March 2017

A very good spotfest. They went all out for this one, working hard to put on a memorable spectacle. Very enjoyable stuff. And seeing the Hardyz be so over in ROH after their previous relationship w/ the ROH fans is a spectacle of it's own. ***1/2

Started out with Dijak laying out the first strike to Riddle, and that created the dynamic for the rest of the match - Riddle fighting from underneath as Dijak did work on top. Very physical, laid out perfectly & the length was perfect for the story they told. Excellent match. ****

An absolute hoot of a match - Bad Bones was just throwing the smaller Paul London around, with London getting a great shine in during the first stages of the match & then busting out brilliant hope spots throughout it - popped for those SSP's, very pretty. ****

This was my most awaited match up of the first round - and it absolutely ruled. Thatcher gave Kanemoto most of the match - Kanemoto got to showcase his awesome submissions & striking combinations, which Thatcher sold like a boss. He truly helped make Kanemoto look like million bucks w/ his tremendous facial expressions, selling & just by giving him the majority of the match. Really good stuff. ***3/4

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For those of you who don't know: AMBITION is a pseudo-shootstyle tournament wXw runs once a year. This was very good for what it was; WALTER clubbers Cobb, Cobb throws an absolutely hellish suplex and finishes with a nasty neck crank. The problem was that it went 2 minutes. Seriously, screw wXw for that shitty booking because this could have been great. Still, that Cobb suplex has to be seen.

For those of you who don't know: AMBITION is a pseudo-shootstyle tournament wXw runs once a year. This was quite good, like you'd expect from these two. The grappling was positively PWFG and had a ton of physicality, and they went to tell a story, with Cobb obviously being the surperior wrestler and just an impossible to move beast on the mat, while Thatcher could win with submissions. I loved all the spots where Thatcher was overwhelmed by Cobb's Cobbness, such as Cobb easily shrugging off his attempts at a butterfly suplex or Thatcher getting squished by a basic waistlock. Also, at one point Cobb just cradled Thatcher into a pretzel. He really should make that move …

For those of you who don't know: AMBITION is a pseudo-shootstyle tournament wXw runs once per year. This was surprisingly good. Al-Ani is a talented german guy who can go on the mat, and Thatcher meant business. Al-Ani didn't do anything brilliant, but he could put up a fight against Thatcher, which was enough. Thatcher did all these neat little tricks and nasty holds. Twisting at the ankles, a nasty rolling clutch and a really painful looking grovit that he finished Al-Ani off with. This stayed on the mat and that was the right thing to do.

For those of you who don't know: AMBITION is a pseudo-shootstyle tournament wXw runs once a year. This was excellent. Grappling Riddle using his legit ability is so much better than PWG style flopping around Matt Riddle. One could argue that this was a little your-turn-my-turn-ish, but fuck that. This was some real wrestling and I won't say no to that. Riddle as a highly athletic, flexible modern MMA freak vs. the carniness of Thatcher with his nasty facelocks and toeholds was great. They are smart enough to stay on the mat and deliver the focussed, high end grappling you want from a shootstyle main event. Also really liked how they built a really great, edge-of-your-…

When I saw this posted on another board, I knew I had to watch it right away - and it did not disappoint. Just an epic freakin' war. I loved the all out brawl they had last year, but this was even better. Must see. ****1/2

I thought this was pretty good, and a nice showcase for EVIL. Everything in the build up to this made the chair and ref bumps make sense within the context of this match. Even Tanahashi getting frustrated and throwing Red Shoes down. This was a grudge match in a sense. It never got to the next level for me, but thought it was solid with a good finishing stretch. I get the mist thing as a conduit to the final fall, although to that point EVIL really was stronger in the match anyway. Him standing tall with a foot on a fallen Tanahashi to close the show was a strong moment for him. ***1/2

This is Owens 1st defense. This is the big vs small dynamic. Owens is throwing everything at Lee. Lee nails the big boot. Lee using his size to dominate this encounter. Lee with a nerve hold to Owen's bad shoulder. Conley is a threat to Owen on the floor. Owen's try a comeback , but can't take the Giant down. Ref bump. Owens with a nasty knee. Owens with a kendo stick. Lee won't go down, and actually breaks the stick. A flock of people hit the ring. Owens firing big shots. The giant crumbles and Owens wins. 3*

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8OE4zCJuQ3Q This is a rematch of their super underrated match from exactly one year earlier. The main difference between this match and that one is that this match is more about strikes and suplexes than matwork. Honestly, Syuri probably took nastier shots here than she has in any of her MMA fights so far. Even thought the match is short they both put over how hard hitting it was with their selling. Strong match that should be a big win for Syuri. ****

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bNVX-InSWEM This is a rematch from the November show as it seems that they are trying to build a rivalry between these two. I really enjoyed Hana's work here. It seems that ever since she came back from her wrist injury that she has been able to incorporate more of her personality into her work. While Chihiro Hashimoto gets a lot of hype, I think Shirahime is just as good if not slightly better in some areas. She does a terrific job of selling the drama of the match as she slowly builds her comeback. Very enjoyable match between two young stars. ***1/2

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It's quite frustrating to watch something like this, because this could have and should have been a great match. It was structured well-had the classic start with some chain wrestling, teases and whatnot, then come some striking where Iwamoto really shined, his short dash elbow was beautiful, it's like a straight jab, such a neat spot. Eventually Ishii hit a sick Neckbreaker on the guardrail, which led into the neckwork portion, and Ishii's work on top was really tight, his knee drops in particular were just brutal. Iwamoto countered a Neckbreaker on the apron into a Osoto Gari, which, like his other judo offence (his Harai Goshi is a work of art) looks magnificent, and t…

Nakatsu is pretty interesting to me, because he debuted in DNA and immediately got a shooter gimmick, but I think he never did any shoots. He also had really great gear in DNA, which he swapped for some really bad gear once he got to BASARA. Here, he teams with Sekine, as per usual. They're pretty alright. Opposite them, it's Togo and Hidaka! What a great team! Togo sons Sekine and Nakatsu early, just working a headlock. Upon tagging in, Hidaka starts working Nakatsu's arm and they have a pretty good exchange early. Then Sekine and Hidaka do the Cavalry spot, which consists of Sekine sitting on top of Hidaka and Nakatsu coming in to kick Hidaka in the butt and then Sekine…

Two of my favorite current Japanese wrestlers going at it. There was no way I wasn't gonna love this. They started it off with some slick submissions, just trying to stretch each other out, wear each other down. Then it transitioned into them just beating the shit out of each other, which is exactly what you would expect from these two, the baddest dudes around. Excellent match. ****1/2

I usually only make threads for matches that I consider to be ***1/2+, but since this has got some serious MOTYC talk already from reviews & on twitter, I figured I'd make a thread for it & of course I am interested in hearing how others here on PWO liked it. I thought that this was wayy too long, Omega dominated WAY, and I mean WAY too much of it - his work on top was painfully boring. Truly sucked the life out of the match. In the last 10 mins or so they started busting out big bombs, and that sure was more enjoyable than the first 2/3 of the match, but it wasn't interesting enough to bring it to good levels. *1/4

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I like Go Shiozaki. I feel a bit sorry for him but he’s one of my favorites guys to watch in NOAH. He works hard, busts his ass in-and-out of the ring. He’s a terrific seller and he’s become a lot more aggressive with his offense. Sadly, the NOAH fans don’t give a shit. In a bubble, this was a really good, hard-hitting match with the chop vs. kick theme established early on. Nakajima as the bratty champion is a lot of fun but I still think he needs to show a little more confidence to resonate better with the fans. Shiozaki sells hard for the kicks and in general, he looked really strong throughout. The fans at least pop for the chops. Nakajima was really good here, as wel…

The home promotion ace and one of Japan's biggest names vs a comedy heel and a guy from TNA. Guess who's winning this one. I've literally never heard about KAZMA and I have no idea if he's good or not. His looks are awful, so not a very good starting point. Things start off with him and Mutoh going at it, with lots of matwork, with the veteran getting the upper hand. Tags are made, and the true star of this match enters - Moose. His interactions with Marufuji is what make this match watchable, because as it turns out, KAZMA is actually pretty fucking bad, and Mutoh can barely get his legs straight. The crowd is well into the Moose chants, and his athleticis…

This was a really damn great 4-5 minute match. Perfectly laid out w/ Owens getting some offense in by cheapshotting Brock while he is taking his shirt off - Owens came in with a game plan, but that game plan backfired on him because he was facing THE BEAST. Really fun match - legitimately the best one Owens has had in a long time. ***3/4

We get a really good Speedball FIP segment, where Donovan Dijak & JT Dunn do some quality over him, which then leads to a FANTASTIC ACH hot tag - the man was seriously on fire. After that tremendous hot tag, we get your usual indy 50/50 action & it was all very enjoyable. Cody's manager shtick was pretty fun, too. ***1/2

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