Boss Rock

Sabre vs. Ishii at WK for the RevPro title! https://lastwordonprowrestling.com/2018/11/09/breaking-tomohiro-ishii-vs-zack-sabre-jr-announced-for-wrestle-kingdom-13/ I'm glad that even though NJPW won't give Ishii another singles title run, they'll at least let him defend the RevPro title at shows.

Jarrett is probably up there as well.

I enjoyed the last two Ishii-Suzuki matches but there was always too much outside shenanigans and contrived crowd brawling to make them truly "great". That all changed with this match as they intentionally kept everything in the ring. Good Lord the shots they threw in this match. The previous matches had been physical but Suzuki and Ishii laid into each other way more then they ever had before. I really got the sense that everything that had happened in the previous matches was building up to this. No crowd brawling, no chair shots. Just heavy, back-and-forth bombs. The match went on maybe 2-3 minutes longer than it needed to but this was still and incredibly fun and violent contest. ****1/4.

Didn't see any of it, but Brock winning and Hogan showing up already makes it sound like the worst show of the year.

Thought the show was really good. The Junior Tag League final was fun even if I thought Takagi and BUSHI should have won. Goto-Taichi was proof Taichi CAN be decent when he wants to be. Ishii-Suzuki was their best match yet and unbelievably physical. Naito-Sabre was great. I know the main event was kept shorter than the typical 30-minute format due to Jericho's age and physical limitations, but I really wish it was something we got more of. I tend to be more forgiving of the format then others, but I see this match and then remember Naito-Suzuki NEVER needed to be 30+ minutes. Brawler Jericho continues to deliver and EVIL turned in maybe his best performance of the year. And Naito remaining in the IC picture isn't ideal but I resigned myself to that after the G-1 and it stings less and less, heh.

I'm sort of letting everything marinate after making my rough draft. I feel pretty confident my top 15-20 will remain as is but I plan on giving everything a re-watch as the deadline approaches. And as much as AJPW dominated the top 25 (as expected), I'm happy with the amount of different styles represented on my list. I'm also glad that a lot more recent matches (even stuff from this year) holds up to stuff 10-20 years ago. I know some folks don't want to include anything within the last few years in order to have proper perspective down the line, but I personally think that if my opinion on a match remains largely the same after repeated views, then it belongs on the list.

I have to imagine the conversation between Tanahashi and Jay going into this match was "Hey, let's do the WK match again except, y'know, good." From a lame Bray Wyatt imitator who had no clue how to work his gimmick to a conniving, power-hungry heel who will do anything to win, the last few months have been quite the turnaround for Jay. The leg work here was much more focused than it was at WK and Jay and Gedo's cheating came off as clever and purposeful as opposed to the drawn-out bullshit you see in so many Taichi and Suzuki-Gun matches. Speaking of Gedo, why did he ever think being a face manager for Okada was a good idea? This man was born to be a heel and his presence and interference really gives even more legitimacy to Jay's run as a top heel. Tanahashi more than held up his end of the bargain as well with a strong face performance that continues to prove he's not slowing down nearly as much as we think. ****

Thought this was a really fun spotfest but not one that needed to go 30+. Then again, this is a NJPW main event so I don't know what I was expecting. That being said, it was structured pretty nicely to focus on Kenny and Ibushi's strengths as flashy, athletic workers and covering up Cody's weaknesses. I did like Cody and Ibushi working together if only briefly and Ibushi finally getting fed up and smacking the shit out of Kenny. Thought the wrong guy took the fall here but I get they didn't want the U.S. Champ to take a loss while also tying the score between Kenny and Ibushi. By no means a MOTYC and could have used some time shaving, but still a really fun triple-threat. ****1/4.

Terrific match and one of the best of the year. After years of struggling to be a sympathetic face, Ospreay continues to deliver as an underdog. WALTER also did a great job of always as the big mean bastard but had an added touch of viciousness by powerbombing Ospreay on the stage and attempting to off it. I agree that the shenanigans at the end weren't needed especially with WALTER still going over and it was longer than it needed to be, but still an excellent match from two guys who have already had great years. ****3/4.

Quite possibly the best AJPW match of 2018 and easily the best Zeus match ever. AJPW following NJPW's trend of 30+ main events is a bit concerning, but despite not much of importance happening in the first 7-8 minutes, the length still felt earned in a way. Zeus, having constantly been surpassed by Kento the past few years, finally got his moment and beat him for the title. And yet three months later, here Kento is again. I felt that really added an extra layer of storytelling to Zeus largely dominating this match. He not only knows how tough Kento is firsthand, but he's determined to do whatever it takes to put Kento behind him for good. This wasn't a squash, but the beatdown segments of chops and clotheslines made most of this match fairly one-sided. And while my biggest criticism of Kento has always been how easily he mounts comebacks and how little he sells the previous work done to him, he never once got his streak of "Nope, I'm fine!". Rather, he'd use his speed to evade Zeus and hit a running knee. He threw maybe a bit too many of these, but it worked in the sense that it was a quick yet powerful shot that would buy him some time to recover. If it works, why not keep using it? I also liked how he attempted the O'Connor roll that helped him beat Yuji Hino after being dominated by a much a stronger opponent. And while I would have preferred Zeus to get the definitive victory, Kento's win didn't feel cheap either. It really came across as the experienced main-eventer knowing how to dig down deep and finish the job whereas Zeus isn't quite there yet. Tremendous title match and one of the year's best. Watch this match now. ****3/4

I actually dig Cody a lot because his character work has been great and he's a tremendous promoter. Just not crazy about his in-ring ability.

I think a triple-threat would work much better if it was Yano rather than Cody. They could do sooooo much with Yano repeatedly trying to steal the win. While probably not as exciting an option as say Shingo, Kawato's always had loads of potential is already better than more than half the junior division. I'd be thrilled.

I haven't seen too much of him this year, but I really liked the Aramis match and he still looked as quick as ever. And the aspuestas match with Adonis was not only easily the best singles match of Adonis' career, but was borderline great.

Thoughts from this past week's episode. Azteca-Ivelisse was a solid match, but I've sort of been underwhelmed by Azteca this season. For some reason he seems slower and sort of like he's just going through the motions. The handrail spot was particularly nasty. Cuerno-Mil was sort of choppy in-ring but the brawling on the outside was awesome. I really liked how they didn't just pretend their past feud didn't happen and that really fueled their actions in the ring. Jake Strong is every bit as dynamic on the mic as he is in the ring. I don't know why I'm surprised he's sucked so much considering how his WWE career turned out, but in all honesty I missed much of his singles run and only recall him having decent matches with Rusev and an awesome tag team with Cesaro. This feud with Drago and Aerostar would be soooooo much better with a guy like Cage. Hell, just use Hernandez again. The matches with Drago weren't classics but he knew how to be an effective bully. I dig Jeremiah as part of the Reptile Tribe as it not only allows them to highlight Callihan's positives as a crazy sprint worker, but he's also over-the-top enough to make the whole snake thing work. I just find it funny there was no further development with him and Catrina. Like, was he a ghost? What was the importance of that board he took from Dario's office last season? The direction with Fenix should certainly be interesting to say the least. And not to spoil anything, but lots of folks will be happy with the ending vignette.

Kenny and Okada are probably my easy picks for most athletic right now. Not just the variety of their movesets but how much they've been able to do in matches that have gone 46, 60, and 69 minutes. Misawa definitely stands out when considering past wrestlers. Guy's movement and execution when doing stuff like the corkscrew lariat and the running plancha were incredible. Even after years of wear and tear on his body he still looked quick and smooth as hell in the 2003 Kobashi match.

I feel like the only Money in the Bank scenario they could still do that they haven't done yet is someone cashing in during a ladder match right after the two competitors get wiped out in a huge spot. Briefcase holder cashes in and easily unhooks the title.

But the questions here really isn't "was he a good worker or promo". It's was he important. That's why pretty much everyone says Cena was more important than Hansen even if Hansen is a better wrestler in every single way. And Goldberg was never a great worker and he was absolutely important. And in this case, merch sales and audience reaction rivaling Cena who's one of the biggest wrestling stars ever seems pretty important. Even if his run at the top was relatively short, no one outside of maybe Punk for a brief period got close to doing that. And while he may not have been the first to do big ladder spots, he's almost always the first guy people think of and emulate when doing ladder spotfets today. The ROH ladder war and even the most recent NXT ladder match were absolutely love letters to the triangle ladder/TLC matches of the 2000's. And he may not have been the only guy in those matches, but other than the Edge spear spot, almost every highlight involves him. Now whether or not that's a good thing is again personal opinion. Now was Bryan more important in regards to how WWE views/signs talent and how NXT is built today? Absolutely. But saying Hardy wasn't important just because he wasn't a very good worker I don't think is really relevant to the question.

Action-packed and no padding, exactly what this match needed to be. Tons of urgency in this one as both guys (Penta in particular) were hitting each other with some nasty shots. And while both guys are occasionally prone to excess, they did a great job of escalating each spot. Penta also looked every bit the main event player Kenny is. Not just with his insane physical charisma (seeing this match live, his crowd control skills are fantastic), but how he was able to keep up with Kenny move for move. Excellent match. ****1/4.

Loved this. Was every bit the high octane balls to the wall action you'd expect from having these four in the same ring. Compared to the Tanahashi and Okada tags where everyone sort of felt like they were taking it easy, everyone busted their ass to make this a ppv caliber bout. I thought Ospreay was great in this match and proof that the juniors shouldn't just be the fall guys in these tags. Ospreay, KUSHIDA, and Hiromu would not feel out of place at all against the heavyweights. Tag team spot wrestling at its finest. ****1/4

Loved Brenda during the wedding. Her soundbites are always hilarious and I agree they've done a good job of keeping her featured but not over-exposing her.

I originally voted that I couldn't decide, but ultimately I would go with Bryan. I still think Hardy deserves credit for being the star that he was and for being at least partly influential for the high risk indie style. But Bryan is one of the biggest indie stars ever and while Punk was really the first to open the door for indie darlings in WWE, Bryan played a huge part in that too and proved a guy who didn't have the typical "look" or personality of a guy like Austin or the Rock could become a top star.

I think this sells Hardy short, although I won't defend his transgressions or claim he was the greatest worker. It's true that he mainly got over due to his spot-heavy style in the TLC and ladder matches, but I really don't think those were just cheap pops. He legitimately connected with fans in those matches and he continued to build that connection in later years. I don't know who else at that time would have gotten those reactions against the Undertaker in the famous "Make yourself famous kid!" match. And during his 2008-2009 face run he rivaled Cena in terms of audience reaction and merch sales. I also have to think he at least partially inspired the spot-heavy indie style you see so often today. Whether or not that's a good thing is truly in the eye of the beholder, but it's still pretty impactful.

Hardy never really got that "top guy" run but he was easily one of the most popular wrestlers of the aughts and is the only wrestler who legitimately rivaled and perhaps even surpassed Cena in merch sales which I don't believe has ever been replicated.

I was sort of considering punting on this season considering it's been largely just OK and I've been watching other things, but I had some time today and finally got caught up. And I have to say, these last two episodes were definitely one of the better ones this season. I agree with Savage about how rushed the story with XO, Ivelisse, and Joey is but I thought the No Mas match overall was really good. XO has easily been one of my favorite wrestlers this season. Jack remains a tremendous dickhead. My only issue was XO not getting the clean victory and Ivelisse and Joey helping him. Still, this seems like a really cool trio. Jake Strong sucks. He just looks so bored and lifeless like he doesn't even want to be there. Easily my least favorite wrestler this season. Really liked the wedding angle but the alignments continue to be all over the place with Worldwide Underground. While I like that Taya and Johnny aren't completely one-dimensional characters and genuinely love each other, their treatment of Ricky made Matanza laying out Johnny, Famous B (loved his selling of the wheelchair suplex), and PJ very cathartic. Like Ricky is a psycho killer now, but we're clearly supposed to feel sorry for him. And Johnny going from feuding with the Reptile Tribe and freeing Drago to being a complete and utter douche to Ricky, it's just confusing. Ricky letting out Matanza to wreak havoc was a fun twist rather than Matanza just ruining the wedding for reasons, though. The Catrina-Melissa martial arts fight was tremendous. One of my favorite LU vignettes ever. And it's clear that Fenix is probably corrupted in some way. Killshot-Havoc is developing rather nicely. While I again agree with Savage's sentiment that everything feels rushed this season, the motivations are a lot more clear in this feud. Killshot-Steve was also a surprisingly solid match. Killshot was methodical in breaking down Steve, who in turn did a great job selling the damage. Pentagon-Hernandez was fine but definitely the worst of Pentagon's title defenses. That being said, this felt more like Hernandez being bad than Pentagon not delivering. And I've been waiting for a Pentagon-Cuerno feud forever, so I'm definitely excited for that.

Can't believe I forgot about Mil. Co-sign.