WingedEagle

Its really something how that match writes itself after last night and the last month of Raw, but at least Big E won. Hopefully it leads to something big down the road for people to get behind even if not the program that's been handed to them right now.

Maybe I'm not paying that close attention but I generally can't spot the fake noise as opposed to the legit crowd. It doesn't seem that egregious as I haven't noticed any raucous reactions when the crowd is sitting on its hands.

BIG E! A crowd-pleasing finish. Imagine that.

Ricochet's springboard spot was incredible.

Real rough stretch there with Riddle lazily tossing a ladder nowhere near Big E who had to sell it, then Riddle and Nak barely toe tapping one another and selling it like Cro Cop caught each of them with high kicks.

Charlotte/Rhea was absolutely tremendous. One of the best matches in the company this year. Hopefully the 'Cock gets straightened out quickly.

This is already the best Charlotte and Rhea have worked together. Sufficiently stiff and riding the edge of reckless without looking sloppy. More!

Pizza graters and forks don't cut it for me so I wasn't as wild about the main event as consensus (its very highly rated on GRAPPL), but it was still a very good match with an appropriate finish for what they were working. Easily the match of the night although Ultimate X and Purrazzo/Rosa were also both good.

I'll be watching this tomorrow due to Finals Game 4, but I grabbed tix to Dynamite at Arthur Ashes at today's presale and am absolutely stoked. Right or wrong I'm expecting them to deliver a big show in the NY market.

Man, this is a tough one. I think I agree with the above, especially the bolded part. Feels like a coin flip today. So how about we split the difference and acknowledge that Io Shirai is leaps and bounds ahead of both at this point?

Tenryu is a top 20 candidate while Lawler will not rank.

Armstrong won't and Cesaro is unlikely to make my top 100. This is a great example of an input/output comparison. I think Brad Armstrong is better than Cesaro at more things that make for a good professional wrestling match. But Cesaro's had the opportunity to put together a ton more matches that generally exceed the best that Armstrong could do in his role. For me that makes it an easy Cesaro vote but I could easily understand someone going the other way for the same reasons.

I'm a fan of the Buzz I've seen in Midsouth and even in squash matches but admittedly have no sense of what's out there that I may not have seen. What Brock's become the past few years working sub-10 minute matches is almost useless. Yet even accounting for that this is a comp that Brock takes handily and I still find myself hard-pressed to keep Brock out of the top quarter or third of my ballot. Incredible athleticism and presence that make his matches feel like more of a spectacle than most are capable of. But he's also an incredible and diverse seller. Whether bouncing around the ring, staggering to stay on his feet as Reigns throws shots at him at Mania 31 or selling a leg for Bryan, he can get you believing in just about any opponent regardless of size or booking because of how he sells over the course of a match. commits he absolutely gets you believing in any opponent. One of the best big match performers of the decade. You pair that with great matches against Rock, Rey and Angle and legitimately good matches against opponents like Hogan, Show and others on his all too brief first run and he'll rate very highly for me.

I'm a fan of the Buzz I've seen in Midsouth and even in squash matches but admittedly have no sense of what's out there that I may not have seen. What Brock's become the past few years working sub-10 minute matches is almost useless. Yet even accounting for that this is a comp that Brock takes handily and I still find myself hard-pressed to keep Brock out of the top quarter or third of my ballot. Incredible athleticism and presence that make his matches feel like more of a spectacle than most are capable of. But he's also an incredible and diverse seller. Whether bouncing around the ring, staggering to stay on his feet as Reigns throws shots at him at Mania 31 or selling a leg for Bryan, he can get you believing in just about any opponent regardless of size or booking because of how he sells over the course of a match. commits he absolutely gets you believing in any opponent. One of the best big match performers of the decade. You pair that with great matches against Rock, Rey and Angle and legitimately good matches against opponents like Hogan, Show and others on his all too brief first run and he'll rate very highly for me.

There wasn't enough meat on the bones 5 years ago, but we're now at over a half decade of her being one of the most selfless and willing bumpers in the business regardless of setting. A top 5 WOTY candidate in 2020 and great matches over the last few years in singles and tag settings with a wide variety of opponents while never simply punching in regardless of her place on the card. My gut says that earns her a spot on my ballot today but at worst it means she's a top tier bubble candidate in the future. Additional recs for those looking to dig deeper: Io Shirai & Mayu Iwatani vs. Meiko Satomura & Kairi Hojo (Stardom 3/21/2016) Io Shirai vs. Mayu Iwatani (Stardom 5/15/2016) Io Shirai & Meiko Satomura vs. Mayu Iwatani & Chihiro Hashimoto (Stardom Io Shirai 10th Anniversary 3/9/2017) Io Shirai vs. Mayu Iwatani (Stardom 6/21/2017) Mayu Iwatani vs. Utami Hayashishita (5 Star Grand Prix Finals, Stardom 5 Star Grand Prix 9/24/2018) Mayu Iwatani vs. Momo Watanabe (Stardom 9/22/2019) Mayu Iwatani vs. Kagetsu (Stardom 12/24/2019) Mayu Iwatani vs. Momo Watanabe (Stardom 1/19/2020) Mayu Iwatani vs. Yoshiko (Stardom 3/3/2021)