October 2021

This goes 13 minutes and I need a third match, dammit! This was the Abe/Okabayashi show, which is weird because it's supposed to build up to Nomura and Sekimoto for the title, lol. Really, really liked their early restraint by not throwing a single strike in the first seven minutes and building up to them, with both Young Gawd and Abe trying to keep the two hosses on the mat but getting to cocky and provoking Yuji too much. As explained, the Abe/Okabayashi interactions were the highlights, with Fuminori just being an incredible cocky asshole against the much bigger man. Sekimoto and Nomura had good strike exchanges but they were barely in it against each other until the f…

A genuine dream match right here, and the crowd sure made it feel like one with the atmosphere they provided from bell-to-bell. I must admit that for 98% of the time the generic strike-trading sequences do absolutely nothing for me, but here MiSu & Dragon sucked me right into 'em -- much of it has to do with the fact that it's THEM doing it, but also because those said sequences were genuinely fantastic with the timing of when to stop em, when to sell big, when to show that fighting spirit~! etc, you know the deal. This was pro-wrestling happy magic. ****

One of the most fundamentally sound matches in recent memory. It's also one of the best matches to feature a Young Lion, playing up both the standard maneuvers a Young Lion is often restricted to, along with the difference in experience between both wrestlers. Most of the match is spent emphasizing these moves: Headlocks, Headscissors, Bearhugs, etc. Each of them is worked with a sense of struggle and intensity, always building to a necessary reversal. Just when it seems as though Coughlin may be on Gresham's level, they repeat the first sequence of a Headlock Takeover-Headscissors and this time, Gresham swiftly counters for the victory. Good match on its own, that's only…

Strong Heavyweight Title is on the line. There may have been only 450 people with Covid restrictions (no chanting), but when Korakuen wants to give us some magic, there's nothing stopping it. The match has two parts. The first 12 minutes or so have some early mat work were Nomura finds ways to keep ahead of Sekimoto working the arm. That's until Daisuke decides to use his strength advantage and proceeds to have an awesome control section that consists on working Takuya's head and neck. The work is so good -Sekimoto is just a bully, putting him in headlocks, head scissors, sleepers, hitting him with the mat, etc- and Nomura's selling is so good, that Korakuen pops and…

This is from the first round of the AEW World Title Eliminator Tournament (and for my money, the best match of the tournament). A great showcase between wrestlers from different generations; with Dustin barely keeping up against one of the best wrestlers in the world. You can see it from the feeling out segments, coming away always a step or two behind Bryan and the gap between them only continues to widen. Even Bryan just casually walking through his work on top leaves a mark on the old timer who can't just shake off the damage. Dustin has to pick his spots carefully if he hopes to have a chance at beating Bryan, but at the end of the day, he can't capitalize on th…