June 2022

Mox is the front-runner this year for having these crazy, out-of-control feeling fights. He gets busted open on a spill to the outside, and he and Garcia beat each other senseless. I would've liked to see Garcia work the cut a bit more, but that's a minor nitpick. Mox's selling of the leg, even on offense, was tremendous. This kicked butt.

Starlane rules, as far as I can tell, are similar to UWF rules. Both competitors get five points, with knockdowns and rope breaks each using a point. If you use all of your points, you lose via TKO. Both scramble for holds immediately, with Nasu targeting the leg and Sasaki going after the arm. We're in the intimate venue of Basement Monstar. There's around 20 or 30 people in the crowd if I had to guess, so we get a nice, up-close look at the mat work. Sasaki switches up his game plan briefly, going after the leg, and forces Nasu to use his first escape. Nasu ties things up with a leg lock of his own. Nasu gets rocked with a knee, but like a shark smelling bloo…

Unlike O'Reilly's recent match against a beloved member of the AEW roster, this was intense, focused, and violent. Kyle tends to lean into his worst habits, with over-the-top selling and convoluted spots that rarely land. But with Mox there to control the reins, his strengths are highlighted. His mat work is snug, and he turns up the aggression when it comes to his striking. Kyle shoots for the leg after a brief feeling-out process and almost nicks the win with an armbar. Mox busts out a Cornish Hipe, popping both myself and William Regal on commentary. Mox grounds O'Reilly, twisting the digits and stomping away at Kyle as he's on the mat. Unfazed by O'Reilly's…

Pretty standard DDT workrate tag. These kinds of matches typically have a high floor, but where they lose me is when the tags don't matter. It's not even that it comes down to referee's discretion. Rather, the illegal men in the match would frequently be allowed to make pin attempts after a flurry of offense where everyone entered the ring. Without rules in place, the match is functionally no different than a scramble. Personally, I find it much more impressive when wrestlers can work within the confines of limitations instead of cramming everything they can into 14 minutes. Anyway, this was fine. **3/4

This match made me realize how much we missed out on by not getting an Akiyama run in the various shoot-style promotions. Imagine him mixing it up with Yoshiaki Fujiwara in PWFG, or Kiyoshi Tamura in U-STYLE. Sakaguchi made good use of his MMA background, laying it on thick with his strikes. That led to a moment early on where he downed Akiyama with a kick and subsequently followed up with an apron Penalty Kick. Akiyama was no slouch on the mat as he went hold-for-hold with Sakaguchi. They began lighting each other up with knee strikes, frantically trying to put one another away. I especially liked how Akiyama transitioned directly from a modified sleeper into a pinf…

One of the biggest stories in DDT recently has been the elevation of Naomi Yoshimura and his new tag team partner in Harimao, Kazusada Higuchi. Yoshimura has started to put it together after last year's King of DDT run, where I was slightly underwhelmed by his singles efforts. Here he is taking on the perennial ace of DDT as well as his former DISASTER BOX teammate, HARASHIMA. HARASHIMA tried to ground Yoshimura early on, but Naomi's superior strength meant he couldn't string together much offense. HARASHIMA is one of the pettiest psycopaths I've ever seen in wrestling, smirking as he stomps on and dissects Yoshimura's ribs. His offense was mean and laser-focus…

Kanemaru's a total slimeball, jumping Ishii at the bell, utilizing roll-ups and throwing young lions in the way of Tomohiro on the outside to try and pick up the win. Kanemaru's content to take the count-out, which I appreciate. So often, you see heels roll their opponents back into the ring rather than take a breather. Kanemaru's also great at showing his behind when the time calls for him to take a backseat and let Ishii control the pace. Kanemaru brutalizes Ishii's leg with knee breakers and low dropkicks. Ishii does his usual fighting through the pain schtick, but it's much more charming against the sleazy Kanemaru than against other so-called tough guys. T…

Very good match, but not quite great. Sabre capitalizes on small mistakes from Claudio, going after his opponent's arms. The match is laid out to highlight Claudio's freakish feats of strength, and it's successful in that regard. ZSJ locked in a submission while Claudio was in the ropes, and they both spilled to the outside. Claudio casually walked up the steps while carrying Zack and dumped him back into the ring with a gnarly powerbomb. Crucially, Claudio's selling was also on-point. When Castagnoli finally lands the Giant Swing, his arm gives out on the fifth rotation and ZSJ hones in on it some more. They could've tightened things up in the final stretch, but as a who…