Boss Rock

This was definitely a major step up from the Backlash match. I still wouldn't say Cass is "good", but he had a somewhat better idea of how to work his heat segments. But this was definitely a Bryan performance by bumping and selling as well as he did and constantly attacking the leg. Not a great match but perfectly solid.

Blocks announced. LOTS going on in the B Block: A Block Okada Tanahashi Elgin EVIL Fale Makabe White Page Suzuki YOSHI-HASHI B Block Naito Ibushi Kenny Ishii SANADA ZSJ Yano Tonga Goto Juice Think this kind of confirms Okada wins the tournament.

Ronda is a natural. Her selling and facial expressions are phenomenal. The moment as Ronda is peeling Nia's fingers apart for the armbar was great stuff. Not thrilled about the ending, though.

Basically everything you could ask for in a tag team opener. Frantic action, desperation, and great nearfalls. I knew there was no way Oney and Burch would win, but they did a fantastic job making me think they could pull it off. Oney was the star here but bravo to all four men. ****1/2.

Coming from someone who didn't like the fact that this feud was continuing after the masterpiece that was their New Orleans match, this absolutely knocked my socks off. Very few matches have sold such hatred and an utter disregard for an opponent's well-being than this one. There was very clear escalation from your typical No DQ spots to more brutal segments such as Ciampa driving Johnny into the steps with a chair around his neck and then an air raid crash. The work on Johnny's neck and the work on Ciampa's knee also did a great job calling back to both men's injuries leading to this match. But it was the last 10 minutes on the stage that took this match from a MOTYC to a classic. You felt Johnny was going to a place a babyface such as himself shouldn't go but at the same time you never once felt sorry for Ciampa. It's a real testament to both men as workers that the face and heel dynamic was still clearly defined despite the shades of gray we saw from Johnny near the end. And it was only fitting that Johnny's thirst for revenge ended up costing him and giving Ciampa the victory in clean yet appropriately cheap fashion. As violent as this match was, I can't wait for the next and possible final time they face off. *****

This match was a bit of a disappointment considering what both wrestlers are capable of. I really liked the opening moments of Nikki messing with Shayna's head and keeping the normally dominant champion off her game. But after the promising first few minutes, things never really took off. Very much just an exchange of moves until Shayna could lock on the choke. Nikki's expression of bliss was cool but the finish still felt a tad anti-climactic. Not bad but not exactly very good either. **1/2.

Very good match and impressive showing for Lars. Loved the story of Lars dominating the majority of this match and shaking off or having an answer for all of Black's best strikes. I really liked that they made Lars look both nearly unstoppable and vulnerable down the stretch without damaging his aura, something that's a bit of a fine balancing act. Major Black Mass whiff aside, this was a really good, hard-hitting match. ***3/4.

Well done. Liked this a lot.

Great show. I think the last match needs to be more of a straightforward wrestling match with Johnny realizing he does not want to become the man Ciampa is.

I thought the first few minutes of this were kind of rough and a reminder that Dream still has a bit of work ahead of him, especially when it comes to working heat segments. That being said, the second half of this match was truly great and served as a reminder why so many of us were high on Dream to begin with. Ricochet also delivered in a big way. ****

I think Bryan is the better seller and storyteller, but it's very close. I think A.J. is the better bumper. And they're both equally good at working to their opponents' strengths and getting the best out of them.

My issue with the 3 person nomination is that I'm not sure there's enough participation to make it a more objective process. It seems like there are only 6-7 of us in the active discussions and when it comes down to 6-7 people, then it's more of a matter of personal tastes rather than whether or not something is objectively good. If there was more participation, then I agree getting three nominations wouldn't be such an issue.

And I'll say this on the women's wrestling/NJPW debate. I would certainly love to see women's wrestling in NJPW even if I don't have a problem with it being a men's only promotion. Obviously joshi isn't as big as it was back in the 80's-90's as Stardom might only draw about 2,000 fans at their biggest shows rather than 10,000 like NJPW does. And even if Stardom isn't much smaller than the various other non-NJPW Japanese promotions, NJPW would obviously give them a much bigger platform and perhaps some more bargaining power if WWE ever comes knocking. The funny thing to me is that while folks like Grimmas are serious advocates for women having a bigger platform in wrestling, there are so many folks using the NJPW criticism simply to defend WWE's decision to do the GRR and don't actually give a shit about women's wrestling in Japan.

Hmm, there doesn't seem to be a link.

I've been able to do more of a deep dive myself. I'll probably come across tons of stuff I've never seen before along the way or re-watch stuff I may not have considered before, but I think I'm at the point where I have about 50-60 matches I feel pretty comfortable with keeping on my final list.

I assume this will be the thread to talk season 4 even if the title is for season 3, heh. Anywho, without spoiling too much I'll say it was a solid premiere though a tad disappointing. Vignette spoilers: Pentagon Dark defended the title in an impromptu Aztec Warfare match. We got some interesting guest appearances by the likes of Tommy Dreamer and Mr. Pectacular. The first half dragged and the action just seemed off, like everyone was a bit rusty. It also didn't help that the editing and camera work felt super choppy. Eventually, Pentagon came in and started cleaning house. I feel like this episode was basically an apology for Pentagon's on-off booking for the past three seasons, just letting him kill people left and right like a badass. The second half of this match was a huge step up as some of the more familiar faces came in and got their time to shine. I had a few issues with certain eliminations but overall not a bad match and the finishing stretch was a lot of fun. Definitely the worst of the four Aztec Warfares though. I'm hoping this episode was just a bit of growing pains as I had similar apprehensions about season 3 and things turned out very well for the most part. Either way, glad to have more wrestling to watch during the week after having checked out on Raw and SDL.

I still think Wrestle Kingdom was a better show top-to-bottom as I felt the undercard dragged a bit at times, but the second half of the show really delivered. And it certainly helped that the undercard still had fun stuff like Ishii and Suzuki brawling. The tag title match was very good and another feather in the cap of an already great year for the Young Bucks. The six-man tag was a lot of fun even if Rey being on the losing team was odd. The Junior title match was great even if Hiromu and Ospreay have never been each other's best opponents. The finishing stretch was fire and Hiromu's booking has been almost as good as it was a year ago. Didn't like the fact that Naito lost but he and Jericho had a banger. Hardcore brawler Jericho is a lot of fun. And I talked about it more in depth in the match review post, but the main event was phenomenal and might be one of the best I've ever seen.

Great match and more than fitting conclusion for the BOSJ. There are few things I love more than a "big fight feel" and this match definitely had this in spades during the entrances. Both men had more or less dominated their blocks (Taiji REALLY should have gone undefeated but Gedo and what have you) and established themselves as the two best Juniors in the world outside of Ospreay. Unlike other NJPW main events where the first 5-10 minutes feel rather inconsequential, they got to work almost immediately. It went from a crowd brawl (Childs' point about the spot seeming contrived isn't without merit even if I didn't have a problem with it) to an absolutely insane bombfest. There was an unbelievable amount of desperation with the submissions, both guys looking close to tapping out at different parts of the match. It also helped that both guys understood their characters which made this for a great clash of styles: Hiromu the unpredictable loose cannon and Taiji the focused weapon of destruction. Some of the fighting spirit spots like the no-sell reverse rana from Hiromu certainly seemed a bit much, but they managed to make it more believable than anyone else would have. Great urgency, fantastic offense, and some absolutely sick-looking spots make this a surefire MOTYC. ****3/4.

I originally wrote this for the Greatest Match Ever project: After an already thrilling trilogy of matches last year, Kenny and Okada still managed to top it at Dominion. This was a masterclass in storytelling, selling, and action. Going 69 minutes seems like it would be tough to pull off, but Kenny and Okada delivered and them some. There was some excellent learned psychology as both men seemingly had a counter or reversal for every signature move during the first fall. This was key as Okada was able to counter and get a quick pin. Fatigue began to set in for both during the second fall as Kenny and Okada masterfully sold rib injuries and near-exhaustion after every big move. The third fall was perhaps some of the most riveting and dramatic wrestling I've ever seen. Both men on the verge of passing out struggled for every inch, whether it be attempts at tombstones or forearms that had absolutely nothing behind them. It was the ultimate battle of survival and attrition between two of the best athletes in wrestling who were literally running on fumes. It also helped that Okada could not manage to pull off a Rainmaker until the third fall, making you think he was going to end it right then and there. Kenny was the star here, but Okada turned in yet another career performance as well. When it comes to selling peril and making you think either he or his opponent can end it at any minute, he is the best in the world. I know it was over an hour, I know they never used the table outside of Kenny's double foot stomp, and I know this match just happened a few days ago, but this still might be one of the greatest wrestling matches I've ever seen. *****

Dominion main event is easily the best match I've seen all year and might be one of the best I've seen ever. And hardcore brawler Jericho is something I can get behind.

That's awesome.

Considering this year's Best of the Super Juniors was miles better than last year's, it's only fitting that the finals would not only be a true MOTYC, but a bombfest of epic proportions. The tentative first minute or so really added to the big fight atmosphere: you truly believed these two were the absolute best in the division (aside from Will). Things broke down almost immediately with Taiji and Hiromu brawling into the crowd and we got an awesome shotgun dropkick to Taiji and a scary-looking hurricanrana that sent Hiromu down the stairs. Back in the ring, both guys took turns controlling the pace of the match before everything broke down into absolute chaos. The number of big moves thrown here was truly remarkable but nothing felt cheap or overdone. Even the no-sell reverse rana spot from Hiromu somehow felt more earned than it normally would. With this being a tournament final with a shot at the title on the line, both men's comebacks and ability to dig just a little bit deeper were 100% believable. Another thing I loved about this match was that despite going nearly 35 minutes, no time felt wasted or done just for the sake of doing. The biggest criticism regarding NJPW main events is that the first 10 minutes are usually inconsequential and have no bearing on the finish but that was not the case here. Hiromu and Taiji made the most of everything they were given and knocked it out of the park. Bravo. ****3/4.

Made some updates.

I think most (myself included) thought it was the best match of the card. Never able to watch NJPW shows live but I'm expecting Dominion to be a really good show.

Yep, reports showed that attendance was up from last year's CC.