July 2018

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Not quite as good as their Sakura Genesis match, but this was still damn good. The story throughout the match was ZSJ countering all of Okada's signature moves. Whether it was the rainmaker, elbow or dropkick similar to their first match. Only difference in this match is Sabre picked up a huge win and and slump of Okada continues prior to the G1. ****1/2

This was a fight, this was a war and I was so here for it. It amazes me that Suzuki is 50 years old and is not only putting MOTYC quality matches, but these brutal, stiff kind of matches he's putting on for his age. Nothing but violence for the 2 toughest men in wrestling and it's my guilty pleasure match. I know what it does to their body, but it's amazing to watch. ****1/2

One of the best 205 Live matches ever and the best main roster match of 2018. These guys were tied 1-1 in their feud and showed great chemistry before, but they took that chemistry and experience to a whole another level. They told a spectacular story with Ali battling back and refusing to give up. it was violent and played to the stipulation very well. Fantastic Match. ****1/2

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Matsumoto is a former Pancrase fighter. This is billed as a gi jiu-jitsu exhibition, but it's a very pro wrestling match. At one point, Sato takes his purple belt off and starts whipping Matsumoto with it like he's LA Park, which is just wonderful. It's a short match but Sato is really good on this. Matsumoto (a brown belt) outclasses him on the ground and so Sato rolls out of the ring after a pinfall attempt, then he tries to do an Irish whip and fails, and then just starts throwing strikes. Sato gets the win by choking Matsumoto with his belt.

If you've see one of them, you've seen them all and it will never not be awesome. They delivered their usual crazy, dangerous style of match that they are known for. Will never not get tired of this matchup and almost a guaranteed ****1/2. D Lee hit a Phoenix Plex and the way Hiromu slide across on his neck was so cringe worthy and hope he didn't get too hurt by it. ****1/2

Great old school babyface vs heel match played out with more brutal spots. Loved the story working around Robinson's injured hand and how he wasn't allowed to use the cast as a weapon. All the guardrail spots felt fittingly brutal and added to the heat of the match. Cow Palace was absolutely eating up everything both guys did without being smarky or cool about it. They just booed the heel and cheered the babyface, what a joyous rarity in 2018. Even the little bit with Barnett didn't bother me so much as the crowd got seriously riled up and added to White's heat. Thought White was far more charismatic and natural in this match than I've ever seen him all year and he …

This is a Cody match, so of course not everyone will be a fan of it, but personally speaking this is the best Cody singles match to date. This match turned out to be a wild brawl filled with weapons and lots of heat for Cody and Kenny to beat the hell out of each other. Call it "smoke and mirrors" if you want, a good match is still a good match in my eyes no matter how it is presented. Sure it wasn't the standard IWGP Heavyweight title matches that were set by Okada the last two years, but this match didn't have to be like that at all. If anything, I'm glad both men took a risk with this match and made it different from the rest of the title matches in making this feel hu…

Not quite as good as their Dominion match, but this was still great. The Bucks are incapable of having anything less than a great match at this point and EVIL & SANADA continue to be great as well. Bucks NJPW matches have been more storytelling, but this was more of a sprint. The ref bump was completely unnecessary and added nothing to the match and took away a little bit for me, but didn't damage it enough to completely take away from the match. ****

This was the makeshift main-event for this show as both of the original participants, Delilah Doom and Shotzi Blackheart, both suffered injuries before the show leaving the Phoenix of RISE. All things considered, this match ended up being pretty good. The lead up to the first fall was the highpoint of the match as a brawl on the outside goes Martinez's way allowing her to hit a hanging DDT on the floor. Tessa just beats the count back in only to get hit with a Fisherman's Buster instantly by Martinez to take the first fall. Tessa does bounce back too quickly and her selling in general down the stretch isn't great. They do have a nice finishing run that has some good drama…

A perfect TV-style main event match. Provided atmosphere by the guest ring announcer and then given a concise layout and tight match time. Immediate urgency with the heel antics of the referee and just enough high spots in the crowd bump, suicide dive, and the 450. Follow it up with a hot angle to lead into a hot story, and this is a good example of booking a main event to create interest in future shows. ***3/4

Tokyo Princess Cup - Semi Final: Yuka Sakazaki vs. Rika Tatsumi Pissed-off Rika! Rika was aggressive, thinking on her feet, making those split-second counters. That frustration also led to mistakes that Yuka was able to capitalize on. Good storytelling in this match. Rika hits a cool Twist of Fate between the ropes, and nailed that diving hip attack. ***3/4

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A very simple match. Nakajima is the veteran - his new sleazy look works perfectly with his demeanor - and does not give one single fuck about the Strong BJ young kids, so he takes any chance he gets to beat the fuck out of them. Kitamiya is the enforcer of the team, though he never establishes control like a Nak, he's there to change the pace and do some cool exchanges with Kamitani. As we know, Nomura and Kamitani are not easy to put down so we basically get one of those "4 people stiffing each other for 20 minutes" tag matches. Everyone involved plays their role perfectly so of course the simple formula works like a charm. Korakuen is red hot and behind the Big Japan u…

Wild. An absolute tag team classic. Trent Seven puts in a career performance as the Ricky Morton when Roddy gets the early advantage with the knee breaker on the steel steps. This leads into an extended heat segment, and probably the best heat segment the Era have ever put together. Their attacks on Seven's knee were convincingly brutal and Seven sold the agony extremely well. The hot tag to finally get Bate in was nuclear hot and the story of Bate not wanting to tag Seven in was conveyed brilliantly. Loved that he had to get dropped into the corner before Seven could actually tag himself in. From there, it's a matter of the Era piling on the offensive until that fantasti…

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A great, hard hitting match. Love when two big lads run into each other and scream. Really picked up in the closing minutes with the final stretch being fantastic. Nothing fancy, the match I'd hoped they'd have with a nice little story with EVIL working on Elgin's arm as well. ****

I expected this match to go long and it was more of condensed version of their past matches. Probably my favorite one considering it only went 14 or so minutes. Played off their January match well with Suzuki destroying Tanahashi's leg. Tana's comeback was great with him still selling the leg and fighting to overcome. Loved how Suzuki was the one on top for most of the match, but a beautiful full circle with Tanahashi destroying Suzuki's leg with a nasty dragon screw. Great stuff. RIP both their legs. ****1/4

When I'm wrong, I'm wrong. After his Dome match with Tanahashi, I thought Jay White was the blandest, most ridiculous looking trying-hard indie loser on the whole New Japan roster. But the guy just keeps coming back with great performance after great performance and this was undoubtedly a great performance. I feel like White actually kind of outshined Okada on this particular outing. Okada and White both start hot with the near-hits of both their finishers and I enjoyed the fresh attitude Okada brought to the match along with the more stripped down red-themed version of his look. That new Okada did start to fade away as the match went on though and portions of this m…