October 2019

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Match to determine the first ever AEW Women's Champion. Talk about it here

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I've never watched these two before but I have heard good things about both luchadores. This had a great start with hard overhand chops on the apron and then in the ring which transitioned into a crowd brawl. Hijo de Fishman had some heavy offence like a fireman's carry into the chairs that gave a big thud. His clubbing blows looked great. Sagrada's mask got ripped and the blood came soon after - . He took some mega punishment here and the crowds rallied behind him. Loved him begging Fishman to hit him with his own belt after he did it a few times. The sound the belt gave was sickening. Sagrada was awesome on offence. He popped Fishman with a punch to the jaw and then unl…

Becky Lynch defends the Raw Women's Title, inside hell in a cell!!! Talk about it here

The nuts and bolts of professional wrestling. Simple, effective, hard-hitting and competitive, without being self-indulgent. Tons of nuances, - i mean, Oney works a hell of a side headlock and keeps going back to the neck throughout. At one point, Thatcher is popping Lorcan in the face with boots to escape a single leg but Lorcan turns it into a modified STF anyway. The way Oney uses a slap to transition back to the side headlock was a real slick, veteran maneuver. Likewise, the way Thatcher uses his boot to try and break off an armbar. The selling was realistic, from Oney taking the belly-to-belly, the way Thatcher kept his neck bent after taking a surprise half nelson s…

These two guys just beat the shit out of each other in this match. Ilja gets the jump on Starr on the ramp and they just go into a strikefest bombfest for a good 12 minutes. What elevates this for me is that brief bit of character work at the end with the dastardly sell out Ilja playing the coward to cut off Starr's momentum. A compact match that just went a hundred miles an hour. ****1/2

I really enjoyed this and thought it was a showcase for Dustin Rhodes and how much he still has to contribute. He looked smooth and everything he did mattered. Guevara seems like a great foil for Rhodes and Page and clearly is going to be the Inner Circle guy who's there to take murderous bumps. I thought the finish with Hager's interference was a little wonky but loved the beatdown at the end, including the MJF tease and little moments like an already pummeled Dustin on his hands and knees trying to help his brother.

Well OF COURSE this was great. There was basically no chance it was gonna be anything less than very good after all. Eddie Kingston & Timothy Thatcher are very different, but also very similar in their styles at the same time, and their philosophies clashed beautifully here. They did what they do best and made it look like a beautifully ugly fight -- there was a wonderful struggle in everything they did, the selling was great, the strikes were absolutely hellacious -- basically EVERYTHING about this was just great, which indeed doesn't come to me as a surprise. ****

Started off with MMA grappling then escalated into a emotional brawl. Just the simple story of Liger the legend giving everything he had against the evil Suzuki being his brilliantly bully self was enough to suck me in. The post match stuff was tremendous with Suzuki showing respect the only way he knows how, pure greatness all around.

Taped on 10/9/19 Boston. Available 10/15/19 on Youtube, AEW Dark. Unsanctioned Lights Out match. Talk about it here

I kinda knew I was gonna love this. It's a good ol' TV World Championship match with the classic setting of a nasty, confident heel champion defending against a wonderful underdog. Jericho plays his role more-than-well throughout & Darby OF COURSE rocks the shit out every moment in the match with his brilliant never-say-die underdog babyface act. Jericho dishes out pain in very compelling fashion, and Darby is one of the best in the world at getting destroyed, so it's great. Hell yea. ****

Rey Fenix defends the AAA Mega Title. Kenny got a much better reaction than I expected during this match. Really enjoyed this as neither guy seemed particularly interested in killing time which is when they're both at their best. Kenny worked over the back early with a really great looking backbreaker. Fenix got his beautiful dive spots in. But things really kicked into the next gear when Kenny started throwing the V Triggers and busted Fenix's nose up. That combined with the big bombs Kenny threw at the end there really did a lot to elevate the match as Fenix did his best to try and weather the storm of Omega's brutality. Great match, my favorite Omega match since h…

Impact World Heavyweight Champion Brian Cage vs Sami Callihan - Impact Wrestling Bound for Glory 2019 Street Fight I have always liked the look of Brian Cage, got to see him at a Beyond Wrestling event and he looked great. I was further impressed by how great he was in that match with Moxley. I think thats the best Moxley match I have seen in AEW. Callihan I have only seen in a couple MLW shows I attended live. I find spit to exceptionally gross and the amount of fucking saliva in his matches grossed me the fuck out. He seems like an edgy, too cool for school pro wrestler. For some weird reason, I saw the angle leading up to this where Callihan & goons piledrive …

As someone who's burnt out by the constant, uninspired spotfests that plague AEW Dynamite every week, this was a refreshing change of pace. This doesn't go too long ( goes just over ten minutes) nor do I ever question who I'm meant to be rooting for. I know nothing about this promotion or any wrestler in this match, so it's good that I can tell who's the face and the heels within a few minutes. This has some INSANE spots, most of which I have never seen before. After the faces get their shine in, the beefy heels take control of the action and it's up for the faces to look for an opening before it's too late. A sleeper MOTYC for sure. ★★★★¼

If you're someone who somehow hasn't seen Orange Cassidy before and what to get a solid grasp on his character before jumping into his higher-grade stuff, this wouldn't be a bad place to start. It's typical Cassidy stuff done in front of an adoring crowd. B Cool works as a solid enough opponent for Freshly Squeezed, playing the straight man. He breaks Cassidy's glasses before Cassidy reveals that he's got another pair safely tucked away in his pockets. I do wonder how much longevity Cassidy can get out of his act now that he's on weekly TV, but I always find his matches to be fun way to kill 10-15 minutes. ★★★

Available now at Over the Top Wrestling, On Demand. Jordan Devlin defends the OTT World Title. Check out this amazing hype video!!! Talk about it here

I actually found this match to be really fucking good. Ricochet came into the match with bad ribs, and the fact that they didn't simply forget that he was injured throughout the course of the match added some sense of urgency to everything. From Rico trying to surprise McIntyre out of the gates with big dives, to him not being able to escape with his flips, and Drew being absolutely brutal in his offense, this just made for an incredible watch. Hogan and Flair being at ringside actually added to the heat, without taking the focus from the competitors. Drew was just mocking Hulk throughout the entire match, and the crowd responded in the best way possible. …

Impact World Champion Brian Cage vs Sami Callihan - Impact 10/29/19 Steel Cage This was Impact's debut on AXS after spending five years in TV Purgatory of Destination America, Pop TV and Pursuit. I still cant believe Impact lasted long enough to see this day but good on them. Their 2018/2019 run was definitely fun & entertaining and they deserved to be rewarded. Very smart booking to take your top two stars and featured them in World Heavyweight Title Defense in a Steel Cage. It is so refreshing that their roster is so fresh and so new. I remember liking their Bound for Glory match well enough. Loved the start, Callihan enters the cage first and as Cage is …