July 2022

This match is impossible to separate from its emotional context. In 2017, during a match with Shinjiro Otani in ZERO1's Fire Festival, Fujita Hayato suffered a knee injury. On November 24, 2018, Hayato announced that he'd been diagnosed with a spinal tumor. Hayato returned to the ring for a bout with Kengo in December 2019 and has made sporadic appearances since then, but has largely been away. Hayato came out to theme "I Believe," a song used by his trainer Norifumi "KID" Yamamoto, who passed away due to gastric cancer in 2018. While Hayato was gone, the former Daichi Sasaki changed his name to MUSASHI and became the company's ace. He's a different person than the p…

This was a big, dumb, bombastic fireworks show with all the bells and whistles you'd expect from two of the most promising young high-flyers in Mexico today. Is it great? Not exactly. For one, the selling is virtually non-existent and only occurs when they're slowly inching across the mat to pin each other. The connective tissue between moves could also be better, as they'd often perform a move only to get hit by the same or a similar maneuver moments later. Soberano also showed off his best "I can't believe he kicked out" face. I could see any number of these things being a turn-off. If those quibbles sound like they would annoy you, chances are, they probably will.…

This was Bryan's return match after his injuries sustained in the Anarchy in the Arena match two months ago. There was a lot of hype surrounding this match, and rave reviews made it sound like one of the best matches from 2022 so far. Unfortunately, I'm in the minority when it comes to this. I think there's a lot of great ideas packed into it that I can admire, but a lot of what's done from both men actively frustrated me. For example, they play to the idea of Bryan not being at 100%, the past head trauma that initially had him retire, even commentary pointing out that Bryan may have suffered a concussion after hitting a missile dropkick and landing flat on his back.…

This was Kojima's first match with a cheering crowd, having debuted post-COVID-19. All four competitors play with that dynamic, playing to the crowd. Higuchi and Yoshimura are a force to be reckoned with, steamrolling Kojima and cutting off the ring early on. Kojima tries to topple Higuchi, but he's no match for the former sumo and repeatedly gets shoulder-tackled into the ropes. Kojima gives as good as he gets, thrashing Yoshimura with chops and making good use of his limited offensive repertoire. Ueno gets the hot tag and briefly faces off with his former Nautilus partner, Yoshimura. Their sequences are compact and hard-hitting, continuing from where they left off …

Immediately, this feels like a huge deal, as we'll be crowning a first-time KO-D Openweight champion. The opening lock-up was intense, giving the match a feeling of weight and importance. Yoshimura dominated the early portion with stiff body slams and deafening chops. Yoshimura upped his intensity, clubbing the chest and not allowing Higuchi any time to breathe. I like how Yoshimura controlled the pace, continuing the neck work that Akiyama started in the semi-finals. Yoshimura hit some nasty elbows to the side of the neck, but Higuchi fired back with a lariat. Higuchi fired back with a chop and a pair of power slams. The struggle over the Brain Claw Slam was delight…

Akiyama played mind games early on, exiting the ring repeatedly until Higuchi went after him and got tripped up on the apron. Akiyama would follow that up with a DDT on the floor. Higuchi fired back out of a suplex attempt on the apron and hit a Brain Claw Slam but ate an exploder on the floor. I didn't mind Akiyama and Higuchi going to the apron/floor moves so quickly, as it showed they were desperate to put their opponent away with the tournament finals still to come. Akiyama immediately stuffed Higuchi with a Piledriver as he entered the ring, continuing to target the neck with a modified sleeper. An exchange of suplexes broke out, but neither competitor wou…

This match is deeply stupid. From the outset, Rush eggs Lee on, like a big brother would, but always makes sure Lee knows he's in control. Rush hits a fantastic topé con giro and heels it up, throwing Lee into the barricades repeatedly. Rush mocks Lee, slapping him around and stomping him in the corner. This leads to Lee's eventual comeback, where he places Rush on a table and lawndarts himself out of the ring onto Rush. Admittedly, that looked awesome. Where the match starts to fall apart is when they start no-selling everything. I could buy it a few times, maybe as Rush and Lee not giving their sibling the satisfaction of having one-upped them, but it was con…

Wheeler Yuta defends the ROH Pure Title Garcia's trying to get into YUTA's head, sporting the maroon boys made famous by YUTA's Blackpool Combat Club stablemates William Regal and Bryan Danielson. The opening lock-up is gritty and intense, setting the tone for the match perfectly. YUTA and Garcia get chippy immediately, trading slaps and strikes. YUTA takes a wicked bump to the outside when Garcia merely chucks him over the top rope to the floor. Garcia immediately follows up on the bump to the floor, sending YUTA into the barricades. I appreciated Garcia rolling YUTA into the ring and desperately going for pinfall attempts, selling the fact that he's trying to …

FTR defend the ROH World Tag Team Title in a 2/3 falls match The first fall was nothing to write home about. It was very basic and I would have preferred if they'd gone straight into the action rather than doing another extended feeling-out process. Respect was shown early, with both FTR & The Briscoes backing off when the doctor attempted to attend to a member of the opposing team. Things progressively escalated when The Briscoes began taking cheap shots. Wheeler makes a fantastic save, delivering a lariat to Mark as he tries to go for the Cactus Elbow off the apron onto Dax. Dax takes a nasty bump, hitting the post chest-first, and The Briscoes hit a Doomsday D…

Jonathan Gresham defends the ROH World Title Classic dueling body work- based match. Gresham immediately tries to break the base of Castagnoli with a wrist lock. I like how the early arm work from Gresham plays into him softening up Castagnoli for what's to come later. It's a small detail, but the kind of thing Gresham does incredibly well. Gresham targets the knee, while Castagnoli goes after Jonathan's lower back. Gresham goes for a suplex, but the damage has already taken its toll. The selling comes across naturally and is a wonderful extension of the technique vs. power story they're telling. Take, for example, the moment Castagnoli's knee gives out after an…