Boss Rock

Great bombfest even if it wasn't quite the classic I was expecting. I like how they didn't spend too much time with the dramatic "You're my best friend!" and got right into "OK, there's no way around this. I'm going to win." Along with Kadaveri I was quite shocked with how violent this match was, but both guys are tremendous bomb throwers and with the stakes being as high as they were, I get it. I also liked how prepared they were for each other's biggest moves, forcing them to raise the bar with each exchange in hopes of putting the other away. I'm not sure I would say this was the best match of the tournament, but it's definitely a must-see. An awesome, 23-minute bombfest without any of the typical main event padding. ****1/2-****3/4

This was pretty typical for a lot of their more recent matches. 10 minutes of inconsequential padding, 5 minutes of solid escalation, and a 15-minute dramatic finishing stretch. The first 10 minutes of this were pretty rough and even though there was an interesting twist of Okada going after Tanahashi's leg, it was dropped pretty quick. Not to mention Okada totally blowing that shinbreaker on the railing. But both guys managed to acquit themselves very well like they tend to do. Okada and Tanahashi just have a way of making their matches feel dramatic and exciting once they get going. They're such a unique pairing. That being said, the story wasn't quite as strong as it was at Dontaku where it was Tanahashi trying to turn back the clock and Okada defending his kingdom. Still, a very good match once they finally got out of the gates. ****-****1/4.

The Mack-Big Ryck reveal was fantastic. Such cheesy goodness. And count me among those disappointed that Vibora got written off. Dude blew me away. And agreed, this season has been rather lackluster outside of a few good matches.

Jake Strong comes off like an even less interesting version of Ryback. The crowd is behind him with the "Strong!" chants but God is he just a black hole of interest. Sammy Guevara jumping off high stuff is neat though. Really liked the GotG match. Have only caught a couple fleeting glimpses of Dezmond Xavier's indie work, so I was really impressed with what I saw. And from the clip I saw of this week's episode, Mil-Mack is gonna be super interesting.

Elgin has easily been one of the worst wrestlers in the tournament, so kudos to Okada for getting something pretty good out of him. Granted, the first half of this match was reeeeaaaalllly slow and ultimately saved by a super-hot finishing stretch (although the opening minutes of Okada trying to big league Elgin were entertaining). Amidst all the criticisms of Okada's leg selling when it comes to mounting his comebacks, I feel like selling is one of the most underrated facets of his game. He does a tremendous job of letting his opponent just beat the crap out of him to the point where you think maybe, just MAYBE they can pull it off. The reason this match (mainly the finishing stretch) worked is that rather than try to go 50-50 with Elgin's boring offensive game like nearly all of his other opponents, Okada just took bomb after bomb and offered only a few glimmers of hope until the end. That splash mountain absolutely had me thinking Elgin had won it right then and there. It's probably the best Elgin has looked all year. Like I said before, this match isn't perfect and the first half is your typical main event padding. But it actually sort of works when they break out into the finishing stretch and that's the part of the match that really delivers.

SANADA continues to rise to the occasion and finally live up to the potential most saw in him when he returned to New Japan. The leg selling by Ibushi was iffy but typical. I just have to accept the guy just has ridiculously strong legs, ha. But other than my qualms with the leg selling, loved pretty much everything else about this. Just some excellent, athletic wrestling.

I thought the first half of this match was a bit slow but they absolutely delivered in the finishing stretch. Some excellent striking exchanges and Gargano's interference was really well done.

These guys always have great chemistry together and this was no exception. Love how the common thread in these matches has been Sabre going after Ishii's arm or arms and Ishii being forced to adapt. Liked that he used the other arm for most of his trademark offense and even managed to hold his own against Sabre in the early grappling exchanges. As fun as it is to watch Ishii clobber people, it's sometimes even better to watch him as the resilient underdog giving his opponent favored to win absolute hell. And the pop-up headbutt to the sternum was just fantastic. ****1/4.

I liked this a lot and I think it really highlights SANADA's development as a singles wrestler. As someone who never really got the hype surrounding him other than having a good look, he's consistently delivered this year and proven he can hang at a main event level with the company's best.

Well holy crap this was something. The no-selling on some of the suplexes was a bit ridiculous, but props to these guys for making it more believable than anyone else in the world could. It's a credit to Tomohiro Ishii's ability to make you think he really is the toughest motherfucker around and that Ibushi has some sort of magic deep down inside him. Some wonderfully outrageous spots and absolutely sick striking exchanges (goddamn throat punches!) make this easily one of the standout matches of the tournament. ****1/2.

Liked this a lot even if it wasn't as good as their 2016 matches. Goto has done pretty well for himself this after a thoroughly disappointing 2017, but this might have been his best match this year. Thought the crowd brawling worked well and added something a bit different to their prior encounters and Goto getting a bit more aggressive really fit their history as well. Really fun match and one of my favorites of the tournament thus far. ****1/4.

Season 4 episode 5, aka holy shit is Vibora good. Seriously, imagine if THIS guy had feuded with Bryan instead of Cass! Cool debut for Dezmond Xavier. It should seem weird that London lost after this recent transformation but questioning who wins and who loses seems to be a moot point right now. As much as I enjoy the wrestling and the characters, the booking is just insane at times. Further dissension between Mil and Catrina it seems. Seriously, watch Vibora-Mundo. It's good stuff. Although the Reptile Tribe acting as the babyfaces I guess is weird. I have no clue. The cutaway felt like classic "We're out of time!" from the Monday Night wars though. While it seems cheesy, I'm super down with psycho doll Ricky. Pentagon-Cage was even better than Vibora-Mundo and is easily the second best match of the season so far. All in all, really good episode from an in-ring standpoint.

I agree on waiting too long on Pentagon. Why they did a redemption angle in season 2 only for him to lose I'll never know. I'll take what I can get now though, ha.

This was fine and actually better than what I expected. Still, it just very much felt like a match with a handful of cool moments surrounded by a bunch of nothing. The cool moments were certainly good and the striking in particular looked really stiff, but there was just so much that just felt "there". It also didn't help that they went nearly 20 minutes. Elgin hasn't been an interesting wrestler for over a year and Page is just extremely average to me. Still, they could have done a lot worse.

Jay White continues to acquit himself well this tournament. He seems to have a better idea of working heat segments rather than just aimlessly chop and do saitos (instead using the latter as sort of a turning point move). Went a bit longer than it needed to and the ref bumps and shenanigans were a bit much (I usually only have patience for one), but it was a HUGE step-up from their Wrestle Kingdom 12 clunker. It's just a shame the crowd still hasn't really bought into White yet.

This was a really fun match and worked to Makabe's strengths as a brawler. I agree that the continuing trend seems to be that Suzuki is a glass cannon and it adds a nice layer of vulnerability to his normal killer character.

Exactly. They should have just had him win right then and there but I would have forgiven it had he won it at WK 13. Although the theory I've seen is that they're waiting to do Okada-Naito at WK 14 when January 4th is on a Saturday and try to sell out the dome. But I dunno how much longer you can hold off on Naito winning and still sell out in a year and-a-half.

If Okada ends up winning the tournament, that's pretty much it for Naito main-eventing WK next year.

Yano tends to be a pretty polarizing wrestler but count me among those who love his antics and G1 sprints. That being said, I was expecting a decent match and nothing more. How wrong I was. Yano's declaration that he would not cheat this entire tournament led to one of the most creative and fun NJPW matches I've seen in some time. Yano stays true to his word from the beginning by trading forearms with Ishii and even getting the better of him by relying on his rarely-used grappling skills. He even no-sold a German suplex! Still, Ishii being tougher and stronger would force Yano's hand as he found himself straying back to his old ways (eye rakes and using the exposed turnbuckle). Still, he avoided the low blow and chair and on at least five separate occasions had Ishii nearly beat with tight pinning combinations. The finish to the match ended up being a brilliant bit of poetic justice. You couldn't ask for a better match to start off the second day.

The first half of this was sort of just whatever but man did they absolutely kill it in the finishing stretch. Though counters on top of counters is pretty typical for a NJPW finishing stretch, this stuff felt even more urgent than usual with Goto doing everything in his power to escape the Skull End and SANADA desperately trying to avoid the GTR. That urgency and desperation is what made an average a good match.

Great sequel to their terrific NJ Cup match. Very interesting "strike vs. submission" battle with Ibushi getting the better of Sabre in the striking exchanges but Sabre having a reversal or counter for most of Ibushi's trademark stuff. Ibushi's leg selling is pretty typical: good but didn't affect the outcome of the match. Stuff like Sabre attacking the legs to counter the Kami Goye was great though. Definitely one of the best if not the best match of the tournament thus far.

Another great match between these two. Loved the early character work with both men trying to big league the other before going into the bombfest we came to expect. Lots of high-impact offense and great selling from both guys. Not quite as "epic" as their first two but this still a pretty terrific match. ****1/2-****3/4.

A worthy sequel to their very good match at Dominion. It helps that the Bucks have toned down their more annoying tendencies by focusing on long-term selling and escalating their more creative offense. EVIL and SANADA have also gotten really good at mastering the art of the finishing stretch as a team. My only complaint was that the Bucks still appeared to be too overpowered. They survived a Magic Killer AND a Meltzer Driver to a chair only to put LIJ away with just one Meltzer Driver of their own. Other than that, a very good tag match between two teams with good chemistry. ****

Really great tag match with with some excellent fundamental tag work. The heel team cuts off the ring and works over the face in peril's leg before the hot tag. And hoo boy what a hot tag this was. Trent's selling here was absolutely phenomenal and Tyler laying out Roddy and Kyle was great. Tyler not breaking up the submission because he wanted to follow the rules seemed like an odd choice, but I guess they're just that good of sportsmen. And I felt like the final submission went on way too long to the point of being unbelievable that Trent could still hang on. But still, this was easily one of the best tag matches of the year. ****1/4.

This very much just felt like a match that happened. Not bad mind you and the finish was really cool, but just felt very typical for both guys. Hard-hitting and chair spots from EVIL, you know what to expect. There was also some decent arm work that was sort of just forgotten. Again, not bad. Just not really essential. **3/4.