October 2020

The video package for this match was goddamn fantastic. Between it & the one for Reigns/Uso, WWE has been knocking it out of the park with 'em lately. I've been a pretty big Kyle O'Reilly fan since 2013, so seeing him in a big main event spot like this warms my heart. The match itself was really, really good. I thought Finn & Kyle brought a very nice amount of grit & struggle into the bout, which is something the NXT main events haven't seen in a while. Some very solid technical wrasslin' in the beginning stages, and once Bálor delivers that big spinning kick to Kyle's mid-section, the big story kicks in. Kyle sells the ribs really well throughout I thought, e…

Kushidaaaaaa, fuck yeah. That man was completely on point here with his relentless assault on Dream throughout -- he was nasty, he was punishing, he was focused. Absolutely lovely stuff by him on the offense, and while Dream's lil' heat segment wasn't all that interesting, I thought his brief answers to Kushida's onslaught were good & his selling (of the arm, and overall too) was great stuff. ***1/2

These two had an absolute banger at last year's G1, and they continued that trend here with a yet another awesome match to their names. They just beat the hell out of each other right from the get go with Taichi being the charming asshole that he is, and I just love how much disdain Ishii shows to him. It's a real lovely dynamic that makes for some compelling stuff when they're kicking & chopping it out. ***1/2

These two had one of my favorite matches of 2019 at last years G1, so naturally this one was one of the most appealing looking matches for me in this years tourney. The starting dynamic is very different compared to that of the bout from last year -- now KENTA is a full-blown asshole who loves to be a prick any & every chance he gets. He largely was on top for majority of the match, and I thought his work doing that was really good; the legwork was awesome, especially with his always vicious looking & sounding kicks. Tana of course absolutely rules when he has to fight from underneath; his charisma shines so much with that pride & emotion showing in every come…

The battle between two of the biggest scumbags in the company. That's already such a lovely starting dynamic, there was little to no chance that this wasn't gonna rule. And rule it did! Whenever they are actually going at it, it's of course awesome stuff since both of these guys are studs, but where this match truly stands out & shines is the clash of personalities between the Switchblade & Dangerous T. The beginning double-stalling, the "forearm"-battle, the Gedo involvement, all such good, FUN stuff. Loved the whole thing. ***1/2

On paper this was one of the two genuinely somewhat interesting looking Will Ospreay matches in the entire tournament, and my goodness it delivered tremendously. Suzuki is just in complete torture mode the entire way through with his amazing, vicious work over the arm -- all the while throwing in some brutal strikes to Will's face here n' there for good measure. It's so compelling to watch, and I gotta give credit to Ospreay too, because this was a helluva selling performance from him. One of the great moments that comes to my mind instantly is when he blocked MiSu's PK with his hands up, but his right arm was so brutalized, he ended up eating shit anyways. Then there wer…

Well holy shit, this was all kinds of epic. You see, Jeff Cobb's whole thing is that he is extremely powerful. And then there is one Tomohiro Ishii, who is THE toughest son of a gun out there. Putting that out there, out loud, you can already imagine how beautiful it could possibly be. And when it comes to Jeff Cobb vs. Tomohiro Ishii, they delivered just about the best match possible here. Such a great bout all the way through. Cobb looked like a million (& then some) bucks & Ishii's performance was simply masterful with the way he put everything Cobb had to offer over. ****

I loved this. Suzuki was the perfect boogeyman here, always putting White in trouble & not letting him dictate the dance, and White's selling of it all was superb. The gameplan to attack the knee in the latter stages of the match was done great, and I also thought that Gedo's whole involvement was done well here, with it playing to the story of the bout pretty much perfectly. ***3/4

This is the best dick-measuring contest of the year. It's Ibushi & Dangerous T trading kicks literally for the entire duration of it with amazing facial expressions & body language. It's an amazing overall package -- it's so unique, yet so simple. The kind of a spectacle that would fit the Tokyo Dome, even. The best match of the 2020 G1 Climax. ****1/4

Very much a slugfest for the most of it, and these two sure hit each other in compelling fashion, but then there's also some very nice arm targeting in the thing by Minoru, combined with some equally very nice selling of the said targeted bodypart by Shingo! It's actually somewhat almost shocking at how rock-solid his selling was all the way through. MiSu was of course indeed great with the attack too; he was persistent & torturous with the ways he found openings to continue the assault. The whole match was full of some badass stuff. It was a joy to watch it all unfold. ****

An intense war of attrition with all four going all out after a grueling trios match. Boy was this stiff with Sakaguchi busting out hellacious kicks and Higuchi/Yoshimura unleashing hellacious chops. Also Yoshimura’s facials was a sight to behold, he expressed everything ranging from determination to being utterly drained. This was damn good and is defiantly going in the notebook.

No official review I was too busy marking out with my Mom watching Sasha die for our sins! We are not worthy! If there is one thing you can count is that Sasha Banks DELIVERS IN HELL IN A CELL! Holy shit that was kickass! The weird shit with the duct tape keeps below the AJ vs Bryan classic BUT Deathwish Sasha is the best Sasha! I counted 4 insane bumps and the two with the Kendo Sticks and the stairs what the fuckity fuck fuck. I LOVE HER! Great transitions! Great selling! Sasha snapping towards the end was great. The drop kick of the chair out of the ring was the perfect beginning. The La Mistica Bank Statement! THE METEORA UP THE TABLE!!! THE POWERBOMB BACK OF THE…

When you need your faith restored in pro wrestling turn to Sheamus who is our modern day Greg Valentine. Riddle & Sheamus put together a wrestling match thy focused on wrestling and body-on-body contact. Great submission work. Riddle’s transition from the headlock to the double wrist lock was great. This was not loose, lazy work, it was tight and sensible. So many people go through the motions just hitting their spots A, B, C, D but these two wrestled what the spots gave them. No getting in position for the next spot. They worked with what they had. Loved the late back injury to Riddle. Amazing selling! Sheamus hit hard baby! It was a great Riddle fight from underneat…

This shit rocks, bubbas. Not only those two have unreal chemistry, stemming from a natural size difference and different styles, they beat the absolute shit out of each other. Dragunov is an absolutely INSANE mad lad and is willing to eat whatever WALTER throws at him. Nasty stomps to the neck, clubbing blows, ridiculous suplexes, those damn chops. This is absolutely brutal, and Ilja is naturally likeable with his fiery body language and facial expressions. However, he is willing to dish out just as he is willing to take it. His comebacks are so good and WALTER is so great at selling his offense that you even wonder if the outcome is going to be different. …