WCL Season 2 Episodes 21-24 - DVD Review

It’s time to take our final look at the second season of Chuck Norris’ World Combat League. We’ve now reached the final four episodes, with only the third place play-off and the championship final remaining.

Third Place Play-Off: New Jersey Tigers v Oklahoma Destroyers

This was the best match-up of the season so far. The first half began with the teams exchanging victories, beginning with Shennen Maceo getting the points win for New Jersey over Thomas Longacre.

Once again the women stole the show in this half as the Tigers’ Munah Holland and the Destroyers’ Jeri Sitzes had a great fight, with Sitzes’ win complimented by that of team-mate Anthony Njokuani, until Uriah Hall gave New Jersey the half-ending win over Jesse Lawrence.

So as Oklahoma went into the second half leading 80-66 New Jersey knew they’d have to up their game, and even though David Gonzalez, Jarrell Miller and Lyman Good put on great winning performances their points wins meant that Oklahoma were still in with a chance.

The Destroyers took that chance in style as Jeri Sitzes absolutely demolished Melissa Bopp for the knockout win, taking them to a 114-115 score, and successive wins for Anthony Njokuani and Jesse Lawrence secured the win and gave them the third place in front of their home fans.

Championship Final: New York Clash v Los Angeles Stars

It was almost a Cinderella-like story. New York didn’t win a regular season match and came into the final looking for an upset.

Both teams started tentatively. An accidental clash of heads meant that the opener between Leo Valdivia and Jason Bourelly was declared a draw, and the stars eked out the next two wins courtesy of Brandon Hastings and Jack Felton.

The Clash came back into it when Pat Barry’s leg kicks demolished the squatty Matt Thomas and Jennifer Santiago defeated Jessica Covarrubias. However, Raymond Daniels took the lead back for L.A. when he overwhelmed Jaime Fletcher.

The second half began with an upset as New York’s Abraham Han made Jason look human. The teams traded the next two wins until Pat Barry’s legs demolished another fighter in the form of Chris Hawk, knocking him down four times.

Then came the turning point. L.A. coach Colin Van Deusen threw his own wife Tara into the mix, and she took a rather scrappy win over the normally dependable Jennifer Santiago.

This meant that the Stars needed a knockout to win the championship. Up stepped Raymond Daniels as he got the desired result, putting Brandon Banda to sleep with a spin kick. Los Angeles had won the title by just four points, defeating New York 137-133.

In conclusion - well, it was a long ride, but we finally got to the final two matches, and what matches they were. They definitely saved the best for last here.

So now I’ve watched over 200 fights and 22 hours of action, what’s my overall view of the World Combat League?

It took a while for me to get used to it, but this is a great concept, although it could do with a few tweaks, such as having only the top two teams from each conference in the play-offs. After all, as I’ve mentioned before, New York didn’t win a match during the regular season, and although they put in some great performances in the play-offs and the final I couldn’t help but think that they didn’t really deserve to be there.

As for the fighters there were quite a few who impressed the hell out of me. The entire women’s division were great, while the likes of Pat Barry, Raymond Daniels, Jason Bourelly, Anthony Njokuani, Armin Mrkanovic and many more put in great performances.

But I’m left to wonder what’s next for the World Combat League. This season took place back in 2008. The 2009 season was cancelled.

If you look at the WCL website you’ll see that the last news item was posted late in 2009. There’s also mention of teams from Canada and Great Britain entering the competition.

The merchandise page doesn’t work anymore either, although you can still get WCL DVDs from Amazon.

I really hope that Chuck Norris and his team bring back the WCL soon. He shouldn’t let his dream die. It’s a great concept, and if handled and promoted correctly it could become as big as that other form of hybrid kickboxing K-1, or, dare I say it, the UFC.

Hopefully we, the fans, can do our bit. Maybe my reviews will make you want to buy these DVDs so you can see for yourselves what the WCL is all about. Watching these has made me want to seek out the first season box set.

So to Chuck Norris and the rest of the powers-that-be at the WCL, thank you for sending me this box set and allowing me to review these fights. This fan hopes to see WCL Season 3 sometime in the future.

WCL Season 2 Episodes 21-24 form part of the WCL Season 2 box set, which is available to buy at the usual online outlets.

WCW/New Japan Collision on Korea - Retro Review

It was the one-time meeting of legends as over 300,00 fans gathered over a two day period in April 1995 in Pyongyang, North Korea as World Championship Wrestling and New Japan Pro Wrestling joined forces for Collision in Korea, with Mike Tenay, Eric Bischoff and Sonny Onoo handling commentary duties.

The show began with 2 Cold Scorpio facing Wild Pegasus, otherwise known as he whose name must never be spoken again.

An excellent opening encounter between two wrestlers in the prime of their careers. These guys were well suited to each other, and it’s a shame that they weren’t given much longer.

Pegasus came out on top in this one, setting up Scorpio with a tombstone pile driver before finishing him off with the trademark flying head butt.

Tokimitsu Ishizawa against Yuji Nagata followed.

Those not familiar with these two would be a little confused with this match as both men wore black trunks, black knee pads and black boots. Thankfully I’d seen Nagata a few times before so I had a slight advantage.

This was a match very much in the Japanese style, solid action, hard hitting and a slice of what would now be called MMA-style exchanges, with Nagata getting the submission win with a face lock. Nice stuff, but like the previous match a little too short.

Tag-team action followed as Hiro Saito and Masa Chono faced El Samurai and Tadao Yasuda.

An interesting match that had it’s good and bad points. Chono and Saito looked great as a team, but then again I don’t think I’ve ever seen Chono in a bad match, and while El Samurai looked good Yasuda looked a little limited. But then again this former sumo star had only been a pro for about a year.

The impressive Chono got the win for his team after taking Samurai down with a shoulder block off the top rope.

The tag-team action continued with women from All Japan taking centre stage as Mariko Yoshida and Manami Toyota went up against Bull Nakano and Akira Hokuto.

A little messy to begin with until it developed into a nice back and forth encounter, and definitely not the kind of match you’d see a Diva or a Knockout in.

Nakano was as good as I remember, while Toyota and Yoshida pulled off some great high flying moves, as did Hokuto.

The end came when Nakano took Yoshida out with a top rope leg drop.

It was back to singles action next as Scott Norton faced IWGP Champion Shinya Hashimoto.

No flying head scissors or hurricanrana in this match. This was a battle of sheer strength between two old rivals with a combined weight of nearly 700 pounds.

And it was also very entertaining. Hashimoto pulled off some good moves for a man of his size, especially his running spin kicks, while Norton’s brute force was put to good use time and time again.

No winners in this one as the twenty minute time limit expired, with some heavy blows in the final few moments.

Tadao Yasuda made his second appearance of this compilation, taking on Road Warrior Hawk. Originally this was meant to be a tag-team match, the big reunion of the Road Warriors, but sadly Animal had to withdraw because of a back injury.

A very quick encounter with a Yasuda putting on a better performance second time around. But it just wasn’t enough against the more experienced face-painted on, who simply overpowered his bigger opponent before finishing the job with the one man doomsday device.

It was back to tag-team action for the next match as the Steiner Brothers took on Hiroshi Hase and Kensuke Sasaki.

Now this brought back a lot of memories, memories of a time when Scott Steiner could actually work, before he became a freakazoid just a few years later.

These to teams had a great match at the first WCW/New Japan super show in Tokyo in 1991, and while this was a good example of their rivalry it just wasn’t a patch on that first encounter.

Scott Steiner took the win for his team here, taking Hase down with a move we didn’t see because the director was more concerned with the brawl between Rick Steiner and Sasaki outside the ring.

The main event was the one-time battle of the legends between Ric Flair and Antonio Inoki, a mouth watering prospect for fans of the grappling game.

Now while these two may not have been in the first flush of youth at the time of this match they certainly knew how to put on a great exhibition.

Flair was at his heelish best here, pulling off his usual moves as he worked over Inoki’s leg so he could set up the dreaded figure four leg lock.

Inoki managed to escape as the match developed into a nice back and forth affair, with Inoki getting the win after an enziguri. Not bad for a couple of old guys.

In conclusion - from beginning to end this WCW/New Japan collaboration proved to be a very entertaining show, and while some of the matches may have seemed a little short that didn’t stop the wrestlers delivering the goods.

However, the production side of things left a little to be desired. I would have thought that a company like WCW would have al least put graphics on the screen introducing the wrestlers, especially when you consider that this was shown on pay-per-view in America, and some of the audience may not have been familiar with some of the Japanese talent.

The commentary team of Tenay, Bischoff and Onoo was also quite annoying. While Onoo offered very little, it seemed as if Bischoff knew very little about the majority of the Japanese  stars, and while it was obvious that Tenay knew what he was talking about Bischoff hardly gave him the chance to relay that information to the television audience.

So in all the wrestling ranges from good to great, while the production side of things ranges from bad to poor. By all means try and get a copy of this from a trader of look for the matches on YouTube, just be prepared to shout “shut the hell up” whenever Bischoff imparts his knowledge.

UFC 118: Edgar vs Penn 2 on ESPN - TV Review

So was it a freak show or the perfect MMA fight? And did it overshadow what looked like a cracking match? That’s what I was hoping to find out as I watched UFC 118: Edgar v Penn 2, shown live in the early hours of this past Sunday morning on ESPN here in Britain.

The show began with the preliminary bouts, and Andre Winner facing Nik Lentz in the lightweight division.

The best way to describe this fight would be a dogged battle of wills. For the first two rounds Lentz went to great pains to try and take Winner to the ground, but when he succeeded the Brit got right back up again.

Lentz succeeded with his chosen tactic in the third, showing some nice transitions. It was pretty but it was effective.

All three judges scored in favour of Lentz. Well, the style may not have been to the fans’ liking, but it got the job done.

It was also good to see that Bruce Buffer has finally learned how to pronounce Leicester properly!

The lightweight action continued as Joe Lauzon faced Gabe Ruediger. Nice to see that old Gabe was able to make weight on a UFC show.

This was an awesome performance from Lauzon in front of his hometown fans. He absolutely demolished Ruediger, taking him down to the mat, transitioning well and getting the submission with an arm bar just two minutes into the fight. I bet Ruediger wasn’t screaming “put me back in” after that display!

It was up to middleweight for the next fight as Dan Miller went up against John Salter.

A nice back and forth battle saw Salter score with a couple of good take downs in the first round, with Miller able to escape, getting off a few good blows of his own.

The end came early in the second. As Salter went for a take down Miller countered with an anaconda choke that secured the impressive submission win.

The main show began with welterweight action as Nate Diaz faced Marcus Davis.

When Diaz began by taunting Davis you know what kind of fight you were going to get. It was an excellent display of striking, with a combination from Lauzon opening up a nasty cut above Davis’ right eye early on.

As the fight progressed Davis’ eye got worse, but this didn’t stop the great action, even when the Irish Hand Grenade began to resemble Quasimodo at the beginning of the third.

Diaz secured the win in the final minute, taking the fight to the ground and locking in a guillotine. Davis refused to tap, with the referee stopping the fight has he passed out. Boy was this good!

It was back down to the lightweight division for the next fight as Kenny Florian took on Gray Maynard.

An extended feeling out period began this fight, with both fighters testing the waters before Maynard finally scored with the take down.

This was how the rest of the fight played out, with Maynard scoring with take downs and dominating Florian on the ground. Florian sustained a nasty cut above his left eye that clearly bothered him as the fight went on.

Maynard took home the unanimous decision and a shot at the lightweight title. One couldn’t help but feel sympathy for Florian though, one of the most likeable fighters in MMA at the moment.

Action from the middleweight division followed as Demian Maia went up against Mario Miranda.

This was the Demian Maia we weren’t allowed to see during the Anderson Silva fight, a great ground fighter who for the most part dominated Miranda.

Miranda had couple of good moments, but they were scarce as all three judges gave the fight to Maia.

And the ironic thing about this fight was the presence of one A. Silva in Miranda’s corner.

Then it was on to the big heavyweight encounter, as Hall of Famer Randy Couture faced the challenge of boxing legend James Toney.

This was a complete miss-match. Couture got the early take down, and as Toney floundered around like a beached whale Couture unleashed with the ground and pound before going for an arm triangle. It was soon lights out for Toney as he tapped out, giving Couture the submission win.

You know, it’s hard to rate Couture’s performance. Let’s be honest here, this was nothing more than a freak show.

The main event saw B.J. Penn attempting to reclaim the Lightweight title from Frankie Edgar.

Edgar came into this fight full of confidence, and it showed in his performance as he did something I never thought anyone could do.

Edgar dominated Penn in every aspect, from the striking to the ground game to the defensive work. He was also able to take Penn down numerous times.

The former champion was very disappointing, and even though he scored with a couple of take downs he just seemed to be going through the motions, content just to survive. It must be said as well that the advice Penn was getting from his corner did absolutely nothing for him. When they should have been giving him severe tongue lashings they were basically telling him to keep up the good work. The only thing was that the work wasn’t that good.

All three judges gave every round to Edgar, and rightfully so. This was Edgar’s best performance in the UFC, the complete opposite to Penn’s disappointing showing.

A second showing of the Lauzon/Ruediger fight rounded out the show.

In conclusion - apart from the freak show that was Couture/Toney, UFC 118 was a great show filled with great performances, and once again the main event stole the show as Edgar dominated a man we never thought could be dominated in that way.

So overall, great stuff. Just don’t put any more professional boxers in there Dana!

Strikeforce Houston on Bravo 2 - TV Review

King Mo Lawal (left) v Rafael Feijao

Two title fights, a controversial referee’s decision and the next step in the career of a former WWE superstar were the talking points as Strikeforce presented their latest show in Houston, shown this past Monday night on Bravo 2 here in Britain.

The show began with heavyweight action as Bobby Lashley faced Chad Griggs.

This is the fight that will end all of those Brock Lesnar comparisons. Lashley began extremely well with a series of take downs, but a knee in the clinch against the cage clearly hurt him, and moments later Griggs connected with a blow that opened up a nasty cut underneath Lashley’s left eye.

Although Lashley began the second round strongly Griggs began to work his way back into the fight as Lashley visibly tired. Griggs connected with an uppercut as Lashley went for the shoot, and it was all downhill from there. Griggs connected with more blows to the head as the round ended, with Lashley quitting seconds later, giving Griggs the win that nobody expected.

It was down to the lightweight division for the next fight as K.J. Noons took on Jorge Gurgel.

This was a fight full of incident. After some great exchanges in the first round Noons connected with a left that sent Gurgel crashing just as the round ended.

Noons kept up his attack into the second as another big left sent Gurgel down again. Noons then hesitated for a second, expecting the referee to stop the fight, before unleashing with a few more blows, including a knee while Gurgel was still grounded, a move that is illegal under MMA rules. However the referee, in his infinite wisdom, missed this blow completely as Noons was given the knockout win, despite the fact that he clearly should have been disqualified.

The first title fight of the show saw Tim Kennedy taking on Jacare Souza for the vacant Middleweight title.

An entertaining five round affair with very little ground work was an even looking striking contest, with both fighters giving a good account of themselves. Kennedy sustained a nasty cut above his left eye that worsened as the fight went on, although it didn’t stop him from getting the take down as the fight came to an end.

All three judges scored in favour of Souza. I wouldn’t be surprised if these two are matched up again in the future.

The main event saw King Mo Lawal defending the Light Heavyweight title against Rafael Feijao.

The proved to be a very good fight. Mo looked good early on with his massive slam, but Feijao showed some great defensive work as he popped straight back up.

That was how the fight played out for the first two rounds, until Feijao unloaded with a barrage of fists and knees. Mo grabbed hold of the Brazilian and held on for dear life, but it didn’t stop the elbows as the referee stepped in and called a halt to the proceedings, giving Feijao the highly impressive knockout win.

In conclusion - apart from the blind referee in the Noons/Gurgel fight this turned out to be a great night for Strikeforce, with the main event between Mo and Feijao the best of the bunch.

I do wish they’d sort out the refereeing decisions though!

YouShoot Live With Dixie Carter - DVD Review

Kayfabe Commentaries have done it again. This past May Sean Oliver sat down in front of a live audience to chat with the second most powerful person in the professional wrestling business - TNA President Dixie Carter for the latest in the YouShoot series.

With Oliver once again posing the questions set by the fans, as well as those in attendance, Dixie answered the questions that most of us wanted the answers to.

As an interview subject she came across extremely well, although it was interesting to see her reactions to some of the videos. There’s a question from a guy sitting on a toilet wearing a mash, and another when a half-asleep man on a sofa is suddenly woken just so he can insult her and her company.

But the best moment of the entire interview came with a rather unexpected video question from a former employee. It was interesting to see Dixie squirm a little when Jim Cornette appeared on the screen in front of her and asked he why his mortal enemy Vince Russo still had a job with TNA. Dixie later goes on to address the “fire Russo” chants that frequented the Impact Zone whenever certain events happened.

It isn’t just Russo she talks about though. She reveals just what Hulk Hogan and Eric Bischoff do for the company, and makes some comments about Scott Hall which seem rather ironic when viewed now, especially when you consider that he’s just gone into rehab. There’s also quite a bit about the television and pay-per-markets of today, and how much they’ve changed since the heady days of the Monday Night Wars way back when.

Overall this is a very entertaining release, mainly because this is something you’re unlikely to see again anytime soon. As Oliver himself said Vince McMahon wouldn’t have the balls to do anything like this, so getting his counterpart to is both a coup for Kayfabe Commentaries and for TNA. So once again one of their releases gets the big thumbs up from this writer, and I recommend that you get a copy of this as soon as you can.

With thanks to the powers-that-be for supplying of this release. “YouShoot Live with Dixie Carter” can be purchased online at www.kayfabecommentaries.com.