January 2019

Kaito Kiyomaya defends the GHC Heavyweight Title from Korakuen Hall in Tokyo. Talk about it here

Available at Rev Pro On Demand. Zack Sabre Jr defends the RPW Undisputed British Heavyweight title. Talk about it here

This is for Chihiro's Sendai Girls title. Since Saree works for DIANA, a group that barely puts out any footage of it's shows, any match of her's that end up getting uploaded feels like a treat. This ends up being extra special since I personally think this is the best match that I've ever seen her have. It helps that Chihiro has a return to form here, as I think she sleep-walked through the second half of last year. The main part of this match has a tremendous mix of hard hitting and matwork. The finishing stretch has a nice mix of bombs being thrown but there are a few moments of iffy selling to. Still just a tremendous match that is the first 'Must Watch' joshi match o…

High Speed Championship: Hazuki (c) vs. Starlight Kid Great High Speed bout, there were some cool sequences and an intensity from both wrestlers that elevated the action. Starlight Kid has been showing edge lately with those open hand slaps and growls. ***3/4

*Broadcast January 9th 2019 25 minute trios match to hype up the Takeover show, and if those matches are better than this then we're in for a fantastic show. The last 15 is great stuff that's a bit let down by the first 10 minutes where you have long heel control segments by wrestlers who aren't that interesting at it even if Tyler/Trent both do really good struggling/selling in this. Once Pete Dunne is tagged in for the 2nd time and lays waste to everyone the tone changes though. Worth noting how he comes across as way above his partners in this, anytime he's in the ring the momentum seems to swing to BSS's side, even though Trent actually has the more powerful look…

This is my first look at Kris Statlander outside of AEW. Ashley Vox makes a lot of references to fishing for some reason. She even uses a fishing rod as a weapon. The first ten minutes felt like your typical directionless and sloppy weapons match, complete with mindless crowd brawling . The last five minutes are great however. After the neat superplex onto a stack of chairs spot, they starting to bring this one home with a compelling fishing stretch. They use the metal part of the turnbuckle as a weapon, as Statlander takes out her opponent's hand with it. After not being able to lock on her submission finish because of said damage, Vox then uses the metal hook to complet…

Loved the start with Devlin delivering a disrespectful slap, which Bálor then answered to by completely overwhelming him w/ his signature offense - he runs wild for a while w/ a solid house of fire, but then Devlin catches him with a kick to the ribs. That is when the dynamic changes, and it's Devlin on top w/ Bálor making comeback bursts. Devlin is very focused on the attack - he targets the mid-section in a pretty awesome fashion, and even when it looks like he might be dropping the gameplan, he always goes back to it w/ kicks, abdominal stretches, etc. Bálor's selling in between the moves is pretty damn great, and his comebacks rule. Also an awesome subtle teacher vs. …

James Drake & Zack Gibson face Moustache Mountain (Tyler Bate & Trent Seven) in a tournament final to determine the inaugural NXT UK Tag Team Titles. Talk about it here

Pete Dunne, who has been champion for over 600 days, defends the NXT United Kingdom title. Talk about it here

Rhea Ripley defends the NXT UK Women's title. Talk about it here

Over the course of 2018, I've come to realize that I like my pro-wrestling in small, hard-hitting doses and this match delivers in more ways than one. Unfortunately, it's clipped so we don't get to see these two tear it up in full glory, but what we get is probably my favorite thing I've seen in wrestling so far this year (haven't seen the tag title match from the same show so this may change). Abe is better than Nomura on the mat. He's quicker, he's got slick counters and footwork, and when Nomura goes first to what he knows best - the kicks - Abe is ready and takes him down. I love that they mix good struggle for control on the mat with palms to the face and cheeky slap…

Violent Giants (Shuji Ishikawa & Suwama) defend the AJPW World Tag Team Titles against the BJW team of Daisuke Sekimoto & Yuji Okabayashi One of those matches were your expectations are sky high and they are fully met and even surpassed. 26 minutes of a fucking war between four dudes that do not care one bit about the other team. This was worked like an interpromotional match should be, with the home team from a smaller promotion having to fight from underneath all night and having to reach deep just to reset the action to a leveled playing field. Suwama and Shuji are perfect as the dominant champs, it's not easy to make Strong BJ look like underdogs, special…

Taped on 1/5/19 in Newcastle Upon Tyne, England UK. Talk about it here

Oh man! These two put on a wrestling clinic. A match filled with great back and forth wrestling. Tons of fight and fire between the two. Both constantly struggling to gain control, putting everything they had on the line. Tremendous fiery performances by both. U-T's long ankle spot on Ishida was so well done; one of the few dramatic moments in this match. Ishida's striking was fantastic, especially his kicks and he his selling of the leg towards the end, and the post match, was really good. The closing stretch was all kinds of good too. The kids of Dragon Gate putting on a show. ****1/4

Jay Lethal defends the ROH World Title On par w/ their meeting for the title from the year before. Loved Dalton going at it w/ a frantic pace right from the get go, bringing the fight right at Lethal, throwing him around w/ a very nice sense of urgency to it. Lethal is overwhelmed by Castle's onslaught, but he does eventually get back into things. Loved him running Castle to the barricade outside in his first real offense of the match. It set the tone for what was about to come; he gets the control & starts punishing that taped up mid-section of Castle's. Lethal is really great on top w/ nice looking forearms & knees to that mid-section as well as holds that …

World of Stardom Championship: Kagetsu (c) vs. Jungle Kyona Kyona was so amazing here, from the little details to dramatic moments like when she defiantly removes the tape from her injured arm. I really enjoyed the encounter between these two in the GP last year so it was great to see them build off of that in the main event of Korakuen Hall. ****

Wonder of Stardom Championship: Momo Watanabe (c) vs. Tam Nakano Some variation in Momo's formula would have made this more exciting for me, but it was still a good bout. I liked the cruelness displayed by the champion and Tam gave an emotional performance, showing lots of fighting spirit. ***1/2

STARS (Arisa Hoshiki, Mayu Iwatani & Saki Kashima) vs. Queen's Quest (AZM, Bea Priestley & Konami) Great 8th anniversary match for Mayu who was also returning from injury. I thought everyone put in a strong performance, with Mayu and Bea showing off new offensive techniques. ***3/4

EVE International Championship / SWA World Championship: Viper (c) vs. Utami Hayashishita Simple, effective story of Utami fighting to overcome the much larger opponent in Viper. This was feeling a little off pacing wise, but it got better as it progressed and the finish was a satisfying payoff. ***1/4

A crazy sprint that got hella time on Smackdown. Rey looks as good as ever athletically, pulling out moves, dives, and bumps like it's 1997. But that's not all he has, as he proved in the opening minutes, his star power is so bright that he could a headlock sequence over as babyface. Fantastic. Andrade for his part also went the extra mile, taking some crazy bumps like the headscissors off the apron and bringing the aggression. An excellent TV match, one to be looked back on fondly in the SD! archives. ****1/4

Loved this. Trevor plays through all of his PWG character arc greatest hits with the 1st half of the match feeling like the scrappy underdog that he was in his first few years there, but then he eventually switches back to the heel dickhead Trevor, trying to cheat his way into victory. Loved it all. Cobb delivered some nice, nasty smacks & throws throughout, as well. Also thought that the kickout-at-1 -moment was done very well, with Trevor just having gone to a full on fiery dive rampage before Cobb hit him w/ that Tour of the Islands he kicked out of. The post-match farewell speech was also terrific & emotional. I gotta wonder did Cobb's shoulder get legitimatel…

Starr has a taped up shoulder, but Thatcher doesn't go for it right away. They do some lovely work on the mat; it's all very tight & has a great sense of realism to it, as both Starr & Thatcher are among the best in the world. Loved Starr trying to actively fight out of Thatcher's single leg boston crab attempt, and Thatcher answering to that by kicking him back & then applying the hold. It's the little things folks. Thatcher eventually gets tired of this back & forth shit, and goes after the taped up shoulder - Starr sold his desperation there brilliantly, as when Thatcher grabbed a hold of that arm for the first time, he just started rapid fire punching …

Allie Kat isn't from Tennessee, but she's been a SUP regular and serves as the hometown hero against Stone, the interloper from out of town. She's the crowd favorite, has tons of charisma and brings a whimsy to her in-ring style that is infectious. Stone, meanwhile, shows a solid savvy in a heel role that belies her relative inexperience. Stone spends her segments of control trying to mangle Allie’s left arm by any means necessary, shaking up the usual arm-related offense with some casual savagery. Allie finishes a solid match with a piledriver. I came away wanting to see more of both ladies going forward, as well as more of SUP Graps.

Talk about it here

Ricochet defends the NXT North American title. Talk about it here