Boss Rock

Still haven't seen all of the show, but Riddle-Strong was terrific and the ladder match was every bit the fun spotfest it needed to be. Really worried they were gonna go with Forgotten Sons but they finally did the thing with the Profits. Io-Shayna was really good from what I saw but post-match aside, continuing Shayna's reign as champ is the definition of uninspired. Even if they're building to Shayna-Candice, they're about a year or so too late. Didn't hate the ME but didn't really pay attention to it either. Seemed more excessive than their last match and while that match felt more earned with the kick-outs, this match just felt like they were trying to top themselves for no reason. As much as Cole doesn't "wow" me as a singles wrestler, he does seem to gel with people well and he's a really good heel, so I'm interested in how this reign goes. But the fact that it comes just a month after Johnny seemed to finally put all his past failures behind him seems kinda dumb.

I used to be a huge Ambrose fan but slowly lost interest due to a combination of his ring work and the goofiness of his character. It's somewhat relieving to know he thought pretty much every goofy thing he did was dumb and tried push back. I can only hope being this invigorated outside of the WWE will make both his character and in-ring work that much better.

If you've already seen SHO-Shingo, SHO-Dragon Lee, and Taguchi-Douki (I'm pretty sure all three of those were in the first week), these would be my recommendations: Rocky-Phantasmo Ospreay-Phantasmo Ospreay-Eagles Dragon Lee-Shingo Dragon Lee-Titan Ospreay-Bandido Dragon Lee-Gresham Tiger Mask-Gresham Ospreay-YOH Ospreay-Romero SHO-Scurll Bandido-Eagles There have been a whole lot of fun matches, but those are probably the essentials. Can't recommend Romero-Phantasmo enough.

It's a good-looking belt. Someone told me they heard it was inspired by the Mid-South North American Heavyweight Championship.

Quite possibly the match of the tournament thus far. Proof that NJPW main events need to be kept below 30 minutes unless the wrestlers can get to work right away like they did for this one. From the lock-up onwards they really sold the competitive nature between SHO and Shingo. SHO was obsessed with beating the man he considers his "rival" while Shingo was determined to prove SHO wasn't on his level. Excellent back-and-forth bombs with both guys taking each other's best shots. You knew beforehand that Shingo was most likely going to win, but the question was how tough of a fight SHO could give him. And he gave him one hell of a fight. Serious MOTYC. ****3/4

Not sure if this topped SHO's match with Shingo, but it got damn close. The narrative was similar but instead of SHO stepping up to his perceived rival, he was stepping up to the champion. Really dug the armwork and how that affected both men's stamina and offense the longer the match went on. You really got the impression they were running on fumes as 30 minutes got closer and closer. Lots of hard-hitting offense and worked at a much brisker pace than the typical NJPW main event style. A must-watch. ****3/4

Talk about a surprise! This absolutely knocked my socks off. I think what really made this match was how the drama really drove home the overarching narrative. Rocky is the sentimental favorite getting his first Korakuen singles match main event. Phantasmo is the obnoxious, hotshot asshole who's been cheating to win matches the entire tournament despite being talented enough to not have to resort to such tactics. Knowing that Rocky was behind the 8-ball really made the struggle that much more emotional and made it easier to be invested in the match. The submission teases and Phantasmo's dirty tricks had me on the edge of my seat and pulling for Rocky to humble this douchebag. Incredible match and one of the best in-ring stories this year. ****3/4

I don't think I'm quite as high on this match as most (I thought their WrestleCon match was better), but this was still a really fun match. Lots of high-flying and big move offense, it just didn't really reach that next level for me. It's hard to explain, but it never felt like "Holy shit!" and was more like "Yeah, that was really cool." Really entertaining match worth checking out, but there have been better this tournament. ****

I liked this one a lot but I do think it was too long and the pace never quite kicked into overdrive. However, I'd put it on around equal footing as the WK 12 match. Whereas that one was more of a plunderfest, this was more of a hard-hitting fight. I thought they did a good job building up to the bigger spots and moves, but as I mentioned the pace really could have used a boost in the finishing stretch. And botched counter was indeed bad. Still, I thought the offense was mostly well-worked and the selling (particularly Kenny selling the Judas Effect) was good. Great match but could have been better. ****1/4

Yep, only Brock matches are allowed to have blood and that requires him to throw dangerous, shoot elbows.

Moxley being Juice's opponent was a legitimate surprise, and a pleasant one at that. I just hope he's more motivated than he has been his last few years in WWE. As far as ROH is concerned, NJPW should just try to nab as much talent as they can and cut their losses. After ROH's showing at MSG and hiring Enzo and Cass, they would be wise to distance themselves as much as possible (although they still have the co-promoted Summerslam show coming up).

Battle royals to me are a collection of cool moments surrounded by whatever. So they can range from either being fun to terrible. The Over the Budget battle royal from All In remains my favorite because there was actually more to it than just cool moments and tepid elimination attempts. I do think the Royal Rumble format is much better with the individual entrances but having too many folks in at one time can be a problem.

My 2019 pick as of right now.

I still love to go back and look at these lists. Some really good recommendations.

Count me among those who liked the ME. I thought it was more of a harder-hitting affair than the WK match which, while great, was a bit of a plunderfest. It probably didn't need to go on as long as it needed to but I'm glad Jericho still didn't try to match Kenny move-for-move in a match that had less bells and whistles. Show as a whole was great. Didn't catch all of the pre-show but the main card more than delivered. Best Friends-Angelico/Evans, Cody-Dustin, Lucha Bros.-Bucks, and Kenny-Jericho were my favorite matches but nothing else disappointed. I think Jericho going over was a bit strange but I understand wanting to capitalize on his name and recognition, not to mention Kenny-Moxley is the clear feud for both guys. Really interested to see how well Moxley does and if WWE really was just sapping his motivation.

I think Orange Cassidy was just announced as another entrant.

I have to think that a streaming service or alternative is in the works, but yeah not a good move with ppv.

Honestly I want AEW to do well and there a number of wrestlers associated to it that I like. Considering just how stale and lifeless WWE is now, a viable alternative would hopefully do only good things for the fans and the overall industry itself. I do have my reservations because while I like the idea of a more sports-oriented presentation, I can definitely see the BTE humor seeping in and becoming a bit too "wink wink nudge nudge". Whether or not that's a good thing clearly comes down to personal preference, but I personally hope they would reign it back a bit. Barring any major card changes I expect Double or Nothing to be a good show, but I wouldn't be surprised if there are issues with the production considering this is only their second show and they don't have the ROH resources this time. Also, I really hope they reconsider the ppv price going forward.

Here here.

BOSJ has been a blast to watch this year. Thank God they got rid of the single-cam, no commentary matches. It just makes everything so much easier to watch. Along with SHO-Shingo, SHO-Dragon Lee and Rocky-Phantasmo are MOTYC's.

Might be my pick for MOTY if not Violent Giants-Strong BJ 1.

I disagree and never really got that impression. I loved how he blitzed Joe at the beginning and I think he did a great job bumping and selling for Joe's strikes. I agree A.J.'s a bit of a different wrestler in this match than he was in NJPW and now in WWE, but I still thought he was terrific in this match.

Jake Lee vs. Kento Miyahara (AJPW 4/29/2019) The Champion Carnival finals between the dominant ace and the once-struggling up-and-comer who has seemingly begun to put the pieces together. Jake shows a great deal of confidence and fire that he was missing in early years and takes it to Kento almost immediately, overwhelming him with kicks and knees. Kento begins to mount his comeback but Jake continues to stagger the champ with heavy strikes. A really great story of Lee proving himself to be on Kento's level and both men surviving the other's best shots to win the tournament. Excellent offense, selling, and emotion.

One thing I really liked about this project is that nothing felt truly "sacred" in the sense that you could argue why you didn't like a match that's near universally-beloved and everyone would be willing to hear you out. I sort of worried that I didn't "get" wrestling if I didn't think Austin-Bret was a top 50 match or Flair-Steamboat II was the greatest match ever but that was certainly not the case as everyone had a very wide range of opinions and criticisms on pretty much every classic match.

Okada-SANADA was disappointing especially considering how great their last two matches were. I'm sold on the Dominion ME though and BOSJ looks absolutely stacked. Not sure who this new wrestler is they're bringing in to challenge Juice, but I sort of wish they would give Juice feuds with already-established stars. Why not just have a quick feud with Suzuki or do a program with Sabre? With the narrative of Lee wanting a title match with Hiromu, seems pretty certain he'll be back sooner rather than later.