August 2018

Liked this a lot more than their G1 match last year which was also really good. I know we can't and shouldn't get Ibushi going crazy in every match or else he would crash and burn by the end, but I was hoping for just a little bit more danger in this match. What we got was completely fine though as Ibushi and Goto showed they have some pretty great chemistry. I wouldn't mind a rematch in a few months with Ibushi challenging Goto for his NEVER title, ****1/4.

A pretty great dream match that delivered with the amount of time they were given. I don't think this was the best possible match these two greats could pull off, but you could easily tell the grand story both were trying to tell. Kenny tried the whole match to outpower Zack, but unfortunately the latter had a counter for Kenny at almost every turn. I liked Kenny's selling in the first half of the match, but he kind of forgot about it towards the end. The roll up is a surprise yet refreshing for an Omega match, and it keeps the door open for a future rematch between these two, ****1/4.

A match promoted as a "dream match" that completely lived up to the hype. Dunne and WALTER are two pretty similar wrestlers that rarely get to face off against each other, so doing a match for the wXw tapings was a bit of a surprise. Even though it was a TV taping, they certainly didn't hold back on each other one bit. Throughout the match, Dunne tried tearing down WALTER by taking out his most powerful weapons, his arms. WALTER sold his arms very well, but he still managed to lay in some great strikes and moves on Dunne when he had the chance. Hard to say if this match was great because of the awesome chemistry, or because they're both just world class talents; probably …

Another fantastic trio chapter in the build to LA Park and Rush's big apuesta match. Thought the Lucha Bros and The Briscoes had great chemistry with each other. Phoenix and Penta had some excellent double team moves to contrast the brawling and wild punches of The Briscoes. Of course, Rush and LA Park brought the hate here with their chop exchanges and crowd brawling. Great match. ****1/4

I loved this match. Kuishinbo Kamen taking shoot stuff for his comedy bits is extremely my shit. The two that really got me were referee Matsui dragging them back to the center of the ring when they were under the ropes, and Sakaguchi casually checking Kamen's leg kicks. The other thing that makes this work is Sakaguchi being embarrassed about falling for Kamen's nonsense, he makes for a really great comedic foil. On the other hand, Kamen looks pretty decent when boxing with Sakaguchi early on in the match! I don't want to recount every joke but there's a whole lot going on in this match, Kamen has a book, there's rounds for some reason, Takeshita is ringside while n…

Really well-crafted, unique match for these two. Katsumata targets the leg, and Bailey gets to bully him because of the size advantage, which is very rare for him to be able to do. He kills him with shoulder blocks, and various strikes, all the while selling the leg. Bailey doesn't do all his offense, which is good for the match, but he does do stuff like a cool pinfall attempt counter to Katsumata's casadora. This took place a day after Katsumata had the goofiest "fans bring the weapons" match against Violento Jack, Shunma is the best.

Talk about it here.

Thought it started out fun enough with Omega taking Ishii lightly. The problem with this match is that Omega's offense just doesn't match up to Ishii's and the wide gap between them isn't really acknowledge. Instead, the match is worked the way any other Omega or Ishii match might. As such the middle portion of the match does sag. It's held up decently by Omega targeting the neck which plays into the really incredibly hot finishing stretch. Ishii headbutting the corner pad to get fired up for his comeback? That's just good pro wrestling right there. Loved the visual of both their busted lips at the end. ****

Every match between Ibushi and Naito is a battle to an almost death or something. Not to exaggerate, both guys have a death wish in their matches against each other, because neither guy can resist landing on their neck even for the smallest move. Not that this match was just all neck bumps though. At this point I don't know why anyone tries to work Ibushi's legs because it never works since he never sells the damage. The second half of this match was just bonkers though as Ibushi just killed Naito ten times over with some dangerous head drops. The crowd wasn't as hot as they could've been because of the prior match, but the crowd eventually did come around for Ibushi's in…

Yeah! Metcha Tag Tournament 2018 Summer - Semi-Finals: Saitamuscles (Reika Saiki & Miu) vs. magical sugar rabbits (Yuka Sakazaki & Mizuki) They got straight to the action in this match. Reika and Mizuki always create magic when they're in the ring together, I liked their session here. Stereo backbreaker racks from Saitamuscles was a cool spot. ***3/4

A great match that will go under the radar, but still a very good showing for both guys. Janela is someone I kind of have a hard time connecting with. His ability to transition from likable jokester to suicidal freak can be kind of jarring depending what promotion he's wrestling for, but he has really showed a refreshing side of himself as a more "serious" wrestler in EVOLVE. Darby Allin is someone who also has his pros and cons, but definitely showed a really good chemistry here with Janela. If it's any indication of the unique talent of both guys, they got a lukewarm crowd going nuts by the end, ****1/4.

Easily the best match both guys have had with each other. In retrospect, the first two matches between these two were really good, but I didn't think they were putting out their best at least. This match though they really showed they have the chemistry to do a dramatic match with lots of cool sequences, great storytelling, and big drama. Hard to say if EVIL is main event caliber yet, but he certainly has the skills to hang with the best, ****1/2.

A wild Smackdown TV main event accompanied by a red hot crowd. Not much to say other than just excellent back and forth tag team action that escalates and escalates until one of the most cheer-inducing awesome finishes you could think of. Amazing tag team work from all four guys and it played out to perfection. ****1/4

We all know the great chemistry these two guys have together as well as the pitfalls many of their matches fall into. Still prefer their match from earlier this year, but this was a fun bout with the story of Okada needing the victory and Tanahashi needing only to run out the clock. I enjoyed the leg work for what it was even though (of course) it doesn't really go anywhere. I still liked that there were hints of the leg selling towards the end. Just hints though. Of course, the good stuff is in the finish and these two are quiet great at it. I'm a big fan of the finisher counter style they work so all the near misses for the Rainmaker especially that sudden left hand wer…

Allin's incredible 2018 run continues, and if this is Riddle's indy swan song, it's a killer one. Riddle was great in this as he came in as the fun loving bro and as the match continued and Allin refused to die, he morphed into the dark side of that character, he was Johnny Lawrence by the end of this match, brutally stomping Darby in the corner while cursing and taunting him, He was brutalizing Allin, and as usual Darby kept coming. Along with the beating he took, Darby took one of the craziest bumps I can remember him taking as he misses a coffin drop from the top right on the apron, ring corner right into his spine. I can't ever remember a small wrestler who is as good…

I haven't seen the first two singles matches these two had in DDT. This was pretty great though. I enjoyed Omega taking the control early and Ibushi fighting his way back into the advantage until they were just dropping bombs left and right. Thought the Kneesault was one of the better spots of the match but it was the missed Avalanche Dragon Suplex that really marked an upswing in the pace and action. Those double lariats did look quite brutal and this was one of the times where Omega's strikes really seemed to hit flush. The Reverse Rana block and turned into a straight up spike driver was probably my favorite of the match. I have my misgivings about Omega kicking out of…

An incredible match for both guys to finish their G1's on. Ishii has no doubt been the MVP of this year's G1 as many others would agree, but I have to say SANADA absolutely stole the show in this match. I swear he was on another level with the way he was wrestling circles around Ishii, and that's not something just anyone can do. Ishii stealing the Shining Wizard was a crazy moment though. We all know Ishii is headed for big things soon, and I just hope SANADA doesn't fall too far behind, ****1/2.

Easily better than their New Japan Cup match a few months back. The chemistry was much better here as it wasn't just Zack showing off at Naito's expense; they both got times to shine, and even if Naito doesn't really keep up technical-wise, he still knows how to build drama till the end. I absolutely adored Zack crushing Naito's G1 hopes with his new Sabre Driver, ****1/2.

I really enjoyed their first tag match and the rematch felt like a different match entirely but was almost the perfect complement. The vets jump the younguns early on and try to take out Nomura with a Doomsday Device but Nomura's able to roll up Suzuki in an armbar. Love pissy Nomura with his slaps and kicks to Suzuki. The exchanges between Suzuki and Abe were also heated and fun, with Abe trying to shoot in on Hideki and Hideki later grabbing his face in the ropes and bootscraping him. Hideki is so shitty with Abe and it's awesome. There's a real great moment where Nomura runs in and knocks down Hideki, then slaps Sekimoto in the face before running away. Sekimoto chokes…

LU Champion Pentagon Dark vs Cage - Lucha Underground 8/12/18 Last Man Standing No cool Lucha Underground name for this gimmick match they go with the WWE name of Last Man Standing. Pentagon Jr is the biggest miss of AEW so far. Dude may have zero psychology, but he has a cool look, badass moves and a killer catchphrase. CERO MIEDO! I was a part of the Cero Miedo craze during WrestleMania Weekend 2019 and it is infectious. I had no idea what it was. I just showed up to MLW, House of Glory, whenever and you couldnt stop chanting it. Lucha Underground pretty much always has hot crowds, but these 2018 crowds are MOLTEN for Pentagon. They do not relent in chanting Cero M…

Well, goddamn. I remember thinking as the match was going on just how damn impressive Tanahashi looked. He really brought all his strengths to this particular match. Not only showing his abilities on top by dominating much of the early half but also showing enough of those weak points to make anyone believe that Ibushi could win. Thought that their strike exchange in the middle of the match was a really compelling moment. It drew me in to see Ibushi power up against Tanahashi only for the Ace to come right back and absorb the punishment. Flaws? Sure, Ibushi more or less no sold his leg but comparatively speaking, this was far more consistent than any of the other matches …

This is Utami Hayashishita debut match. Utami has a bit of fame in Japan because her dad is a reality TV star in Japan on a show that focuses on him and his large family. This is really, really, good for a debut match with Utami showing some tremendous ring presence. The match was laid out in such a way that she looked reasonably competitive with one of the top stars in the company. Jungle does a nice job on her end making Utami look strong although she doesn't really push Utami to the point of being in any danger of losing. Well worth checking out for the debut performance. ***3/4

Miyu Yamashita & Hikari vs. Yuu & Yuna Manase The escalation of violence between Miyu and Yuu was great - they start off with careful mat grappling but as the match progresses they're out for each other's blood. Hikari performed well, earning some sweet moments with her cobra twist. Yuna wrestled in her wolf shirt and worked heelish during her workover session, which was far interesting than what she normally does. ***3/4

This turned out to be the most surprisingly great matches in joshi this year. The lineup wasn't too inspiring mainly because Takase, while promising, is a rookie and Kizuki is pretty bad. It's seem like SEAdLINNNG has become the place where mediocre workers go to have good matches because Kizuki worked hard and stayed out of the way when she needed to. This actually turned out to be a traditional 1/4 vs 2/3 type of Japanese tag with everyone filling their specific role incredibly well. I hope Takase gets a chance to shine somewhere, whether it be Actwres girl'Z or somewhere else, because she can more than hang in there when paired up with veteran stars like Nanae and Mizu…

Gresham is so great in this. He does some very good matwork as always and his showboating is entertaining throughout. I'd never seen Aussie Open before but I liked them. Fletcher is good grappling with Gresham. Davis has to stay waiting for the tag and trying to get a hold of Gresham but he gets a good hot tag. Davis has some nice throws. Finishing stretch is a bit long but it's pretty clever in some spots. CCK seems to be ahead for most of it but Aussie Open steal it after a million Fletcher kickouts. Definitely worth a watch if you like Gresham.