August 2016

Talk about it here.

Talk about it here.

Well this was an absolutely tremendous lightning match. You want a spotfest to have good work-and you're going to find disagreements on just what that is. Here you had absolutely breathtaking junior lucha matwork with incredibly creative sequences and holds mixed with the beautiful highspots you'd expect from a modern CMLL match. I've seen enough 2001 Ankle Lock tribute spots for a lifetime but here they really worked it, rolling when the opponent would try to escape and kicking away to escape, and that they set it up with an awesome slam also helped. I never cease being impressed how smoothly Hechicero can transition when he grabs a limb. ***3/4

Another very good match from the CWC that had many of the qualitites you'd want in a workrate match without going overboard in excess with big moves and nearfalls and managing to have a coherent and logical narrative. Ibush outclasses Kendrick in direct showdowns so Kendrick avoids them, and follows up on his first big chance with the neckbreaker on the ringpost rope by dedicating his game plan to attacking Ibushi's neck. The way Kendrick uses his surroundings at all times was neat and reminiscent of Finlay, and the structure of this match was reminiscent of the kinds of matches Misawa, Kobashi, Takayama, Akiyama etc. would have in NOAH against lower ranked opponents, whe…

This is Io Shirai's first match back from having surgery on her tailbone after her SWA title loss to Toni Storm last month. Io controls early on playing the arrogant veteran. Eventually, she leaves herself open allowing Watanabe to work over her lower back. Io's selling is good her as you believe that Momo always has a chance to take back the momentum due to Io's one soft spot. This allows for the finish to have some good back and forth with some good near falls for Watanabe before taking the loss. ***1/2

Pro wrestling comfort food. Sting vs Flair at ~10 minutes with a slightly shorter second act and a slightly more elaborate third act with a second bit of heat. The crowd was into it and ready to play along. Bayley was very over. There were some fun moments, mainly centered around Charlotte stooging (Flair Flop, trying to leave with the belt, some of her cut offs). A little bit of dissonance between how Bayley was portrayed in the match and how lightning and opportunistic the finish felt, but other than that, this was a nice bit of distilled pro wrestling.

Good tag match in Sumo Hall. DAMNATION jump Togo and Bailey under a pile of streamers to start the match. All combinations get some time throughout but Sasaki and Togo mostly brawl against each other, while Bailey and Endo do more high spots. Sasaki and Togo's punches (and their selling of the other's punches) are a joy to watch. Togo is also still very entertaining at this point, there's a moment when he has a chinlock on Sasaki, so Endo comes in to break it up but Togo just keeps it on while Endo kicks him. Then there's a good stretch with Sasaki and Togo, which goes from Sasaki overwhelming Togo, to Togo overcoming Sasaki before Sasaki counters the senton by getting hi…

Konosuke Takeshita had a breakout year in 2016 and has improved so much from his January KO-D Openweight challenge against Kodaka, which was a really good match. This match is red hot right out of the gate, with Takeshita emptying the tank and tapping into his reserves in an attempt to hang onto the title. He's become such a good selling, whether it's the back that Ishikawa was working or the physical exhaustion of going toe-to-toe with Ishikawa. Toward the end, you can see Takeshita's desperation bleeding through into his strikes, to a point where he just starts punching Ishikawa in the face. Great finish, with both guys dog-tired but still slugging away, having poured o…

This match gets off to a really weak start, bottoming out when Io seems to have hurt herself doing a moonsault to the floor. They pretty much stop the match to check on her. She's okay to continue but takes it as a sign that they need to pick it up so she ramps up the intensity with Kyona, a true rookie, being able to respond. After getting knocked around for a bit, Jungle gets a shot in at Io's back and starts to work it over with her power offense. The finish has Io trying to gut her way through her injured back in order to put the rookie away. A very good match with a quality "Ace" performance from Io. ***1/2

When Stardom announced the line-up for the 5*GP a lot of western joshi fans groused about the no-names, especially the foreign ones. The problem is that you don't know how good no-names are until you actually watch them. I didn't know anything about Courtney Stewart before she was announced but that didn't stop me from watching her great performance here. The match itself starts with some good heeling from Stewart as she attacks Hojo before the bell and steals her mask. After that they go about establishing Stewart's size advantage over Hojo while showing that Hojo can stay competitive with her strikes. To Stewart's credit, she lays in her shots and does her best to h…

This is Bito's biggest match since her return back in June against Kairi Hojo. Bito takes control after the opening exchanges with a great looking headkick that Iwatani sells like death, even teasing a count out loss just a few minutes into the match. Bito offense while in control isn't all that compelling but the selling from Iwatani is so good that it keeps you interested in the match. The action does pick up towards the finish with the two of them doing a good job of working convincing false finishes before time is up for a draw. ***1/2

I don't remember the last time I laughed so much while watching a wrestling match, watching Strowman overwhelm a random goof and throw him around was so much fun. Also enjoy the pre-match interviews they do with the jobbers.

It's so cool to hear the crowd "ooooooooooh" and "oooooooooooow" in a way that carries shock and fear and not just "hey cool spot!". Jax looked great here, hitting and awesome Clothesline and throwing the jobber around, I particularly loved the spot where she was about to splash her in the corner and the jobber moved out of the way and she just casually stopped her own momentum. The new fireman's carry finisher looks badass as well. Thumbs up.

Sheamus vs Cesaro - RAW 8/29/16 Tenacious start. These two are always hard hitting feels like something you would see from the Carolinas in the 80s or All Japan in 80s/90s. There was something about the beginning of this match just upped the intensity. You really felt like this match mattered to both of them unlike so many matches that come off like exhibitions. Sheamus' arm selling was golden. I thought he was doing the heel feigning the injury spot, but then Cesaro went to town on it and it was awesome. Coming back from the break, I thought the offense just built so well. These are the two of the three best offensive wrestlers on the roster (AJ being number three) a…