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7/18/16 NJPW Okada vs Marafuji 4 1/4* This is the main event of night 1 of the G1. The crux of the match was Marafuji ruined Okada's arm. Okada is such a formumatic/game plan worker didn't understand how to deviate from it. So he'd use the limb and do more damage to it. This was big because the Rain Maker shouldn't be effective. Marafuji was on point here. Okada could have worked a smarter match, but I buy that he didn't deviate from his plan.

7/16/16 Evolve Zach Sabre jr. vs Jigsaw 4 1/4* Another killer match from this show. I loved the escalation and desperation in this. Early on we get a fun WOS vibe match. Though it escalated into Zach getting more and more viciousness . He did a great job of working over Jigsaw's neck. Jigsaw tried to change the pace and went to the air. Which shows his original game needed to be changed. Really good stuff from both guys.

7/16/16 Evolve Cedric Alexander vs Johnny Gargano 4 1/4* What a way to open the show. It had a lot of energy to it. It had a real athleticism to the match. Where both guys were putting their best foot forward. I would have liked more defined heat and shine segments . Also the finish we got could have been teased to a little better. Still we got good mat work, strong strikes, and dives that looked impactful. This was a great Cruiserweight style match.

7/16/16 Evolve Roddy Strong vs Matt Riddle 4 3/4* Holy crap the future of wrestling was here. In the old days people would say that match was fake, but your match was real. Here it was. They took great elements of MMA and meshed them with great elements of wrestling. This was so goo. It was hard hitting, had great storytelling. Riddle's charisma is off the charts. The drama down the stretch was about as good as you could ask for. So many great little things. An example of this was Strong taking off his knee pad to wreck more damage. The match had layers of build. A real sense of trying to win, not wow the crowd. This really was a master piece.

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Thanks a lot.

I hope we get the rest of the tournament. It feels like we need to look at it as a whole instead of individual parts. Man this is exciting though.

Terry Gordy vs Steve Williams This is one of my favorite matchups in the UWF. Here they don't get a lot of time, but both bring hard hitting intensity. Hopefully we get the whole tournament. It doesn't seem fair to judge these matches seperate

This is one of my favorite matchups in the UWF. Here they don't get a lot of time, but both bring hard hitting intensity. Hopefully we get the whole tournament. It doesn't seem fair to judge these matches seperately.

Duggan vs Kamala This is a semi final match. We get an angle right off the bat. Akbar offers Dibiase 25 grand to come back to the fold of Devestation Inc. With the history of Duggan in the ring added a lot to the angle. Dibiase counters 50 Grand and it appears he has signed. Then bam Duggan and Kamala are having a super stiff brawl. Inside and outside the ring they are brawling all over the ring. We go to the finish and Dibiase ko's Kamala. It's a swerve and the crowd goes wild. Great story telling. 3*

This is a semi final match. We get an angle right off the bat. Akbar offers Dibiase 25 grand to come back to the fold of Devestation Inc. With the history of Duggan in the ring added a lot to the angle. Dibiase counters 50 Grand and it appears he has signed. Then bam Duggan and Kamala are having a super stiff brawl. Inside and outside the ring they are brawling all over the ring. We go to the finish and Dibiase ko's Kamala. It's a swerve and the crowd goes wild. Great story telling. 3*

Dibiase vs Gordy They uploaded 3 matches from the UWF tournament in 86. This is the quarterfinal match in the tournament. Jim Ross said in a blog recently that this tournament was great episodic that was perfect for tv. This opens up hot with Dibiase claiming PS stands for Prissy Sissy. Hayes sells this big time and we're off. They open up with a real fun spot, and we get a good shine from Ted. He gets cut off, and Gordy is after the neck. He uses clotheslines, knee drops, snaps the neck on the rope. Gordy even delivers a beautiful looking German Suplex. Then Gordy goes for the Oriental Spike. The drama is great here. Dibiase brawls his way back in and hits an amazing looking power slam. We have a ref bump. Hayes and Dibiase mix it up. Gordy nails Dibiase with a piledriver in a throwback to Georgia. 3 1/4*

They uploaded 3 matches from the UWF tournament in 86. This is the quarterfinal match in the tournament. Jim Ross said in a blog recently that this tournament was great episodic that was perfect for tv. This opens up hot with Dibiase claiming PS stands for Prissy Sissy. Hayes sells this big time and we're off. They open up with a real fun spot, and we get a good shine from Ted. He gets cut off, and Gordy is after the neck. He uses clotheslines, knee drops, snaps the neck on the rope. Gordy even delivers a beautiful looking German Suplex. Then Gordy goes for the Oriental Spike. The drama is great here. Dibiase brawls his way back in and hits an amazing looking power slam. We have a ref bump. Hayes and Dibiase mix it up. Gordy nails Dibiase with a piledriver in a throwback to Georgia. 3 1/4*

Here are my star ratings for night 1. Tenzan vs Ishii 3 3/4* Tonga vs Makabe 1 1/2* Goto vs Fale 2 1/2* Tanahashi vs Sanada 3 1/2* Okada vs Marifuji 4 1/4* On the Okada match, I understand where you're coming from Chad. I'm more forgiving with Okada being a dummy by using the arm. Okada is a guy I always felt had a game plan when he worked. His work is very formulatic that he usually doesn't deviate from his plan. He's going after the neck. So when he injures the arm, he doesn't deviate from his plan. On the Tanahashi match I'm 100% with you Chad. Though seeing Sanada sell the leg big post match almost made me take a whole star off because he should have been selling the leg. He sold it for a little bit of the match. Shitcanned it, then was fine, then we see where he's at post match. I also loved how both guys used low blows to set up the heat and shine. Look at Tanahashi sell the arm and Sanada should be a little embarassed.

Thanks for the feedback. CWF Mid Atlantic seemed like a promotion that deserved being talked about.

Holy shit UWF tournament going up.

http://placetobenation.com/this-week-in-wrestling-71716/ Fall 1 Pete and Johnny look at the Coconut Willie/Tiger Conway Jr vs Little Tokyo/Tor Kamata. Is Willie the Ricky Steamboat of midgets? The guys look at the Highspot streaming service and take the tour of School of Morton. It's a cool insight into Ricky. Finally we look at the ROH show and love Dijak/Kincaid. Fall 2 Timothy joins Pete and recap Ultima Lucha night 2. Does Mil Muertes have one of the best punches in wrestling? We start reviewing CWF Mid Atlantic show. Just in time for Weaver Cup. Finally RPW Summer Sizzler tour is reviewed. What the guys liked and didn't like. A certain WTBBP host gets some shade thrown at him for his opinion. Fall 3 Pete and Johnny look at NXT. They disagree about selling in the Nak/Balor match. Then check out the Cruiserweight Classic. They take different sides to Daniel Bryan as a play by play guy. Finally they recap the current episode of RAW. 00:00:30 Fall 1 00:43:20 Fall 2 02:22:44 Fall 3​

Buck Robley vs Terry Allen Buck Robley is a heels heel. CM Punk's yellow shirts were influenced by Robley. Robley's a heel I've always enjoyed. Always had really good psychology. He also had tons of stints as booker in a lot of places. Terry Allen is the future Magnum TA. Allens isn't particularly smooth here, but he shows fire and has an it factor to him. This was a good veteran vs youngster bout. Robley was really good working the back and then eventually the neck. At one point we get a great close up of a Robley stomp. Allen was good fighting underneath. This is good solid match. 2 1/2*

Buck Robley is a heels heel. CM Punk's yellow shirts were influenced by Robley. Robley's a heel I've always enjoyed. Always had really good psychology. He also had tons of stints as booker in a lot of places. Terry Allen is the future Magnum TA. Allens isn't particularly smooth here, but he shows fire and has an it factor to him. This was a good veteran vs youngster bout. Robley was really good working the back and then eventually the neck. At one point we get a great close up of a Robley stomp. Allen was good fighting underneath. This is good solid match. 2 1/2*

Brooks vs Gran Marcus This was solid match. I liked Brooks using elbows and knees. I enjoyed the narrative of Marcus working the arm. They ended up going in a different direction. Brooks is a guy who worked all over Texas. He was never a great worker in the ring, but a great worker when it came to character work and gimmick.

This was solid match. I liked Brooks using elbows and knees. I enjoyed the narrative of Marcus working the arm. They ended up going in a different direction. Brooks is a guy who worked all over Texas. He was never a great worker in the ring, but a great worker when it came to character work and gimmick.

Kevin Von Erich vs Gino Hernandez The match goes off air w/o a finish. It was cool to see them pre WCCW feud. I loved seeing Gino as a blond. He really feels like a top 10 worker in the U.S at the time. I loved the opening sequence. It got a huge response. We see glimpses of Kevin's mat work that is really underrated. A real fun snap shot on where they'll be headed.

The match goes off air w/o a finish. It was cool to see them pre WCCW feud. I loved seeing Gino as a blond. He really feels like a top 10 worker in the U.S at the time. I loved the opening sequence. It got a huge response. We see glimpses of Kevin's mat work that is really underrated. A real fun snap shot on where they'll be headed.

Bruce I hope you have the Thornton vs Dr. Tom match from that card.

Boyd vs Kozak This was a real solid match. Both guys worked hard. I enjoyed the limb work. Boyd's forearms were really nasty. The match had a lot of energy to it. I liked how Boyd would disguise his cheating. I hated Kozak just using the chair in front of the ref. A real fun 2nd match on the card. 2 1/2*