May 2023

Stylistically not my cup of tea, but it's a really good example of the comparisons Belair was getting around the time to a John Cena. The clear top babyface of her division, wrestling in front of a crowd cheering for her heel opponent, not really having much hope of winning them over. All you can really do at that point is put up and shut up. Some great feats of strength coupled with the athleticism that no one else there really has quite like her. Maintains selling the damage done to her arm but never to the degree where it looks like smarkbait, giving Iyo that extra bit of focus whenever regaining momentum in a very back-and-forth sort of match. Interference was really …

Super solid main event, yet another example of Sato having a super great title run but it being slept on because he's not in NJPW and thus might as well not exist lol. We got a great juxtaposition between Sato's shooty-work and Iwasaki just going full pro-style with a furry of strikes and bombs early to try to just run Sato over and end this as soon as possible. Sato's usual technical work did not have much of a strong effect, with his submissions regularly countered or his strikes turned into more slams. This more faster-paced focus worked masterfully: we see that as the two get the crowd amped up for, of all things, a Orton-tier side headlock. It was impressive how much…

From the opening lockup, the energy between Sareee and Momono is unparalleled. The match quickly turns into a brawl, with Momono having the audacity to charge after Kong and getting thrown face-first into the barricade for her efforts. Back in the ring, Momono frantically tries to pin Sareee as if her life depends on it. There’s nothing quite like wrestlers getting chippy with each other, and this match has it in spades. Sareee & Kong are fueled by hatred. Momono is the consummate plucky underdog, whereas the usually cool, calm, and collected Iwata is up against two bitter adversaries and has to adjust her usual strategy. Kong draws Momono’s ire by going to her c…

The early going is a bit shaky. Sareee doesn't outright botch anything, but she's noticeably less crisp than she used to be, and nearly slips on a springboard arm drag attempt. The story of the match is how Sareee's confidence grows gradually. Her strikes become more impactful. She gets more spiteful with Hashimoto in their brief firefights, busting out wicked headbutts. Her movements become snappier, and traces of the old Sareee begin to show. Hashimoto is phenomenal as the mountain Sareee needs to overcome, dumping her on her head with German Suplexes. Sareee snags a sleeper after countering a suplex, with Hashimoto frantically trying to power out. She reaches the …

This was brilliant. Chikayo's title reign was probably never meant to happen but she has really ran with the opportunity that fell into her lap this year and has topped it off with one of the best singles matches of her career. I am so glad she just reneged on that retirement announcement a couple of years ago as she clearly had more to give. But Mio Momono is one of my favourite wrestlers of the last 5 years. I hope nobody ever tells her that wrestling isn't real. There's a great narrative throughout of the match of Mio trying to get the win with the Cheeky Bomb but Chikayo knows every trick in the book to avoid it. ****1/4