April 1994

Pretty similar layout to the Misawa/Akiyama match--Akiyama gets beaten down, makes a comeback, goes down quickly afterward when the Exploder can't put him away. Misawa actually seemed to give more--he was clearly saved by the ropes and looked "out," whereas Kawada kicks out of it, granting that Jun was slow to cover. Kawada was nastier in the opening, working over Jun on the floor and twisting him into knots on the mat. I liked this a little bit more--Kawada worked a little harder and they threw in some more complicated sequences.

Fierathon 2017 continues with this mano a mano from both guys' postprime. Emilio came out to a CMLLized version of Pelo Suelto that was pretty cool. One of the comments on Youtube says that he sang it, but I don't know about that. It didn't sound like his voice. Fiera wore a jacket that just said "WRESTLING" on the back and had Van Halen entrance music, so I think the early advantage went to Emilio. He did a really good job beating the hell out of Fiera, one of the better one on one performances I can recall from him actually, and Fiera again bumped and sold as well as you could expect. It really does impress me how a guy who I think of as SUCH a nasty rudo can be so symp…

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The Heavenly Bodies (Tom Prichard & Jimmy del Ray) defend the SMW Tag Team Titles. Talk about it here.

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I didn't like this quite as much as @Jetlagbut it was a kickass BattlARTS style AJW match. It was fought under "Kakugi rules," though they were pretty liberal with it since the only shoot style moves Hasegawa knew were a few kicks and the basic submissions that all All Japan trainees are taught. The main draw here was Hotta vs. Kong, but the heart of the match was Hotta and Yamada since they were the shooters. If you like the famous Hotta vs. Kong match from '94 then this is another chance to see Aja smack Hotta in the face with shoteis. Hotta bled hardway from the mouth in a continuation of the violence from their singles match. It was a typical AJW match in terms of ro…

Belly-to-belly x 2 + German suplex + dragon suplex = KO. That's the equation of this match. It's 2:00 long, it's Gary Albright killing someone with suplexes. You know what to expect.

Berkovich throws some nice suplexes and while the groundwork is dumpy, the striking is solid. The way Berkovich takes Lydick's German suplex is so ridiculous and Lydick wins via the armbar. Meh.

One could say this is Allen's best match in UWFi thus far...but that's not saying much. And also, look who he's up against. He gets in plenty of judo throws but his strategy hasn't shifted too much in terms of just using his weight. Tamura, on the other hand, pisses off Brown by continually kicking his leg and on the mat, he floats all around Brown. The finish was pretty funny as Brown's had it with the leg kicks and can't get back up to his feet. Okay match.

Now we're talking. Probably the best match of the show, made only better by Kakihara's underdog performance. Loved the initial suplex spot, with Severn fighting for it and Kakihara's facials as he's trying to avoid it. Severn's got the weight advantage and he uses that to his...advantage...whereas Kaki's got the speed and he's able to slip out when he finds an opening. Severn has some cool throws, including a gutwrench, and Kaki's kicks are on point. Dan keeps trying to kill Kaki with a modified STF but Kaki's able to escape each attempt, trying to cut out Dan's legs to set up the kneebar. His roll through ankle pick was very dope, and leads to the kneebar finish and the …

A short match that could've benefited from a few more minutes but what we got was pretty fun. Further evidence that Nakano has the best snap suplex in THE BUSINESS. Sano tries for a German suplex but Nakano denies him and dumps him with one of his own, which is always a joy. Sano's kicks look as good as always but the finish came a little too quick after all that Nakano punishment.

Classic match-up and a motivated Takada...yeah, this was good stuff. Takada comes at him with some knees but Yamazaki snaps him over with a German suplex...and then, of course, Takada pops right back up and they go to town on the legs, countering, re-countering, reversing, undoing, until finally, Yamazaki has to grab the ropes in order to stop the senior UWF prom. Takada does a good job of blocking the roll through armbar but yeah, on a whole, super solid counterwork from both guys – definitely one of Takada’s stronger performances as Yamazaki puts Takada through the wringer. Yamazaki doesn't hold back with the kicks toward the end but Takada takes it with the armbar, as …

Disappointing match. Vader dropping the F-bomb on the outside may have been the highlight. I mean, Salman gets some big arm drags and works some holds on the mat but Vader comes back with some clobberin' time and taps him with a weird STF-style leg crank. Not much to sink your teeth into.

Essentially a five-minute Zangiev showcase, which is a good thing. From the takedowns to the suplexes, to the counters and reversals, the fans are loving every minute of it. I mean, he blocks Anjo's takedown attempt and then just shoves him down - so good. I liked the finish, too, which plays to Anjo's wiliness and how he's able to catch Zangiev in a mistake, trap the arm, and submit him. This was fun!

This was fun. Miyato's feisty, Takayama is brutish. I loved Miyato’s armwhip counter to Takayama’s opening flurry and he throws some mean slaps late in the match, while Takayama’s high knees and high bridging German are awesome. Takayama tries to choke Miyato out with the rear sleeper but Miyato uses the judo throw counter into the neck crank for the submission.