have a new name for yet.    He said he tried to get Big Ryck to do his dirty bidding for him but he couldn't do it so now he had to take him out.   He paid them off and made them say "yes sir" like some kind of army or servant thing.


Vampiro is shown as a sit down interview with Cage.   Vamp says that Cage has something about him and he doesn't outright say it but we're all thinking it's roid rage.   Cage says he is the best luchador here and I say he has no idea what a luchador is.     This was a good chance for Cage to really sell me on his character and he basically said that when you're in the ring with him you're in the ring with a machine, which was his reasoning for his name being "Cage".    What being in a cage has to do with a machine makes about as much sense as this character to me and I hope he gets busted for "performance enhancers" again and finds his way out of Lucha Underground.


Match Two: Super Fly vs. Pentagon Jr.

Matt Striker noted that this was the first time we've seen Pentagon Jr. since Chavo Jr. kind of sort of turned on him at Aztec Warfare but that was only, what, two weeks ago?  We didn't see a lot of luchadores last week that we normally do because oh wastes of space like Cage taking their spots.    I've said Lucha Underground needs more time every week but they also need to create a show that doesn't air on television or the internet and involves Cage fighting his parole officer.    Okay, I'll leave Cage alone for the rest of this episode unless he should surface (which I hope he doesn't)    This was a good, fast paced, high flying good versus bad type of match and you knew one of these two would have to hit a huge move for the win.    Pentagon Jr. did it and here is to hoping he moves up the card because he is such a well rounded athlete and entertainer.

Post match, Pentagon Jr. said something about Chavo Jr. and apparently a heel just turned on another heel but they're both staying heels.    I'm not completely sold out Pentagon Jr.'s "No Fear" gimmick yet simply because "No Fear" was that lame clothing line in the 1990's.


Match Three: Sexy Star vs. El Mariachi Loco

Great, the masked woman is fighting the waiter... err, umm, server, sorry.    At this point I'm no longer concerned with the fact that a woman is fighting a man but rather just that Sexy Star calls herself sexy but wears a mask.   What's up with that?   I just tweeted her so let's see if she responds.   She won the match, but I still don't care.   We move on.

Match Four: King Cuerno vs. Drago (Last Luchador Standing Match)

      Matches two and three seemed to lack something so let's hope that this makes up for it right here.   Cuerno was down first for the attempted ten count, but then Drago was down for the next one following a huge powerbomb by Cuerno.    This just has a big fight feel to it and as I've said before I could watch these two fight forever.   King Cuerno had Drago put up on a table like last time and Drago managed to get back up as Cuerno stopped himself as well.   They fought on the apron and Cuerno ended up putting Drago (and himself) through the table with his finisher Thrill of the Hunt.   Wouldn't it be cool if Shawn Michaels could come be King Cuerno's manager?  After some decent spots, King Cuerno actually used a rope to tie Drago down.   This reminds me of all the times WWE used cheap endings to these Last Man Standing matches by having forklifts drop lots of stuff on opponents.    Vampiro asked Striker if he thought that this feud was over and obviously it is not since King Cuerno had to win by shenanigans.  

      Overall this was a pretty good episode of Lucha Underground.    The opening match and main event were solid, despite the finish of the main event, but every time I've said now that Lucha Underground needs more time per week (Another hour long show or just a two hour spot would do) matches like what made up the middle of this show are not helping my cause as they could just as easily cut that stuff out in favor of us seeing Prince Puma (Who was not on the show, despite being their champion), Johnny Mundo, Chavo Jr. or any other number of wrestlers having matches.   Where is Mil Muertes?   Where is Ivelisse?   Why am I see comedy and tired cliches instead of them?   Hopefully these questions and more will be answered next time.

REVIEW: Lucha Underground Episode 10 (first aired 1/14/15 on The El Rey Network)

First and foremost I need to mention that I watched Episode 9 of Lucha Underground but won't be writing the review for it because as it was Aztec Warfare I feel like a lot of my review will be "Fenix enters at number 9" and "Pentagon Jr. is eliminated by Drago" and that sort of idea.    It was just sort of one long match (Though there was a brief match before it) and it came down to where Lucha Underground started: Johnny Mundo vs. Prince Puma.   I was rather pleased to see Prince Puma win even if he is a pseudo lucha because he didn't wear his mask as Ricochet.    Still, crowning the first Lucha Underground Champion as someone without a mask seems kind of... strange.   Though as I think about it, Chavo Guerrero Jr. doesn't wear a mask and neither does Alberto Del Rio.   In fact, Alberto Del Rio has been confirmed by Lucha Underground to debut with the promotion soon which is most excellent news.    I'm hoping that Lucha Underground can really start to find an audience in 2015 because it really is the best wrestling product on television today.     All that being said, let's go on with the show!



Match One: Aerostar vs. Argenis vs. Angelico vs. Cage

I didn't pay too much attention to Matt Striker and Vampiro on commentary because either I'm letting Striker slide after Wrestle Kingdom 9 or I'm just learning to tune them out as I do most commentators.   This was an elimination match full of debuts (I believe we've only seen Aerostar before) and the three luchadores in this provided a lot of fast paced, high flying fun while Cage came in as the big man and just destroyed them all.   I can understand how the big man mentality works in Japan because it is a strong style that we typically see there (and thus bigger equals stronger) but I don't understand how this works in lucha libre.  I know bigger wrestlers have had success in Mexico but it just feels to me like the luchadores should be able to run circles around someone like Cage, wait for him to gas out and then defeat him.     It's not that Cage is bad per se just that he feels like he's in the wrong country for the sport or just the wrong sport altogether.   He reminds me a lot of early Batista and that is not a good thing.   He won this match which was most unfortunate but seeing as he was the only one to get those fancy vignettes it's not that unexpected (Though Lucha Underground has seen debuting wrestlers lose before)   I'm really a fan of Angelico and I hope that Lucha Underground can expand a tag team division in 2015 and bring in Jack Evans with him as well.    Ultimately, coming off of the crowning of a brand new, first ever Lucha Underground Champion last week into a win by Cage (who does work in PWG, but I haven't seen any of it) just doesn't seem to get us off on the right foot this week.    I was reserving judgment on Cage when his videos were shown (Especially because of him being released by WWE for what I can only suspect was drugs) and after watching this match I can only say that, umm... Let's put it this way.   I've been watching old  TNA matches lately and one guy I stumbled upon a match of was Titan or Tytan however they spelled it.   That's who Cage reminds me of (look him up)   There isn't quite as much of a "he might seriously hurt someone" factor with Cage but it's still just an uncomfortable to watch.



Chavo Guerrero Jr. came out and called out Blue Demon Jr.    This was done to make it look as if they were going to become friends but Chavo Jr. had other plans.   Blue Demon Jr. didn't play the fool though and managed to get the better of the exchange.    As he left the ring, with Chavo Jr. down, Blue Demon Jr. flipped him the double birds ala Stone Cold and it was actually kind of cool.    I'm really enjoying how they built up this feud (better than what was going on prior with Sexy Star) and the Chavo Guerrero Jr. vs. Blue Demon Jr. eventual match could be huge if handled properly.   I'm looking forward to it.



Match Two: King Cuerno vs. Drago 

This was the rubber match between the two.   King Cuerno beat Drago in their first encounter, which was Drago's debut, and then Drago evened things up.    Matt Striker played up the importance of this settling their feud by seeing who was the best by winning this match but if King Cuerno was to lose here I highly doubt he would let it go but rather continue to stalk Drago.   I'm becoming quite the fan of Drago and this match only helped that fact.   My wife watched Lucha Underground with me for the first time with this episode and when she saw King Cuerno enter she was quite taken by his headgear.    After both men went through a table they were counted out and it looks as if the idea of whether or not this would have ended their feud or not no longer matters.    I'm anticipating Cuerno-Drago IV and it should be a good one.



Match Three: Prince Puma vs. Fenix for the Lucha Underground Championship

It seems kind of odd that Prince Puma's first title defense would be against Fenix.  I felt like the odds should have been stacked against Prince Puma instead, but this was a great match up on paper and just as good of a match in the ring.    These two really gave it their all, though you kind of had to expect that Prince Puma wasn't going to lose the title he just won this quickly.    This is a good example of the build I've often talked about and how Lucha Underground suffers by being only an hour and not having pay-per-views.    To spend two or even three weeks building to this match could have made it feel that much more special just because it could have given you that small hint of hope that Fenix might win.    At this point though, no, I had no money placed on Fenix winning but it was still a good match.


After the match, Cage came down and attacked Prince Puma.   I have mixed feelings about this because I want to see Cage fight a few others before getting a title push (Mil Muertes and Big Ryck come to mind immediately) but at the same time if Cage faces and loses to Prince Puma within a matter of weeks instead of months then maybe he can fade back into wherever it is that he came from (PWG?) and leave the lucha libre to the luchadores.

With the addition of Alberto El Patron to their roster things are only looking up right now for Lucha Underground and I don't care if you watch WWE, TNA, New Japan, ROH or nothing this is the one hour of television every week that you must see.

REVIEW: Wrestle Kingdom 9 (presented by NJPW and GFW)

While it may seem like it's taking me forever to write this review, it is seemingly also taking me forever to watch this event on the whole.   It's a lot of wrestling to process and as I didn't wish to stay up and watch it when I would otherwise be sleeping (aka on EST) I decided to break it down into different pieces and different matches at a time.   I don't feel at all as if this has ruined this experience for me because if anything I think that sitting through nearly four hours of anything at one time might sour my experience of it.   So let's go right into the first match, shall we?


Match 1: reDRagon (Bobby Fish and Kyle O'Reilly) (Champions) vs. Forever Hooligans (Alex Koslov and Rocky Romero) vs. The Young Bucks vs. Time Splitters (Alex Shelley and Kushida) *IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Tag Team Championship*

New Japan comes right out of the gate as to showing you why they are different than other promotions with this being their set of Jr. Tag Team Champions which means that, yes, the promotion has two sets of champions.    Did you hear that, WWE?   New Japan has so many amazing tag teams that they have to have TWO sets of titles.   Anyway, reDRagon is the best tag team in the world today (and also the current ROH Tag Team Champions).  Rocky Romero was sporting an eye patch and he is best known as one half of the Havana Pitbulls with Ricky Reyes who is now in Lucha Underground as "Cortez Castro".   Alex Koslov used to be in TNA for a little bit, WWE for a second and then mostly I know him from being in Mexico after that.    Alex Shelley was rumored to have been signing with WWE after leaving TNA but he's been in this tag team in both ROH and Japan.   Kushida is the only Japanese wrestler in this match.   And the Young Bucks just suck.    This was a match with perhaps too many tag teams in it and as I follow ROH TV on their website as it is available for free, I know that the finals of Tag Wars 2014 is available for a few more days but I watched this match before it and am just not feeling all of these four team matches.    I'm glad to see reDRagon retain and the Young Bucks look like fools here, but this whole match really felt like it could have been reduced to only two tag teams.    It might not have been the best way to open the show, and maybe I'm just not as big of a fan of tag team wrestling as I thought I was, but this was just kind of okay to me but nothing huge.


Match 2: Jeff Jarrett, Yojiro Takahashi and Bad Luck Fale vs. Hiroyoshi Tenzan, Satoshi Kojima and Tomoaki Honma.   

This was just sort of billed as a Bullet Club vs. New Japan match.   There wasn't anything special about it, sadly, and the thing I will forever remember most about it was the lousy guitar shot that set off the ending.   Jeff Jarrett was going to hit Honma over the head with his famous guitar as I believe it was Bad Luck Fale that held him in place (but it could have been Takahashi, I really don't recall) and it just took waaaaaaaaaaayyyyyyy too long for the sequence to unfold.    Sometimes you know these things aren't going to work, but based upon the amount of time that passed even a blind man could have seen this miss and accidental hit of the partner coming.   Such a bad spot and such a forgettable match.   Why was this on the show again?   Are we supposed to be cooling down from the "hot opening"?


Match 3: Naomichi Marufuji, Mikey Nicholls, Shane Haste and Toru Yano vs. Davey Boy Smith, Lance Archer, Shelton Benjamin and Takashi Iizuka

The son of the late British Bulldog and Lance Archer (Lance Hoyt in TNA, Vance Archer in WWE) are the Killer Elite Squad and they deserved better than this.    I feel like this really is Wrestlemania and we're having these multi-person matches just to kind of get everybody on the show.   If only they could have reserved it all for one single match and then gave other matches more time to shine.     This was another easily forgettable match and all I remember is that the team with KES and Shelton Benjamin on it did not win.   There were hints of this leading to a feud between the KES and Mikey Nicholls & Shane Haste but then they also said that most these guys on the non-KES side were from NOAH, another Japanese promotion, so I'm not sure how that would work exactly.    If you need to note the overloaded card at any time, you can do so by realizing that not only is basically the entire NJPW roster on this show but it's seemingly so overbooked so far that they're bringing in outside talent to help.


Match 4: Minoru Suzuki vs. Kazushi Sakuraba

This match was contested under MMA rules in the sense that the winner had to submit his opponent or knock him out.    There was a lot of talk of how both of these guys have MMA backgrounds and their records in it and all.   They made it a point to note that professional wrestlers in Japan move more freely back and forth between wrestling and MMA than they seemingly do in the United States, which was perhaps a dig at CM Punk or perhaps just a take on that whole situation unfolding with him and UFC.     This match just made me feel like if NJPW wants to come to the U.S. and be bigger than WWE, this kind of made it feel like they also wanted to be bigger than UFC for that matter.    This was a stiff, rough fight and I kind of liked it but the slower pace made it feel as if it went on for too long.   No one really lost here either, as Sakuraba simply fell asleep... or passed out.


It's great to hear Jim Ross on commentary again and I'd love for him to come back to a professional wrestling promotion full time.    Somehow, Matt Striker is also not quite as annoying as he tends to be in Lucha Underground.


Match 5: Tomohiro Ishii vs. Togi Makabe *NEVER Openweight Championship*

From my best understanding of what Matt Striker and Jim Ross tried to tell us, the NEVER championship here is kind of like an Extreme Title or Hardcore Championship in the U.S., which I felt was going to be a throwback to the days of FMW and so I expected a lot of weapons to come into play but they did not.    It was just another really stiff, strong style match.   Makabe was compared to Bruiser Brody a lot but I just didn't see it except for the slight gimmick infringement.    I wasn't really too far invested in either of these characters but this somehow won me over as the first match of the card with believeable near falls.   I wasn't cheering for one person over the other, but there were times when either man would kick out and I'd had felt like that was the end of it.     That fact alone has made this my favorite match thus far and seems to be turning a corner for the better for this show which is finally finding its pace with me.    Makabe won the title in what should have felt like a bigger deal, but I was mostly just impressed with the match and its competitors-- titles be damned.


Match 6: Tyusuke Taguchi vs. Kenny Omega *IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Championship*

While I am somewhat familiar with Kenny Omega I'm not sure I've ever actually seen one of his matches.   His hair is long and curly and Jim Ross said that Omega reminded him of Brian Pillman, but I think he might have just meant by his look and not his overall presentation and take at wrestling.    Matt Striker made a note during this match that he spoke to Kenny Omega earlier and Omega said that he shaves his arms a little while before a match, a few weeks or so, as then the stubble has enough time to grow back and really hurt someone if he rakes it across their faces.    I did enjoy that aspect of the match, and as Kenny Omega revved up the chainsaw that did come into play by the end in terms of Kenny Omega winning the match and becoming the new IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Champion.    This match was innovative and I'd only ever heard of Kenny Omega before so seeing these two for the first time and yet thinking that this was by far the match of the night so far really says something about it.    I feel like this card is now in a battle of one-upping itself with every match and that is, in some ways, the way that it should be.


Match 7: Doc Gallows and Karl Anderson vs. Hirooki Goto and Katsuyori Shibata *IWGP Tag Team Championship*

I have to say that I'm a fan of Karl Anderson from back when he was in a tag team with Joey Ryan.   I've watched some New Japan matches before and among them were the Killer Elite Squad, who we saw earlier, losing these very titles to Doc Gallows and Karl Anderson.   I like the team of Gallows and Gun, so I was really hoping for a victory by them here, but much like that earlier match featuring KES, my favorites lost again.    My only solace is that reDRagon at least retained and that's better than all of the other losses I will inevitably complain about for the rest of the year.    This match was a nice way to kind of come down after the previous match, so I like that it was sort of filler and now it has something to fill unlike some of the earlier matches in the card.    If you were never impressed by "D.O.C." in TNA / "Luke Gallows" aka "Festus" in WWE then do yourself a favor an watch Doc Gallows and Karl Anderson in a match in Japan.   It's worth it.


Match 8: A.J. Styles vs. Tetsuya Naito

Admittedly, no, I'd never even heard of Naito going into this match but I am a huge fan of A.J. Styles and love the fact that he's this guy who was always so loyal to TNA- a company that helped build him and he helped build as well... and then they sort of turned their back on him and for whatever reason he didn't re-sign with them.   Yet, he didn't go to WWE but rather back to ROH and Japan.    The reason why I started watching ROH TV on their website is because of that "I just left TNA" A.J. Styles vs. "WWE was dumb to fire me" Matt Sydal match.     This was a great match I'm glad that A.J. Styles won and it was on par with the Kenny Omega match if not a little bit better than it because of the star-power of A.J.    I feel like in many other promotions or just your random independent wrestling show this could have been an amazing main event, but yet there are still two big matches to go so I'm interested to see how they can top this.   I felt like, yeah, that Kenny Omega match could have been topped, sure, but this is going to be a really hard one to top right now for me.


Match 9: Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Kota Ibushi *IWGP Intercontinental Championship*

Well, ask and you shall receive.   This match was just so much better than I ever thought could be done after that A.J. Styles match and wow is Shinsuke Nakamura the man.   Nakamura has all of the show side, the "entertainment" if you will, of someone who could dominate in WWE or anywhere else in the United States for that matter (TNA would be lucky to have him as well), and yet here he is in New Japan as just the complete package.   Arguably one of the best and most well rounded wrestlers currently wrestling and also just one of the best in all of Japan.    This was one of those matches where they just did things you couldn't describe.    This was one of those matches that made you want to go, "Forget this show so far, but you HAVE to see this" (and I have mostly enjoyed this show thus far).     This is my first contender for Match of the Year in 2015 and these two have set the bar very, very high.   It reminded me a lot of the Shawn Michaels vs. Razor Ramon Ladder Match for some reason but there weren't any wrestlers.    Truly one you need to see to believe, but this was just one of the single best professional wrestling matches I have ever seen in my twenty plus years of watching wrestling.   Shinsuke Nakamura is the real deal and you need to keep your eyes on Kota Ibushi also.    Wow.  I've said it and thought it before on this card and it seems to be the theme now after a somewhat blah opening, but how in the world are they going to top that one??


Match 10: Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Kazuchika Okada *IWGP Heavyweight Championship*

As the main event, you expected this match to deliver and it really did.   I can't say enough good things about this match as it did much more than just the normal champion gets beat down only to fight back and win tired cliche.    Both men were made out by announcers to be popular with the crowd, and with that I wasn't really cheering on either and just wanted to see a good fight, which is exactly what we got.     Through a number of believable near falls this held my attention once it really got going and I was on the edge of my seat.    Matt Striker made a point before the match though that Okada has a finisher called the Rain Maker clothesline that no one has kicked out of and I could only feel as if his need to point that out meant it was going to be kicked out of tonight-- it was the way in which he delivered the line, as if he felt the need to point that out more for the spoiler than because it flowed with the conversation.    I really liked the idea behind this match though that Tanahashi couldn't beat Okada when Okada was champion so he vowed not to challenge him again.   So Tanahashi became champion by defeating A.J. Styles and now Okada was challenging him.

Overall, this was a show of ten matches, which might seem like a lot but there are four very solid matches on here which make this entire event worth watching.   (Kenny Omega and the last three)  Far too often in wrestling (WWE) the main event is a title match that ends in shenanigans and as such the "match of the night" usually comes at some earlier point in the card.  Wrestle Kingdom 9 managed to build with each match, especially the last three, and just get better as they went on.   There were times (especially in the Nakamura match) where I thought there was no way they'd be able to top themselves but wow, New Japan went above and beyond the call of duty.    This might have been the first big event of 2015, but it is definitely also setting the standard by which all other events throughout the year should be set.

REVIEW: Ring of Honor ROH TV Tag Wars 2014 Part 2

So due to the holidays and just my general lack of time, I ended up missing the episode of ROH TV that went in between the first part of Tag Wars and this, the finals of Tag Wars.    I'm not really going to go back and read the results of the few matches anyway because I just don't care and I kind of do feel like it was just filler between these two pieces of the puzzle.      Let's get onto the show now because this is it!


Match 1: Brian Kendrick vs. Adam Cole

I've always been a huge fan of Paul London and Brian Kendrick so seeing Spanky on ROH TV was a pleasant surprise.   Kevin Kelly and Steve Corino did an excellent job of putting him over as an ROH original and all of his various accomplishments throughout the entire world.     I'm actually very much in favor of this type of match happening on ROH TV because it's not so much a passing of the torch or going through the gatekeeper as it is just a nice way of seeing the past versus the present.    There are a number of former ROH roster members that can't come back to ROH because they're bound by WWE or even TNA, so it is nice to see those of them who can return occasionally for stints such as this.   My only complaint with this match was that Adam Cole won and while he is the future (or present) and all that, I just don't get yet what people see in Adam Cole.   Before the match he cut a promo about how there were a lot of naughty girls out there (This aired for Christmas) and he knows that they were only naughty because they wanted a little Cole in their stockings.    It was like some idiot pseudo-jock comedy writer somehow managed to make Adam Rose's gimmick worse and even more cheesy.    I was embarrassed for Adam Cole and for everyone else who had to witness that line immediately after it happened.    Still, this was only but a brief stop before the main event and as such I will let it slide and hope that in 2015 I will be able to see what everyone else likes about this Adam Cole character.


In between matches and really throughout the whole episode various wrestlers were either wishing Merry Christmas to fans or just heeling it up and saying that Santa wasn't real.   This was dumb and made me sad that it had to be on this show.  (Spoilers: Next week is a 2014 recap show and such things would have been better left until that one.  Maybe they'll want to work that out next year)


Match 2: Tag Wars Finals - The Briscoes vs. reDRagon vs. The Addiction vs. Matt Sydal & ACH

This match was for the ROH Tag Team Titles, which I didn't realize until after it had started.    That kind of gave me a spoiler about it because this was taped to air around Christmas and I was watching it in 2015 already and also after Wrestle Kingdom 9, an event in which I know that reDRagon went into as ROH Tag Champions still.    Yes, I know going into the match now that reDRagon are going to win, but no that doesn't bother me at all.   So here's the big news in this match: The Briscoes were the first team eliminated.   This was shocking to say the least.   Not only do many consider them to be the best team in ROH history, but Jay Briscoe is the current ROH Champion.   Here is to hoping that Jay Briscoe drops that title sooner than later and we can finally determine once and for all who is the best tag team ever.  (Though this might have done that right here)   Not only were The Briscoes eliminated first, I was also reminded that the team of Matt Sydal & ACH (who need a cool name) were in this match because they eliminated the Young Bucks two weeks ago.   In a lot of ways, Sydal and ACH were the stars of this match, but the fact that they kept the Young Bucks (who I absolutely hate and not because they are heels and I am supposed to) out of this just makes me like them that much more.    You know, with WWE and their lack of a tag team division and my disliking all of these tag teams I'm supposed to like (Young Bucks, American Wolves) I began questioning whether or not I just maybe didn't like tag team wrestling in general.   Perhaps tag teams just weren't for me.    While this match seemed clunky at times because of the number of people involved in it, by the end I really was happy and felt like what most people already say is true and that is the simple fact that reDRagon is pound for pound the best tag team in the world today.     Frankie Kazarian and Christopher Daniels continue to impress and remind me just why tag team wrestling can be good and also we have Matt Sydal and ACH who I am very excited about now as a tag team.    So here are three solid tag teams plus the best tag team in the world and I defy anyone to watch this match and say that tag team wrestling is either dead or just simply cannot be good.     Granted, I watched this after Wrestle Kingdom 9 and that event really left me wondering whether or not I liked tag team wrestling but this one match just turned it all around for me and only showed me that tag team wrestling is alive and I am a fan of it... it just has to be this good.


Next week we will have a "special" episode of ROH TV that looks back at 2014 and I will most definitely not be watching that because I have too much else to do, (I also watched the special year in review episode from AAA so there's that) so whatever comes after that will most likely be my next ROH TV review and that will be sometime around January 15th to January 21st.

REVIEW: TNA Impact Wrestling January 7th, 2015 Live Debut on Destination America

You could probably count the number of times that TNA has had to revamp itself, but why would you want to?   Before their contract with Spike TV was up last year they had a good string of shows taped in New York City, shows I was actually staying up on Wednesday nights from 9 to 11 pm to watch or somehow watching after the fact.   With a new year and a new television deal which should be a lot better than their old one, this seems like the perfect time to reset Impact Wrestling once and for all and build the brand that we all know they have the talent roster and resources to become.   When I say resources I mean that they would likely sign wrestlers that WWE wouldn't which works to their advantage as well as the fact that the TNA talent doesn't go through NXT so someone like Chris Hero could debut on any given night as opposed to spending years in developmental.

I'm going to break down this show segment by segment for you, but before I do I need to address the one issue that made this overall show so hot in my opinion and that is the simple fact that it was live.    What is it about Impact Wrestling that makes it so much better when it is live?  I'm not sure.   I could read spoilers for a number of other wrestling programs I watch including anything WWE based that isn't Raw or a pay-per-view, ROH TV and so on... The appeal of NXT is not lost in the fact that it is taped (And, no, I don't read the spoilers because I like to be surprised) so why is it that TNA just seems to always feel like Smack Down! in the sense that you just read the spoilers and don't watch it?  (Admittedly, I do watch Smack Down! sometimes, but I usually read the match list first and use that as well as how much time I have in the week to determine whether or not I watch it)

If TNA was to go live more often I think it could provide a better atmosphere to the product overall, but for 2015 I'm going to try and no longer read spoilers and just watch the show and see if that somehow makes it better.    Granted, I read match listings for some of the last shows they had on Spike TV and thought, "Tommy Dreamer?  Sign me up!" so maybe they are finally turning a corner for the better.

So Impact opened with various wrestlers going from their hotel rooms to the arena and then brawling into the arena.   This should be how every show opens from now on.   Okay, maybe not really, but the live crowd ate it up and it was great.   Kurt Angle broke it all up by announcing every title would be defended tonight and that he was no longer in control of the company as a majority shareholder or whatever but he was back to being an active roster member.    This lead to an impromptu street fight between Kurt Angle and MVP and wow can these two go.    The idea of Kurt Angle vs. MVP in a real deal match, perhaps in a cage even, just really appeals to me and I feel like this was a preview to that as this ended with MVP saying that he had kicked out by three.

For those watching Impact Wrestling for the first time, Kurt Angle is to Impact Wrestling what Ric Flair was to WCW and that is in no way a bad thing.

I'm liking Josh Mathews on commentary with Taz and it isn't the worst idea because there are far worse commentators in pro wrestling today (Get well soon, King) but it was kind of funny that the crowd was chanting "Shut the fuck up" at MVP and later on "M-V-Pussy" and as the chants were censored the commentary sort of suffered for it too.    Oh well, you still have to love this live, rowdy New York City crowd.

The first official match with ring announcements and all that was James Storm & Abyss aka The Revolution defending the TNA Tag Titles against the American Wolves, Davey Richards and Eddie Edwards.    Richards and Edwards were sporting scratch marks on their chests that I hope were body paint and not tattoos.    I was kind of hoping for a loss here for Storm & Abyss because as much as I like them both individually the whole idea behind this gimmick where James Storm plays Raven and the undercard plays his Flock is just overdone at best.    Abyss is better than this and needs to go back under the guidance of The Sinister Minister James Mitchell (Seriously, what is he doing now a days anyway?) or someone else in a managerial role and not as a friend to another wrestler.    Still, the match wasn't terrible and as I'm beginning to realize that maybe I am just not a fan of tag team wrestling in general, I did like this match and the American Wolves didn't make me a fan per se but they weren't terrible either.   (They used to be my least favorite tag team until the Young Bucks unfortunately came onto my radar)

The ending had The Hardys set up their match with the Wolves, even in an "Oops! I Did It Again" sort of context, but it's better than the Wolves losing clean at this point.    When The Hardys came out though I was really hoping this would turn into a triple threat match, but alas, it was still fun for what it was and I hope that maybe Sanada and Manik can break away into their own tag team and James Storm and Abyss can just be a tag team for a little while instead of this faction nonsense.    Maybe this will be the year the American Wolves win me over as a fan, but I highly doubt it.

In a backstage segment that spilled out into the ring, Ethan Carter III- the best part of Impact Wrestling hands down- was going to shave the head of Rock Star Spud but instead shaved the head of Jeremy Borash, who just looks like a current version of Dick Clark (and yeah, I realize Dick Clark is dead).   If you notice, EC3 has been growing out his hair a little bit lately, so I expect this to lead to an eventual hair vs. hair match between the two former friends.    But the only question is whether or not EC3 is still injured.    Perhaps he is, and if so, this was a good way for him to be a part of the show without having the wrestle.    Should EC3 go around shaving heads like Jeff Jarrett once did?   Probably not.     But this bit still accomplished what it needed to for the night.

The next match was for the X Division Title and they really put a strong emphasis on the division and what it meant to be champion.    They pointed out that Low-Ki was the first ever ROH Champion and I thought that was a nice nod.    These two worked hard and I'm interested to see where they go from here since Austin Aries recaptured the title.     I'd prefer Aries in the TNA Title picture, but if this means making the X Division that much stronger than I'm all for it.    Low-Ki is good and all, but he really hasn't done anything significant for me as X Division Champion (or since he's been back in TNA for that matter)

Robbie E made his return from "The Amazing Race" and did you know that guy was once tag team partners with the same Matt Striker who does awful commentary for Lucha Underground?   It was nice to see the NYC reaction for him, as that is probably the most over he will be all year.    This fed into a Knockouts battle royal for the title, which basically meant there was no number one contender and they just wanted to show you which women they had on their roster.    I'm probably one of the few who are not a fan of Taryn Terrell who spent time in WWE as "Tiffany" and was briefly married to Drew McIntyre (no joke), so seeing her retain the title was a bit disappointing.   I would have rather started the new year with Havok as champion and then had Terrell fade into obscurity, but oh man, when Havok started pounding Terrell and the lights went out... It was goosebumps when they came back on and I saw Awesome Kong.   What a return and what a shock for TNA fans because the former "Kharma" is home and not in WWE.  (I'd like to see her smash the Bella Twins as much as anyone, but TNA is where she rightfully belongs)    Now, let's not rush this, TNA.    Kong and Havok could have the feud of the year right here.

In the main event, MVP came out with "The Family" of Kenny King and two masked men who were revealed to be... Samoa Joe and Low-Ki.   On one hand, this is something nice for Low-Ki to do, but on the other hand it just feels too much like what Big Ryck is doing in Lucha Underground and what every other wrestler who has ever built a faction behind him has done.   I was intrigued by the masked men but then it seemed to just go over like a fart in church when Joe and Ki were revealed.   This could have at least been a nice way to bring in Haas and Benjamin, am I right?

The TNA Title match seems tarnished by this and the Eric Young heel turn.   It was nice that the fact EY and Bobby Roode were in Team Canada together was made mention but, ugh, another "He's turning on his best friend" storyline just makes me want to stop watch professional wrestling altogether (and I watch *a lot* of professional wrestling)   So on one hand, we have a new TNA Champion who seems kind of surprised that EY gave him the assist and on the other hand we have a cheap finish to what should have been an early contender for Match of the Year.  

So what does this spell for TNA in 2015?   Well, Austin Aries is X Division Champion and the tag team division is looking good.    Awesome Kong back in TNA spells an eventual (hopeful) Havok vs. Kong vs. Gail Kim match which will just RULE, but everything else seems to fall short right now.    It's like everything that is wrong with WWE is going right in TNA and vice versa.    Do I really want to see the Jay Briscoe-looking Eric Young feud with Bobby Lashley or Bobby Roode or anyone named Bobby?  Nope.    I would have loved a clean finish with Lashley winning back the title the right way and then a tournament or something set up for the next number one contender.    This bag of gimmicks needs to end, but it was only really the end of the show that bothered me so I guess I can sit back and suck it up until we eventually reach the Reign of EC3 (which needs to happen this year)

For one bad match and a bad ending to this show, it still had some great and memorable moments throughout so let's hope that TNA can continue to build on that.   Oddly enough, some of my favorite names such as Magnus, Bram, Samuel Shaw, Gunner and Mr. Kennedy were absent from this show (Aside from the pull apart brawl to open the show, I think), so thinking about those characters coming into play later on this year as well just makes for what could be some excellent professional wrestling.    I am hopeful for a great 2015 for Impact Wrestling but only time will tell.   I will check in as often as I can, but might not be able to maintain a weekly review of the program, but let us just not hope that time makes fools of us all.