Superstar Sleeze

WWF World Tag Team Champions Rick Martel & Tony Garea vs Moondogs - WWF MSG 12/29/80 "The Moondogs having themselves a powwow, no maybe it is a bowwow. No. No. Boo." - Vince McMahon booing his own joke. I have been meaning to watch this series forever. Rick Martel & Tony Garea were the hot new babyface team that just dethroned the Lou Albano's Wild Samoans and now Lou Albano is back with a new rough 'n' tumble tag team combination, the Moondogs. They are psycho hillbillies that carry around large bones. They are right up by alley as they are totally outrageous gimmick, they are big and fat and they bump like mad. They do a little bit to establish the power game and then Rick Martel goes into Ricky Martel mode. I feel like I must have made this comparison in the past, but he reminds me so much of Eddie Guerrero in how infectious his energy is. He looks like he is having so much fun. This is my first look at Tony Garea. For a dude near retirement, he has some pep in his step too. I like how he throws a dropkick in such a way that he lands on his feet. It looks awkward as fuck but hey he doesn't take a bump. Smart! They work over a Moondogs leg. King is the bigger of the two, but still have not gotten good at telling them apart. So the other one gets up on the top rope and Martel press slams him off to a massive pop. The Moondogs were really good bumping & stooging heels. Moondog King punches Martel in the head while in a hold. Then smacks the shit out of him. Just a beautiful heat segment. So much drama in Martel trying to get the tag while almost being pinned too. Moondogs were great at choking and double teams. Martel the selling and the hope spots. There was one great left-right combination, whip into the buckles, he charges and eats the boots and the air just goes out of the building. Fabulous job in building that drama to the hot tag. Martel eventually scurries around and tags in Garea. Garea has some zip still. Back body drops for everyone. Garea gets a Moondog in an abdominal stretch. The other Moondog busts him open with the Bone. Triggers the DQ. Martel saves. Martel uses Garea as a dropkick machine to the clear the ring. There is nothing extraordinary here (well Martel's selling is), but it is incredibly good execution of the tag team formula that really builds to a fever pitch with the hot tag. It definitely makes you want to seem more matches between these two teams. ***3/4

WWF Heavyweight Champion Bob Backlund vs Stan Hansen - WWF 4/6/81 Two sentence I did not think I would ever write: I saw Stan Hansen's ass & Stan Hansen needed more offense. Even with that complaint, I thought this was the best match these two have ever had together. I am a huge fan of both and it is disappointing that they never really hit out of the park, but this was great. It was an all out fight. Because they went for that fight there was not much selling, which I think makes sense, but then there were times when a pro wrestling sell became overselling because they were going for that fight feel. Backlund is rocking this whole match. His punches looked great. Hansen took a bunch of cage shots. Lots of energy. Stuff like Hansen ballshotting Backlund and Backlund being back on offense soon after or Backlund ballshotting Hansen and Hansen bodyslamming Backlund soon after was a bit off putting. What I liked was there was no downtime. I thought it was cool there was no shine, no heat, no finish. It was just a fight. You will not find a bigger defender of the shine->heat->comeback->finish formula, but I think deviations like this are necessary. It was just two big strong dudes just to beat the shit out of each other. Hansen gets color and Backlund works over the cut. Good drama getting out the door and over the cage. Hansen takes two big bumps off the top rope. Backlund emphatically exits through the door to a MASSIVE pop. Unique take on pro wrestling, good energy, Hansen getting some more offense and smarter selling would have improved this, but definitely a match worth seeing and you really don't have to watch the other ones. ****

Sgt. Slaughter vs Pat Patterson - WWF 4/6/81 My review of the alley fight has the background to this match. WOW! Loved this pure babyface vs heel match. Patterson was keyed up and ready to roll. Sarge was feeling it. Sarge is running away from Patterson at every turn as Patterson is revved up. Sarge tries to catch him from behind, but Pat turns around and wallops him! This is pure WWF/AWA style babyface throwing all that heel shit right back at the heel. Sarge takes his classic nutty bump over the top turnbuckle into the post not once, not twice, but three times! Patterson chokes him, rakes the eyes and bites the hand. Boston Crab for Patterson gets a pop! MSG is rockin! Sarge throws Patterson to the outside, who takes a nasty tumble. Slaughter thinks about coming off the top rope, but thinks the wiser it. He bites Patterson's forehead. Working a decent King of the Mountain. Slaughter misses the Bombs Away Kneedrop, Patterson's own move! Figure-4 by Patterson on the bad knee! Genius! Slaughter uses the ropes again. Patterson kicking at the knee and hits it with a chair. I love it! The ref wants Patterson to break and he shoves him. Slaughter eye rakes Patterson to avoid the figure-4. Slaughter and Patterson go at it and they throw the ref out. Slaughter low blows Patterson and applies the Cobra Clutch. The ref back in and Slaughter kicks him in the gut. The whole thing gets called a Double Disqualification. Patterson is livid and almost comes to blows with Dick Whirly. Calls bullshit on it. I love how into it he is. Awesome, awesome placesetter for the big Alley FIght, just enough energy to get hyped, but not too much that they cant top it the next month. ****

The pop Backlund gets after winning the held-up title against Valentine in November of 1981 at MSG. The part where Backlund leads the fans in a proto-Yes chant puts a huge smile on my face!

IWGP Heavyweight Champion Shinsuke Nakamura vs Hirooki Goto - NJPW 4/10/2010 I wonder if Goto's career would be any different if he won the title here as opposed to Makabe winning in May. Ultimately, it looks like they were building to the returning Kojima vs Tanahashi for the Dome. Either would have been a transitional champion. Makabe was a slightly bigger name and had a more interesting gimmick. During the first half, I thought this was good wrestling, but I couldn't understand why this place #6 in Ditch's poll for 2010 in Japan and then the second half kicked in and the placement made sense. I have behind the big three NOAH matches on the year and big FUTEN matches of the year, but this was great pro wrestling. Watching this stuff, it seems like Nakamura is much better as a heel. He is a prick on the rope breaks. Then just eats a massive suplex from a pissed off Goto. He powders. Gets whipped into the railing and then Goto just throws his body at him. He pisses off the babyface and then eats a bunch of babyface offense. Good heel. He gets a kneelift and then does a great job grinding the match with a ton of interesting, violent knee strikes. Ability to work on top. Good heel. Especially since Goto is not a compelling babyface in the slightest. Goto catches a kick and powerbombs him. Elbow drop, 1-2-Cross Armbreaker. This is what I remember about Nakamura more than anything else the ability to counterwrestle really well. Goto steps on his head to break. Strike Exchange. Goto hits a neckbreaker and Nakamura really sells this. This is when the match kicks in. You get the sense Nakamura played with his food and now he might lose. Nakamura hits a Boma Ye to the back of the head. You can sense the Champion's desperation. Goes for the Boma Ye and Goto catches him. Goto uses a bunch of head drops to get nearfalls, which Nakamura sells well and plays into the injured neck. Goto SMOKES him with a lariat! Great nearfall. Goto goes for another lariat, but Nakamura hits Boma Ye to the head and as Goto tries to pick himself back up BOMA YE! I liked the story Nakamura clearly the better wrestler and champion underestimates the powerful Goto. Almost gets caught once Got injured the neck and creates some drama, but at the end of the day Nakamura has his knee like Misawa had his elbow to bail him out of trouble. ****

But Davey Boy was BIZZZZZZZZZZZZAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

Let's talk about the biggest injustice fucking Edge finished higher than DiBiase, Tito & Valentine. Fuck that! Now that's something all of PWO can be unified in our anger.

GHC Heavyweight Champion Takahashi Sugiura vs Yoshihiro Takayama - NOAH 7/10/2010 Sugiura was well into his 581 day reign as champion, which seems questionable, but given the roster there was not much of a choice. This was the NOAH tenth anniversary tour and they are still in a decent sized building drawing 5000+. I loved this a lot more than expected to. Sugiura is a wrestler that usually draw apathy from me. He is undersized and hits hard. There is not much charisma from him. But at least he does hit hard. I think that adds to this match a lot. They start with a strike exchange and I eye roll. Takayama hits a dropkick to send Sugiura out the ring. I love Takayama! Wicked kneelift on the outside and then he THROWS SUGIURA DOWN ON THE TABLE! Damn! Nice baseball slide. Takayama still has it. Very similarly to the Nakamura match I just watched from 1/4/10. Takayam dominating the young champion with a brutal bruising style. I love his kneelifts. Takayama busts himself open on a headbutt. Blood is pouring from his face. Sugiura gets a human capture suplex. I could do without them trading big boots, but they are laying everything in. I thought the last five minutes were fantastic. Sugiura hits a wicked German into the turnbuckles. He finally turns the tide on the Bleach Blond Giant of Japan. Everything up to that point would sort of just phase the Big Man, this was the first time he had him reeling. Great selling from Takayama. Sugiura EARNS two more Germans, a Dragon Suplex and an Olympic Slam. Sugiura is doing a good job playing to the crowd and firing up. Takayama is selling really well. Takayama gets his big nearfalls. Backdrop driver and then his beautiful Everest German! 1-2-NO! They start punching each other in the face with closed fists. All of sudden Sugiura channels Jerry The King Lawler and unloads a can of whoop ass that had me pumping my fist. Two Olympic Slams later Sugiura retains and I am in shock that I was so excited about a Sugiura match! The last five minutes make this an easy thumbs up. I thought the first ten minutes were very good and it is always entertaining to watch Takayama beat the piss out of someone, but it was nothing special. It is the ending that makes this truly great. ****

IWGP Heavyweight Champion Shinsuke Nakamura vs Yoshihiro Takayama - NJPW 1/4/10 I was reading my review of Nakamura vs Ohtani from 2009 and I was really high on Nakamura at the time. Reading it back it sounded like a great match and Nakamura gave a great cocky heel champion performance. I claimed to get it that this is the Nakamura people know and love. You know what I will never get Nakamura and I should stop saying I do. He has had great matches and even great performances, but I don't get him. He is very mercurial that's both his gimmick and who he is. I do get Yoshihiro Takayama and is a badass. This match main evented the Dome six years prior. One of the reasons I say I don't get Nakamura is thought this was a pretty lukewarm performance from him just months after the great one against Ohtani. Takayama was his usual asskicking self. The story of the match was pretty much Takayama just kicked Nakamura's ass. Nakamura hung with him for a little while but Takayama just brutalized him into submission. He tried to give him a heart attack with repeated elbow drops. Some glorious Takayama kneelifts. I love a good kneelift and Takayama is the God King of them. Nakamura's selling is just kinda there. He gets a good knee strike to the head on a suplex attempt. Another knee to the head. I like Nakamura going for headshots. Then he goes for a juji-gatame, gets him over but cant break the clasp. Takayama then launches into an excellent suplex barrage. Backdrop driver, The old knee in the corner then Butterfly, Dragon Suplex into the ring. He looked great. Nakamura gets wristlock out of a bridge and tries for a cross armbreaker, again Takayama clasps his hands and kicks Nakamura in the head. Nakamura slides right into a knee lift. What the fuck was that? Now Takayama charges and Nakamura gets a kneelift. Boma Ye to the back of the head. I think that's the death knell for the Bleached Blond Giant of Japan. Nakamura goes for the sleeper, but Takayama drives him into the buckles. There is a big punching slugfest. Takayama has way better punches and Nakamura sells well. Nakamura whiffs on his head kicks, but gets a couple big Boma Ye Knees to win. I think Nakamura just sucks as a babyface. He is too reserved when he is in that role. Takayama was so much fun on offense. The finish didn't feel climatic. Takayama was in control and then Nakamura gets in a couple kicks to the head that don't really connect to set up the Boma Ye Knees. Just didn't feel big enough. ***1/4

John Cena is the WWE GOAT

Cena vs Braun needs to happen at Mabia!!! That match was boring as hell. Shitty layout. Elias looked like an idiot because how bad that layout was.

Angle was a great promo for so long and have been shocked how terrible he has been this past year. Finally he showed some shades of the Kurt of old.

I can't stop laughing

HHH scoop up all this heat for himself. HHH & Steph vs Angle & Rousey

Bray Wyatt is a great offensive wrestler. Always said that. More often than his matches are good. His gimmick is so toxic that I can't care about his matches, this maybe the worst main event gimmick ever. The character has ZERO motivations for his actions.

I want Sonya Deville to win because I am a huge mark for her. I think Alexa Bliss will win. I think Sasha should win aka who I would book to win. My mom wants Bayley to win.

NEVER Openweight Champion Tetsuya Naito vs Tomohiro Ishii - NJPW 2/11/14 First fifteen minutes: The story seem to be going for here is that more agile Naito trying to play Ishii's game and winning. At first he does not fare too well and a dropkick gives Naito his first advantage. The crowd is booing Naito hard and they love Ishii as the underdog. Naito is suffering the backlash pushed WWE babyfaces usually face. Naito regains advantage by headbutting Ishii into submission. I get you want to prove Naito is tough, but he does not look tough and it comes across as an inauthentic story. Naito flying around with dropkicks and splashes looked way better than going toe to toe with Ishii and winning. Ishii had some great offense as usual, delayed superplex and powerbomb looked great. Ishii is the master of selling the back of the neck. Naito gets a firm advantage with a German and Ishii does a great job selling it. Naito fucks up a Top Rope Frankensteiner. He is a lackluster performer. Just not a lot of presence. Ishii is carrying this. Another great German from Naito. Ishii lariats him out of his boots, but they go back to the stand up strike exchange and Naito wins again. I get the story. I just don't believe in the story. Last ten minutes: Welp that was a lot of strike exchanges. Yeah. Naito misses a Stardust press. The crowd goes bonkers! Ishii hits a MASSIVE SUPERPLEX! Huge pop! 1-2-NO! That should have been the finish. Naito Kappo Kick->Dragon Suplex gets two. Hey another strike exchange that's exactly what this match needs. Naito headbutts Ishii hard. I mean real hard. Ishii kicks him back of the head. BRAINBUSTAHHHHHHH and Ishii wins and the crowd is pumped. I guess you can say Naito played Ishii game and that's why he lost, but they kinda dropped the ball there at the end to really drive it him. That Stardust Press miss->Superplex was a molten sequence. Ishii is the King of the Superplex. Overwrought at times, but still hot as hell down the stretch. ***1/2

NEVER Openweight Champion Tomohiro Ishii vs Hirooki Goto - NJPW Power Struggle 11/8/14 It is funny I cant explain it but Ishii looks like a great midcarder. Like an Arn Anderson. Ishii is going to rock the midcard and give reliable performances. You aren't disappointed when he doesn't crack the main event or loses a big match because he is a compelling midcarder. Yet someone like Hirooki Goto is looked at as a disappointment. Even in this match, I thought Ishii was a definitively better wrestler. Better offense, better selling, better at getting over the bigger moments. But I am not disappointed in Ishii not making the main event. I am disappointed in Goto. It is weird. I cant articulate why that is. As far as the "let me stand here and let you hit me" matches, this is probably the best of that genre. There is a moment in the beginning where Goto was taking punishment but starts to hulk up and Ishii does a fantastic job getting over the concern that Goto is hulking up and then when Goto blasts him with a chop or lariat (forget which at this point) Ishii sells it so damn well. That's what I meant earlier about Ishii being better at getting over those big moments. Ishii's offense looked damn good. Two of the best superplexes I have ever seen. Just the perfect amount of delay to really make them feel grand. At the end of this was two midcarders doing Hashimoto vs Choshu. Hashimoto and Choshu earn the right to do that match. The defiance, the lariats, machismo. I like watching two dudes hit each other really hard too, but it is disposable if you don't have the gravitas of Hashimoto and Choshu. Those lariats were ferocious. There were some INSANE headbutts. The penultimate lariat Ishii hits should have been the finish. I thought he caved in Goto's chest. BRAINBUSTAHHHH takes it for Ishii. These are big, dumb, fun matches but ultimately they have no staying power and there is nothing wrong with that. That's why the midcard exists. ***3/4

Damnit, I didn't realize there was a February match. GHC Heavyweight Champion Katsuhiko Nakajima vs Minoru Suzuki - NOAH 12/2/16 This was during the period where NOAH was a satellite promotion of New Japan where NJPW sent Suzuki & Suzuki-gun to NOAH and NOAH sent Marufuji and Nakajima for the G1. Nakajima is the champ and this is a One Night Cruise in Korauken Hall. I love Japanese event names. I had high expectations for this match while I thought this was great, I didn't come away thinking this was a match of the year contender. There were a lot of strike exchanges while it was finally paid off with Suzuki punching himself out and Nakajima going all Misawa on his ass. There were just too many. I enjoyed Suzuki's leg work but I had no illusions that it would be meaningful. I love Nakajima but his bread and butter is his kicks. I always like a good chair shot to the knee though. I thought the transitions in the match were lacking. People were not missing moves rather people were just saying it is my turn now. Nakajima kicks Suzuk a bunch and then sleeper and brainbuster. I liked the use of the sleeper to setup offense. More people should do that. Nakajima kicks Suzuki's head off and it is sold as such. Then Suzuki dropkicks him out of nowhere. Great dropkick but it felt wrong. Suzuki uses the sleeper to try to set up the piledriver, but it didn't work. Nakajima dropkicks now. Then Suzuki shoves the ref into Nakajima. At this point the match goes from solid hard hitting into wrestling and taking it next level with good storytelling. Suzuki punches Nakajima in the face while the ref is discombobulated. He calls for the troops, but no one comes out. Nakajima recovers. Now here comes that strike exchange I referenced earlier with Suzuki punching himself out. Great selling from Suzuki and then Nakajima lights him up like he is the Second Coming of Misawa. Great elbow combinations and then Roaring Elbows. Nice German, finishing combination is kick his head off and then the Brainbuster for the win. I thought the body of the match was entertaining but didn't really have a hook. Nakajima was not really proving himself to Suzuki. Suzuki worked a body part but there was not much drama. There were a lot of strike exchanges. The finish run is very strong and tells a great story of Nakajima rising to the occasion to defeat a legend of pro wrestling. ****

Pete Dunne vs Mark Andrews - WWE UK Tournament 1/15/17 Pete Dunne pulls off a completely opposite performance than his quarterfinal match. Instead of being a bumping heel that takes advantage of an opportunity, he is a bruising heel working on top and feeding great hope spots to the babyface. Mark Andrews is your traditional high flyer from Wales. He was grabbing his neck before the match. Andrews' big move is the shooting star press. Dunne gets a bodyslam early and goes for a cover. Love it! Nasty chinlock. I love how they pepper in hope spots. Andrews gets a great dive over the top. Dunne goes after the nose and fingers. When he tries to stomp the hand on the steps, Andrews snaps off a rana. I am loving this pacing. The perfect blend of bruising heel on top and high flying babyface hope spots. Dunne gets a nasty suplex/bodyslam on the apron. Another in the ring. On third attempt, Andrews does an indy-riffic counter. 1-2-NO! Shooting Star? Eats knees. I would have loved that as the finish, but I understand wanting to put Dunne over more definitively. They give Andrews some more hope spots down the stretch, but it was clear that Dunne was taking this. Great three move combination to polish off the high flyer: German into the buckles, Suplex/Bodyslam and then his finish. I don't like his finish because it is very indy, but I am definitely a Dunne fan. He is a mean, nasty heel. He can let the babyface take most of the match or he can work on top. I like that versatility. There was more modern wrestling that crept into this match (stupid shit like Dunne blasting Andrews with a forearm and then Andrews snapping off a rana), but for the most part it was a strong exhibition of bruising heel on top and a babyface snapping off hope spots and then the heel snuffing it out. Loved the pacing. ****

Tyler Bate vs Wolfgang - WWE UK Tournament 1/15/17 All good things must come to end. This was a return to Earth for the tournament. A perfectly serviceable match but nothing to write home about. Wolfgang is much bigger and burlier than most of the competitors of this tournament that look like juniors. They do play up the size differential but Wolfgang just is not that menacing of a heel. It is very basic stuff that isn't really followed up on. Wolfgang may have a broken nose going into this match as it was bloodied in the Seven match. There was a good punch by Bate again not followed up. Bate dropkicked the knee again not followed up. There were pieces of a great match but did not materialize. Wolfgang misses his Swanton Bomb, but gets a spear. I feel like those moves should have been flipped in the order. Bate gets a Tiger Driver '97 to advance to the Finals. Not a bad match just average.

Tyler Bate vs Jordan Devlin - WWE UK Tournament 1/15/17 Another great match from this tourney! Why is it great, you may ask? Because it focused on time-tested tradition of babyface/heel dynamics. This is the Quarters. Bate is a surprise 19 year old success. He has a moustache which makes him look older than he is. He is a crowd favorite. Devlin is an Irishman and is naturally the heel in England. The previous night he busted open his opponent with kick to the back of the head and knocked him out post-match. Devlin was a great heel in this. Bate is having fun. He is 19. He is happy to be there. He shows up Devlin by faking shaking his hand. So Devlin is pissed and attacks. Bate fights though this attack and EARNS his suicide dive. I love watching Devlin RETREAT in the ring into a corner. Then thumb Bate in the eye. These are BASIC heel things that everyone should be doing. Babyfaces move forward and heels move backwards. I forget who said that. But God is it genius! Devlin takes advantage and goes on offense but in doing so he showcases Bate's neck strength with a bridge spot. Bate gets a monkey flip. Goes for an airplane spin always a crowd pleaser. They do a good job teasing big moves like a Bate Tiger Driver and a Devlin moonsault. Devlin gets in that wicked kick that busted open his opponent the previous night, but Bate is not as injured as the ref is checking him which loses valuable time for Devlin. Devlin takes the BAIT of the right and Bate nails him with the left. TIGER DRIVER '97!!! Im all in on this UK Tournament. Traditional pro wrestling lives! ***1/2

Pete Dunne vs Sam Gradwell - WWE UK Tournament 1/15/17 Holy shit! This was awesome! How has no one talked about this? Pete Dunne is a little shit that calls himself a Brusierweight. Sam Gradwell is a hometown boy from Blackpool. This is the Quarters. Dunne attacked and injured Gradwell the previous night of the tournament. EXCELLENT BABYFACE SHINE! In 2017, not only did we get a babyface shine, we got a great one. BUMPING HEELS STILL EXIST! Gradwell is pissed and is taking no shit. I love not only the fire and intensity of Gradwell, but I love how Dunne is still fight back and GRADWELL IS FIGHTING THROUGH DUNNE! Gradwell great suicide dive. Dunne suplexed him on the ramp last night. So Gradwell suplexes him on the ramp. Love the revenge spot. Gradwell his a missile dropkick, but lands on the bad back. OH NO! Dunne hits a German suplex, but Gradwell is still fired up and keeps coming. Dive to the floor again. Gradwell is on fire and Dunne is actually a good bump n run heel. Did I wake up in 1986, this is incredible! Dunne pushes Gradwell off the top rope injuring the back and Dunne bodyslams Gradwell into the turnbuckles to win the match. Dunne got three moves of offense. THATS HOW IT SHOULD BE! The babyface should be kicking ass. The heel does a bullshit thing like knock him off the top rope to take advantage of injury and quickly win the match. He didn't hit his finish. He hit a violent move that took advantage of the injury. This blew my expectations out of the water. This is pro wrestling! ****

Katsuhiko Nakajima vs KENOU - NOAH 10/14/17 I love this type of pro wrestling. Just ultra-stiff, beat the shit out of each other wrestling. If I am going to watch mindless pro wrestling I would much rather watch this than a bunch of flips or overdramatic selling. This is apart of the Global League, I think, NOAH's version of the Champions Carnival. KENOU is an M-Pro wrestler that I have seen face Fujita Jr Hayato. I always thought he was good not great. Nakajima is one of my absolute favorites and had the chance to see him in 2009 in person for ROH against Kenny Omega of all people. KENOU would go on to win the GHC Championship in December from Eddie Edwards and is the reigning champion as of this writing. Nakajima was the person Edwards had beaten. Very KENTA-style juniors match but with even more emphasis on strikes. These two absolute blow away KO/Zayn lame paddycake specials that they always start their matches off with by absolutely trying to knock each other's heads off with forearms. The kicks in this match were breath-taking both literally and figuratively. I could watch Nakajima kick all day. You watch this and New Japan needs to stop with the strike exchange in every match. Tanahashi, Naito and Okada just cant do that well. These two show you how you do a strike exchange. They were just blitzing each other with kicks. I wish they wouldn't do headbutts since what happened to Shibata. I loved the suplexes on the outside. There was some leg psychology in there, but lets be honest this was all about trying to cave one and another's chest in. I think Nakajima clearly has more charisma of the two and is more interesting to watch, but he needs a rival and needed a break from being the champion. So I think KENOU makes sense to build up. Fujita Jr Hayato has not wrestled since April of 2017, but he should be brought in. I thought the struggles over suplexes was good. I thought the match had plenty of struggle and urgency. It was just the lack of transitions and overall narrative that hurts it. This was a balls to the wall 25 minute sprint that never lets up. No lame Oscar-bait selling to take up time. Just kicking ass. The struggle over the suplexes shows that if these guys could hit suplexes it could be over. At the end when Nakajima hits that roundhouse kick to KENOU's head I thought it was over. BRAINBUSTER! Time limit draw. One of the best draws ever because they never telegraph it they just go all out. Instead of a spotfest, I would call this a stiffest, very BattlArts in that way and very enjoyable to watch. ****1/4

Hiroshi Tanahashi vs Tetsuya Naito - NJPW 8/11/17 Watched this still amped up from that insane Russian Figure Skating Final. Alina Zagitova is the GOAT! But now I am fading so lets keep this short & sweet. Naito beat Tanahashi at WrestleKingdom. Tanahashi beat Naito for the I-C title in June. This is the rubber match. Not as good as Dominion better than WrestleKingdom. Very similar to Dominion but lacks the heated start and the great heeling from Naito. The arm work begins when Naito dropkicks the arm on the reverse crossbody attempt. Remember the WrestleKingdom heat segment began the same way but dropkick was to the knee instead of arm. I thought the arm work was not as tight here. Tanahashi got the same transition catching the dropkick into a dragon leg screw. HIGH FLY FLOW to the outside always a Martin pleaser. Naito stopping a dragon leg screw in the ropes by wrenching the arm into the ropes and then a dropkick to arm was a good spot. They repeat the Top Rope Frankensteiner into a Tanahashi rollup. Pop-up Dragon Leg Screw from Tanahashi. I feel like the body of this match means less than Dominion. Dominion they were really trying to debilitate one another. Here things just aren't as a tight. Where they make up a lot of ground is the finis stretch. I would say this has a better finish stretch than Dominion and it is one of the best home stretches I have seen in a while. Dramatic and economical. Naito goes for the Destino off the ropes. Pretty much that was the move that won him Wrestle Kingdom. Tanahashi blocks with a dragon leg whip off the top into a Texas Cloverleaf, which is the submission hold that won him the Championship at Dominion. Awesome play there. Naito gets the ropes. So you got to feel that Naito's turn now. He hits the Destino, kick out. Which is similar to WrestleKingdom. He just needs to hit it again, but Tanahashi counters into an Overdrive, not once, not twice, but three times! Tanahashi calling for SlingBlade, which is the precursor to High Fly Flow. Naito catches Tanahashi in the SlingBlade and counters into an Destino. Hits one more Destino for good measure. You would be hard pressed to find a better finish stretch. Great callbacks, exact right amount of twists and turns to lead to a climatic finish. Thought the body of the match was not as good as these two are capable of. Really amazing finishing stretch, I can see if you can care more about the back half of matches rating this the highest of the three. ****1/2