Microstatistics

I thought the first 5 minutes or so were good but then, after the first AA counter, the match structure completely fell apart and they just started exchanging big moves and finishers for 10+ minutes straight. It wasn't necessarily that bad but just lazy and unrewarding. Ok match but no way MOTYC level. ** 1/2 If I understood it correctly, Loss's assessment is pretty interesting in that finisher spam stuff was actually Cena's usual strategy of exchanging big moves until he comes out on top and it wasn't enough this time. I don't really see it that way (mainly because the way they executed it wasn't particularly good) but that's a unique position.

One of the lesser known Tamura classics. Maybe his best pre-RINGS match. Amazing matwork, amazing crowd. ****3/8

When do you ever say anything positive about WWE? You are one of the biggest complainers on the board. I just posted about how I love how Smackdown has been doing more with a roster that most people would consider lesser than Raw. I used to almost never watch SD and now it's my favorite WWE show. Really, my only issues with WWE is positioning Steph as the Alpha Female beyond reproach which at this point is what it is, and their insistence on continuing to miscast Roman as Smiling Babyface Diesel when he could be used 1000% better as a heel. I get far more annoyed by "wrestling twitter" types who seemingly don't realize how snobbish they come off when they browbeat the plebs for not liking the same things they do. But the thing is the moment they turn him heel, he will no longer be considered the guy WWE is trying to shove down the crowd's throats and will automatically become "cool" like Jericho or Owens or Rollins and people will immediately start cheering him. So if right now he is a face who gets booed, he will become yet another heel who gets face pops.

Yes. It's the Contrarian-to-stupid-contrarian-meta-mainstream-WWE-fans-&-Evil-Meltzer-japaneseshit-workrate-culture attitude. That's the way now. Be in on it. #lolmovez. The praise might sound like over-compensation but it's just about giving him the credit he deserves and is never going to get from mainstream fans. The extent of the praise is appropriate too. No one is pretending he is suddenly Jun Akiyama or Negro Casas and is an absolute master of pro wrestling. Just acknowledging he is a good/very good worker based on recent performances/matches. And honestly, apart from AJ Styles and maybe some of the women, I can't think of anyone on the main roster who is better than him. Also the assessment that he is bad at selling is nuts. His selling is his biggest strength to me. As to El-P's contrarian point, I actually agree with it to a certain extent. I feel people like Big Show and Mark Henry get way too much praise on this site, sometimes as a response to their mainstream perception. Roman is different though, IMO. His case is more about people blindly hating him rather than genuinely thinking he is bad.

Wow people really like Kevin Owens. The reaction to the end has been overwhelming positive to the point that no one cares it was all about HHH again. To play devil's advocate, I don't think it is necessarily HHH's fault if he gets cheered/encouraged for this. Modern crowds have completely diluted the face/heel dynamic and will love anything that gives their favorites a push.

The Cesaro match from 2/2014 is great, even better than Cesaro's match with Cena that month. Also I thought his selling in this match was really good.

For me almost all of pro wrestling's greatness lies in the matches/in ring work. Being able to play characters, tell stories etc all through non-verbal "fake" fighting in the ring. I have never been high on the angle/promo driven stuff in US wrestling. They can be effective in initially setting up a feud but then too much emphasis is placed on random skits and on talking in general. Intensity, hatred, arrogance etc. can easily and clearly be presented in matches, non-verbally. Far too much talking for my taste. The only real exception might be the Funk-Lawler Empty Area match but I consider that to be a match. Same with comedy which can be organically incorporated into matches like Yoshiaki Fujiwara or Negro Casas are able to do. Don't need to dedicate huge amounts of time to tangential segments of comedy. I don't mind pre-match interviews though. So for me the better the matches, the better the wrestling.

I don't know about the PWO circle, but yeah generally that ladder match (and Jericho in general) got a ton of praise at the time. Almost everyone thought it was four star - MOTYC level stuff. Haven't seen it in years but I remember it being one of the weaker matches of their 08 series.

I'm not their parent. Not my job to look out for wrestlers' well being, even if I wish them all the best. But if every match looked like Battlarts or older Japanese shoot style promotions I wouldn't be long for the show. Its one thing to mix that in as part of the overall package being presented. I know what channel UFC is on and can turn there whenever I wish. Not sure if you're talking from a match quality point of view or safety point of view. For the former it's much better than the million finisher kickout stuff while for the latter it's no worse than the high spot/huge bump stuff that's getting people injured. Anyways it was probably a one time thing and it's extremely unlikely it becomes the the norm.

I don't think anyone is making excuses for Rollins anymore. The bloom is clearly off the rose. Everyone is calling him a reckless fuck, which he is. Mostly what I see on twitter is just stupid jokes about Bret Hart's next interview about him, not anyone actually addressing that Rollins is in fact a reckless fuck. Yes it's weird. Brock got so much shit for what was obviously a work while Rollins is receiving minimal criticism for legitimately injuring people. Once can be accidental but three times in a relatively short period of time means he is doing something wrong.

Nominating Sasha Banks vs. Charlotte (WWE, 8/21) - Yes

A match that smoked everything else that happened during that event. Great psychology with the back, the selling was top notch and Charlotte took some brutal bumps along the way. The botched spot was ugly but ironically setup the rest of the match nicely. The Eddie-Rey dynamic was really good with Banks using her wits and speed while Charlotte used her size and strength. ***1/2

I liked the main event too. I actually really liked the finish. It obviously wasn't a shoot. Brock is not an idiot, he wouldn't legitimately start hurting Orton for no reason. It was a great improvisation (assuming obviously it wasn't the original finish) and fit his character perfectly. But people were shitting on Brock for it and calling him dangerous/reckless. The fact that he made it feel real should actually be a real testament to him. The Shane stuff was pointless though.

So according to reddit, Cena-Styles was a five star match and the Brock-Orton finish was a shoot.

I wouldn't go that far but he has definitely declined since 2014. His peak was 2011-2014 but now it's all downhill it seems.

I didn't really notice that before, that's a good observation. One of the all time great sprint brawls with nuclear heat. Loved how Fujiwara went from the hyper aggressive heel to a sympathetic figure in a span of 13 minutes. **** 1/4

Agreed. Don't really understand the appeal. Far too reliant on the sing-along catchphrases and schtick. Same with the New Day.

Jushin Liger Nemesis: Shinjiro Ohtani Archenemy: Naoki Sano

Excellent match. The slowish beginning actually worked really well because the way the match escalated was superb. Tons of neat little touches, an all time great performance from Slaughter, and a clever finish. **** 1/4

A superb match for sure. Absolutely visceral hatred, great selling and an all time great finish/post-match. **** 1/4

Basically this. A superb sprint. **** 1/4

Nearly impossible to go wrong with a bloody lucha brawl. Many of them are formulaic, but it's a winning formula. This one is particularly famous because of the amount of blood and it's true, Santo's head leaves puddles of blood all around the place. Screwy finish but it's a really interesting twist. ****

Just a notch below their 1984 matches but still really really good, which tells you about the general quality of the series. It continues the theme of Fujiwara the superior grappler vs. Tiger the superior striker. Snug matwork, good strikes and great selling. Terrific finish as well.

Had reviewed this in the Hashimoto microscope thread. This is a polarizing match to say the least with opinions ranging from "it's garbage" to "it's an all time classic". Regardless of the booking, as a match I thought it was pretty excellent. Ogawa was pretty good in this actually with great looking offense (though it did get repetitive) and I liked his frequent taunting. Hashimoto carries it though with his selling and ability to generate drama. There was also a cool spot where he tried to minimize the distance between himself and Ogawa to counteract the strikes. They could have taken it home about 2-3 minutes earlier though because the finishing stretch dragged a bit. **** 1/4

This is tremendous, I am surprised people equate it to the WM 25 match because the attempted storytelling is far more obvious and there is much less emphasis on the finisher kickouts themselves. The commentary is beyond atrocious and hurts the match, to the point that I have actively tried to search for versions with Spanish commentary. But I can't fault the wrestlers for that. Jimmy Redman's review is really good and I agree with most of it. I'll say though that I thought Shawn realized he couldn't win after the second superkick kickout which led to the "you have to put me down" finish. All the counters were fresh and logical. Shawn wrestled with this weird mix of desperation/urgency and toned down his usual panache, which enhanced the importance of the stipulation. Taker's selling was superb throughout. One of the best matches in the company's history. ****5/8