June 2018

This is Io Shirai's last match in Stardom before leaving to go to the WWE. This match is a bit hard to judge since while they work in some fun, lighthearted spots into the middle of the match that is mostly serious and competitive. When they are being serious no one lets up at all. Each one of them work really stiff. Io and Mayu do work in some old Thunder Rock spots in the finishing run. Overall, the match is a mixed bag but is still incredibly entertaining. ***3/4

This is Momo Watanabe's first defense of the Wonder of Stardom after her big breakthrough win last month. The biggest thing that I like about this match is that they kept focused on their strengths and didn't feel the need to have the typical Japanese wrestling title match. Primarily, they didn't over do it with too many big moves or nearfalls. Momo shows the same cold-blooded drive she did in her title win but also displaying a dangerous, strike at any moment potential. This is personified when, after Jungle gains the early advantage by working over Momo's leg, she erases that advantage by hitting a B-Driver on the floor. Jungle puts in yet another spirited challenge and…

A slow burner of a match, something that's not helped by the Last Man Standing stipulation. There's many times the match lags because the long drawn-out counts. AJ is great at getting to his feet at the last minute and Nakamura is slimier than ever. This match kicks into gear once AJ starts taking out Nakamura's leg. The low blow spot on the outside was predictably yet it was still cool. AJ Styles Clashing Nakamura off the ring steps was brutally awesome. Although they were hindered by the stipulation, this was still their best match together in a WWE ring. ★★★½

I enjoyed the Backlash match a lot, but it was clear that was 100% a Daniel Bryan carryjob. It felt like he was wrestling a goddamn tree. Here though, Big Cass seemed almost like a completely different man from that night - he felt super motivated & his performance was on point. Dude showed very good swagger with his work on top, and that said work on top was actually GREAT this time. Of course it helps that Bryan was bumping & selling his ass off for him, but Cass looked very, very good. Bryan's performance in general was absolutely incredible I thought - amazing selling & he looked like an absolute killer with his offense; that leg targeting was brutal &…

This match was absolute perfection. Not only Nia really stepped up her game, looking like the monster she should always play right from the get-go, but Ronda... is bordering on Volk Han levels of incredible. The bumping, the facial expressions, the comebacks. She is just perfect and does little things that many other more experienced people don't do. This was almost 10 minutes long and it was a complete blast. Bliss interferes in the match, cashing in the MitB contract. While it does keep both Nia and Rousey looking like two incredibly strong wrestlers and it does keep the mistery intact (Nia didn't tap to RR and Rousey wasn't beaten), Alexa being the focus of the…

I enjoyed this a lot more than their BOSJ match. The interference was expected and it about tuned me out of the match but it kicked up a notch after hat and and the level of violence and Despy not giving a shit Hiromu ripped his mask off was awesome. The layout of the finish was great too and the Juniors continue to deliver big. ****1/4

I really didn't think they would be able to do it, but my mistake to ever doubt the Big Match Bucks. Match started a little too safe, but both teams really brought it to each other from start to finish. Loved Nick injuring and selling his leg throughout the match. I can't say this was completely a Bucks match because they showed great chemistry with SANADA and EVIL. Loved seeing the Bucks win the titles with an old school finisher, More Bang For Your Buck, too, ****1/4.

The culmination of a 2+ plus meteoric year rise for Kenny Omega. The callbacks, the psychology, the storytelling, the character work, the build up, the hot crowd who by the way were FIRMLY behind Kenny, etc. Everything about this match was perfect. I can't say it's better than the lightning in a bottle match they had at WK11, but it's right behind it hands down. Thank you Kazuchika Okada, you can take a rest now as Omega finally takes the wheel. The feud is over for now, but it is inevitable that both guys will collide in another historic match once again, *****.

I'm really digging this New Japan iteration of Jericho who just comes in and fucks shit up. The crowd brawling before the match began was really fun stuff, especially both guys destroying each other with table bumps. Once they got into the ring, both guys actually showed a surprising amount of chemistry in their moves and sequences. Questionable finish putting the title on Jericho (don't get me started on EVIL being his first challenger), but I'd love to see what both guys could do in a normal match, ****1/4.

I can't be thankful enough for not seeing a total murder in this match. Not to say that both guys didn't try to kill each other though because they absolutely did. I think both guys had a lot more to give, but the match they did put on was still pretty awesome even with all the dangerous moves. Scary bumps galore of course with Hiromu showing the evolution he went through in the BOSJ, especially that vicious D submission. Ospreay still had a lot to give in this title run of his, but putting the title on Hiromu isn't a bad idea either, ****1/2.

Gauntlet match to decide who is going to be the #1 Contender to the WWE Title. My goodness. This match was unbelievable. Daniel Bryan might be, as of June of 2018, the best wrestler on the planet. This completely overshadowed the also incredible RAW gauntlet match this year, and much of that had to do with two things: It felt more cohesive - many have a hard time considering a gauntlet match like a single unit, instead being seen as many smaller matches, but in this case it more than earned the right to be looked at as a whole. It had an overarching story to all the segments and it keep its quality at a constant. Daniel Bryan is the greatest of all time (sort…

An easy MOTYC. Here's my review from SUPERDUPERPLEX.

Masashi Takeda defends the BJW Death Match Heavyweight Title Masashi Takeda is on an all-time deathmatch run right now. While I completely understand that this style is not for everyone, I think that he isn't getting nearly enough credit outside of the deathmatch bubble right now. His work and character transcend the genre. He's one of the most charismatic wrestlers going and brings a completely unique atmosphere to all of his matches. While other deathmatch wrestlers SOLELY rely on sick bumps and violence, Takeda is able to mix some traditional wrestling, his charisma, great match layouts, and brutality all together to create matches that all feel gigantic an…

I've seen a few matches of Jake De Leon and I'm familiar with Robin Sane's work but this is my first time watching The Horrors. They string together a fun indie-style tag team match here. JDL shines with his heel mannerisms. Classic cocky heel who gets brought low with humiliation. The best heels make their defeats feel all the more satisfying for it. Robin Sane had his fun high flying offense and both Manila guys took some really good bumps off of Gore and Butcher here. For their part, The Horrors made their offense look pretty clean and fairly devastating. I particularly liked how big JDL would bump for some of Gore's kicks. All in all, just a very fun tag match that ke…

What a delightful violent brawl. Park is far from being the most svelte dude in lucha at the moment, specially when compared to a stallion like Rush, but does he have a presence. He and Rush went all out with the fuckery here, and it did not dissapoint. Basically it had everything you could as for: mask ripping, interferences, MARTINETES, blood, refs getting their asses kicked, a fat sub ref with his gut appearing... just a spectacle all around. Crowd was absurdly hot, specially after Park SMASHES Rush with a picture frame. From that point on it's just full on violence, with Park using cable wires to whip Rush, as well as smashing his head against the guard rail…

Well HOLY FUCKING SHIT. Originally this was supposed to happen at NOLA, but Darby got injured so it didn't happen - I was super bummed out, because it sure was one of the matches I was most looking forward to; in the top-3 alongside Bryan's return & Riddle/Ki (until that got cancelled as well). Happy to report that it certainly lived up to the crazy potential it had on paper & then some more. AND THEN SOME MORE, MY GOODNESS. There's so much to write about, but I honestly can't even. The pace, WALTER's brutal work over Darby, WALTER's baffled reactions when this small face paint having fella refused to die & brought the fight right at him, Darby's madman bumpin…

This is for Momo's Wonder of Stardom and I was pretty hyped to watch this because Purrazzo is one of the most consistently entertaining women on the indies. Purrazzo doesn't disappoint as she uses a bunch of fun ways to wreck Momo's arm. Momo's counter to this is to try and kick the crap out of Purrazzo. Even when Momo is in control, she was trying to find a way to get back on Momo's arm. This might have been something great if there weren't a few awkward moments due to lack of familiarity and some iffy arm selling from Momo. Even with that, this was still pretty good and well worth the time to check out. ***3/4

The atmosphere alone makes this match pretty incredible, with the outdoor setting, the downpour of rain, the kids in their slickers. The match itself is good -- nowhere near last year's G1 match -- but the way they adapt to the rainy environment is great. Suzuki of course spends much of the match working over Okada's arm. Suzuki's facials are terrific as always and Okada's selling is good for the most part -- I really liked him collapsing into the ropes on the octopus hold. Okada hits a couple of Rainmakers, Suzuki lets loose with the slaps and body shots. I liked Okada using the Gotch-style tombstone after Suzuki struggles to hit his and then the final octopus hold with …

Talk about it here.

This is one of the main events for Jinsei Shinzaki's 25th Anniversary show. It is also for the Sendai Girls title that was vacated by Ayako Hamada following her arrest back in May. The basic storyline of the match is a contrast in styles between the matwork/power moves of Chihiro and the brawling/highspots of DASH. The finishing run has DASH throwing everything at Chihiro till she runs out of big moves and then has to rely on hitting rollups for all kinds of angles. Eventually though, Chihiro's strength and resolve is too much and she regains the title. I didn't like this as much as their more frenetic match from the previous month but it's still a very solid title match.…

Definitely a low blow to OTT from Progress for stealing this match, but an awesome match nonetheless. Jordan Devlin is someone who has been making noise in Ireland for the past year, and if you haven't noticed by now, then you will eventually because it's only a matter of time. The crowd are already super behind Devlin, even going to the point to booing the hell out of Ospreay who was once the promotion's hero. Mostly a moves/spot fest of a match, but it was nice to see someone on Ospreay's athletic level once again, ****1/2.

Undisputed Era continue to refine their chickenshit trio shtick in wonderful ways. With British Strong Style being the overwhelming hometown favorites, seeing them absolutely thrash the Era was a wonderful thing to see. Strong, O'Reilly, and Cole bumped huge for all three BSS guys and it was great. Perhaps one of my favorite spots was Adam Cole taking a huge jumping bump off of a Dunne forearm. Speaking of Dunne, that man is so good at being a fired up, intense babyface. He really sells the hatred he has for Strong and all their interactions make me eagerly anticipate their inevitable singles blow off match. Great match here, fast paced, exciting, and with the right…

Honestly this was a great match, but admittedly I don't think it was as good as their match from March. The intensity and story was there, and I loved Kenous performance, but what was missing from this match was I guess the urgency from both guys. Lots of hard strikes and big moves as is the signature NOAH style, but I would've liked to have seen both guys actually trying to win the match rather than just beat the hell out of each other. Of course it keeps both guys looking strong in deafeat or victory, but at the same time it makes Kenoh especially look somewhat premature to take hold of the ship. The old guard vs young generation war rages on with Go stepping up to Sugi…

Finally, Zack Gibson puts on his best performance to date. Not that I ever thought Gibson was a bad wrestler, but he never has been able (or even wanted to) show off his actual wrestling skills. He was great in picking apart Dunne’s arm though. Dunne on the other hand was also very good here in selling his arm and his exciting offense. His face persona is a little weird to get behind, but he still knows how to build up the drama when needed. I don’t know how much longer he will hold the UK title, but it seems he’s just getting started as champ, ****1/2.

This was probably my favorite of the Baszler title defenses. Although the matches are hit and miss for me, Baszler's persona has always impressed. I love this MMA destroyer sadist gimmick they're going for with her. Here it was on display wonderfully with Baszler just going straight for Storm and zoning in on a weakness. For her part, Toni Storm put in an amazing babyface performance selling her leg to perfection. I'm a huge mark for crumble spots and there were some lovely, lovely crumble spots here. Some good false finishes too especially with Storm just escaping the clutch long enough to set up the count out finisher. ***3/4