February 2017

This was a Luke Harper show. Randy Orton wasn't on Harper's level - his work on top was straight up boring, classic "headlock Orton" - things only picked up when Harper started his comeback and was flying all over the place. The 2nd half of the match was more action packed than the first one, that's for sure, but it wasn't really too good, because sadly Orton got a lot of that portion, too. I am glad to see Luke Harper shine in a singles match at a PPV though - his performance was real good. Overall this was good, but somewhat disappointing because they had a better match on SmackDown just few weeks ago - yes, I recommend everybody to check out their SD match from 01/24, …

Really fun and concise hoss battle with them smartly using the 5 minutes they had. I'm not the biggest proponent of sound effect strikes but they can work just like anything else and Strowman's were similar to Reigns' and Harper's who do them well too, the WSS weight shift was a smart counter you don't see often since there aren't a lot of wrestlers bigger than Henry that'd make that spot make sense. Henry catchin Strowman's arm when he went for the clubbing blow is something I could see annoying an all knowing WWE binge watcher if the "go for the move again once you've executed it correctly only to get it countered" pattern is super prominent in WWE (I'm not convinced of…

This actually reminded me of the Bayley/Sasha classic from Brooklyn when it comes to the structure of the match. Charlotte's work on top was superb, really vicious work over Bayley's neck, and Bayley was excellent (as usual) as the fiery babyface. Fantastic match, if we get a better TV match this year, we're in for a treat. ****1/4 EDIT: goddamn botched the title. Meant to put RAW, not Royal Rumble lol.

I was a big fan of their PPV match, and the re-match was even better. Very simple, super effective & well executed storytelling in Mickie looking to be in trouble for majority of the match until the finish. Super fun, great match. **** What a great week for WWE TV matches - Charlotte/Bayley, this + Bray/Cena/Styles triple threat.

This is one of the best all-action spotfest style triple threat matches I've ever seen. Just incredible action from start to finish. ****1/2

This has a reserved start with Bate and Seven getting into a shoulder block trade-off which Seven ultimately (and predictably wins). WWE are missing a step for not haven Seven be a full-blown heel. He's super unlikable and him working as a quasi-comedy tweener leaves a lot to be desired. This was the Tyler Bate show. My praise for this kid is endless. The way he throws himself over the ropes is magnificent. Nobody in WWE currently has a better plancha then he does. There's a spot where Seven hits his finishing Lariat and I legit ably thought he had this won, even though I knew who wins this match. They could of done a bit more to establish the size and weight differences …

I have a feeling that if this had taken place in Reseda instead of Illinois, this would've got some near 5-star MOTYC hype already. This was just an insane, all action spotfest - they started it right away, and it NEVER slowed down. Just pure spot action from start to finish. I think it was really great. ****1/4

Thought that Zack was really excellent in this one. He worked the match more aggressively than he has in PWG before, which planted the seeds for what was to come post-match. Chuckie T gave a fine performance as well, but for me, for the most part, this was a ZSJ show. Very good main event. ***1/2

This ruled - Lio Rush embarrassed Ricochet during the insane opening sequence, so as a result, we get pissed off, cocky veteran Ricochet dominating the newcomer. He did a really good job doing that & Lio Rush always brings good fire to his matches. Really impressive PWG debut for the man. ***3/4

This was just the 4 lads involved beating the crap out of each other + throwing each other around. Liked how Cage & Elgin isolated Cobb - Cobb did a solid job as the FIP & Riddle was a tremendous hot tag. The finishing stretch was fantastic. ***1/2

This was such a fantastic match. They told a great story w/ Ringkampf - who were absolutely tremendous in this - being one step ahead of Andy, Al-Ani & Simmons. Dieter Jr, Thatcher & WALTER just dominated them w/ their amazing team work - they worked the heat on them in such compelling fashion. Loved it. Eventually it was Absolute Andy in the ring - then Ringkampf decides to start targeting his knee, and my god, it was so fantastic. Andy sold it like a boss all the way till the end, and the work WALTER, Dieter Jr & Thatcher did to that knee was great. The super hot finishing stretch capped off this fantastic classic 6-Man Tag. ****1/2

This was great. Elgin dominated most of the match due to his size & power - he did a really great job doing that in compelling fashion, while Riddle rocked the fighting from underneath role very well too. ****

BIG LADS WRESTLING. This was awesome - them busting out some chain wrestling & kip ups in the beginning was great - then the match transitioned into Braun working on top while Show fought from underneath & both parties played their parts very well. Really fun stuff from start to finish. ***1/2

Had to check this out because of the potential Suzuki vs. Shibata interactions, and I sure wasn't disappointed, because I got some awesome action between those 2! It looks like they might do a singles program between them, it sure felt like it w/ Suzuki constantly targeting Shibata & staring him down + attacking him post-match. I am hyped for that. The match was super fun - you got Liger as the FIP, and he was awesome, as you'd expect. Suzuki-gun did some solid heel work over him, ripping his mask & all - but the highlight of the match was indeed the Minoru Suzuki vs. Katsuyori Shibata sequence when they were both in the ring. Their interaction did not disappoint.…

I really dug this match as these four went all out in the main event of Makabe's anniversary show. It was mainly refreshing to see less shtick than usual from Yano, especially given the spotlight. That and I guess a match that didn't end due to his low blows and general hijinks. Nice false finish with the Makabe powerbomb kickout after the low blow. Makabe gets his big moment, finally finishing off Yano. ***1/4

Thought that this was a bit better than their BOLA & UK Tournament matches (***3/4 for both of those) - Pete's work over Mandrews was awesome, as far as I am concerned he truly is UK's THE Villain, because he actually wrestles like it. Mandrews is always really good as the underdog & that was the case here too, his counters to Pete's moves were great - as all of his hope spots were, really. Great match. ****

This is for Io's World of Stardom title (Red Belt) and if she's successful in defending it she will break her own record of title defenses. Io does a fantastic job of putting over Baszler as serious threat. She bumps and sells incredibly well for Baszler's power offense and submissions. I felt Baszler held up her end of the match fairly well. She has always carries herself well but her in-ring is inconsistent. In this match, her offense looked good and flowed nicely plus her selling was solid. The finish was a bit weird though. Baszler seemingly puts Io out with a sleeper but the ref makes her break the hold which didn't make any sense since that's exactly how Baszler won…

This is for Hojo's Wonder of Stardom title (White Belt) and is Kyona's second title shot in less than a month. It's clear from the early going that the intent of this match is to make Kyona more of a potential threat to the top girls in Stardom and it definitely succeeds in that regard. From the very start Kyona shows little fear of going toe-to-toe with Hojo, even managing to hold her own in strike exchanges. Hojo herself does a great job of putting over Kyona's performance. She goes from confident veteran showing no fear of what Kyona has to offer to realizing that she is going to have to hit all of her big moves if she is going to retain. Just an excellent, well built …

This is for Iwatani's High Speed title as she is being challenged by two members of Oedo Tai. The story dynamic that these three create in the match was terrific. Usually, Oedo Tai matches are weighed down with goofy, overwrought interference but here the kept it basic and it worked much better. It was great to see Kris Wolf have a straight match as she is a really good worker when she does. The finish was well done as it looked like Wolf capitalized on an open opportunity rather than benefit from a banana peel type slip. ***3/4

This is for Storm's SWA title and is also Purrazzo's first single's match in Stardom. This match was a really nice mesh of Storm's UK style with Purrazzo's US style. Purrazzo looked great here. While she doesn't do anything flashy, she makes everything she does count for something. I wish they could have had another five minutes or so because they probably would have had something great if they had more time to build to a proper finish. As it is though, this is a terrific short match. ***1/2

Josh Barnett is a badass fighter, he's also had a couple of neat wrestling matches like the U-STYLE classic vs Tamura and his IGF match vs Hideki Suzuki, I was eager to see how he'd look. I remember liking Bad Bones back when he worked a few tours for Big Japan, it looks like he's doing different things today, he was fine here, playing his role well and putting over Barnett's offence which was the focus of this short match-Barnett threw some great knees and some lovely slams, including nearly decapitating Bad Bones with a Powerbomb. Also liked how Barnett used ring positioning to control Bones and he had a nice flurry of palm strikes too, definitely worth your time if you…

Anthony Henry's EVOLVE debut & he looked damn good. He got most of the match, and he shined - great showcase for him. Riddle was great as usual. ***1/2

A fantastic David vs. Goliath match. Keith was absolutely awesome as the Goliath - his offense is great & so are his facial expressions. ZSJ is always a tremendous underdog, love his fire and those submission hope spots. Great stuff. ****

We get some back and forth early. A mexican stand off if you will. Dunne after the fingers. Loved the finger spot with the zero nero taunt from Pentagon. Dunne is great getting heat from the crowd. Actually both guys know how to work the crowd. Dunne here is total 80's style here. Dunne back to th fingrs, and a nasty forearm for good measure. Dunne biting on the hand. Big kick by Penta, and a slingblade. Penta attempts a tope' only to get cutt off by a Dunne forearm. Dunne working him over on the outside. Penta fights back with leg kicks. Big Lung blower by Penta for a near fall. Another good match 3 1/4*

Holy hell, what is this match? I have loved Justice before, but this felt like him taking the next leap, and fuck is Garrini fun to watch. For two rookies, this was off the charts, it felt like watching Minoru Suzuki and Masakatsu Funaki in their first UWF and Pro-Wrestling Fujiwara Gumi matches. Justice has Judo training and Garrini is a ranked Brazilian Ju-Jitsu competitor and they do an awesome job of showcasing those skills in a prowrestling context. The early mat rolling was really cool, I loved the kneebar countering and how smoothly Garrinin shifted from a rear naked choke into a twister. This was still a prowrestling match, and they both did cool things where they…