WingedEagle

Are Flair and Misawa, Hashimoto and Bockwinkel, Savage and Chosu such as different as the Beatles and GZA? I'd never have thought they were that far apart, but perhaps that is the case until someone is immersed in them.

Wanted to give this another look as a number of folks were touting it as one of All Japan's best from the 80s. Really strong start with some work around holds and an amateur exchange where Kerry looks credible while Jumbo looks confident and ready for the NWA World Champion. Great butterfly suplex following Kerry's struggle to block it. Some nice arm work from Kerry follows but Jumbo counters with a crossbody for a nice near fall. Big fan of how he throws some nice wrinkles into amateur & power offense. Our first tease of the Claw comes with Kerry fighting out of a kneebar. Jumbo blocks it so he grabs the stomach and sells it well when they' standing. Enough of this feeling out -- backbreaker, jumping knees and the backdrop suplex take the first fall. Clean as possible with the challenger going over strong with clear, measured escalation is exactly how this should go. Jumbo strikes in the second open Kerry up! The blood adds quite a bit of drama with Jumbo furiously looking to put him away in 2 straight falls. Really hot start here and fired up Jumbo is a great version of this great wrestler. This falls apart a bit for me as he hits a piledriver for a 2 count, and then they transition to Kerry throwing punches that set up the Claw for the finish. Just out of nowhere. After relentless Jumbo control for so long and the blood loss, I'd expect a more compelling or creative way to put Kerry on top. No real issue with the flash finish off of the Claw, but it was as though they just switched roles on a dime without showing us how that happened. The third fall has the awesome work by Jumbo on Kerry's hand, just brutalizing it with strikes, stomping it, smashing it into the turnbuckle & cable. Jumbo is not waiting for a motorcycle accident in the states a few years later -- he wants Kerry losing a limb tonight. Kerry is just phenomenal here as well, selling the damage and follow up armbreakers for all he's worth. Inconclusive finish as apparently they weren't about to have Jumbo take the loss here even against the NWA Champion. This was a really good match. I loved the start, the blood and the limb work. But they really missed an important beat on the second fall transition, and as great as the hand work was, it really needed a failed Claw or some similar exclamation point to seal its effectiveness but instead it didn't even play into the finish or a key spot down the stretch. ****1/4

Yep, this was a money finish away from being a true classic, but still an incredible find. One of the rare times you wish the video feed cut out a little early

Then you just don't get it and need to stop watching. This was a great show. Great main event. Until that point it was a sub-par Raw.

AJ Styles, WWE Main Event Run lives another 3 weeks!

They put together some really nice near falls there. Totally suckered me in. I love that.

Even with the family nonsense, that was a great match. Nonetheless bitter at what it could've been without it.

This could very well be a legit MOTY without the shenanigans. Fantastic chemistry and a great spotlight for both of them. Love how Reigns was booked here as well.

This match was really great until this restart business. Just loved it. Working it start and slow early with AJ on point in the small man game while Reigns was great with his staggered selling and chasing. Then we need to use the world title match to put over the family. Fuck.

No Lillian Garcia tonight?

Really, really pumped for the main event. More than any match they've put on in quite some time. Still surprised AJ is headlining a PPV. Hope they hit it out of the park.

Praying it spares a 15 minute McMahon family promo tomorrow, but we know its going at least 8-10 announcing a lineup for Raw.

There's no chance this avoids a repeat performance tomorrow right?

Pretty funny that they managed to craft a promo for Shane that let him read many lines off of the big screen.

Steph does look unusually skinny tonight. Very gaunt.

Yes. No idea how we got here. But we did.

Well, that sucked. But I can't hate it as it seemed like it meant something to Natalya & Bret. I don't know what, but good on him for feeling and looking strong after recent health issues. Hope everyone involved had a good time.

Jericho-Ambrose felt like an ironman match without a time limit. My god.

Also a really great finish that in spite of putting the Miz over set up a bunch of matches down the line and hopefully builds towards Cesaro's reign rather than being deflating like a simple loss would've been. Great booking and use of everyone involved.

That was the best Miz match I've ever seen. Maybe Cesaro really is that good.

Huh, I didn't see his neck hit the ropes on the replay but that doesn't sound good at all. It looked like the side of his head touched the ropes and then slammed against the mat. Hope he's okay.

Was that a legit injury? My gut watching and with the way they followed up said it was just way to cut things short, but from everything I'm seeing on Twitter its legit.

Distinct minority, but I enjoyed their dancing a whole lot more than New Day's schtick. Perhaps I was the right age for Rikishi & co. though.

Glad to see this return.

Never would I guess that Ryback would thrive working with little guys. Great pre-show match.