With The Wrestling Channel having been up and running for just over two months now, I thought I would take the opportunity to take a look back at the segment which has become the flagship of the channel, the Supercard Sunday slot, and take a look back at the past ten Supercard shows, ranking them in order of preference.
10) 3PW - A FUNKIN' CLASSIC - Broadcast April 25th.
What can I say about this show? A Funkin' Classic? A funkin' disgrace more like. This was by far the worst show ever presented in this slot. Everything about it was just so poor, the presentation was poor, the wrestlers competing in the bouts seemed to have no ring presence whatsoever, and the only positive thing I could say about this show was that the commentary team seemed better than what's given to us on the weekly 3PW show. Was this show worthy of a Supercard slot? No way.
9) CZW - NIGHT OF INFAMY 2 - Broadcast May 9th.
I had been spoiled by the first CZW offering on Supercard Sunday, as you will see later on in this column. Like the 3PW show, this show was very, very poor, and had me reaching for my remote before the end. The production values were better than the 3PW show, but the action was very poor. Not even my main man Trent Acid could save things here.
8) PRO WRESTLING NOAH - NAVIGATION WITH BREEZE - Broadcast May 16th
The second Japanese show shown in this slot had some good wrestling action, but proved to be somewhat long and draining, possibly because of the three bonus matches from 2001 that were added at the end. Pro Wrestling NOAH, while it has some good wrestlers and matches, does seem a little lacklustre in other departments, especially when compared to it's NJPW counterparts. With nothing to make it jump out from the crowd, this card could only be termed as nothing special.
7) ROH - EXPECT THE UNEXPECTED - Broadcast April 18th
So far the only company to have had two Supercard Sunday slots, ROH gave us something which, despite the title, was quite expected of them. Pretty much what you'd expect from Ring of Honor, with a couple of outstanding matches, particularly the match pitting Raven against C.M. Punk, and the tag-team title match pitting Christopher Daniels & Xavier against A.J. Styles and the Amazing Red.
6) THE BEST OF A.J. STYLES - Broadcast May 23rd.
A brilliant showcase for one of the best talents outside of the WWE at the moment. With some outstanding matches against the likes of Jerry Lynn, Jody Fleisch, Jonny Storm, and Low-Ki, this was action packed from start to finish. However, a four hour slot may have been a bit too long. Towards the end I began to think that I had perhaps seen enough of this guy for one night! A two hour slot would have been much better.
5) NJPW - THE SPIRAL/ULTIMATE CRUSH II - Broadcast April 4th.
The first Japanese show in the Supercard Sunday slot was a compilation of two of NJPW's most recent supershows, with stars such as Bob Sapp, Masa Chono, Hulk Hogan, Jushin Liger and more showing just why NJPW is the top promotion in the Orient right now. The only problem with this was the fact that many of the matches from The Spiral show were heavily edited, so they could fit into the three hour time-slot. This will however be rectified this coming Sunday when The Spiral is shown, in full.
4) ROH - 1ST ANNIVERSARY SHOW - Broadcast March 28th.
I've never really been a big fan of Ring of Honor, and for some reason I've always found their shows in the Supercard Sunday slot far better than their clip and edit weekly shows. Apart from the messy scramble match at the end, this was a good example of the Ring of Honor product, with some great matches, particularly the triple threat match involving A.J. Styles, Paul London & Low-Ki.
3) FWA - BRITISH UPRISING - Broadcast May 2nd.
So far the only offering from this side of the pond, with the first of the FWA's British Uprising shows shown here. While it isn't the best example of the FWA's product, it was good to see a British company in this slot. Some of the matches may have been a bit bland and weak, but others more than made up for this.
2) MLW - RELOAD - Broadcast March 21st.
The first show broadcast in the Supercard Sunday slot was a great way to kick this series off. With commentary from former ECW stalwart Joey Styles, Major League Wrestling showed that if they had had the time and the finances in place, they could have become one of the top independent companies in America. A great card with a superb main event clash between Jerry Lynn and Satoshi Kojima.
1) CZW - BEST OF THE BEST II - Broadcast April 11th.
I have never been a fan of CZW. It's not one of those federations where I got out of my way to catch the show each and every week, but this tournament, pitting many of the top Cruiserweights outside of the WWE against each other made for compelling viewing, and the performance of Trent Acid in particular was very impressive. This certainly wasn't the CZW style I had heard about, and it's a shame that the rest of the CZW product isn't like this.
So there you have it, ten Sundays, and ten Supercard shows. So far this slot has given us a mixed bag, from the extremely poor to the extremely good, but then again, as the old saying goes, it's hard to please all of the people all of the time.
10) 3PW - A FUNKIN' CLASSIC - Broadcast April 25th.
What can I say about this show? A Funkin' Classic? A funkin' disgrace more like. This was by far the worst show ever presented in this slot. Everything about it was just so poor, the presentation was poor, the wrestlers competing in the bouts seemed to have no ring presence whatsoever, and the only positive thing I could say about this show was that the commentary team seemed better than what's given to us on the weekly 3PW show. Was this show worthy of a Supercard slot? No way.
9) CZW - NIGHT OF INFAMY 2 - Broadcast May 9th.
I had been spoiled by the first CZW offering on Supercard Sunday, as you will see later on in this column. Like the 3PW show, this show was very, very poor, and had me reaching for my remote before the end. The production values were better than the 3PW show, but the action was very poor. Not even my main man Trent Acid could save things here.
8) PRO WRESTLING NOAH - NAVIGATION WITH BREEZE - Broadcast May 16th
The second Japanese show shown in this slot had some good wrestling action, but proved to be somewhat long and draining, possibly because of the three bonus matches from 2001 that were added at the end. Pro Wrestling NOAH, while it has some good wrestlers and matches, does seem a little lacklustre in other departments, especially when compared to it's NJPW counterparts. With nothing to make it jump out from the crowd, this card could only be termed as nothing special.
7) ROH - EXPECT THE UNEXPECTED - Broadcast April 18th
So far the only company to have had two Supercard Sunday slots, ROH gave us something which, despite the title, was quite expected of them. Pretty much what you'd expect from Ring of Honor, with a couple of outstanding matches, particularly the match pitting Raven against C.M. Punk, and the tag-team title match pitting Christopher Daniels & Xavier against A.J. Styles and the Amazing Red.
6) THE BEST OF A.J. STYLES - Broadcast May 23rd.
A brilliant showcase for one of the best talents outside of the WWE at the moment. With some outstanding matches against the likes of Jerry Lynn, Jody Fleisch, Jonny Storm, and Low-Ki, this was action packed from start to finish. However, a four hour slot may have been a bit too long. Towards the end I began to think that I had perhaps seen enough of this guy for one night! A two hour slot would have been much better.
5) NJPW - THE SPIRAL/ULTIMATE CRUSH II - Broadcast April 4th.
The first Japanese show in the Supercard Sunday slot was a compilation of two of NJPW's most recent supershows, with stars such as Bob Sapp, Masa Chono, Hulk Hogan, Jushin Liger and more showing just why NJPW is the top promotion in the Orient right now. The only problem with this was the fact that many of the matches from The Spiral show were heavily edited, so they could fit into the three hour time-slot. This will however be rectified this coming Sunday when The Spiral is shown, in full.
4) ROH - 1ST ANNIVERSARY SHOW - Broadcast March 28th.
I've never really been a big fan of Ring of Honor, and for some reason I've always found their shows in the Supercard Sunday slot far better than their clip and edit weekly shows. Apart from the messy scramble match at the end, this was a good example of the Ring of Honor product, with some great matches, particularly the triple threat match involving A.J. Styles, Paul London & Low-Ki.
3) FWA - BRITISH UPRISING - Broadcast May 2nd.
So far the only offering from this side of the pond, with the first of the FWA's British Uprising shows shown here. While it isn't the best example of the FWA's product, it was good to see a British company in this slot. Some of the matches may have been a bit bland and weak, but others more than made up for this.
2) MLW - RELOAD - Broadcast March 21st.
The first show broadcast in the Supercard Sunday slot was a great way to kick this series off. With commentary from former ECW stalwart Joey Styles, Major League Wrestling showed that if they had had the time and the finances in place, they could have become one of the top independent companies in America. A great card with a superb main event clash between Jerry Lynn and Satoshi Kojima.
1) CZW - BEST OF THE BEST II - Broadcast April 11th.
I have never been a fan of CZW. It's not one of those federations where I got out of my way to catch the show each and every week, but this tournament, pitting many of the top Cruiserweights outside of the WWE against each other made for compelling viewing, and the performance of Trent Acid in particular was very impressive. This certainly wasn't the CZW style I had heard about, and it's a shame that the rest of the CZW product isn't like this.
So there you have it, ten Sundays, and ten Supercard shows. So far this slot has given us a mixed bag, from the extremely poor to the extremely good, but then again, as the old saying goes, it's hard to please all of the people all of the time.
No comments:
Post a Comment