January 2018

A very motivated Ricky Marvin and an excellent-as-usual Keyra kill it here. This starts off with some back and forth before a control segment for Ricky, in which he throws Keyra into a bunch of chairs and does some stretching, while (somewhat awkwardly, ok?) setting up some spots for later. After a bit of that (Keyra's selling is on point, btw) and a comeback, we get a title match-like near fall stretch with some really cool and well-executed moves, and then they move on to some absurd bumps. Even after cubsfan's glowing writeup, this way exceeded my expectations.

I really like the character Sasaki has developed, the kind of heel that will slap you not cuz he's a coward with a sudden burst of confidence that'll immediately disappear, but because he's thinking two steps ahead for the exact right way to distract you and get the advantage. And I think Higuchi is drastically underrated - a high energy big man who sells well and occasionally busts out a cool headscissors reversal, too. Sasaki's La Mistica is as gorgeous as ever. ***1/2

surprised I hadn't seen a thread on this one, as I thought it was quite good and certainly superior to the Tozawa match from the prior week. You can always count on Metalik to do some cool shit and he certainly does here. Once again they fail to really capture the attention of the crowd but I thought the in-ring work was highly entertaining even if the crowd was not really into it. I also enjoyed TJ's whiny temper tantrum after the match. What does everyone else think?

They get a surprising amount of intensity from this match, starting with Roddy's awesome dropkick through the ropes. I wouldn't have thought he would be the hot tag with Black the face in peril but that works great too, starting with Aleister taking a really nice apron bump off a Fish leg-sweep and ending with Roddy coming in super hot. I don't like the ending, with Aleister, who in the preceding months couldn't have his focus broken enough to say a dudes name, looking like a complete buffoon. The journey to get there was fun though. ***1/2

This was so awesome. The kicks were deadly, the mat work ruled big time - Yukio Sakaguchi impressed me greatly; I already liked his performance in his tournament match vs. Shuji, but here he was even better - everything he did came with a wonderful sense of urgency. Same could be said about Speedball who also had another super strong performance. Great match. ****

The opening exchanges are all about establishing the history between Makabe and Henson, so naturally, neither of them is able to mount a significant advantage early on. Makabe's strategy is simple: twist the feline's limbs until he can no longer hang. Makabe blasts Scott's knee and goads Henson into the ropes, where he applies an octopus, really milking the count. Henson has to scratch and claw (pun intended) his way out of the holds using raw power. In a great bit of character work, Dan bites the tail that's attached to Henson's gear and immediately drives his knee into the mat afterwards. Makabe gets a bit overzealous, taking the action out to the apron once more, and i…

After 3 awful matches in a row (Starr/Yehi, Janela/Webster, Guevara/Fenix), this sure was needed. Keith Lee & ZSJ had 2 absolutely great matches last year in EVOLVE, so I knew they would deliver here as well. And they sure did - they delivered a great match that's on par w/ the 2 EVOLVE matches I mentioned. The storytelling was very strong in this one - Zack kept baiting Keith into exchanges, Keith always answered to those & because of that Zack got some openings he took advantage of right away. Loved his targeting of Keith's leg, Keith's selling was very good & I loved how as Zack was beating the crap out of that leg, he completely dropped the usually-very-mu…

A very good FIP segment w/ Thatcher to start things off; Thatcher sells it tremendously (no surprise there) & the work by Bros was good - especially by Riddle who's offense came off as super violent. Loved it. WALTER's hot tag was great, he came in & chopped the crap out of Cobb & Riddle. Now that lead to a FIP segment w/ Cobb & that was outstanding! Cobb sold his ass off & Ringkampf's work over him was terrific - they brutalized Cobb in such compelling fashion. Once Cobb finally got to make the hot tag to Riddle, Riddle came in with a house of fire~! & beat the crap out of Thatcher & WALTER for a while - that was until Ringkampf cut off his ho…

This was in a vaccuum a good match, but YOU, the living breathing human being watching this match will never get over the fucking stupidity of having Lawlor, the taller, bigger MMA badass working all even steven with Gresham's cute WoS shit. (Actually, Lawler is shorter than I am and the same weight, but he looked like Takayama next to Gresham here. Maybe I should get into wrestling.) To be fair, Gresham's faux WoS stuff looked slick and he could probably have a good match with a fellow mini. About 10 minutes into the match Lawlor finally awakens and starts busting out MMA holds. I really liked how Gresham fought out of an armbar, and Lawlor had some really nice chokes an…

We start things off with some really fun grappling back & forth between Thatcher & Garrini. It's good stuff, and I really liked the smile Thatcher flashed after they get up from the mat; it said "wow, this kid is pretty good". Then we get Ringkampf doing some awesome work over Hot Sauce, which eventually leads to a Thatcher FIP segment. Thatcher is one of the best FIP's in the world right now; watching him sell his ass off is always a joy. Williams & Garrini did some fantastic work over him. WALTER's hot tag was superb - he beat them up with those vicious chops, big boots & threw them around with his brutal suplexes. Fantastic stuff. From then on, the matc…

EVOLVE has been building Darby super well coming into the match. Here the match was about him trying to hang with Zack in non-flying, pure technical wrestling style - and that certainly didn't go too well for the lad. Zack pretty much destroyed him for all the match, brutalizing him w/ his amazing offense. Darby sold that fantastically, bringing the intensity & emotion w/ his body language. I thought the ending was fantastic too, and set up a potential amazing re-match between the 2. I definitely want to see that after this fantastic 1st chapter between them. ****

This ends up being the de facto block final, and it is very hype. I love a battle of two big guys where one is slightly bigger and slightly higher rated and they actively play into that. The striking towards the end here actually feels like a slugfest - two brawlers trying to win a fight, not just trading shots to see who has the most fighting spirit or whatever. I might be the biggest Higuchi fan around, but his selling ability and athleticism are always impressive as the big man in a match, and in a rare opportunity as the smaller man they really shine. This is my favorite match in the excellent group stage of this tournament. ****1/2

Talk about it here.

A rivalry that started down under finally comes to the UK. This match was pretty bonkers as both guys did some incredibly dangerous moves, especially with Will bumping all over the fucking place to make Brooks look as great as possible, but it's safe to say he doesn't really need the help since he's great on his own. Brooks made a great impression and hopefully sticks around for a while, ****1/4.

Arisa Nakajima vs. Misaki Ohata I was excited for this match-up after the Best Friends-Avid Rival trilogy, and it had some great counters and head-drop suplexes, but it's lacking in drama and the action was too by-the-numbers to be anything special. It's a solid back and forth with no emotional depth. Here's hoping the WAVE rematch is better. ***

I won't lie, I thought this could've & would've been a little more explosive, but I am still very happy w/ what we got. Nick Gage tries to go head-to-head w/ WALTER & it ends up with WALTER just destroying him with chops & big boots. It's a really good time from start to finish. The brawl that lead to the double DQ finish & continued after the bell rang was awesome. ***1/2

I watched this match a few weeks ago, really liked it, re-watched this match last night, loved it. I mean, it's bati-bati in Big Japan, with Abe putting on one of his best singles performances to date and, at times, overshadowing Nomura. Abe's awareness shines through early on, as he rolls through the snapmare to prevent the typical "I kick your back" spot that he did to Nomura. Loved that. His strategy is simple: keep Nomura on the ground. That's arguably Nomura's weak spot, his matwork, and Abe's able to stay on his leg, taking him to the ropes a couple of times. Nomura will get in a slap or a kick here, and he's able to catch an Abe kick and plant him with the capture …

Another B-show match that really stood out to me. Saw it described on a blog as the best Main Event match in at least a year, and I can't disagree with that assessment. I think Ali is a guy who could really become something if they'd push him properly, and TJ remains quite adept at his cocky dickbag heel role. This also continues what has been a fantastic start to 2018 for TJP as far as putting up one good match after another

This was awesome to watch all four very talented individuals put on a stiff tag team war. A bit sloppy at times, but I think that added to how physical the match would become. Each man had time to shine, and I'm glad Suzuki didn't have any SZGN goons around to hamper the match. In a surprise twist SZGN take the tag belts thus making Zack a double champ, ****1/2.

This is a rematch from the previous month when Ohka beat Ohata to win the Regina di WAVE title. Right from the start, this match is super physical. A mix between big moves and nasty strikes. It's similar to the Satomura/Hamada match that happened earlier in the month in Sendai Girls but I feel that this match was better at being coherent. The exchange of big moves during the finishing run was done in a logical fashion. A very entertaining title match. ***3/4

This is Iwatani's return match after injuring her arm and losing the World of Stardom title. Iwatani looked great here, not showing any signs of ring rust at all or any limitations with her arm. This was also a strong performance from the always inconsistent Ellering, complete opposite of her disappointing performance against Io Shirai. The match had a nice simple story of Iwatani having to overcome Ellering's work on her injured arm. Great stuff. ****

Loser Leaves Unit - Gauntlet: Oedo Tai (Kris Wolf, Sumire Natsu, Kagetsu, Hana Kimura & Tam Nakano) vs. Queen's Quest (AZM, Io Shirai, Viper, HZK & Momo Watanabe) This was an amazing match, the stakes are high and you can feel the tension. Sumire's sleazy heel character has quickly become one of my favorite things in Stardom - she was so good in this. The Kagetsu-Viper segment had breathtaking spots, and Hana-HZK was a heated back and forth that ends with an insane bump. The final between Momo and Tamu was rough at times, but they fought with a lot of heart and the crowd was hot. ****1/4

HELL YEAH. Rush is an absolute bastard & Cozy is the veteran babyface who is sick of this disrespectful young punk coming to his company & causing havoc w/ his antics. Also - Korakuen Hall! There really isn't a better place for a match like this. Great stuff. ****

For the most part, this is an ok match with Roman and Miz and the Miztourage doing more or less what you would expect, which are all things I like. It's noteworthy, though, because heels cheating is basically always done in dramatic irony these days, with the ref and/or opponent blind but the audience in on it and protesting loudly. So, while I know that the finish here, where nobody realizes that the cheating happened until afterwards, is for sure not the first of its kind, it really feels fresh and elevates this match to something easily recommendable. ***1/2

Really good stuff. Very weird seeing Zayn work as a heel after watching him become an all-time great babyface wrestler before this heel turn, but goddamn he killed it. Thought that him working the heat on AJ was super enjoyable - he showed a nice mean streak & all of his offense looked very good. AJ was obviously great bumping & selling for him - and so was Sami when it was his turn to do that; him bumping for AJ's big moves was super fun. After Zayn works over AJ for a while, AJ gets back into things w/ his awesome strike combination thing & the match becomes more 50/50 w/ very good action. These 2 have a really good chemistry with each other. Great TV match.…