WingedEagle

Legitimately laughed out loud at this. Bravo. Aesthetics are a vital and undeniable part of this or any performance business. Performers should look the part, but that doesn't mean they should all look the same. Attractive, fit, athletic, huge, small, whatever the case may be -- diversity of appearances go a long way. Its why monsters who can be marketed as 7 feet stand out when used sparingly and why Daniel Bryan wouldn't work if he had Randy Orton's size and look. There's no shame in acknowledging or judging how a given look is an asset or detriment to a particular role or character.

This show has turned south like a roller coaster after the women's chamber. Hour 3 of raw territory since then.

So I expected the women's chamber to be okay at best, but more likely mediocre. Those expectations are undoubtedly a huge reason why I thought this match was incredible. MOTY? Slow down. But a legitimately all time great Elimination Chamber and if its not MOTN this will be an incredible show. Most importantly this was just about perfectly laid out. Every pairing and sequences had a purpose with a given individual or pairing designed to shine or get destroyed. It never felt lost, lacking purpose or killing time as matches of this length with this many participants usually do. The symmetry of opening with Sasha/Bayley vs. Mandy/Sonya and closing with the same pairing. That Bayley neckbreaker to Mandy as Sasha kicked Sonya's head off. Liv & Sonya deciding to shoot and slapping the life out of each other. Liv with a couple trademark Liv Morgan sick bumps, particularly that snatch out of the corner. The Iconics -- THE ICONICS -- who have been nothing since coming up outside of perhaps a promo or two that prompted a grin -- being put in position to futilely try and capitalize on a ring full of corpses before getting a brief shine with double teams that while hardly flawless looked strong and most importantly well placed and perfectly opportunistic given everything that led to that brief run. Nia & Tamina actually being presented and working as monster heels -- SAMOAN SLAUGHTERHOUSE -- what a name -- and just wrecking everyone upon entering in the way that monster heels should before they're eventually overcome was incredibly well done. They killed everyone in sight until Nia took a sick bump into the pod to set up Tamina's gang elimination. I can't highlight it enough but the flow of this match as each team entered and was eventually eliminated -- which despite the ring filling up never felt rushed -- was pitch perfect. The timing was on point and I wouldn't change a thing. When Nia & Tamina were eliminated before the finish I thought they were getting too cute for their own good, but that not only gave us the same final pairing we started with, but also a callback to last year's women's chamber where Sasha turned on Bayley and a finish playing off of Sasha's early arm injury. Stiffness, slaps, bumps, psychoogy, callbacks, choice use of near falls and a fun, emotional post-match interview. I don't know what else they could've done here but I loved it the entire way. ****1/4

Extended thoughts upon its conclusion, but safe to say I love this match.

Thanks for posting this. House show reports have these four consistently killing it on a nightly basis and this match proved that even with a fancam from home. A well paced affair that built to a stretch run without overdoing things. An easy ***3/4 affair where and MOTN at most house shows unless you're seeing something truly special.

These are the matches I'd consider candidates for MOTD. All of these would make my list of top all time matches and come in at 4.75 or 5 stars. Cena vs. Punk -- MITB 2011 Cena vs. Lesnar -- Extreme Rules 2012 Bryan vs. Cena -- Summerslam Bryan vs. HHH -- Mania 30 Bryan vs. Reigns -- Fastlane 2015 Reigns vs. Lesnar -- Mania 31 Sasha vs. Bayley -- Iron Man Reigns vs. AJ -- Extreme Rules 2016 Revival vs. DIY -- Takeover Brooklyn Revival vs. DIY -- Takeover Toronto Gargano vs. Almas -- Takeover Philadelphia

Seconding that one. A legitimate classic, though I wonder how well it'd come across without watching some of the road to it.

I think the last two legs of the Joe vs. Punk trilogy hold up incredible well, with the 60 minute draw being a MOTY contender and the final outing a legit classic. The first meeting at the show titled titled World Title Classic is far from a classic but still a solid outing and while I wouldn't skip it if you've never seen these, its not something you need to see if the goal is to catch either man's best. But those last two (Joe vs. Punk II and All Star Extravaganza)? Incredible wrestling matches that exceed what you'd expect given where Punk was at that stage of his career.

Any consensus on what matches I need to watch here?

Exactly -- he watches a ton, churns out reviews and is a vital reference when looking to filter what I watch. I don't know him at all but everything I've seen from and about him online suggests he's a good guy. Hopefully he and the family pull through this.

Hopefully Larry has a swift recovery and plows through rehab and PT like a champ. His absence these last few weeks has been huge.

Is all of this on the network?

Maybe I'm missing something, but what's the fuss about a chop? It leaves a mark and probably hurts like hell, but that's pain rather than injury. No one's risking their career or livelihood taking a chop.

Ha will have to give that a shot. Haven't gone to the TV yet for late nights but its bound to happen sooner or later.

We just had a baby this month and while I've somehow caught more wrestling than I expected (Wrestle Kingdom, Takeover/Rumble and most Raws/Smackdowns), its definitely happening at odd times whenever I can squeeze it in and a lot of things I may have watched in prior years is getting left aside. I'm trying to keep an eye out for highly recommended matches from companies like BJW, DDT, Dragon Gate and others domestically and in Japan that I followed but didn't quite watch regularly, but it is TOUGH. All worth it, but my 2019 list of rated matches will definitely be a lot shorter than in prior years.

Meltzer reported last night that the Best Friends are headed to AEW. More interestingly, the move sees Beretta apparently break a verbal commitment he had given NJPW. Curious to see how that type of activity impact the company's efforts to supplant ROH as NJPW's domestic partner.

Did anyone watch today's Road To show? Curious if anything worth checking out there.

Bumping this in light of Brock/Finn at tonight's Rumble.

Amazing.

That tag was a ton better than I thought possible. Really enjoyed it.

Becky/Asuka started a bit slowly but built very well between the dueling submission work and counters with real struggle down the stretch. Loved the decisive finish even if I didn't necessarily love the decision. Gut says it leads to Becky entering and winning the Rumble because otherwise this night is quite the burial, but a very good match regardless. ***3/4

So this match was very underwhelming. And then these last 5-7 minutes they've absolutely torn the roof off with the dives, counters and near falls. A tale of two matches.

I wish Ohno worked a style that utilized his body more. Its great when there's a diversity of looks on the roster, but people should work a style that capitalizes on such differences. If your body and style are suited to flying, fly. If you're bigger and thicker then put that to work in your offense or bumping. Ohno's work doesn't seem to take advantage of that difference. More a wasted opportunity than a big deal.