Superstar Sleeze

He is the one who beat Christian Cassanova at the end of Season 1 to win the Discovery Gauntlet. I missed the premiere episode of Season 2 because I was in Ireland for work, but I believe that's when Deppen beat him to win the Gauntlet. Red Death was an instant hit with me & the live audience at large. When I took a friend to Beyond, she was very impressed by him. He reminds me of Fujita Jr Hayato, an undersized asskicker. I would definitely be a fan of more Red Death.

You are doing the Lord's Work brutha! I fucking love THE NERD! He was an instant hit with me and love his throwback style. He is like the coolest possible Dory Funk Jr. I ended up attending all but three episodes of the First Season. I have only missed two episodes live this year. I really should add my comments. To be frank, I did think the past two shows were the weakest I have attended. The Halloween episode was filled with a lot of comedy wrestling that didnt hit my funny bone, but they drew a monster crowd and they loved it. So thumbs up there! Then this past episode, I really liked the Jay Freddie match. He is an Asskicker to the MAX! Such a throwback to 90s workrate and just absolutely love it. I thought the Remix dude was going to be a generic flippy dude, but he acquitted himself well. Other than that, it was a pretty weak card. The best match of Season 2 has easily been Thatcher vs Kingston. I was in MARK OUT CITY watching that unfold live. I have been pretty bummed Dirty Daddy, the co-workhorse of Season#1, has been stuck in pretty lame tags with the "Suck Me" guy. Then Solo Darling, the co-workhorse of Season #1, has not been on a lot of the episodes I have been to, but I did really like match with Dick Holliday (it is right there, babyfaces), what a hellacious powerbomb that was!

Thatcher vs Low-Ki is enough to get me to watch this episode. That has me drooling.

I know he faced Taka Michinoku at WrestleMania XIV and the run as Essa Rios, but is he famous in Mexico? I don’t really ever see him crop up on the major Lucha shows in the 2000s. Isn’t he a pretty obscure LuchaDor?

HAHAHAHAHAHA when I saw the notification...I was like is this about JOHN CENA following me!?!? It’s pretty cool, but in reality he follows close to 52,000 people. So it’s not like he will see what I tweet. I have no idea why he chose me. I’m a huge Cena fan as a wrestler and even moreso as a human/modern day philosopher so I definitely MARKED OUT hard this morning. I have already been telling everyone at work, my friends & family about my close personal friend, John. :p I think it will definitely come up more than once at the club this weekend.

The best part of AEW is that everything is over. It is a positive feedback loop. The fans want the company to succeed and they actually go along with the storyline. They aren’t actively fighting against it or “hijacking” the show. It is so refreshing. It is because AEW has goodwill and delivers a product for the audience. So the positive feedback just grows and grows. It was most evident when Britt Baker came out. She got a huge pop! The crowd leaned into the Pittsburgh love. WWE does that and no doubt in my mind she gets booed out of the building. WWE gets accused of pandering and trying to force a not over star down on our throats. One of the many ways the WWE’s machine is critically broken. The negative rep they have built up stops them from working with the crowd. That’s why I like AEW just because the crowd goes with the flow and doesn’t fight against. The style of wrestling isn’t really for me. I find it mindless and too easily digestible. It goes in one ear out the other so to speak. There’s no hook. There’s no stickiness. I was at Young Bucks vs Pvt Party live in Boston. Loved the match! I’m not anti-spotfest at all. I just think a good spotfest is a lot harder to do. I have become a big Young Bucks fan actually! I think they are the best spot monkeys of all time because they go balls out, their spots are actually eye-popping, they pace & escalate well. They carried the Best Friends to the best match of the night. The Best Friends are a perfect example of serviceable spot monkeys. Lots of modified slams ala Dragon Gate Ooooo Aaahhh who cares? They hug!?! Okada Rainmaker Go Wide! That’s it! The best part was Bucks not selling Orange Cassidy’s bullshit and kicking him out. Oh yeah so my point was I was at Young Bucks vs Pvt Party and when I saw star making performance. I was scratching my head. The one With the cool hair had an ultra hot dive sequence during the shine. During the finish run the Frankenstein’s into an Ace Crusher was fire and the finish was great. But I didn’t see anything super special. This was not Benoit vs Eddie on Nitro or Rey vs Psicosis on Bash at the Beach when you thought you seeing something original. Pvt Party is just another act. They were totally exposed against the Lucha Bros...sloppy...green...very little character work. I love Pentagon Jr & Fenix both are breath-taking but they also kick ass. The difference between the Bucks & Luchas is the Luchas are going to get themselves over and they always do. The Bucks try to make sure their opponents look good too. I think that’s a huge feather in the Bucks’ cap they got so many people into the Pvt Party. Theres way too much running in pro wrestling. Why is Omega always running away from his opponent? It is fucking stupid. Yes he gets caught 50% of the time but why keep doing it! This is a WWE, AEW, Beyond, you name it, less running and more body on body. I remember Rousey vs Nattie on a random December RAW we need more of that. Actual wrestling that leads to more wrestling and builds to a satisfying finish. The pro wrestling in the middle show was easily the best show. Jericho vs Cody was pure fucking old school. It was pitch perfect. That’s the stuff that will keep me watching. Loved how fiery Cody was! That’s the babyface energy we need! I can’t believe Cody Rhodes is the best Ace Babyface since Cena in the US but he is! He is great! Jericho rules! I love his Seb Bach look. Growing his hair back out has helped so much. Loved the sparkle jacket. I popped for MJF and DDP. I hope they don’t turn MJF at the PPV. If you want to talk star making performances the one that happened in Boston was MJF. I still they should have closed with MJF not Darby. Everyone and their mother (my mom was literally there!) thought MJF was turning on Cody and when he officially turned Face and stayed with Cody. The crowd erupted! The way he let the crowd in and motherfucking vibes with us in Boston that’s motherfucking pro wrestling! Loved the mid-show angle. I wish they went all the way with their version of the Concession Stand Brawl but that would have been the A+ the way it was still an A. So I have my favorites Jericho, Cody, The Bucks and Luchas. AEW >>> WWE, but I think AEW is still playing it safe. More angles and more character development is needed. As long as those 6 are featured, they have me as a loyal viewer. Also im a huge Tony Schiavone Mark. He was the voice of my childhood on Nitro. AEW announce team blows every WWE team out of the water. They actually talk about strategy which can be hard at times with the wrestling they are talking about but they make do. Love that too!

Boston was far from a sell out. Only 3/4ths full. Hard cam side was very empty.

I’m watching with my Mom. She goes “What was that face?” With a mixture of disgust or confusion. I said “I think he was trying to convey intensity” lol

You know what no one talks about (or at least I dont think I have ever seen this complaint) is WWE does angles way too fast and way too slow at the same time. This to me is the #1 problem with the show. There is no reason to watch every show because 3 times out of 4 nothing happens! There is no continuity. They shoot three weeks worth of angles in one 15 minute segment and that dont have shit to do for the next three weeks of TV. People wonder why what nothing happens it is because everything happens all at once and nothing of consequence after it happens. Easy Case Study is Sasha Banks' return. Using the parameters they set up with Sasha interrupting Nattie after Summerslam. She returned, turned heel, beat up Nattie and fought Becky in 15 minutes! You need to spread that shit out over three weeks and here you go. Week One: She returns, she is sympathetic to Nattie, but she is also kind of self-centered. She talks about her own problems and how that makes her relate to Nattie, but really all she cares about herself and she comes off disingenuous. She wants to partner with Nattie to go for the tag titles. Week Two: Sasha is far too selfish in the tag match and when the going gets tough, she walks out on Nattie. This plays into the Sasha "takes her ball and goes home" gimmick. Nattie calls her out in a backstage segment. Sets up the match for next week. Becky notices the return of Sasha in her promo on the episode and hints at wanting a match because it would be a big time match. Week Three: Sasha instead calls Nattie to the ring to apologize for last week, but instead turns heel and brutally attacks Nattie. Becky Lynch now saves and runs off Sasha. Becky now really wants the match and challenges Sasha for the PPV. Week Four: Go home show, The Boss vs The Man Dueling Promo. "The Man will be the Boss' Bitch" was a good line and this where the trash talk goes. This is JUST ONE EXAMPLE! They do this shit all the time. They run the angle in one 15 segment and then there is ZERO Plot or Character Development in the three following weeks. To me this is the biggest problem. Think about what you want to do. Break it down into THREE steps and play those three steps over three weeks. Fourth week is go home and dueling promos. It is NOT rocket science.

NEVER Openweight Champion Tomohiro Ishii vs IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion Kota Ibushi - NJPW 5/25/14 I get why this was the #12 ranked match overall for VOW poll in 2014, but I thought it was overkill down the stretch that hurt my enjoyment. It is just your basic gritty badass vs. flashy pretty boy match where the flashy pretty boy proves his mettle but ultimately comes up short. Ibushi tries to play Ishii's game early going strike for strike with him. This was much better than your typical New Japan strike exchange because there is actual character work. On every chop, Ibushi left clutching his chest while Ishii registers no pain. Ibushi is fighting through the pain to keep beating on Ishii to no avail. He is earning respect for taking his lickin' but he keeps on tickin'. Also, it sets up the story that they are playing by Ishii's rules and Ibushi does not have a great chance playing this game. I thought the best representation of that is Ibushi is fighting out of the corner and hits about three strikes and with one Ishii chop he fells Ibushi who is left clutching his chest on the mat in the corner. It was just a perfect way to establish the story. From there, Ibushi gets a little smarter and starts to use what brought him to the dance. He is embracing who he is rather running away from it. The dropkick gets him his first serious score sending Ishii scurrying, but it is too early to go up top as Ishii cuts him off and hits his delayed Superplex which is a thing of beauty. Ishii hits a nasty powerbomb and looks in control. Ibushi takes advantage of a running Ishii and hits a pele kick and then a nice hurricanarana to keep Ishii off balance followed by his trademark moonsault on the outside to wipe Ishii out. That's what Ibushi needed to do. Take advantage of the element of surprise and string a series of quick moves together. Ultimately he eats knees on a moonsault, but when he regains control again it is a Pele Kick and Hurricanarana off the top rope this time. That combination working for him because it is a serious blow to the head but it uses his altheticism to deliver pain rather than wow the crowd. That second Pele Kick was particularly vicious. Ibushi really tries to press his advantage with a Phoenix Splash but crashes & burns! Sliding Lariat...1-2-NO! BRAINBUSTERRRRR!!! 1-2-3! ****1/2 MOTYC...WAIT Ibushi didnt take the Brainbuster there was more wrestling... Yeah, so the last 3-5 minutes or so they kind of lost me with endless strike exchanges and suplexes. It looks like Ibushi really fucked Ishii up with a headbutt cut him real good under the eye. Ishii BLASTED him with a Zidane style headbutt that I think he was hoping would draw blood. Ibushi getting his nearfall off a Dragon Suplex seemed weird. It didnt feel big enough. Ishii hit some MONSTER TRUCK LARIATS and did win with the Brainbuster. I really liked the story they told for the first 15 or so minutes and I felt they lost their way with the overboard stif-fest finish run, but still very entertaining stuff and the fundamentals of pro wrestling storytelling were there. ****1/4

Hell Yeah Brutha!

I watched the first twenty minutes of the first episode because it seemed right up my alley. FUCKING ROCKIN WITH DOKKEN!!! I POPPED HUGE! Probably the biggest 80s metal band I have not seen live. "Into The Fire" is a badass jam but I would have went with something a little more uptempo, Ratt N Roll! There's just something about a studio environment that just makes pro wrestling feel more like pro wrestling. I was born in 1989 so there's no nostalgia talking here. It just feels at home. Aldis doing his "Ric Flair" I think he even tried an American accent at the beginning felt a little off. He was more subdued than Naitch. But I did like him giving kudos to all his fellow champions and his upcoming challenger. I think it is a great way to give people the rub and introduce who the hell is on the roster. The Dawsons were a great squash. I have seen pictures of Eli Drake but never seen him in action. He definitely has cadence and conviction. Needs to work a little on the content, but man it was refreshing to hear that cadence of a real pro wrestling promo again. I liked the match he gave a lot to his opponent, who looked good. Loved the 1-2 punch of the opponent eating the feet on his high risk move and setting up Eli's finish. Eli calling out "the kids" and Corny heaping it on felt no different than JR's "This is the NWA! This is where we wrestle!". I think people made a whole lot of something out of nothing. They were just talking trash. I am going to stop here. I am wicked sick with this cold and need as much sleep as I can get. I dug it! I cant believe I am going to say this...there's way too much pro wrestling right now!

Lol! I was waiting for a post like this. It was driving me batty. Get a thesaurus! Imitation is right there. Does Cornette actually know & use the term “cosplay”? In a weird way, that’s actually pretty hip of him.

Is "dixit" French for "said"? I took seven years of Latin and "dixit" is "said" also. It has nothing to do with wrestling, but it is really cool that my Latin actually came in handy. Not so dead after all! Ill make it pro wrestling-related...Austin Aires went to MLW!?! I had forgotten about him. I like him; Im glad he is doing something. What's Low-Ki up to? Timothy Thatcher is there? Very cool! I love seeing him live in Beyond, glad he is on a TV Show. He is awesome! I feel like if MLW, ROH, NWA and Impact merged they would actually have a half-way decent roster to compete with WWE and AEW.

Holy shit, this is actually a well thought out business plan with multiple phases that is not too overly ambitious. I mean for a foreign company to penetrate US market is unheard of so in and of itself is ambitious, but I feel they are being realistic and they are thinking things through. With their current management, I am hopeful for New Japan Pro Wrestling in the future. I am excited!

Besides El-P who nailed it in his post, I’m surprised at the lack of talk about Moxley vs PAC I mean that’s how you build a match for the following week. It was such great execution of pro wrestling fundamentals. Mox is an unhinged violent maniac and wants to bloody Omega. PAC wants to win. He takes away the barbed wire bat and berates Mox. So Mox literally tells him him Fuck You with the Double Bird, DDTs and walks out. That was 100% Stone Cold! I loved it! It felt organic, electric and made me excited for a match. I don’t care about either before but now I’m excited for the match. Pro wrestling fundamentals work! Match of the Night for me was the Lucha Bros vs Jungle Boy & Marko. If Cornette could look past his irrational hate, he would realize this was old school pro wrestling. An under-represented story in modern wrestling is when heavy favorites underestimate underdogs. They worked this to perfection. The shine exposed the Lucha Bros’ arrogance. They took them lightly and they got shown up. The shine was so crucial because fans like underdogs that can actually win. The shine made you believe Cinderella could do it. Then when the Lucha Bros took over THEY TOOK THE FUCK OVER! Fenix is impressive but Pentagon Jr was cruel and mean torturing Marko. That was a glorious heat segment. Loved the hot tag to give you that little bit of hope before the decisive finish. Loved, loved that match. People seem to really like Darby Allin. I see the new age Jeff Hardy in him but I dunno didn’t click for me. I love the idea of him as an FIP in a established tag team. I think he would be great. The no hands quebrada was cool. But I dunno I have high standards for highspots artists and I thought Fenix and Young Bucks blow him away. I’ve only seen two matches of Allin. So keeping an open mind. Jericho looked great this AEW run has cemented his legacy as one of the all-time greats. Loved all the tag team wrestling of course! I’m pretty level-headed about AEW I’m enjoying the shows. I attended the Boston show live. I think these shows are clearly better than WWE right now but there’s still room for improvement. I think they can still make it piping hot as they develop more characters and run more angles.

BJPW Strong Heavyweight Champion Shuji Ishikawa vs Daisuke Sekimoto - BJPW 3/31/15 I have never seen a Sekimoto match but I have been hearing his name bandied around for a decade or so at this point. He has a cool look. Trash can for a body. Tree trunks for legs and arms. He falls into the "Heir to Kensuke Sasaki" archetype which is very popular in modern puroresu. Kensuke Sasaki is far more influential than people give him credit for, but I guess his detractors would say that the real influence is Riki Choshu. I would say to that Sasaki kept the style and look alive so that another generation could be sprouted. I need to revisit the Kobashi vs Sasaki Dome Match. I didnt like that much when I reviewed, but it is clearly incredibly influential because so many modern strong style puroresu matches use that as the archetype. I feel this match is Kobashi vs Sasaki meets Bill Watts meets Mick Foley Death Match Sado-Masochistic Theatre. Watts would love these two big uglies just charging at each charging. I loved the lock ups and the test of strengths and bouncing off on the shoulder tackles. I am a sucker for that. Sekimoto hitting a dropkick and then a dive to the outside was great. I thought the beginning was super-charged. Ishikawa, who looks like a death match wrestler, hits a piledriver on the floor to change the momentum which I am fine with. Then in the most disturbing spot of the match. Ishikawa has Sekimoto in a Full Nelson and proceeds to RAM HIS HEAD INTO THE STEEL POST UNPROTECTED! HOLY FUCKING SHIT! The Japanese crowd politely claps when Ishikawa throws Sekimoto back in the ring. What the fuck. I hated the spot because it was totally under-sold and presented as a transition that should have been a game changer. Instead we get Sekimoto Fighting Spirit rallies minutes later. Sekimoto worked most of the match from underneath. He thrives there. He has a ton of fire. He hits a meaty lariat. Ishikawa was great at the cutoffs. He let Sekimoto gets some shit in with a spear, but then hit a massive dropkick and double stomp. I liked the suplex struggles. There was a sick cutoff where Ishikawa just headbutted Sekimoto repeatedly. Sekimoto would not be denied with MONSTER BURNING LARIATS! Lots of headdrop suplexes. Ishikawa did a Rainmaker, but with Multiple Headbutts as the conclusion instead of a lariat. Holy Fuck! This is ridiculous! Piledriver that has to be it! Only 2! Wow! They went overboard but fuck in a match of this violence just go for it. They were just hitting each hard as hell and dropping each other on their heads or blasting their heads into each other. Eventually Sekimoto's head is busted wide open from all the headbutts. This is gross. Mick Foley would lap this shit up. The final turning point is Ishikawa is just WAILING on Sekimoto with Slaps and Sekimoto puts a stop to that with a closed fist! Sekimoto charges for a Lariat, they meet and like just Rams, Butt Heads! OW! Sekimoto is BUSTED! HARDWAY JUICE! BURNING LARIAT! Second one and then a German puts Ishikawa away for Sekimoto to win the title. I must be sick in the head but I liked this. Far from perfect, but it was heated and it felt important. Sekimoto didnt blow me away. He has a cool look and is definitely an asskicker. I dont think he is quite as charismatic as Hashimoto, Sasaki or Choshu. But this is just my first match so I will keep an open mind. I liked Ishikawa, he was a solid foil. Brutal! ****

GHC Champion Minoru Suzuki vs Takashi Sugiura - NOAH 9/19/15 Damn Sugiura got old quick! This is during Minoru Suzuki's Reign of Terror in Pro Wrestling NOAH. According to VOW, this is the best match of his in NOAH in 2015 so lets see how it goes. First 15 minutes: Ultra-stiff! That's Sugiura's style to a tee. The matches I have seen him in against Kensuke Sasaki and Takyama are just these brutal, ultra-stiff stand-up contests. These two were just rifling each other with the stiffest elbows to the neck/jaw you will ever see. Sugiura got the best of the stand up initially but when he tried to kick Suzuki's head off, he ended trapped in a classic dangling armbar from the ropes by Suzuki. This set up the hook. Suzuki tortures Sugiura's using the guardrail, punishing holds and kicking it really, really hard. Sugiura made some valiant comebacks. I like how he used the injured arm, but it felt like he was fighting through the pain to use it. Best sequence thus far is Sugiura tries a fake-out during a criss cross but Suzuki is wise and kicks the bad arm as Sugiura charges and then wrestles him down to the ground with a tight Fujiwara armbar. Suzuki went for the cross-armbreaker, but Sugiura turned into an anklelock of all things. I kinda remember that being his go-to hold. So going into the second half of the match, it looks Sugiura maybe gaining some momentum and we are in for some dual limb psychology. Second Fall: Nope, they abandon all limb psychology and go full bore with "Stand & Bang". This is better than the usual New Japan Strike Exchange breakdown that is employed in all modern New Japan matches. In New Japan, it is a perfunctory ritual. Here it is the story of the match. They are working in and out of the Stand-Up game. They do a couple well-timed double KO spots. It was stiff as fuck. It was brutal. There was one shot I thought Sugiura killed Suzuki. Like legit knocked his head off. It was so hard. I liked Suzuki trying for his sleeper/piledriver combo at one point out of the stand-up game. Suzuki gets a closed fist cheapshot. Sugiura comes back and wins the stand up exchange with elbows that would make Misawa proud. German suplex. That KO elbow comes at this point and Suzuki kicks out. I thought they lost credibility. The way Suzuki was selling the KO. It just hurt the match. They went too far with the selling and asskicking for Suzuki to make a credible comeback. Suzuki did. It just didnt sit well with me. The slap exchange was brutal. They charge at each other and Suzuki pulls the trigger first and hits a dropkick. That was the final turning point. Sleeper->piledriver and Suzuki retains. I enjoyed this a lot. The closest thing to this would probably be BattlArts in how it was ultra-stiff, minimalist in regards to offense and stand-up oriented. However, I think it could have been 15 minutes shorter and gotten the point across. I thought they did go overboard at the end, but still a nice change of pace from modern pro wrestling. ***3/4

Kazuchika Okada vs Tomohiro Ishii - NJPW 8/6/16 The Legend of The Tombstone continues! I won’t spoil the finish because it popped me so huge. Okada remains me a lot of Bret Hart. Everything is tight & logical BUT he is going to hit all his spots (not in the same order) and therefore it can feel a little mechanical and too rote at times. Ishii does a great job jarring Okada and therefore the fans by taking the fight to Okada. At the beginning when Okada does his customary pat on the clean break...Ishii damn near takes head off with a couple lariats including a sliding Lariat which is the prelude to the Brainbuster. He went for the Brainbuster within 2 minutes of the opening bell. That’s hot and that’s getting someone out of their comfort zone. It also felt like he was not letting Okada show him up. Okada wriggles free of the Brainbuster goes for the Rainmaker but is thwarted. He hits that White Noise move and Ishii is left selling. Trading finisher teases at the beginning of a match will ALWAYS get over in my house. It means you are in it to win it. Ishii hit some vicious chops to Okada. He just pounded. Out cane the Flapjack, Ishii took it like a champ. This is just Okada in his wheel house hitting his spots. Ishii sold well and got a hope spot but Okada was just clicking. Top rope Elbow, Rainmaker pose.::ISHI CHOPS HIM IN THE THROAT! Now that’s what I’m talking about. Break Okada’s rhythm. From there, they just have a banger of a finish run. Tons of great counters and near falls. I loved Ishii hitting a dropkick before Okada did. The Ishii Powerbomb after he chopped Okada in the throat on the Rainmaker pose was a good capper. Ishii’s superplex was hot. I loved how hard each man worked for their setup move or their finish. Okada was trying to get the Tombstone or Rainmaker so hard. Ishii it was all about that Brainbuster. I’ll leave it like this he who wins the Tombstone battle wins the match. I LOVE THAT PSYCHOLOGY! ****3/4

Man some serious in-depth analysis here. I enjoyed it a good deal more than you two (I get where the MOTYC talk is coming from), but yes for me the selling threw me for a loop. Selling in general has thrown me for a loop for the last 8 years or so. Honma just dies three minutes in the match. He does a deadfish drop. There is way too much overselling in some parts. Then in other parts there is no selling. It comes down to that it is like the entire wrestling world has forgotten what a register is. Flair and Steamboat would register the sting of the chop. That's it. No one was dying from a chop, but at the same time they let you know that chop hurt like son of a bitch. I give Ishii and Honma a lot of credit for offensive timing and layout. They really earned their bombs and told a great story of their offenses being pitted against each other. NEVER Openweight Champion Tomohiro Ishi vs Tomoaki Honma - NJPW 2/14/15 Big, meaty Riki Choshu-style wrestling! War of attrition, lots of macho pride and big bombs! This has the interesting wrinkle of Honma, the super underdog that the crowd just loves. There were NO Ishii chants and that almost never happens with a Japanese crowd. Japanese wrestling crowds are like tennis crowd they usually root for whoever is losing to rally and therefore keep the match going. Even when Ishii was getting his ass beat, the crowd wanted Honma to win, which is crazy. I loved the escalation of this match and how the offensive strategies were intertwined. It felt like each man had to earn their offense and earn their big bombs. It took Honma four tries before he could hit his trademark falling headbutt. The first failures is what gave Ishii openings. It was a sudden Honma DDT (great sell job by Ishii, he is so great at selling the neck in the moment) that yielded him the opportunity to land that falling headbutt on Ishii's taped shoulder no less. Then things escalated. It took Ishii three tries to hit his trademark delayed superplex from the top rope and took Honma two tries to hit his top rope diving headbutt. I like how they both had big bombs from the top rope and how that symmetry played out. Another great spot that really showcased that symmetry was an apron spot. Apron spots since All Japan are major match turning spots. Ishii went for his trademark delayed vertical similar to his superplex but this time from the apron. Honma fought and shoved Ishii into the metal turnbuckle face first. If this was Crockett, he was coming up bleeding. Honma hit an insane top rope headbutt to the floor on Ishii. I love how one man's trademark bomb turned into another's. From there it was off to the races. The Honma finish run was absolutely electric and heated. The crowd and myself was biting on every nearfall. The lunging headbutt to the back of the head was nasty and really cool. The Brainbuster popped me huge and then the Island Driver! I kinda knew after that sequence he was not winning, but in the moment the heat was unreal. Ishii sold it all very well to make you believe. Loved all the big, meaty Lariats down the stretch. I normally don't like the shoot headbutts, BUT you could feel the match slipping through Honma's fingers so he just throws his desperation headbutt that stun Ishii. He goes for a lunging one and MISSES! Ishii nails him with his own headbutt! Ishii knocks him out with a second one. The Brainbuster polishes Honma off. The end of the day Ishii beat Honma at his own game. He was more resilient than Honma outlasting him during that hot finish run. Then he beat him using headbutts, which is nasty. I didnt like the Kobashi/Sasaki tribute at the beginning and the strike exchanges at times were tiresome. The selling was weird. Sometimes, they were overselling, Honma did a deadfish flop about 3 minutes into the match. Then other times they werent selling shit. Register, dudes, register. Honestly for me offensive strategy, how they mesh, escalation and the psychology derived from there is more important to me and this really rocked for me. Based on what I wrote and rated the 2014 series, this should go down as one of the all-time great series. ****1/2

Ricochet vs KUSHIDA - NJPW Best of the Super Juniors FINALS 6/8/14 Surprisingly to me at least, Ricochet was more over than KUSHIDA throughout this match. I am a pretty big Ricochet fan. I have seen KUSHIDA at least once live, for some reason I think I have seen him twice. He is a name I see bandied around, but for some reason he doesnt he seem to do too hot on MOTY lists so I have never checked him out. I thought this was a really great juniors match that went off the rails and ventured into NOAH territory with 8 million inconsequential false finishes. The chain wrestling at the beginning was solid and entertaining. Ricochet convinces KUSHIDA that they do a criss cross spot but then rifles him in the gut with a kick. I popped for that. I wish it meant more though. They worked a Ricochet gymnastics sequence similar to the Ospreay which was nice but kinda wish the kick came at the end of that. Ricochet ends up on the outside and KUSHIDA slams Ricochet's arm against the apron. So because I have never seen KUSHIDA wrestle I didnt know his intention. Was he setting Ricochet up for something OR was Ricochet's left arm injured (he was wearing a sleeve). It turns out it was to set up KUSHIDA to have something to go back to when he needed to cut Ricochet off. It was a true touchstone throughout the match that never got dropped. So kudos for KUSHIDA to stay focused and Ricochet for the continuous selling. Ricochet hit a beautiful Flying Space Tiger Drop and I am a mark for that move. Ricochet's control segment was solid but nothing special. A lot of movement and it was snug & tight but it didnt feel like it was going anywhere. KUSHIDA was just letting him do the moves. The spot of the match was KUSHIDA dropkicking the bad arm when Ricochet did a back handspring. I marked so hard for that. That opened things up for KUSHIDA. Great dive to the floor and then a moonsault for two. After that, I feel they ventured into NOAH territory with false finishes and the crazy offense. I did like that not all the moves hit. Ricochet missed a Springboard Shooting Star Press and KUSHIDA missed a Spiral Tap. There was a great double wristlock takedown by KUSHIDA that I really liked. However stuff like Ricochet hitting a Go 2 Sleep kickout and then immediately a 630 kickout was a little much. My second favorite spot of the match was Ricochet was going for something complicated. KUSHIDA rolled back into a double wristlock center of the ring. The heat was off the charts. Honestly if Ricochet tapped right then and there, I would have forgiven everything and POPPED HUGE and been singing their praises. I was into that possible finish. Credit where it is due, Ricochet fought through this so well, clasping his hands when he could and selling it. The actual finish was an overly complicated kick to the head (the first one was a whiff, second one connected). Ricochet was wicked over and deserved the win. I enjoyed the match a lot honestly, but man I really fell in love with that possible double wristlock finish. ****

IWGP Heavyweight Champion Hiroshi Tanahashi vs Kazuchika Okada - NJPW 1/4/15 I like the booking of having them part for the entire calendar year of 2014 before reprising the rivalry. I have seen the first six matches and really enjoyed the wrestling. Like most, I thought the Invasion Attack match was the best of the lot and the one that deserves praise as one of the greatest matches of all time. I enjoy slow starts a lot more than most wrestling fans. It allows me to get into the action, study the combatants, look for little things about them and I enjoy the little mini battles, you know the tests of strength on a top wristlock or the shouldertackles. It gives me a feel. Tempers flare when Okada mockingly gives Tanahashi a clean break only to pop him with an elbow. Embarassment and then still gives him the cheapshot. I loved Tanahashi's response. He throws the ref out of the way and rocks Okada with a hard shot. A nice, vigorous firefight breaks out this much better than that stupid Fighting Spirit shit. Tanahashi gets the upper hand and wants to hit his patented senton from the middle, but Okada ROCKS him with a flying European Uppercut that sends him flying off the top rope to the floor. Wicked bump. This takes the place of the usual spot where Okada dropkicks his opponent from the top rope. This is the story of the first 15 minutes, lots of scouting. Okada knew Tanahashi was going for the senton and sent him flying. I love that spot as a transition as it is a big bump and signals definitively the start of the Okada control segment. Okada kicks Tanahashi's ass on the floor, hangsman DDT from the railing to the floor. I recall the Tombstone Piledriver is very critical in this feud. I am wondering if that DDT will lead anywhere. Hey they are going for the Tombstone on the ramp, nice no one hits it. Just a lot of struggle. That will definitely play a role later. Tanahashi does a little air guitar showboating and channels his idol, Keiji Mutoh by trying to run down the ramp but Okada is lying in wait and nails him with a vicious F-U on the ramp. Great highspot! I thought this match was really clicking at a high level at this point. Back in the ring, I thought they kinda took a half step backwards. Not that was bad, but it felt like they de-escalated. A lot more scouting spots which I like. Each wrestler evading common spots. I think my favorite was Okada hitting a flapjack to counter the Sling Blade. Okada invites for the Fighting Spirit breakdown to begin. Ugh. I guess there is at least a little character work here. Okada is definitely playing the cocky challenger still. He is the one in control and he is slapping Tanahashi mockingly and telling Tanahashi to hit him when it is clear Tanahashi is hurting. So when Tanahashi hits him it doesnt pack quite a punch so Okada can tee off on him. So it is humiliation and kicking a dog while it is down. So the psychology is at least a little more interesting, I am still not that enthused by it. Then it happens. The moment you are waiting for in every Tanahashi match when he is going to go for the knee. Catches the kick...ELBOWS THE KNEE! No Dragon Leg Screw. Okada fights back and hits a raucous dropkick that sends Tanahashi flying! Looks like the action is starting to pick back up...Okada definitely ahead on points for the first 15 minutes as Tanahashi has not really gotten anything started yet. Okada is really starting to roll. Tanahashi blocks the obvious and aforementioned Okada dropkick to the top turnbuckle. However eats canvas on the High Fly Flow. Too early, brutha (which Gedo points out). I love Okada's urgency with Tanahashi down, he can really let his shit fly and not worry about it being countered. He rattles off three of his big highspots concluding with the top rope Macho Man elbow. RAINMAKER POSE~! Then it hit him, this first 18-20 minutes has been Okada's control segment now we have climaxed and we are going to hit Tanahashi's. Rainmaker thwarted and Tanahashi snaps off the Dragon Leg Screw. It is like clockwork. It is good, logical clockwork. You have Okada run through his shit and now Tanahashi so when that finish hits nobody is going to know who will win. Great layout. Okada takes a fucking tremendous bump going ass over tea kettle on the floor over the railing when Tanahashi dropkicked the bad leg. HOLY SHIT! TANAHASHI HIGH FLY FLOW FROM THE TOP TO THE FLOOR OVER THE RAILING! FUCKING EH! THAT WAS AWESOME! Tanahashi is looking to finish this off with High Fly Flow but Okada rolls through and he is thinking...TOMBSTONE?!!? TANAHASHI REVERSES IT! TANAHASHI NAILS THE TOMBSTONE! I LEGIT JUST POPPED IN MY IRELAND HOTEL ROOM! I am a huge Tanahashi fan and man that Tombstone made me a fan in that moment. I know that is so crucial for the win. 2 HIGH FLY FLOWS CONNECT! 1-2-NO! YA SHITTING ME! Tanahashi teases the Rainmaker. Ahhhh finisher stealing. The Rainmaker is a stupid finisher to steal because it is very easy to get countered and then you end up being hit with the Rainmaker. Thats what happens! Tanahashi clobbers him with a RAINMAKER~! 1-2-NO! So where do we go from here. Weird part. They trade bridging Suplexes (Tanahashi had not yet hit his Capture or Dragon suplex). There is another Tombstone attempt by Okada because the Tombston is crucial and Tanahashi rana'd out. I love that the Tombstone is more protected than either man's finisher in this series. Okada hits that signature high dropkick. Part of me liked it because it felt like desperation. Like each man was hurling out what they know. they know it is their B-Material but fuck their A-Material didnt work. Part me didnt like it because I feel like the B-Material should precede the A-Material. Ultimately I thought the heat was in the Tombstone->High Fly Flow->Kickout->Rainmaker->Kickout and then they lost a little sumthin sumthin. I ended up loving the actual finish. Tanahashi goes back to his bread & butter using dragon leg screws. Then he hits High Fly Flow while Okada's leg was hung up on the ropes and then smoked with another for good measure. These guys are clinical and I love them for it. They are rooted in the fundamentals and they build to great matches. Invasion Attack still remains my favorite, but I am going to go ahead and put this at #2. I liked the scouting early on. I liked how Okada earned that control segment. Loved the layout and pacing. Tanahashi's control segment was fucking money and just electric. The finish was interesting but not really overdone like late era AJPW or NOAH. There was only one Rainmaker and 2 High Fly Flow Segments. It was just they put filler in the finish. I really enjoyed it with me watching even more wrestling now I dont think this makes my Top 100 list for next year, on the bubble for sure. I would say this Top 10 for New Japan from what I have seen in the modern era. I really enjoy these two together. ****3/4

Hiroshi Tanahashi vs Kenny Omega - NJPW New Beginning 2016 Vacant IWGP Intercontinental Championship With the departure of AJ Styles, the ascent of Kenny Omega begins as he is now pushed as the the top gaijin of the Bullet Club as he turfed AJ right before he left. At the very first supercard after the Dome show, he is challenging Tanahashi (#2 Native after Okada) for the Vacant IWGP Intercontinental Championship (#2 Belt). The IWGP Intercontinental Championship is vacant because Shinsuke Nakamura departed at the same time as AJ but New Japan gave Nakamura a very respectful sendoff, he did not have to lose the title, which in a lot of ways was his own personal title (like how Baba booked his championships in the 70s and 80s). Nakamura also was not beaten up by Omega and the Bullet Club on the way out. Tanahashi has his right shoulder bandaged and this becomes a target for Omega. Omega comes out with Cody Hall, but ends up sending him to the back within a few minutes of the match starting because of liberal interference. He wants to do this on his own, but he is ok with eyeraking and choking Tanahashi with a cable. He wants to cheat on his own terms, goddamnit! Tanahashi pays tribute to Nakamura by doing some of his spots but when he goes for the kneelift in the corner, Omega evades and then yanks Tanahashi's bad arm on the top rope. A really great heat segment follows. Great selling by Tanahashi throughout especially on not being able to complete the skin the cat. I like the gradualism. Tanahashi still has fight left in him so Omega has to beat the spirit out of him to really gain control. Lots of good ringside brawling and using the railing for devastating effect on the arm. I love when Japanese wrestlers wipe out a bunch of chairs in a spot. Omega suplexed Tanahashi over the railing and wiped out a ton of chairs. Really cool. Omega did an Moonsault from the railing back on Tanahashi just because. Some really gnarly arm torturing by Omega. Then he grabs a sleeper, thats weird, but then he tries to turn it into a Crossface Chickenwing, that makes more sense. Tanahashi back drops out. Tanahashi makes a pretty good one arm comeback, but Omega still has a lot left in the tank UNTIL THE DRAGON LEG SCREW! Oh shit now we GO TO SCHOOL! Tanahashi looks for the Texas Cloverleaf immediately. Credit where credit is due Omega sells this like a big deal. He is struggling against it and scrambling for the ropes. Tanahashi is kicking the bad leg but Omega fights through it and gets a Fujiwara Armbar. Then a curious thing happens. Omega is still selling the leg. Honestly, I would have been ok with him giving up on it because it was not that long, but nope he sold it like a million bucks. Even did the whole collapse thing when he knee gives out on a suplex. He sold the leg like a champ the rest of the match. Tanahashi starts pouring it on. High Fly Flow to the outside. Then in the moment when I realized I was watching a great match...Omega is trying to get back in the ring, Tanahashi goes for the dragon leg screw, but Omega starts wailing on the bad arm of Tanahashi. Tanahashi fights through and snaps it off. Holy shit! That was great. There were a lot of great double limb psychology touches from these two. Finally Tanahashi applies the Texas Cloverleaf and looks to have Omega dead to rites. Cody Hall reappears and distracts Red Shoes. The Young Bucks come from under the ring and double superkick Tanahashi. Wow! This is some great old school interference. I dig it! Spike Tombstone Piledriver and Styles Clash but kickout! They trade Dragonranas in a spot I never thought I'd see in a Tanahashi match and I actually popped. There was a weird spot where Tanahashi goes for the High Fly Flow and one of the Bucks yells at him and he sells like it he has been eye raked and falls off the top turnbuckle. It was very strange. The Bullet Club is about to break Tanahashi's arm when Mike Elgin of all people comes to his rescue and actually carries both the Bucks to the back. Now we get the finish stretch proper. It is the greatest hits of both men. High Fly Flow lands once, but misses the second. Omega hits a bunch of his pump knees to the head (they looked fucking great!) and The Cleaner gimmick finish wins the match. I expected nothing but this was a ton of fun! The double limb psychology was fucking great. Both men were totally committed to it. I enjoy interference in pro wrestling more than most and I dont think there's enough in wrestling. It makes matches exciting and dramatic. It makes wrestling wrestling. I will say I think the interference should directly led to the finish since the heel was going over. Front load those typical Tanahashi spots (Sling Blade, Capture Suplex) earlier. Have the Bucks save on the Cloverleaf and High Fly Flow then let that lead directly to Pump Knees and Cleaner gimmick finish to win. It just undercut the drama of the finish. Basically what I am saying is the Bucks stuff was more exciting than Tanahashi/Omega just doing their best hits. I think the finish should always be the most exciting part of the match. Really fun pro wrestling that covered a lot of my favorite shit in wrestling! ****1/4

IWGP Intercontinental Champion Shinsuke Nakamura vs AJ Styles - NJPW 1/4/16 It is crazy to think I saw this exact match-up live on a random Smackdown in Manchester, NH. Here it is as the semi-main event to a Tokyo Dome show. Life is funny. I was really disappointed by the WWE series and I saw that as maybe the biggest AJ Styles fan on the planet. I remember really enjoying and this and yep it totally lives up to my memory. The main hook of the match is Nakamura working the back/abdomen (the general core region) with laser precision. I hear that AJ had some back injury coming into this. They play that off in the beginning when Nakamura jerks him off the ropes and AJ takes a hard flat back bump. AJ feigns the injury and sneak attacks Nakamura. When Nakamura gets a sort of Irish Curse backbreaker on Styles this time AJ is not so lucky and his back is actually hurt. AJ does such a great job selling this and writhing in agony. The Nakamura heat segment on AJ's back is clinical. This is the type of stuff you show rookies. It is textbook, it looks great and highly entertaining. The way he drives AJ into the guard rail. I loved the kicks to the abs and then when AJ finally smartens and catches the kick, Nakamura goes high with the enzigiuri. Genius! The kneelifts were fucking great and devastating. Running kneelifts leave you exposed to counters so when AJ evaded one this set up the Springboard Forearm and just like that AJ is back in it. I liked how AJ's strategy was all head focused. Even before having his back worked on, AJ was focusing on the head-rocking strikes. Those elbows, forearms and knees were all targeting the head. No one since Misawa is better at throwing the 'bow than AJ. Again, he is going for the head. I liked how hard it was for AJ to get Nakamura over on a suplex given his back issue, struggle is a critical part of pro wrestling. One thing I often in note in Nakamura's New Japan matches is that he is usually the superior counterwrestler. Here are two occasions, we see AJ not Nakamura busting out the counterwrestling using the Calf-Slicer. Nakamura on the other hand was going back to the back when he could. There were great finisher teasers between the Styles Clash and Bom Ba Ye Knee, which I loved. It makes you feel like each wrestler is trying to win the match. As the match progresses, you can feel each wrestler getting a little more desperate. With AJ's injury, he wants to get out of this match as quickly as possible and every time AJ rallies, Nakamura gets a little more nervous and wants to knock him out with a knee. I love that. At this point, the match becomes more strike oriented. AJ builds matches so well and his false finishes just crescendo to absolute fever pitch. I will say Nakamura sold his ass off for AJ. A critical point was when Nakamura was in such a rush, he ends up getting caught in the mush with a wicked uppercut knee. Nakamura's selling was so good and as my mom would say "haste makes waste". We get that sweet AJ 450 for two. Big false finish. Nakamura shows his counterwrestling game with a flash flying cross armbreaker but AJ clasps his hands. When Nakamura turns it into a triangle attempt, AJ hits a Styles Clash! HOLY SHIT! I popped HUGE for that all over again. Great false finish. AJ is fired up and wants to finish Nakamura off with a Super Styles Clash, but in all that time wasted, Nakamura SMOKES him with a wicked kick to the head. Nakamura BLASTS him with a Bom Ba Ye Knee to the back of the head and then one more for good measure to the face to win the match. Amazing start to what would be a banner year for AJ Styles, I would say one of the best in-ring years of all time, right up there with Flair in '89. The work was snug, tight and logical. The escalation was great. They really built to a barnburner. The psychology was very sound, my issue is I thought the bridge from the body of the work (back psychology) to the finish could have been better. Things like Bom Ba Ye Knees after a Pele Kick is not great. It felt very much like action for the sake of action, but once AJ hit that uppercut knee they were right back on track. It may have been all of two minutes so a minor nitpick. Definitely one of the New Japan matches of the modern era that really holds up and all the more shame that they didnt click in WWE. ****1/2 Fun Fact: This is my 2,000th review on ProWrestlingOnly!

Am I blind? How is there not a thread for this match. I feel like this is the most famous match from 2016. Ricochet vs Will Ospreay - NJPW 5/27/16 Dragon Lee, Kamaitachi don't be bringing that shit in my house! This is the real, good shit. I am of the opinion is much, much harder to have a great spotfest than it is a traditional pro wrestling match. The traditional structure of shine-heat-comeback-finish is an almost bulletproof formula. When you do decide to freestyle it, man you better be fucking good. These two are really good. In my opinion, the issue that modern wrestling faces is that the wrestlers are being torn in two directions. On one hand, they want to go out and dazzle. They want to bring the action and the workrate. On the other hand, they want to stay true to the selling and psychology. The wrestling fans themselves are pulling these wrestlers in two. It was almost a brainwashing in the 1990s that bad wrestling has two components 1. Restholds 2. Blowing off selling. For the most part when people complain about wrestling it is one of those two things. It is quite silly honestly because it is all context dependence. Restholds make total sense when a babyface is blowing up a heel with constant action during the shine and then heel grinds the match to a halt not just lean on the babyface but to catch his own breath (Arn Anderson was a master of this and of course the famous Sleepers match is a great example). Restholds can be logical and fulfilling spots in a match. What people are actually complaining about is laziness. When a heel has nothing better to do than throw on a rear chinlock. There was no exciting shine. It is just all the heel has got. Or they bemoaning an inconsequential hold that is meaningless. Now we have swung in the opposite directions. Highspots that are inconsequential and meaningless. Just like in those rear chinlocks, I zone out during these feats of athleticism because they are presented so poorly. In this match, these two had two things going for them. One they present their shit so much better than everyone else. You know what the HIGHspots are because they clue you in that this is going to be a big fucking deal. Then on top of that there, highspots are actually HIGHSpots. They stand out and make you say oh shit! Ospreay's Flying Space Tiger Drop and Dragonrana on the floor were fucking incredible. I loved Ricochet's twisting dive to the outside. The missed 630 was eye-popping. The martial arts kicks were phenomenal. The Flip DDT (which my brother invented on our couch in 2005 using a stuffed bear) was so cool for the family connection. Hell the flying Ace Crusher looked great. This was a breath-taking spotfest and a collection of really amazing stuff. It does not stand out as one of my all-time favorite spotfests...here's why... While they leaned into having a spotfest...they couldnt bring themselves to go full bore because what's the second cardinal sin of pro wrestling: blowing off selling. Clearly there were no restholds in this. In order to have a great match, they need sell. They have to. Right? NO! So many problems in pro wrestling would stop if wrestlers stopped selling! Just dont do it. It is pointless if you are going to do thus style of match. You should register. 100% definitely do that. But stop acting like Ricky Steamboat or Ricky Morton. Why are there are so many glazed over eyes? Why is everyone struggling to their feet? Why is everyone gasping for breath? Just register, bro. That's actually what makes the 80s and 90s so good is that everyone registered and saved the selling for when it mattered. We got brainwashed into thinking selling is everything but there are different levels to selling. Stop selling! Just register! That's what dropped this match down was you could tell was their desire to make it "epic" through selling, but it was overselling. It undercut the match both from a tempo stand point and the offense. The match succeeds when the tempo is up once you start doing "epic selling" you lose me because that's not the match you are having. Breath-taking match, really entertaining, I enjoyed this a lot, but what's holding it back was they were not 100% committed to the spotfest. They wanted to have it both ways and have that traditional epic match which in their minds requires dramatic, epic selling. Brutha, all you needed was a register. ****