May 2014

Full disclosure, I must be the biggest Cesaro fan on the planet - and I'm quite close in terms of Sheamus so you'd think this pairing would excite me but it's never really produced the classics I'd have hoped. Some of that is booking and time constraints (Payback 2014) but a lot seemed to be that they didn't much click. Which is fine, as they make a great tag team. But this match...oh, boy, this match! This was smart pro-wrestling. I don't wish to sound reaching, but if this had happened on a recorded show, it might be right up there with some of the best TV stuff of the year. In a world where dreams are answered, this would be a 12 minute bomb-throwing sprint. Howeve…

This was great. Loved the early trash talk by Cole, which lead to an early shine by Kyle, which was just fantastic - he kicked Cole's ass all over the ring, and it was very enjoyable. Kyle controlled the early portions of the match, until Cole started to go after his knee - Cole's knee work was very good. Kyle countered that great tactic of Cole by going after his arm, and Kyle's arm work was a true joy to watch, he absolutely brutalized Cole's arm. Eventually they dropped the selling sadly, and the match essentially became a bombfest. I thought that this was great, but it could've been even greater had they not dropped the selling - that is a minor complaint about a grea…

NEVER Openweight Champion Tomohiro Ishii vs IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion Kota Ibushi - NJPW 5/25/14 I get why this was the #12 ranked match overall for VOW poll in 2014, but I thought it was overkill down the stretch that hurt my enjoyment. It is just your basic gritty badass vs. flashy pretty boy match where the flashy pretty boy proves his mettle but ultimately comes up short. Ibushi tries to play Ishii's game early going strike for strike with him. This was much better than your typical New Japan strike exchange because there is actual character work. On every chop, Ibushi left clutching his chest while Ishii registers no pain. Ibushi is fighting through the p…

Charlotte vs Natayla - NXT Takeover 5/29/14 Vacant NXT Women's Championship I can understand why this match is being pointed to as what the women's division can be if probably promoted, why it is being lauded as the greatest women's match in WWE canon and a turning point for women being taken seriously under WWE umberella. This is not just a match that is being trumpeted by WWE.com as a means to canonize (thanks Charles) this as a great/historic match; it finished #20 in Voices of Wrestling poll for 2014. WWE took the women seriously and in turn so did the pundits. I think that is the strength of this match more than anything than they did in the ring. This is the fir…