cactus
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Everything posted by cactus
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Enjoyable enough, but pales in comparison to the Funk/Onita match that I watched last week. They do a great job building up to the first bump into the cage. Hayabusa loses after taking multiple powerbombs, ends up losing but he looks strong in defeat. ★★★ -
I wasn't in the mood to watch wrestling, but YouTube put this in my feed and I couldn't say no. Takayama is a shoot guy, and Kawada tries to play his game. It first leaves Kawada with a sore arse and then Takayama literally kicks Kawada out of the ring and stops him from getting back him, asserting his dominance. Takayama ends up not taking Kawada seriously and it ends up costing him. Kawada looked like a top star, with Takayama looking like a credible threat too. Some good selling and body language here too. A stiff, compact match with a satisfying finish. ★★★½
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Enjoyable enough. Tanaka's the only guy that I'm familiar with and he was by far the best guy in the match. After Koji takes a fall to outside and is taken out of the majority of the match, so Tanaka's team is one down. Tanaka mounts up a pretty decent comeback despite everything else in this match being a bit of a mess. The final stretch sees some glorious Thunder Fire Powerbombs. I feel sorry for the two poor bastards who take a drop into the explosive barbed wire that the cameras fail to pick up. ★★¾
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Holy shit, wasn't expecting that result. Fun match. Weak show by Takeover standards though.
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Io Shirai has zero chance. She's obviously only here to take the fall.
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Eh you're probably right. Cornette jokingly referred to Cross as Marc Mero the other week and he seems to have a pretty good grasp on how Vince thinks.
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That was easily the best match of the night so far. They clearly have big things in mind for Cross.
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UWFi reference too. I usually find Mauro annoying, but if he can drop in Battlarts reference and he's forgiven for every Mamma Mia!
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Cross looks like a star. Kawada name drop!
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Yeah, that was the weakest of all the cinematic matches they've done so far. Todd Pettengil being trapped in the WWE warehouse since 1997 has been some of the best stuff of the night so far.
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This isn't doing much for me.
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Minor complaints aside, this has been the best Gargano match I've seen in a long time. I popped big for the pounce spot.
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That wouldn't surprise me at all. I was enjoying this a lot more when Lee was toying with Gargano. Gargano working Lee this easily doesn't sit well with me.
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Yeah, I'm so over with comic book gear in wrestling. BLM gear on Keith Lee. Guy's the ultimate babyface. He's got a million dollar smile.
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I kinda liked Corbin in NXT as the indie darling killer. Heel Gargano on the other hand, is the dirt worst.
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My bad. Haven't been following the TV shows and I assumed he was being treated as a big deal. Fun match. Priest looked decent. First time I've seen him.
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No doubt he's fallen far since his main roster debut, but I think him being in NXT as a star is a better position to be in than being lost in the midcard on the main roster. On that note, I have zero interest in this match. I'm glad they are getting the stuff I'm interested out of the way though.
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Looks like I'm PWO's sole nu-metal apologist! 4 suicide dives and planchas already and we are barely 20 minutes in. Pretty meh match.
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The nostalgia is strong with this opening. I couldn't stand Todd Pettengil as a kid, but it's good to see him. I love how Code Orange have become WWE's house band of sorts. Been following them for years.
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Should be a fun show! I never got the appeal of Adam Cole. He represents everything I don't enjoy in modern wrestling. At least his match with Dream has been pretaped, so I'm hoping more Cinematic Wrestling™ ridiculousness and less superkicks and flips ridiculousness.
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This was the first ever puro match that I watched and it will always have a special place in my heart because of that. This is the perfect Dome match. From the larger than life entrances to, the emphasis on hardcore wrestling and the special moments like Liger getting his mask ripped off, this was New Japan doing sports entertainment and it pays off supremely well. I can't name a better you a better performance from Mutoh as Muta either. He gets frustrated that Liger has got his number and he's a treat to watch. ★★★★★
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The roles are reversed from their famous match that they had later in the year, with Starr playing the prick heel antagoniser to perfection. After betraying Delvin, Starr enters the arena with a smug look on his face and wearing the colors of the Irish flag on his trunks, complete with a t-shirt with a picture Delvin and Starr on it. This infuriates Delvin and they brawl around the arena. The crowd brawling looks decent for once, with some spots peppered in to keep things interesting. Once the match starts, Starr quickly takes control of the Irish Ace. This is much less melodramatic than their later match, but they harm it by doing too much and trying to get their shit in, making the big moments matter less. I enjoyed this more when the action slowed down and they slot in some organic storytelling, like the spot where Starr violently headbutts Devlin, or when he goes for his injured thumb. A potentially great match, harmed by the many tropes of modern indie wrestling. ★★★½
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Wow, I loved everything about this, even down to the little things like how this was shot. There is a lot of barbed wire spots in this, but they treat them all with respect and I'd never been more on the edge of my seat than I was watching these two start the match with the most intense lock-up ever. Funk doing his usual punch-drunk stumbling near the barbed wire made me gasp with horror. Onita, bloodied and his clothes torn by the barbed wire, looked like a total badass. Onita scoring the win before the explosions going off doesn't bother me one bit, as it gives way to highly emotional climax of Onita failing to save Funk from the explosion going off. The guitar solo that played as the smoke cleared was a neat touch that made the moment feel even bigger. All the emotionally charged post-match stuff with Onita crying and Funk refusing to shake his hands added to the match tenfold. This felt like part-short film, part wrestling match. Screw your Firefly Funhouses and your Boneyard matches, this is how you do cinematic wrestling! ★★★★★
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I thought the match was understandably average, but the post match stuff is well worth going out your way to see. Watching that guy in the crowd desperately trying to get Owen to join his brother shows how much the audience were into the Bret vs Owen storyline. The top moments of the actual match were them doing the Samoan headbutt spot and Bret getting some very convincing nearfalls before finally winning the match. ★★
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I'd love to be able to view this as this happened, as it's legendary status ends up hurting the match for me. This was the first ever WWF match to get five stars from Dave Meltzer and it might be one of the most innovative matches ever. The ladder spots feel primitive compared to what we would get less than a decade later. If you try and turn you brain and forget about this match's reputation, you can get a lot of fun out of it. I could watch Ramon, a man with seriously underrated punch, jab Michaels around the ring all day. The ladder spots are solid, yet unremarkable through 2020 eyes. I'd still say this is a great match, just an overrated one because of it's status. ★★★¾