Superstar Sleeze

Got to see Thatcher/Kingston live....living in Mass has its perks! Glad you like Thatcher vs Ki and Kingston. At 6’ 3” surprised WWE has not snatched him up. They got Biff and Gulak after all. The prospect of Biff returning to Beyond has me salivating.

Speaking of Red Death, he was booked last night against John Silver (I finally get his name...its a play on Long John Silver because he is so short! LOL!) and MY GOD was that a barnburner of a match. So stiff, tons of body on body contact, and great escalation. That lariat out of the corner by Silver was EVERYTHING I LOVE ABOUT PRO WRESTLING! I fucking flexed when he hit that shit I was marking out so hard. I thought this was more of a return to form for Beyond. Dirty Daddy the Asskicker returned and am excited to see him kick Chuck The Fuck's ass. Solo Darling is being utilized in a prominent role. Thomas Santell and Nick Fuckin' Gage are the best tag team of 2019. Nick Gage is the realest muthafucka in the world. Shit feels like a shoot out there because you are so emotionally connected to him. He is just so earnest and authentic. I will NEVER get tired of shouting "MDK ALL FUCKIN' DAY" The Starr/Mercedes match I left early because I know his propensity to go long. The Thursday night switch was a bad move for me personally, I have a lot of meetings Friday morning and I live an hour away from Worcester. Santell/Yuta I was late for. I caught like the last 5-7 minutes, which was a bummer.

Low-Ki vs Timothy Thatcher - MLW Fusion Episode 83 11/11/19 WOW! Does this one live up to the hype or what?!? I was shocked by the size discrepancy even though I have seen both men live I thought they were about the same size. I guess I thought Thatcher was smaller and Ki was bigger. I looked it up and it was mentioned that Thatcher is 6' 3" I cant believe he is 3 inches taller than me. The match is a great throwback to the days where matches were built around body contact and limb control, not stupid running spots. Loved the collar & elbow tieups and loved how they built from the feeling out process into the meat of the match. Thatcher won a Greco-Roman Knucklelock bridging sequence (check out that knee to the head) that earned him control over Ki. Ki tried to fight from the back but Thatcher caught him and turned into a Single Leg Crab. Thatcher pretty much owned Low Ki and was transitioned at will from limb to limb with different jointlocks. He looked great doing it. Often, I think of Low-Ki as a great worker on top, dictating pace and offense. Here he was great underneath selling different body parts and also selling the emotion of being overwhelmed. He sold that he was in a desperate situation. I liked how Ki kept trying to use strike to re-assert himself in the match but to no avail because Thatcher can play that game. So it made the strike exchanges make sense and mean something. I really liked the suplex struggle. Thatcher was channeling Fujiwara with his snarling and heavy breathing. The Tidal Wave was a great desperation Hail Mary from Ki that ended having him rocked by a HUGE Thatcher European Uppercut. Ki sold like a million bucks. Anybody has watched enough Puro and this feels like an Old School UWF or NJPW match knows more often than not "He who controls the match is he who loses the match". So I fully expected a Ki victory, but they still caught me off guard. Thatcher went for a catapult, a big mistake as Ki jumped on the middle rope and came right back down with a DOUBLE STOMP! I marked out hard for that. What a GENIUS transition! The first time Ki got real offense. I expected that to lead to the finish, but Ki got cocky and started showboating with his strikes leading to a nice throw by Thatcher to get a nearfall. Then Thatcher went for some sort of Suplex, but Ki crawled along his back and got an inverted Triangle Choke that looked gnarly as fuck for the submission. What a cool finish! Total Throwback to Original UWF/80s NJPW, in a way early ROH/JAPW with Ki and Danielson. Tons of body contact not a lot of movement. Incredibly compelling, hard work & struggle and tremendous escalation. The Uppercut on the Tidal Wave and the Double Stomp were two stand out spots and the finish was just perfect for their match. Check this out! ****1/4

Low-Ki vs Timothy Thatcher - MLW Fusion Episode 83 11/11/19 WOW! Does this one live up to the hype or what?!? I was shocked by the size discrepancy even though I have seen both men live I thought they were about the same size. I guess I thought Thatcher was smaller and Ki was bigger. I looked it up and it was mentioned that Thatcher is 6' 3" I cant believe he is 3 inches taller than me. The match is a great throwback to the days where matches were built around body contact and limb control, not stupid running spots. Loved the collar & elbow tieups and loved how they built from the feeling out process into the meat of the match. Thatcher won a Greco-Roman Knucklelock bridging sequence (check out that knee to the head) that earned him control over Ki. Ki tried to fight from the back but Thatcher caught him and turned into a Single Leg Crab. Thatcher pretty much owned Low Ki and was transitioned at will from limb to limb with different jointlocks. He looked great doing it. Often, I think of Low-Ki as a great worker on top, dictating pace and offense. Here he was great underneath selling different body parts and also selling the emotion of being overwhelmed. He sold that he was in a desperate situation. I liked how Ki kept trying to use strike to re-assert himself in the match but to no avail because Thatcher can play that game. So it made the strike exchanges make sense and mean something. I really liked the suplex struggle. Thatcher was channeling Fujiwara with his snarling and heavy breathing. The Tidal Wave was a great desperation Hail Mary from Ki that ended having him rocked by a HUGE Thatcher European Uppercut. Ki sold like a million bucks. Anybody has watched enough Puro and this feels like an Old School UWF or NJPW match knows more often than not "He who controls the match is he who loses the match". So I fully expected a Ki victory, but they still caught me off guard. Thatcher went for a catapult, a big mistake as Ki jumped on the middle rope and came right back down with a DOUBLE STOMP! I marked out hard for that. What a GENIUS transition! The first time Ki got real offense. I expected that to lead to the finish, but Ki got cocky and started showboating with his strikes leading to a nice throw by Thatcher to get a nearfall. Then Thatcher went for some sort of Suplex, but Ki crawled along his back and got an inverted Triangle Choke that looked gnarly as fuck for the submission. What a cool finish! Total Throwback to Original UWF/80s NJPW, in a way early ROH/JAPW with Ki and Danielson. Tons of body contact not a lot of movement. Incredibly compelling, hard work & struggle and tremendous escalation. The Uppercut on the Tidal Wave and the Double Stomp were two stand out spots and the finish was just perfect for their match. Check this out! ****1/4

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. ****