October 2024

Honestly, I was expecting a lot worse considering that it's 2024 Naito. It is such a shame that he is now, he should probably work tags for the rest of his career. AJ Styles is the guy who got me into New Japan, but Naito made me stay. I was the biggest Naito fan 6-7 years ago. I understand that he isn't at the level anymore, but this match isn't bad at all. It starts off with some usual mat-work which was interesting enough, then it slows down towards the middle, I am not sure what they were going for here. The match picks up towards the end when the do the usual bomb spots at the end, which isn't as overindulgent as it normally is. I assume that Naito isn't going to win…

Having seen these two do some reckless shit a month or so back for one of Saito's retirement matches I was super happy to see these two get some dedicated time to themselves to really do some fun stuff by again doing reckless shit for a whole 20 minutes this time. Ishikawa's been on somewhat of a career renaissance since leaving AJPW, basically going to every major promotion purely so he could beat the piss out of anyone they threw in front of him and having a grand old time dishing out the gift of CTE. Fujita's been very hit and miss; I was one of the few people to actually enjoy his Jake Lee match but other showings have had him noticeably on the backburner and acting m…

Aka the death of the American Dragon. Lots of feelings about this one, given it is my favorite wrestler of all-time in a retirement-type match. I loved it. It is crushing in the best ways possible. You just know he is gonna get decimated by Moxley by the end of it, but come on, Dragon doesn't go down without a fight. It is a beautiful, classic babyface performance by the greatest ever. Moxley is also absolutely superb in his current role - he comes off as such a menacing, vicious, dangerous man. Upped the violence brilliantly with his offense. There's a few moments by him that I think fall a bit flat (the bulldog choke is the biggest example), but overall he was brilliant…