May 2017

Boy Tiger Mask looks old in the...mask err face, but another good performance here, but the real star was ACH. All his flips and dives were on point (when did he start cribbing Lethal's three dives through the middle rope?), but the match morphs into Tiger Mask working over his back and ACH selling really well. Tiger Driver gets a nice two count. ACH is not able to get TM up for a suplex and his exaggerated grimace (and holding his back) instantly connects with the crowd, who gets louder and louder at each one he just can't quite muster it. ACH turns to kicks to compensate and when it finally looks like he's going to power him up for the payoff, TM works him into a rollup…

These guys just know how to work each other and I liked this more than any of their title matches from '16 that I have seen. They both work in dropkicks on seated opponents outside. BUSHI hits a draping snap DDT off the ropes to the apron in some good early targeted neck work. He has a great corner dive through the ropes here also. KUSHIDA's arm stuff seems to be wilting, BUSHI sits in it for some time here. It does feel like the crowd is dampening a bit on KUSHIDA, he's been on a losing streak going into this, but we get a great story here and a new finisher (small package driver / god's last gift - I saw him use this in December on ospreay actually) post submission to p…

You know what you're getting with both guys typically: Desperado is introducing a chair and Taguchi has his rope running routine and what not. But these guys cut that stuff shorter than normal, and make it all work in a tremendous match. There is nothing mailed in here, ton of urgency and energy from both guys. Taguchi's early shine plays off them trying to counter each other on arm drags and he's a step ahead. Despy goes to the outside and again puts his opponent into the seats. Here he goes a step further and tries to bury Taguchi with them as he cracks them off each other. The chair in the corner spot is brought out, but Despy uses this opportunity to hide a pen in hi…

Most interesting wrinkle here is the crowd really is behind Liger, presumably they too were hoping for a late run in the BOSJ for him. This is perfectly fine, and Ospreay with maybe the best running palm strike bump I've seen. Liger bomb kickout deflates the crowd; the ending sequence is a touch drawn out, leaving hope for one last hope spot which never comes. Post match Ospreay acts like Luke Skywalker carrying Vader to the shuttle before his death. On par for me with the Scurll match, if not a little more exciting given Will's style ***

Tozawa as the fired up charismatic babyface seeking for revenge & Kendrick as the ruthless veteran using dirty tactics to try and shut up the kid. Awesome stuff. ***3/4

15 minutes of all action that didn't feel like a blown off spot fest. This was a great representation of modern joshi and brought me back to some of the 2000 stuff I have been watching involving Hyaga. HIroyo is quietly piecing together a strong year and Arisa is one of the better young joshi workers IMO. This match had back and forth but the transitions were logical and the match conveyed a sense of being up for grabs at all times. ***3/4

Rina Yamashita vs. Yoshiko These two are like alternate universe versions of each other, so they make for great rivals. The finish is a lariat war where they're just trading heavy smacks, knocking the bajeezus out of one another. The selling and execution made it one of the more compelling lariat exchanges I've seen in a while; the blood from Rina's mouth splashes across her face in a sweet visual. ****1/2

This was a pretty great "big boy" tag team match with plenty of clunky, hard-hitting blows and Nakanoue especially standing out with his interactions with Okabayashi. He's a guy who makes the most out of a simple set of moves. He does a terrific job of selling the double chickenwing struggle and the crowd eats it up. Okabayashi's hot tag charisma is always off the charts and the chemistry between he and Hama never gets old. Hama makes one of the best "out of nowhere" saves and the finishing stretch saw some real hard elbows from Nakanoue before he falls to Yuji's Golem Splash. Just a really good tag match from bell to bell and one of the better Japanese tag matches of the…

Hideki Suzuki as BJW World Strong Heavyweight champion has been my favorite thing in 2017 and this match brought out the best iteration of Hideyoshi Kamitani -- the fired the fuck up baby-faced underdog. This was easily Kamitani's best singles performance since his awesome match against Okabayashi last year. The way he waylays Suzuki with his big boy weight early on and when Suzuki's finally able to counter something with his Billy Robinson-style backbreaker, it feels huge. The overall sense of struggle in this match is fantastic and there's such a raw, brutish aesthetic to the exchanges. The way Suzuki traps limbs, bending and laying into the holds with all his weight. T…

This is a terrific performance from Best Friends. At the same time, it's an interesting look at the inexperienced duo of Kyuri and Ozaki. While both of them have some rough moments they also show flashes promise. Maika has some nice Hiroyo Matsumoto-style power spots and Kyuri pulls off some really nice counter and comeback spots. A good match to check out if your interested in getting a look at some of the other girls on Ice Ribbon's roster. ***1/2

I like both of these guys but the match never came together for me. There was some work on the leg and some crowd brawling but instead of mixing both guys strengths together into an effective, cohesive match, this was all over the place. Disappointing. **3/4

Probably some of the cleanest footage of local wrestling I've seen with commentary as well as instant replays. Also some of the cleanest action I've seen from the local footage of this new era of wrestling as well. JDL's strikes looked pretty damn good and he hit everything pretty strongly and cleanly. Aside from the slight misstep doing the springboard clothesline, his stuff looked great. Imabayashi looked pretty decent here with some good stuff like kicking JDL mid-hand spring. I liked JDL's arm work although Imabayashi's selling of it was in and out. When he did sell it though, it came off really well especially after the hip toss armbreaker. The shenanigans at the end…

Not the cleanest performance from these guys with Robynn looking the sloppiest in the ring of the four. Martivo's entrance isn't in the full force that he's mastered this year but his opening shine shows just how over he is with the crowd. The YOLO Twins get over their act as ultra douche heels but the offense here isn't as neat as it could be. Ken Warren interfering was a decent finish to the match to really get over the heel act. **1/2

Paced like one, structured like one; this was a junior heavyweight epic through & through. Loved the early mat work - fantastic feel of competition there. The dueling limb work ruled - both guys are great when targeting arms & legs. The finishing stealing was done super well & the big counters + drama were superb. This was my most awaited match up on the tournament alongside Hiromu/Liger & it did not disappoint me one bit - after having the best junior heavyweight matches of 2016 & 2014, they went here & delivered the best one of 2017. Fantastic match. ****1/2

A fantastic main event & truly the perfect match to introduce the PROGRESS Women's Championship with. Just super fun action from start to finish w/ all 3 women being great - they all showed some really good looking offense & Jinny was terrific in her ultra heel role. ****1/4

Now I don't normally throw out star ratings for matches that go under 10 goddamn seconds or have only 1 goddamn move in them, but this was so perfectly executed. Trent Seven is by far the biggest, the most arrogant dick of the British Strong Style trio - he is a wonderful heel. Before the bell rang he cut a perfect, dick promo towards Riddle, PROGRESS & the fans. Then the bell rings and he eats a knee from Riddle & that's it. It's over. If this hadn't been built up to so wonderfully w/ the way Trent has been acting since the WWE UK Tournament, him attacking Riddle at Chapter 48 & then finally the perfect heel promo he cut before the match - it definitely would…

I thought that their Chapter 48 match was great & this was on the same level as that one. Loved Tyler starting the match off super cocky by taking off his boots to make fun of Riddle's MMA look - he tried to hang w/ Riddle on the mat & well, that sure didn't go his way. Riddle dominated the whole first half of the match, which he was terrific at & Bate eventually got the control very naturally. He did a great job in his control segment too. The finishing stretch w/ the big moves & counters was terrific as well. ****1/4

Awesome match w/ Dunne working on top right from the get go as he got the advantage by jumping Cobb before the bell. Jeff Cobb is a goddamn monster though so that didn't stop him from throwing Peter around like a baby. I thought that Pete was super great in this - character work, offense, selling; he nailed 'em all. Same can be said about Cobb who sold tremendously & him throwing people around is always fun. Few more minutes and this would've hit the 4 star mark for me. ***3/4

They went for an epic to finish the tournament & sure delivered one. The interferences by BSS & CCK were done really well. Lots of big moves, awesome atmosphere, fantastic drama & great fire from Travis Banks. ****

These 2 have had strong matches against each other everywhere they've faced & here they had their best one yet. Just a super intense, total slug/bomb -fest between two great offensive wrestlers. Great stuff. ****1/4

Roman Reigns vs Seth Rollins (WWE Raw, 29th May 2017) Strong PPV quality main event here between two guys who know each other well. I liked the flashes of Reigns acting like a bully heel here, pushing Seth's head into the corner and talking shit to him. His selling was on point as always, highlighting his superiority to Rollins as a worker - Seth wasn't bad here but there were points where he would kinda make gestures towards selling but then run through all his high spots anyway. Reigns' drive-by into the post looked vicious, as did him throwing Seth into the barricade. The superman punch counter to Rollins coming from the top was picture perfect. One thing I will sa…

LU is back with a bang - just when I thought the hype behind the company is dead, they return with a match like this. One of the best matches the company has put on so far. Much like in the first All Night Long match (vs. Prince Puma), this was a total Johnny Mundo show - he is absolutely amazing in his role. Loved him dominating the early stages of the match, that made him super confident & cocky, so when Mack started to muster those offensive flurries in - even getting a one fall in, he started to show great desperation & then he brilliantly fakes an injury. Classic heel spot. The stuff w/ all the interferences was done super well. The drama in the final moments…

This is it - Jushin Thunder Liger's last ever BOSJ match. I actually was really rooting for him to win the whole thing because I feel like him vs. Hiromu II at Dominion would've been absolutely incredible. But it is what it is, they made Liger lose every match in the tournament leading up to this one - and while I initially didn't agree w/ that decision, I gotta say that this match made up for it. You got the most hated, the most annoying, the slimy ol' Taichi going against the man here. Right from the get go as Liger is making his entrance, the Suzuki-gun jumps him - Taichi talks some trash & that leads to him working the heat big time on Liger. He does it so in the …