September 2018

I'll be damned if all these guys in one match can't have a spectacular match in only 12 minutes. I can see quite a few people not liking this, but for what it was, it was pretty incredible. Everyone got time to shine, even Bandido who thankfully got to do his spots. I heard the original plan for this match was to go almost half an hour, but what we got was probably just as good, ****1/2.

On one hand I thought this match was fantastic, but on the other I don't think they should've gone on as long as they did. It shouldn't have eaten time for the main event, but I guess that's what happens when you have Okada on the show. Looking at the match more positively, this was a very well executed match about Marty trying to prove he can beat the great Okada. It was a classic Okada match with a slow build to an exciting climax with cool sequences and great nearfalls. Loved the addition of Tiger Hattori too, ****1/2.

Easily match of the night that lived up to the dream match. This had a very quick pace from the onset with Penta taking Omega out of his comfort zone into brawling territory. The rest of the match Omega would get bursts of momentum here and there before Penta quickly destroyed him once again. It was a really great clash of personalities with some mind blowing moves and kick outs, ****1/2.

Akiyama and Aoki make their way back to NOAH in over 5 years. This was a bitterness fueld match as Sugiura and Harada quickly let their feelings towards the All Japan outsiders be known very early in the match. This was very physical with lots of signature stuff from both teams. The closing stretch with Sugiura and Akiyama was great, and I hope it leads to a big singles match soon, ****1/2.

Sorry, but when he's in that Emerald Green ring, I will refer to him as KENTA. Getting the negatives out of the way first, this was structured like every KENTA vs Marufuji match post-2006 was structured, which was to put on the most "epic" match possible. They didn't accomplish that, but I can't deny how great this match was. The chemistry was still there, and they beat the hell out of each other like it was still the mid-2000s. Also in a way I feel like KENTA was holding back quite a bit. He wasn't as stiff as I remember him being. It was a nice little one off though, and I'm curious where this match takes NOAH next, ****1/2.

This is the biggest challenge of Utami's short career as she takes on World of Stardom champion Kagetsu. Once again, this match is inexplicably great given Utami's inexperience. Kagetsu is fantastic here, quite possibly the best performance of her career. She more of a straight forward bitchy veteran heel who tries to goad Utami into losing her cool. Utami stays under control and actually manages to fire back using a sleeper and working over Kagetsu's back. A truly amazing match worked in the traditional veteran/rookie dynamic. ****1/4

Kelly Klein has been a bit of a surprise in this tournament. She was painfully dull in her first Stardom run late last year, but she's at least watchable so far. This match was the first time that I feel that she genuinely held up her end of a pretty good match. Momo put in another strong performance here as she's been the most consistent performer in the tournament so far. ***3/4

This is for Mayu's and Saki's Goddesses of Stardom tag titles as they take on their STARS teammates Tam and Kid. The match was pretty entertaining as they cut a quick pace while maintaining a nice flow throughout the match. There's no big flashy double teams but they do make their moves count and sell everything fairly well. A nicely worked tag match that you shouldn't skip even though it's in the middle of the 5* GP. ***3/4

For the record this is a worked shoot: every major MMA site does not list this as a legitimate contest, which is a good thing because this like Takayama/Takahashi 2011 match (which is somehow on their records???) isn't trying to be one. It's instead a pretty robust 5-minute sprint in a cage at some random indie, starting off with a few minutes of the two wangling between side and full mount respectfully between the other. Nothing special here (especially given Ikemoto is a kickboxer, not a grappler at all) but Ike keeps his defence solid despite Funaki being a fiend with some of his snappy transitions. Funaki pulls guard and uses it as a way to try to wangle his opponent …

This match is for the Beyond the SEA tag titles held by BORDERLESS (Yoshiko and Yamashita.) I hadn't been impressed at all with BORDERLESS so far as a team but they really clicked here and this was by far their best match so far. It doesn't hurt that Arisa puts in a tremendous performance here as she is slowly starting to put together another run of top quality performances. Sasamura is a K-Dojo trainee that showed some promise. Hopefully, she starts making tape on a regular basis. This is just a great main-event tag. ****1/4

Incredible match. Great story. Fast-paced. Hot crowd. Dream plays mind games on Gargano, taunting him as "Johnny Failure". Gargano slowly becomes more and more frustrated throughout the match as he is unable to finish off Dream, to the point he's on the brink of snapping and becoming no better than his arch foe Ciampa. The referee talks Gargano back to reality, and in a great moment, Gargano embraces his young mega-fan at ringside whose heart would be broken if his hero went bad. It was all for naught though as Gargano, still not focused, is then suckered in by Dream and finished off for a clean win Loved this match. Great action and great drama, similar to the tag b…

I love how Okami can go from feisty underdogs to bully "veterans" depending on who they are facing. This was similar to last year's RWTL match against Naoya Nomura & Aoyagi, with Daichi and specially Kamitani doing a really good job in control, dominating and beating the fuck out of their smaller opponents. Abe does little cunty things like very few these days, and his flash kicks and reversals are perfect for hope spots and buildups to a hot tag, so of course it works on this match. Nomura, as always, stands out as a no fucks given, gonna kick and slap you to oblivion bad ass that still doesn't quite have enough to dominate. Strike exchanges were dope as hell, specia…

These are two of the most athletically gifted wrestlers in the world, and one might expect a souped up version of Ki vs. Red or Fenix vs. Flamita, but instead we got Mil Muertes vs. Fenix with Ki in the role of a smaller even more violent Muertes. Much of the match has Ki beating on Fenix with brutal shots, and Fenix leaks blood all over the ring. There are some awesome bits of athletic amazement here and there, they do a variation of the Ki vs. Red Matrix spot, Fenix flies into the second row with a tope con hilo, Fenix does a crazy rope trick rana and a rope trick Spanish Fly. Much of this match was straight violent though, with Ki grunting and screaming as he tried to …

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Really great championship match that evoked old school NWA World Title matches that you might have seen on TV. Thought these two really brought it to each other with Jay Lethal just looking like an absolutely imposing ace against Gresham. Loved Jay Lethal's control segment and Gresham firing back with chops and arm work to sneak the first fall late in the match. Lethal sold the arm really well and there were some great spots like Gresham kicking out Lethal's arm as he went for the Lethal Injection. Nice moment too when Lethal agrees to the five minute overtime. If I have a complaint, it's that Gresham just wasn't particularly expressive as a babyface so it was a little ha…

This is a big match in the Red Stars block as both of these women were at the top of the standing there. Kagetsu had another quality performance here mostly because she actually managed to play an effective heel. None of her shtick felt shoehorned in like it usually does. Jungle was Jungle here, a lot of fire, some nice power moves, and very good selling. They would have had something great if they had some better transitions during the finish but even still this was a really good match well worth watching. ***3/4

5STAR Grand Prix 2018 Block A: Hazuki vs. Momo Watanabe Another great timeout draw on this show, it hardly felt like they were killing time, and the soldout Shinkiba crowd gave it good atmosphere. I liked the intense urgency from Hazuki, she was unrelenting with her rabid offense. Momotaro holds up her end of the bargain with punishing reprisals. ****

5STAR Grand Prix 2018 Block B: Jungle Kyona vs. Utami Hayashishita This was basically an upgraded version of Utami's debut match. Great layout, pacing and some excruciating submission struggles. Kyona's been having such a great run in this tournament. ****

5STAR Grand Prix 2018 Block B: Natsuko Tora vs. Tam Nakano Great slugfest, these two brought the fire and raw emotion. The opening was ugly, in a good way, they're tussling, covered in streamers, beating the hell out of each other. Tam has been having captivating singles performances lately, I wouldn't mind seeing her get a run with one of the belts. ***3/4

Kenny Omega defends the IWGP Heavyweight title. Talk about it here.

This was a big match in the Blue Stars block with the winner being in control of her own fate going into the final day. Hazuki is just nasty in this match, jumping Iwatani at the start then viciously going after her arm. Iwatani stays in the match by hitting just enough big shots while still selling her arm, eventually catching Hazuki with a dragon suplex for the win. Short, but quick and action packed. ***3/4

I was actually looking forward to this one the most, because the build to it had some really violent, crazy moments. Orton messing with Hardy's ear lobe will forever be one of the sickest images in WWE history. The match itself was really, really good. There's surprisingly not much downtime for an Orton match, and even if he did a headlock one time, it felt like a purposeful trolljob than anything. This was violent, and had many, many spots were I was just feeling tense due to the absurd violence that was taking place. From Orton suplexing Hardy into an upside down ladder, to Hardy beating the shit out of Randy with the belt (and making him bleed!) and fucking h…

Aja challenges for the Oz Academy title and shows that when the lights are bright she is still an incredible performer. She is 48 years old and can still rip off a classic like this. The early sections of this match were a classic wrestling story of arm vs. leg. Aja brutalizes Shida's knee while Shida tries to tear up Kong's arm, each trying to weaken the others big strike. Aja knows how to fuck up a knee, she throws these thudding kicks to the patella, punches Shida in the kneecap, tricks her into a jumping knee first into Aja's garbage can, and even breaks an armbar by repeatedly head-butting the side of the knee. Shida responds with some good arm work, including a nast…

My favorite match of the tournament so far. Kento Miyahara vs Jake Lee is going to be one of those feuds that produces an all time classic eventually, but this match was no slouch either. I loved seeing Jake kick in Kento's chest, and I loved seeing Kento rise from the dead to deliver some brutal strikes back. It will probably be a one sided feud mind you where Kento wins most of the matches, but Lee still comes out looking great in the end, ****1/2.

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