July 2017

I loved this match. Heel Okada was awesome just being a prick between the clapping and going after Tenzan. This allowed Kojima to turn in a wonderful babyface performance full of sympathy and admiration from the crowd. The early neck work helped lay the groundwork for the final portion of the match and Kojima got in some great nearfalls thinking the upset was near. Okada has been great in the G1 so far and still has plenty of high profile matches left. ****

I guess I am officially out on the Omega big match formula right now. This had a lot of pomp and circumstance, explosive moves, and big bombs in the final stanza culminating in Big Mike getting the win off of the burning hammer. What it lacked was the heart of the previous match. I liken it to the Ishii vs Omega USA match which I also felt cold on. Eventually, I need a reason for why I should care all of this stuff is happening and Omega isn’t giving me one right now throughout these matches. It is just big move, big move, finisher, etc. Disappointing. ***

Yano is back at the hijinks again. This was base level for him and enjoyment although the finish was clever with the SANADA tie up leading to a count out. **1/2

I watched this because it's getting some high-end 2017 potential MOTYC hype in a few modern puro fan circles. This match has some hype but fell under the radar, taking place at the same time as the G1 and also NOAH has such little fanfare these days. I can't remember who said it but the idea is that the first time you see Brian Cage, your mind is blown, but by the fifth time you have seen everything. I agree with that. It's not really a huge criticism, he isn't terrible, but he really feels like he is just playing wrestler and guys with more presence like Jeff Cobb or Keith Lee have just blown right past him. This is 20 minutes of bombs and a finishing sequence f…

Thatcher comes out & he is not impressed with the wacky antics of the promotion, he is just all business here. Once the bell rings he tries to go for a big boot right away only for Makabe to duck it & then give him a big punch to the face for a nearfall. Great start. Thatcher is a little stunned after that so Makabe has the control for a short amount of time, but yeah, short amount of time because Thatcher gets the control quickly. And he starts working the crap out of the young local hero. He is brilliant at that, and every time Makabe escapes his submissions or kicks out from his suplex's, his reactions are priceless. Thatcher is without a doubt the best in the …

BIG MATCH TREV does it again. Not a surprise. This was just an excellent match that had some really great storytelling - at first Trevor wasn't really taking Andrews seriously, just toying with him & talking smack, but then Andrews starts targeting Trevor's leg like a man possessed & suddenly Trevor is the underdog now. He sells Andrews' onslaught excellently & makes some tremendous comebacks. Brilliant stuff. ****1/2

Riho & Aasa Maika vs. Hikaru Shida & Mitsuru Konno The opening segment between Riho and Shida was an awesome clash of speed and power. Misturu Konno was chaining together crazy, painful-looking lucha holds. She's like the Negro Navarro of joshi. Shida and Maika have heat, and that led to fun moments. Great main event! ***3/4

Sort of a tale of two matches. The beginning with the leg work done by Fale was fine but felt like his ho hum stuff throughout the tournament. Then the action spills to the outside and the ante is upped around 5 notches. Ibushi does essentially blow off the leg stuff here but it wasn’t a huge focal point so I wasn’t too bothered by it. He proceeds to moonsault off of the second level of seats in a great spot after riling up the crowd. Back inside the ring, Ibushi bumps like a freak off of the lariat of Fale. Ibushi is showing some great underneath babyface fire and even lfits Fale up in a seated position for a piledriver in a great show of strength. Eventually the size of…

This was a lot different from the Sakura Genesis match these two had. That was a wizard mat performance by ZSJ until he realized that wasn’t going to work and Suzuki Gun intervened. This was more revolved around strikes and ZSJ finding combos and pinning combinations that could end the match at any point. It was effective in that regard in keeping both men strong and displaying the crafty nature of ZSJ in general. The finish was strong with Goto winning on the first GTR and showing that he was the stronger power worker of the two. ***1/2

Another very good match for this show. This was a mis match from a star standpoint but YH did do a good job here timing his hope spots and selling the damage from Tanahashi. I was hoping we would get full blown heel Tana here and he only went around halfway doing the air guitar and some other cocky stuff. The double knees to the face and the swantom were the best bit of hope spots for YH before Tana makes his comeback and wins with the High Fly Flow. This was worked in a big main event style and did a good job of diversifying itself on the card overall. ***1/4

This match overachieved based on Nagata’s overall performance and his emotional story of this being his last G1. He sold his shoulder well and Makabe did pin point that with great efficiency. Makabe overall hasn’t been near as offensive in this tournament as in years past. I still don’t think he has been great by any stretch and some of the other reviews for his matches are a bit baffling having them at MOTYC level, but it is an improvement. He for example does the King Kong knee to the shoulder in this match which is a nice bit of storyline. The highpoint of the match was Nagata reeling on the turnbuckle and just getting chopped down ending his G1 chances for good. It wi…

A strong main event to end a great day of action. I can see some being slightly disappointed in this but I thought it did a strong job in reigning in the excess we have seen plague a few of the matches in the tournament so far. Naito really focused on the neck of Ishii and did a ton of strong stuff on top to get the action moving but it was his own neck that failed him with the suplex and brainbuster combo of Ishii. The Destino being devolved into a throwaway nearfall continues to be disappointing. This didn't have as egregious pop up selling from Ishii that annoys me from time to time too. A slightly restrained and refreshing effort from these two. ****

Hey look... it's indy wrestling of the good type! 2 fat guys with awesome fat guy offense, 1 sleazy junior heel who doesn't get in the way much, 1 guy who is mean and uncaring and 1 guy playing the promising rookie that won't quit. That lineup alone speaks for itself and the match delivered good. Nozaki is apparently a 1 year rookie and seems like a guy to keep an eye on, as he has amazing fatboy look with tree trunk legs and is game to bring the power moves and sell his ass off. His fire was good enough and I loved his big judo slam that got a really nice nearfall for such a basic moves. Genkai is the former Hideyoshi from Osaka Pro, a fact that ultimately means nothing,…

This had even less substance to it than most Yano matches. He tries a couple of rollups, they backfire and EVIL wins. If Yano is spoiling Suzuki on the final night like many people think, he is not being built well at all for that. *1/2

Decent enough match but another one that didn't have an engaging overall story. Elgin has a great arsenal of power moves but I still fail to see him create a compelling middle of a lot of his matches. SANADA also has a trouble bringing a compelling overall story. As a result, this was a ho hum 15 minutes that lacked a lot of emotion or overarching theme. **3/4

This was a sludge to get through as well. Generic brawling and a 10 minute match that felt like 25. Tonga is not an intriguing brawler and doesn't have the strikes to match the intensity. I hope the next three matches pick things up as this has been a rough start to day 10. **1/4

Big Keith & Travis were an absolute hit together w/ Keith doing his dominating big man shtick, being excellent at it as always, & Travis being a fantastic underdog fighting from underneath with his fiery, action packed comebacks. An absolutely fantastic PROGRESS debut for Keith Lee. ****1/2

Sometimes you don't need a bloated 30+ minute "epic" and the old standby story of a promotion nobody getting put in his place by the promotion's surly dad is plenty. This ticked a lot of my personal preference boxes when it comes to a pro-wrestling match: grumpy old dude (check), disappointed tag partner (check), a well-sold beatdown (check), Hideki Suzuki (check). Ohtani looked his best here and right out of the gate, he's got zero time for Okuda, laying it in with nasty slaps and knees, shoving Okuda's kicks out of the way in order to dish out more punishment. Takaiwa played the gruff uncle to Ohtani's dad role, being a little more reserved with the bomb-throwing but st…