Boss Rock

Definitely considering going.

This wasn't terrible, but barely an improvement over the Mania match. Not as much finisher overkill, but a very paint-by-numbers of a paint-by-numbers Brock match with some cage escape spots. And even if they toned down the finishers a tad, would it kill them to do more than Germans, superman punches, spears, and F-5's? I don't believe a match needs a ton of moves to be good, but this still seemed lazy. And while spearing Brock out of the cage was a cool visual, the finish and explanation was laughable. The booking of Reigns, as draining as it's been, has been one of the greatest unintended comedies in recent memory.

I thought the first part of this was good as the disdain was evident from the very beginning. I also thought Naito's leg selling was good for the most part even if the leg submissions went a tad long (and we took our time getting there to begin with). That being said, the comeback spots were definitely blown. The usual hot finishing stretches were negated with sloppy transitions and labored offense from Naito. The neck breaker was awful and the brainbuster transition was laughable. Suzuki on the other hand tried his damndest and the slap exchanges were definitely the highlight of the finishing stretch. Overall, I didn't think this was bad at all until the last 10 minutes or so. Really hope this was just an off night for Naito and not indicative of an injury or that he's done as a top-level performer.

Agreed.

I was surprised they'd have Marufuji go over and then just run another title match, but a cross-promoted show or Kento simply doing a one-off there makes sense. I do sort of have to laugh though at Noah putting the belt back on Sugiura and then potentially back on Marufuji when they seemed to be at their hottest pushing a different act like Kenoh.

Spot-on.

Really good sprint. Typical awesome performance by Mysterio, but Big Show was great in this as well. Mysterio utilizes a hit-and-move strategy and tries to chop down the giant while Big Show does a great job showing ass and selling frustration and rage. When Show is finally able to get his hands on Rey, the latter mounts one of the most creative comebacks with multiple 619's to the lower body. But in the end, the giant is just too strong. Awesome, sub-five minute match.

I think that's what bugs me the most. The half-assed booking is so draining as a viewer.

And Reigns is absolutely done as a top face now. He was never going to work as the Guy to begin with for a multitude of reasons people smarter than I have already mentioned countless times before, but this feud has absolutely destroyed him. Talks for weeks about how Brock is a lazy part-timer while he's busting his ass off every week and...loses. Then he gets a rematch for absolutely no reason and loses again on a made-up technicality. Take him off TV for a few months and bring him back as a heel.

Very good point. I know Sasha was never going to be their top star, but having her lose to Charlotte every time for the sake of a ppv streak that ended on a B-level show was terrible.

The middle inevitably dragged due to how long the match was, but this was still a very fun Rumble. Right guy went over.

Match with Joe last week was his first in ages.

Probably him or Braun. Expecting Reigns to be the final entrant and still lose.

It certainly works, because he often looked like he was shooting with those strikes, ha.

How do you manage to be out of position that badly?

It's more about the whole being greater than the sum of its parts. The reason I made the reference to Tenryu was that some of his offense (like the powerbomb and enziguiri) looked pretty bad but his psychology, intensity, and physical charisma were so great that it didn't matter if they looked bad because they still mattered in the course of the match. There are tons of wrestlers who have great execution but have no heat or psychology behind what they do.

While I wouldn't say he's an all-time great, I would argue Jeff Hardy is a tad underrated. He almost reminds me of a poor man's Tenryu if that makes sense. Like, his offense is pretty sloppy and doesn't always look great, but he adds a certain level of excitement and has that intangible you can't quite put your finger on. Only difference is that Jeff's strikes look pretty ineffectual while Tenryu's looked vicious as hell. He's also a very good babyface.

Only caught the second half of Juice-Goto, but was really good stuff. That being said, the prospect of Elgin and Taichi challenging sucks.

A lot of my favorite matches have ended up being between the 20-30 minute spot. But a short, violent sprint like we saw from Brock pre-Braun match is a great change of pace.

Bit of a long match, but I felt like this was a much better-executed version of Suzuki-Okada from last year's New Beginning. Tanahashi is a polarizing wrestler but I think he can be a pretty terrific babyface and that was on full display here. Suzuki also proved he wasn't just an overachiever at WK against Goto and re-established himself as one of the best wrestlers and heels in the world.

"COME ON MOTHERFUCKER SHOW ME POWER!"-Pretty much says it all. In all seriousness, this was a lovely bit of wrestling. Great back-and-forth bombfest with Zeus stepping up to the champion and proving he deserves to be on his level. Joe tries to use his size and force to overpower Zeus but is constantly cut off by his smaller opponent's surprising strength. You really felt like they were putting everything into their strikes and slams to the point where both were spent by the finish. I love that type of struggle and it's not something you see a whole lot in wrestling anymore. ****1/2

Haven't really been keeping up with the Road to Dontaku shows, but took the time to watch Ishii-Henare and White-Finlay. The former was a great hossfight and awesome coming-out party for Henare and the latter was honestly one of the best NJPW matches this year. Still reserving my full judgment of Jay until the G1, though.

Wow. I knew Jay and Finlay had good chemistry, but considering how disappointing White's return to New Japan has been, I was not expecting this. This is legitimately one of the best NJPW matches this year. Finlay is aggressive from the onset and dominates for the first few minutes, eager to prove he's on Jay's level. Jay is eventually able to turn the tide and works over Finlay's back, all the while mocking him for still being a "young boy". The disrespect only serves to fire Finlay up even more and he nearly puts Jay away with his own finisher. However, Finlay's desire for revenge is ultimately his undoing as he introduces a table that just refuses to break. Considering how promising White looked last year, it really seems that his inability to decide what the Switchblade gimmick has hindered his in-ring work. Here he looked much more like the Jay White of 2017 but with a cocky and condescending edge. This made his heat segments far more effective as he alternated between working the back and mocking Finlay. It also helped that Finlay is a very good babyface and had a clear motivation of not only proving himself to the guy who surpassed him, but also get revenge for his constant disrespect. Hard-hitting action, good storytelling, and both guys understanding and playing their roles to perfection made this a great match. Let's just hope Jay can keep it up. ****1/2.

Really liked this a lot and is further proof that 205Live is thriving with the renewed emphasis on in-ring work. The legwork done on Ali by TJP set up the story of the Gulak match perfectly, with Gulak as the sadistic heel and Ali once again as the resilient underdog. If you needed further proof Ali is one of the best babyfaces in the world, look no further than this match. Nese has never done anything for me but really liked how he was out for payback and let his desire for revenge get the better of him. Thought that Kalisto-Gulak had good logic with Gulak looking to stall and frustrate Kalisto, but the ending was rather anti-climactic. Also, it felt like the crowd never got back into it after Ali was eliminated. As much as I like Cedric, Ali is clearly who they should be building the show around as he connects with the fans like no one else. Still, a really entertaining series of matches.

There were a few slow spots in the middle and the crowd had to be woken up a bit, but the finishing stretch was absolute fire. Both guys just absolutely unloading on each other with their heaviest strikes. Marufuji looked like he legit kicked Suwama in the jaw 3-4 times. A really entertaining bombfest with loads of urgency in the latter half. ****