Jetlag

Nothing better than a lucha match that starts with about 17 minutes of straight matwork that the crowd eats up. This is one of the earlier Navarro/Solar matchups and what they did here was pretty different from what they would do later, altough it was all great. This is also one of the better Skayde showings I've seen as him rolling with Shu is much more interesting than him rolling with one of his skinny trainees. Shu is just so physical, he does this thing where he goes on all fours or tailor seat and dares the other guy to move him. So Skayde puts a nasty toehold on him before going for a rolling stretch. Really really neat stuff that feels competitive. The later portions that had Shu throwing dropkicks and flying clothesines were also pretty great. Shu also hits a really great senton really squishing Skayde underneath, and locks in a nasty arm triangle with the arm trapped. Then Skayde would torture him further by putting all kinds of leglocks on him. The submissions and pins also work as near falls. Finish is between Solar and Navarro and suitably good. This is really a borderline classic, 20+ of high quality technical lucha at it's finest.

Michinoku Pro could still deliver dope 6 man tag action in the 2000s. This a trademark high spot filled formula tag with everyone playing their roles. Curry Man is a pretty good use of Christopher Daniels as he doesn't pretend to be a master worker but just acts like a tool. His missed dive was pretty insane. Super Boy always looks so great in M-Pro (where the hell is his lucha material?) and this was no exception, he is so awesome as a massive fat guy crushing the tiny dudes with flippy moves, and working miscommunication spots. Hidaka was also a really good team captain, trying to unmask TMIV and attacking his bad arm, twisting up Yuasas leg and getting kicked in the face etc. Nishida as a Spike Dudley inspired guy working highspots with Super Boy was really fun too. This is the kind of match that is completely predictable but still puts a smile on your face.

VAST ENERGY. This match was a total freakshow, but had far too many great moments not to love it. After working a lithany of martial artists in the 90s and being the king of the Tokyo Dome, Hashimoto has retired to his own remote island to live out his vision of what pro wrestling is supposed to be – some weird combination of Memphis and RINGS. Broken down 2000s Hashimoto is still a seriously great pro wrestler, and him destroying this freak of nature here was damn impressive. Jones really laid into Hashimoto who sold the beating huge. This also included Jones working an iron claw that Hashimoto sold like his skull was about to get crushed, Hashimoto and Jones working 70s Mighty Inoue/Andre spots, bearhug etc. Jones was a mixture of wooden and awkward and impressively athletic, he had this huge elbow drop, flies over the top rope, impressive leaping clothesline etc. And Hashimoto really lays into him too, hitting every part of the body with a thud, trying to find the weak spot. Hash chopping the shoulder while Jones was trying to hit lariats was pretty awesome, other great moments include: Jones powering out of Hashimotos armhold attempts, Hashimoto chopping away at the throat as well as his body shot combo, Hashimoto coming up with a bloody lip, a borderline exhausted Hashimoto locking in a basic leglock that ends up inescapable for Jones etc.

I was given Ricky Steamboat vs. Takashi Ishikawa from 1982 by Matt D which was a nice opportunity to check out T. Ishikawa working a more technical match. The match starts with Ishikawa controlling with a headlock for a bit and Steamboat trying various escapes. Ishikawa does the fun rope walking headlock takeover and looks all kinds of solid. A clever transition happens and Steamboat controls with an armlock for a bit. Ishikawa fights out and escalates the match hitting a tubby guy plancha and some nice elbows before Steamboat catches him with a crossbody for the flash pin. Rock solid stuff and something modern workers should study to understand how control segments and transitions work.

4 tubby guys beat the fuck out of each other and it rules, what else is new? The opening minutes were really fun logical pro wrestling. Fuyuki was fired up, ready to take down Tenryu and kick Kitahara's ass. He also looked shockingly good doing sympathetic selling as he got awkwardly kicked in the chin and face repeatedly etc. Kitahara loves demolishing other dudes with kicks but ends up having his leg taken out in a simple spot that looked great. His leg selling was very good as his kicks became mostly useless. Tenryu's hot tag was really fun and different as Fuyuki just bitchslapped him out of the ring and proceeded to kick Kitahara's ass some more. Tenryu then hands out some Necro level chairshots only to get brained himself. Super Strong Machine is not a very charismatic dude compared to the others but he is really fun here blindsiding guys, just constantly ramming people in the back of their necks with lariats and chairs when they would least expect it. Tenryu kind of played the role of the megastar who looked like he was on the verge of defeat, always looking like he was gonna go "Damn now I'm REAL fed up!“ and then he would get bonked in the head again. Really cool finish. I'd say this isn't quite up there with the high end WAR material but for the genre this is must watch anyways.

Borderline great NOAH 6 man action. Really fun opening, BURNING try isolating Taue only to eat a bunch of boots to the face and Taue ends up teasing the apron chokeslam on Kobashi with Ikeda helping him. We get some brief exchanges where you can't tell what the layout is going to be and then Taue takes out Kobashi with the big chokeslam on the floor anyways. In 1995 this probably would barely phase Kobashi but in 2002 this takes him out for a long time and we get a long heat segment with KENTA taking a huge beating while Shiga desperately tries to save him. That they were able to get serious heat for something like a Sleeper Hold in Differ Ariake speaks volumes about they excellent job the rudos did here. Ikeda was in top form, hitting hard, constantly running in to cheap shot dudes and almost knocking KENTA out with high kicks and spin kicks. Kobashi ends up coming back altough looks badly wounded. We get a really fun finishing run with Ikeda laying into Kobashi, doing a great job selling a big suplex, Shiga busting out his awesome submissions. Bison manhandling the little dudes etc. Great postmatch too, Taue rules.

One year later, Sugiura looks much more rugged. Can he take down Honda now? He can't, but here's another really fun match. Plenty of grappling, and that is a good thing because Honda rules so much on the mat. His cradles, takeovers etc. are so much cooler than your average UWF matwork. His super tight headlocks etc. also help emphasize how much it must suck to wrestle this guy and they also have significance, he might just lock in a basic front headlock then yank the guy over and crank his neck. Sugiura brings a lot more to the table in this match. Not outstanding and he does look a little awkward at times but he is a fun dance partner for Honda. The finish was pretty fun and unpredictable even if you've seen a lot of Honda as he wasn't doing his usual finishers (yet?) and instead some more experimental things.

Amaresu shootstyle! This was a really cool match. Apparently this was Sugiura's 3rd match ever so it's good that he gets to fight Honda, who is a master of a nifty short match like this. The early matwork here felt a bit like Negro Navarro doing an exhibition in Coliseo Coacalco, quick movements and then a break, but they get into some good extended mat sections later on. Really cool stuff that feels different from your typical UWF inspiried japanese shootstyle matwork. Honda looks like a troll but he can move really fast. Sugiura (in his amateur singlet) looks good throwing the much bigger Honda around. He survives some of Hondas unorthodox submissions and even hits a massive Karelin throw on the big guy. Nifty Fujiwaraesque finish.

Unexpectedly stiff, fun undercard action. Hashi and Izu try to crack eachothers skull in the opening and Hashi gets bloodied hardway. This leads to your signature Hashi underdog performance with Taue Baba chopping his cut. Inoue, as usual, was pretty much useless in helping Hashi here, so Hashi has to tough it in the finish against Izu who dishes out some big bombs. This kind of stuff is what made NOAH great.

A bunch of ninjas and sleazy masked dudes fly around in Korakuen Hall! By no means is this a great match, but it is a great bizarre indy spectacle. They bring out a bunch of ladders for this so you know what that means. Match includes: lots of preposterous Sasuke highspots (including the apron tope) and ladder-related awrygoings! Chabinger abusing everyone with his weird wooden mini table! Great Sasuke disappearing and reappearing, changing between his Great Sasuke/Sasuke the Great personae! Takeshi Ono in a mask hitting dudes with high kicks! Orihara looking good! NANIWA doesn't know how to do the Naniwa Elbow anymore! Great Sasuke hitting some REALLY stiff kicks! Sanhshiro Takagi in a mask handing out stunners! After the match everyone sits down and they have a beer. Osamu Tachihikari comes out too. Rating: watch if you can laugh at Sasuke getting a ladder flung at his head.

Tomohiro Ishii comes out in full on Dick Togo worship gear. Amazing. This was a shockingly great indy tag with all 4 guys smacking eachother hard while working complex spots and cutoffs. We get lots of fun heel tactics from Rudo Hidaka and Ishii which was interesting to see these two go back and forth between throwing hard shots and working Stunning Steve Austin/Fuerza Guerrera heel spots. Hidaka likes slapping his thigh but he really does paste guys with his kicks. This was one of the greater Tiger Mask IV performances I've seen too as he looked like a graceful technico while also spin kicking dudes really really hard. Him almost crushing Hidakas ribs with a massive kneedrop and Hidaka coming up bloody was a pretty epic moment. All their brief showdowns really made me want to see a singles match between the two which is not something I would've said from watching their BattlARTS material. Kazuya Yuasa is the future GAINA and he works like a WAR rookie here, hitting as hard as he possibly can on his dropkicks and lariats and hitting awesome bulldogs and elbow drops. He survives a ton of punishment and it builds to him and Ishii trying to crack eachothers jaws with lariats. The finishing run wasn't as brilliantly tricked out as the body of the match but what the hell... it's a great little discovery.

@SirEdger Shinya Hashimoto & Naoya Ogawa vs. Tom Howard & The Predator (ZERO1 5/3/2002) https://vk.com/video496410132_456239118?t=34m57s Review for Ishikawa/Steamboat will come tomorow, hopefully... and the other match too

This was so much smarter and more organic than their 1985 encounter it's not even funny. We get a fun fast opening exchange with Jaguar countering the handshake drag, but the rest of this was worked like a high end 80s NJPW strong style classic. I'm not kidding. Highly competitive snug pro wrestling, with Asuka working as a big shooter/bruiser type and Yokota fighting from underneath with technical moves. It's the little things that really got me into this match: Yokota kicking Asuka in the head while they were matwrestling, going for a lucha submission when Asuka blocked her piledriver attempt, getting out of trouble by catching Asuka with a leg trip etc. When Asuka wasn't trying to kick Yokota to a pulp, she would try to snap her arm during the opening portions. Asuka working firemans carries and throws to set up arm submissions is infinitely more interesting to me than random back and forth. Yokota hitting a piledriver on Asuka and following up with a tight necklock is logical pro wrestling 101 and the spill to the outside was straight out of the 80s playbook aswell. After slapping Jaguar silly, Asuka would give her a taste of her own medicine. The Scorpion Deathlock that left Yokota crumbling was awesome aswell. Asuka really goes to town on Jaguar now hitting one of the fastest Giant Swings I've ever seen and mercilessly cutting her off at every turn. There is also a pretty great Sleeper spot down the stretch: the first time Lioness caught her with it, Jaguar immediatey scrambled to the ropes, the 2nd time she reversed it immediately, and the 3rd time Lioness locked her down and she was close to fading, with her eyes rolling back in her skull etc. This is how you put a hold over. Yokota is in so much peril, trying every possible comeback and getting cut off that hitting the murderous piledriver actually feels like a huge moment. The one slightly weak moment here is the fluke finish and that is forgivable considering this was a tournament semifinal. I should also point out while everything in this match was logical, the bout never got predictable or by the numbers. But damn this like the greatest match Asuka has ever been in and damn do I need more matches like this from these two.

I watched a metric ton of US Indy wrestling. Including a bunch of additions and a borderline classic! Watched: Fred Yehi vs. Cain Justice (ACTION Wrestling 4/27/2018) This is my first time seeing Cain Justice. He does not have an impressive physique. I'm not a big looks guy (altough a cool look will go a long way with me), but jesus! Those shorts aren't doing him favors either. Cain Justice should probably wear a gi. Cain Justice looks like the kind of guy who smokes pot while watching early 2000s NJPW and one day decides to get in the ring himself and bring this style of pro wrestling back. He is probably a great dude, but jesus he needs to work on his execution. I am still looking for the one Yehi match that blows me away, this still isn't it, but he looks impressive here. Controlling Cain early on the mat, really chucking him to the mat in a headlock, hitting nice shoulder blocks and Garvin stomps. Cain Justice does the TJ Perkins spot where he hops into the ropes, which is just a comical thing to do for a guy like him. On the other hand Cain takes a bunch of Yehi chops and shoulderblocks and bumps around the arena in fun ways. Cain takes over with a painful looking and unique finger snap, I would have liked him to work the hand more as he looked good doing that, hitting a painful looking kneedrop. They soon go for strike exchanges and some unique spots which look a littly goofy here and there. Cain hits this kick to the mid section that is just pitiful and also some really bad palm strikes. Finish was very good and I give them credit for trying something different but Cain needs to become a little more polished before these two can do something special. Dominic Garrini vs. Cash Flo (PWF) This was basically a squash where Garrini dominates Cash Flo on the mat and then bruises up his leg with a bunch of low kicks. This was sold in a pretty big way by Cash Flo (who by the way is a massive dude) and the PWF locker room comes out with the towel being thrown in when Cash Flo is in a heel hook. Pretty cool angle for Garrini to come in and basically destroy the biggest dude in this promotion, altough I would have liked Cash to use his size advantage a little as he got in almost nothing except for a few chops. Cash Flo (who used to work IWA MS) aside from being big sold well and was willing to take punishment, maybe someone should book him against WALTER in 2019 and get him that PCO appreciation run. Dominic Garrini & Kevin Ku vs. Shawn Kemp & Jonathan Wolf (PWF 11/9/2018) This was a match where they tried hard and were clearly trying to produce something that stands out, so of course nobody has taken notice. That is indy wrestling folks. Shawn Kemp is a tubby guy in a singlet who does headbutts and backfists and also takes a big beating, I like him because he kind of reminds me of Makoto Hashi. Garrini & Ku basically beat the fuck out of him with big nasty stomps, sentons and slaps. It was hard to tell how good Ku actually was as he was lucky to have an opponent who was willing to get hit hard and didn't do anything impressive besides really beating on Kemp. The same goes for Garrini to a lesser extent. Jonathan Wolf is another really non-athletic looking indy dude who tries hard. Some goofy indyriffic move combos here. I could see Phil maybe wanting to check this out. Considering: Timothy Thatcher vs. Jonathan Gresham (Nova Pro 7/28/2018) Hey look it's Thatcher appearing in the US. Thatcher essentially worked this like Arn Anderson taking on Mike Jackson which was pretty great, just chucking him to the mat dismissively, trying to dislocate his jaw with great looking european uppercuts all while shrugging off all of Greshams offensive attempts. This lead to Gresham showing some actual aggression. Loved the crowd really getting into a drop toe hold attempt and that weird leg yank he did. Wish they had done more with the legwork as it was pretty brief but great stuff with Gresham really trying to twist Thatchers leg off. Towards the end this was basically Thatcher not taking Gresham seriously and paying for it. The suicide dive into the sleeper was a really smart spot and the finish went over huge. I also tried watching Garrini vs. Ku from NOVA Pro and wow did that suck. Two chubby guys rhymelessly stiffing eachother to no crowd reaction. I expect better from two dudes who are buddies. Only watch if you have more goodwill from either guy than I. Considering: Tom Lawlor vs. King Khash (Prestige 6/8/2018) This was a really fun, focussed match. They start with a bunch of hold exchanges. Nothing shootstyle here at all, altough Lawlors background certainly helps. It's weird how you don't see a ton of focussed WoS inspired hold exchanges like this in 2018 indy wrestling. I watched this because of Lawlor but ended up liking Khash a lot. He takes control by just headbutting Lawlor in the face while exchanging wristlocks and then hits a falling headbutt to his elbow which ruled. He also puts some interesting holds on him to further work the arm and I really liked how he tried to cut Lawlor off with knees etc. Also he uses the Full Nelson as his finish!!! Lawlor looked pretty good selling from underneath. He seems like a guy who has yet to find the right moves that fit him, I thought his superman punch looked weird, altough him muscling Khash up and throwing him around with suplexes repeatedly worked. I don't love pumphandle suplex moves (besides when Akiyama does them) but Lawlor worked them logically into the match.Also his big comeback move was basically a dropkick which the crowd ate up. Seems PRESTIGE is focussing a lot on these two so why not dive right into this fed!! King Khash vs. Simon Grimm (Prestige 3/30/2018) Another match with a lot of WoS throwback hold exchanges. This was probably a little more polished altough not quite as lengthy as Khash/Lawlor. Grimm really has his spots and crowd interactions down pat (well besides his flying armbar which is just terrible). Khash one again controlled by working the arm and Grimm handled himself very well coming up with some neat counters. Abrupt finish to put the finishing hold over. This worked very well altough it was shorter than Khash/Lawlor. Khash is certainly looking like a good Malenko/Regal type wrestler. Tom Lawlor vs. Simon Grimm (Prestige 5/11/2018) This had some of the more fun matwork I've seen either guy do as it was right between being rooted in their legit ability while also fun and inventive. Early on Grimm would play it could and do a classy reversal, but soon he had enough of Lawlors cross heelhooks and went for carny finger manipulation. However the parts after that were a bit of a mess. They stand up and do some „I hit you you hit me“ stuff which is a surefire way to get me to stop caring about a match. Lawlor works over Grimm for a bit and it's cool with him busting out some stiff kicks and a big boot. Grimm also showed a vicious side, yanking on Lawlors leg, muscling him up for a big Capture Suplex, pounding him on the ground with elbows etc. Still a lot of this felt like two guys lost doing a longer match that needed better planning. Added: Lawlor/Grimm vs. Khash/Mike Santiago (Prestige 10/12/2018) Okay now this is it. I'm not kidding you, this was a borderline excellent tag team match which told the story to a tee. Basically Mike Santiago is Khashs goon who cost Lawlor the title match on the last show, so he and his carny buddy Grimm spend a good chunk of time torturing them. I liked how Khash, the champion, was able to be somewhat competitive on the mat, even catching Lawlor with some jiu jitsu ish sweeps, while Santiago just got tooled. This had a lot of faces dominate to start which is something that can easily get dry but that was not the case at all here. Lawlor reversing Santiagos attempts and trying to choke the life out of him with Khash having to drag his partner to safety was one of the better „babyface still in control of the match“ spots in my recent memory. Once the heels took over they went for textbook rough tactics, 2 on 1, low blow behind the referees back etc, with Khash throwing a lot of punches. Grimm was FIP and he did a pretty good job here having a few great comebacks, including just yanking Santiagos thumb to counter a chinlock, as well as hitting an awesome shoot headbutt (no thighslapping there either). Lawlors hot tag was great as he was basically like a Thrillseekers Chris Jericho, which I kid you not may be the role he's been looking for as the crowd went hot for his spin kicks and forearm smashes and pounding his chest. Loved the crazy transition from the spear to the choke hold aswell. This ruled in a completely unexpected way. Dominic Garrini vs. Jeff Cobb (SUP 6/10/2018) I'm surprised this match hasn't gotten much play, considering this is your indy shootstyle boys Garrini and Cobb working a title match main event in a bar. Not a great match though. They barely do any of that BJJ vs. Olympic wrestling grappling that you would think of with this matchup and instead just throw bombs. I'm really over Garrini by now, the dude hits hard, but his execution is so hit and miss and also the guy has no charisma whatsoever. Cobb looked like a beast here but that's nothing new. Added: Tom Lawlor vs. CW Anderson (BLP 8/18/2018) Lawlor finally faces a veteran guy to learn all the right things from. God damn does CW Anderson look sharp in this match, where the hell is his indy megapush?? Beautiful punches, really cradling Lawlor tight for pins, not budging one bit on shoulderblocks, looking comfortable trading holds, and of course the awesome spinebuster. Lawlor was in a different role here essentially disrespecting the veteran and working him over, and it works quite well for him too. Countering the spinebuster was such a nifty spot aswell as the spit spot which lead to CW giving him a punch that credible knocked the UFC guy on his ass. The sleeper hold is put over, and Lawlor suplexes the old guy a bunch. I also really liked Anderson fighting out of a gutwrench with elbows. This was short and hit all the right buttons. You can look at this match in different ways, it's either a fun way to spend 10 minutes, or something to go crazy over if it came on on a WWE C-show. Dominic Garrini vs. Gunner Miller (ACTION 4/27/2018) This was probably the best Garrini match I've seen so far. Execution was mostly fine here altough there were some pretty bad „palm strikes“ to the chest. I think this would've been better if it had been Gunner muscling Garrini around. Instead Garrini dominates this using a lot of strikes and throws with Miller occasionally bombing him. Pretty solid match altough it was basically a bomb fest with 1 or 2 good counters from Garrini. Added: Slim J vs. Corey Hollis (Anarchy Wrestling 5/12/2018) Dog Collar! This is one of my favourite stipulations, and this was very good. This gimmick depends all on either guys willingness to take punishment, and they were willing to get plenty. Lots of nice chain punches, and Slim J got good color. The inventive touches worked and there was some hurty looking chain yanking. Actually great finish. I think this would've been slightly better with Hollis bleeding too... wait that is kinda ghoulish now. Also one of the announcers said these guys were animals god knows how many times. Good to see southern indy wrestling is still cool. Added: Slim J vs. Corey Hollis (Anarchy Wrestling 7/28/2018) YARD CALL. Wow. This gave me hope for america. Please, go watch this unspoiled. I honestly felt this was up there with the best spectacle matches of this kind that have been done in wrestling ever. Regal/Finlay parking lot fight, Hart Dungeon, Funk/Lawler empty arena, Bathhouse Deathmatch, you name it. Slim J comes in with the greatest entrance of the year and from then on it's everything this needs to be. A toilet is thrown, guys get shoved face first into barbed wire and punched in the back of the head, then dragged through the shards and the dirty flower. You watch this and realize everything you see was placed deliberately in this surreal chamber. I watched this wondering what that chain hanging from the ceiling was for before realizing it was a dog collar. I was thinking „There is a broom there... they should use the broom“ and then Hollis uses it to cut off J so casually. Then Slim Js shirt gets torn. Then they literally kick the cell down. This is something that starts out bizarre and fascinating by itself and then they just keep going and topping themselves... that skeleton of a stretcher will haunt me for a while. This was an injection of pro wrestling in it's purest form.

@MattD: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qXEVpC9SLY0 Also, for Christmas, I finally wrote up the two matches I was given by microstatistics and aaeo: Shawn vs. Chris Jericho Well I'm not a huge fan of either of these guys. This actually had a good opening which was a bit like a WAR or similiar japanese heavyweight match. Strike exchange before Shawn tries to take out Jerichos leg only to be cut off. Jericho acknowledging the legwork before going on to work over Shawns ribs/mid section was a nice touch. After that it turned into your typical WWE style big match. Everything was well timed and planned but the portions that followed were hurt by Shawns hokey selling and poor execution. The blood part was also hurt by Jerichos weak punches. Rating: A good match in theory. Nakajima vs. Okuda I don't think I've seen Okuda before. I probably should check out more of him as he is doing a Murakami tribute, MMA gloves and all. This was pretty much a mindless stifffest but that is okay for a short semi squash. I mean, Nakajima wouldn't even sell a stiff punch to his body. There was also no discernible escalation from Nakajima. Okuda stepped on his face, and Nakajima pretty much put the usual beatdown on him. Also, I HATE the spot where the two guys just exchange snapmare -> soccer kick over and over. It's probably the worst of all the current japanese wrestling tropes. Much of this was just get hit - scream - hit back. I'm sounding overly negative here but if these guys learned how to sell they would have way better matches.

I watched some lucha. Which reminded me that I need to watch more damn lucha. Added: Negro Casas vs. Aramis (Lucha Memes 3/11/2018) It's good to see Negro Casas is still world class in 2018. His execution was top notch, really chucking his opponent to the mat with his early basic takedowns, fast spin kicks etc. He then does some classic selling in the style of his 1992 match with El Dandy. I would have liked Casas to put a bigger beating on his opponent, but what we got was fun. Aramis has a really great dive and vicious leglock, but other than that was pretty much just another skinny dude for Casas to get a good match out of. He could drop bombs but I'm really tired of seeing luchadores do super kicks etc. This had the usual neat transitions and spots you get in Negro Casas matches. Loved the big knee breaker and the tricky finisher teases and reversals down the stretch. Watched (and maybe considering): LA Park & Hijo de La Park & Ultimo Guerrero vs. Rush & Bestia Del Ring & Barbaro Cavernario (CMLL 9/17/2018) The Rush/Park feud is something people have gone crazy over and this was a good intro to it. Lots of garbage is thrown around, people get belted, and there were some amazing crowd reactions with the perfectly timed showdowns. What the hell was up with this going 30 minutes? In Puebla of all places?? Even Zacarias takes a big bump! Besides that this was good and they filled the time well. The issue I had was that this was basically a series of crowd pleasing spots rather than a truely hate filled violent brawl, but then again that's the reality of modern CMLL. I also thought the eventual Rush/Park could've been better. On the other hand I loved Parks last ditch spear. Rudo team are obviously very good bases and made Guerrero & Hijo look good. Cavernario is nuts for taking the Jaguar Yokota face down bump off the top. Barbaro Cavernario vs. Soberano Jr. (CMLL 3/27/2018) Okay this was more like it. Cavernario opens this up by putting a metric ass stomping on Soberano Jr. One of the greatest beatdowns of 2018 for sure. Soberano Jr. Kind of redeems himself by bumping madly all over the place. Really painful looking use of the guardrails here, Cavernario was just destroying the poor dude. I was about to complain about Soberano Jr. Making a lame, easy comeback, but then Cavernario just dropped him with a powerbomb and then proceeded to literally tear into him. Barbaro Cavernario unmasking the guy and not giving a fuck about the DQ is the stuff of legends. I don't know whether the two of them tumbling off the top rope with Soberano getting stuck was intentional but it was another great moment. Soberano Jr. Worked hard but he is a luchador who loves superkicks and canadian destroyers and that is naturally gonna be a tough spot for me. His eventual comeback really needed a bit of a more savage edge. He just went for highspots. They looked good, but I was hoping for more. The beatdown from Cavernario was hinting at a classic and instead we got the usual dive fest. I need more of this Cavernario though. Solar & Mano Negra & Felino vs. Negro Navarro & Fuerza Guerrera & Jerry Estrada (CMLL 11/30/2018) I always end up coming back to these old guy matches. HOLY SHIT Jerry Estrada is wrestling in 2018?? I genuinely thought he was dead. I guess vampires do live forever. It was fascinating to watch these guys with almost no mobility left do their best to have an interesting match. Well Solar/Navarro exchanges still rule, so that's great. Fuerza Guerrera kneeing someone in the ribs while in the ropes is more interesting to me than your standard throwaway matwork section anyways. Estrada can barely do anything and looks like he is about to blow his knee out at all times. Suddenly, Solar has a huge chip on his shoulder and wants a piece of either Fuerza or Jerry! A minute latter we get mask ripping and old guys throwing punches. Awesome. Jerry Estrada may be hardly mobile but he can still mime with the best of them. Fuerza throws a nice corner punch combo. Mano Negra moves impossibly slow but still goes through sequences. A lot of nerds will say this was terrible and that's why they are nerds.

I watched a bunch of indy wrestling Jeremy Wyatt vs. Jonathan Gresham (SLA 11/16/2018) This follows rules similiar to the old RoH Pure Title where each wrestler only has 3 rope breaks and you also lose ropebreaks for closed fists. Gresham loses a rope break on a triviality early on which I actually thought was an interesting way to get the crowd into Gresham. They start out with a lot of grappling as is Greshams forte. I'm starting to think Gresham is a lot like Skayde in that he moves smoothly and obviously has a big database of techniques in his head but his matwork rarely builds to serious moments. Wyatt is not a super interesting worker but he had some slick moves such as a Russian Leg Sweep with nice snap and a cool Downward Spiral to a submission. Wyatt injures his leg but is able to take out Gresham with a cool neck snap in return. This was going good with Wyatt putting a beating on Gresham and they really make it a point to emphasize things like struggling over a basic suplex. Gresham ends up making his comeback and goes to town on Wyatts leg, bending the ankle etc. Up to this point they had me on board with the match but then a false finish and restart happen which I thought was completely unnecessary and terrible. Wyatt stops selling his leg and Gresham starts doing all these annoying pop ups. They actually produce a very good countout nearfall but soon after they start doing all these Malenko/Guerrero sequences and counter wrestling which doesn't really fit the match they were doing up to that point. The finish comes out of left field and not in a good way. Mike Quackenbush vs. Jonathan Gresham (Beyond Wrestling 1/27/2018) This was fine but I'm starting to lose interest in Gresham. Obviously there was some slick hold for hold stuff here, but nothing that was far beyond what Quack could do with any of his trainees. The best things Gresham did here were his back drop bumps and that stomp. He was doing some kind of touring heel champ thing here which I think doesn't fit him very well. Quack still looks good (making good use of his stolen moves) but he had some really exaggerated facial expressions which is something I don't remember him having before. Gresham also had one really weird attempt at facial selling. Tracy Williams vs. Tom Lawlor (Beyond Wrestling 9/16/2018) Tom Lawlor is clearly someone to watch. Rugged tough aura, and his basic offense actually looks real hurty. His low kicks in this were awesome. This starts out with some cafeteria BattlARTS grappling which they don't seem to know how to pace yet... maybe they were just in a hurry to get their shit in. Lawlor does a lot of convoluted Indy moves... something I think he should just drop and wrestle like an 80s NWA guy with a shoulderbreaker as a finisher or something, plus the shootstyle moves. But then, shouldn't everyone? But then, it's the current year. Tracy William gives me nothing at this point but he might work on himself and become a really good worker like Drew Gulak did. I liked the spot where he tried to catch a Lawlor chop but then he found out that was a bad idea. Jeff Cobb vs. Darby Allin (Limitless Wrestling 1/19/2018) I almost forgot about these 2 guys. Really fun 8 minute match with Cobb ragdolling Allin. I especially liked Allins suicide dive where he just crashed into a brick wall. Cobbs near KO elbows on Allin looked great too. Allin came across a bit like your typical indy guy who does unnecessary rolls and stuff but his execution is top notch. Just really fast movements. I didn't buy the finish, but Darby going over Cobb in just 8 minutes is something that is really tough to buy. Will see if I can find a better match but this did everything right. Full Worldwide point. Eddie Kingston vs. Chris Dickinson (Limitless Wrestling 1/19/2018) This was a match with some big moves and stiff blows but little of the nuanced touches that this kind of match needs. Kingston slowly moving Dickinson into position and making him take an apron bump just feels listless and that is never a good thing when it comes to apron bumps. I also can't get into Dickinsons huffin, puffin, fighting spirit yelling „I'm so tough“ posturing act at all. I also felt like Kingston was just going through this stuff. Really liked those suplexes though. I also tried watching some STARDOM and this was the only match I could stomach... of course it has TAJIRI Tajiri & Kagetsu vs. Konami & Minoru Tanaka (Stardom 9/26/2018) Intergender tag! I like 3 out of these 4. Konami is rocking the U-Style bare feet kickpadded look. Kagetsu is someone I liked a lot a couple years back, and Tajiri is Tajiri. The girl vs. Girl sections had none of the typically annoying joshi stuff, but I wouldn't call them more than solid – these two were kicking eachother hard, but it was the lame NJPW type „I kick you you kick me“ stuff. I feel Kagetsus heel act has made her less interesting, altough I did love her brutal kick to the ankle. Tajiri had a really fun small show performance here, getting a fun mat section out of Tajiri, aswell as playing a slimy heel opposite Konami. He was working some interesting leg stretches, awesome fast body slam series and did a great job selling his leg to set up getting his comeuppance from Konami. All done in a believable way. He also threw a leg kick that felt more brutal than any kick Konami threw while being probably not stiff at all. This is a small show tag so there is lots of spitting and posturing altough it all works in the context. I was almost expecting a big comeback from Konami with all the shit she took but then she doesn't and it totally works.

Pretty entertaining match and a cool chance to see young Andre working a lengthy epic. The early going isn't exactly what you expect from an Andre match as he works pretty even with Kobayashi, Andre would do a headlock takeover and Kobayashi would easily counter to a headscissor. On the other hand things such as Andre reversing an armbar by stepping on Kobayashi or pushing his knee in his face become extra compelling because he is so huge. Andre wins the first fall pretty easily and the other two is pretty much Kobayashi beating him down by stomping on his hand, working his stomach over with punches etc. There is a cool spot in the 3rd fall where Andre does a double leg Fuchi stretch and gets thrown on his face. Really liked all the Andre facial selling and bumping including the gutsy finish. This got pretty chinlocky here and there and was a little meandering overall but is worth a watch.

Two big lumpy bastards get technical! Don Leo Jonathan is such a trip to watch executing all these kip ups and flips and flying headscissors and whatnot. I really liked how he would lock in a bodyscissor after doing a sunset flip, always making the other guy work. The Boston Crab is a dangerous hold! Don Leos initial escape by tripping the referee was like something Negro Casas would do. Kobayashi adds very little flash to the match but I love how he would sell a basic Don elbow to the stomach like a big deal. Don Leo pretty much beats him down with big stomps and knee drops and then some cool palm strike-ish punches. I'm not sure what happened at the finish. It seems one fall is missing but I didn't notice any clipping.

More japanese wrestling: Watched: Jun Akiyama & Yuji Nagata vs. Naoya Nomura & Yuma Aoyagi (AJPW 6/12/2018) This was the best AJPW match I've seen this year. It wasn't anything great but a fun performance by the veterans. Nagata still has something in the tank, selling a near KO in the opening portions and later paying it back. Akiyama still looks like the Akiyama I love. He was just incredibly vicious Nomura & Aoyagi did very little for me. If you're a bland japanese rookie atleast show some spark while you are getting your ass beaten. Considering: Dick Togo vs. Takuya Nomura (BJW 2/18/2018) This was also good. Dick Togo is still a great pro wrestler 10 year after his retirement, and Nomura continues to look like the real deal. The one disappointing thing is that it's „only“ a good, well worked match rather than something great. Despite this being a shortish midcard match both guys worked hard, Togo hit his awesome senton to the floor (missed by the camera) and Nomura dishing out big blow. Match got pretty great after Nomura had enough of Togos worked punches and started throwing hands and kicks only for Togo to get up and slap his shit. These two may have a stiff war together in the future but so far I'm pleased with this. Added: Tajiri vs. TAKA Michinoku (K-Dojo 4/22/2018) Wow did this rule. I'm all on board for TAJIRI: Best Wrestler in Japan. I understand he doesn't always go all out, but he did here, in his own way. First of all these two are great at all the little gestures in a match that make this stuff stand out, while also timing their offense perfectly. Tajiri may have the best worked strikes in wrestling. It's certainly something all those thigh slapping indy dudes should study. He just drops TAKA and it feels so unexpected and you are immediately drawn in. TAKA (who was really bending Tajiris wrists when applying holds before, another nice touch) manages a slick reversal and establishes himself as dangerous. Some really great armwork followed. Tajiri slipping out of another facelock attempt to continue controlling the arm is an od school touch lifted to a modern match in the right way. This is all just ridiculously smart, well timed stuff. TAKA was pretty desparate soon and basically went for the kill at any time. Tajiri countering the Michinoku Driver II was on par with some unique World of Sport spot. He was channeling Regal at his peak here, just a great job controlling his opponent with a knack for the inventive. Great 10 minute match, old guy wrestling rules

Fujiwara can be pretty domineering in matches but he was playing outgunned to a t here. Right from the first exchange Fujiwara is selling big for sympathy, wincing when Funaki body punches him etc. Funaki pretty much dominates all on the mat and in the standup though Fujiwara clocks him with a big headbutt at one time. Fujiwara even catches a nasty kick while working for an ankle hold. Then Funaki keeps stringing these brilliant combos together until he shoots for a takedown at the wrong time. Pretty brilliant selling from Fujiwara and Funaki is such a stud, I don't get why he quit pro wrestling to do a bunch of fixed MMA, sure he made a ton of money doing that, but he could've made a ton of money fighting Hashimoto in the Tokyo Dome aswell.

Watched: Joe Doering vs. Kento Miyahara (AJPW 3/25/2018) Okay I hate Pro Wrestling now. Joe Doering is doing Stan Hansen cosplay but instead of working a comedy 6 man in the undercard he is challenging for the top belt. And they wonder why they draw miserable crowds. Nobody wants to watch Fake Stan Hansen when Real Stan Hansen was a thing. When La Parka retires I'm not gonna watch Fake La Parka. Atleast Pete Dunne has the excuse that there is a very limited amount of Terry Rudge matches available. Doering performance here is a good example of what modern works do wrong: there are some individual cool spots, but the stuff between is dry, dry dry, and none of the spots matter in the grand scheme of things. Stan Hansen clobbering someone is awesome because he came at those guys like a raging bull, with a fire in his eyes like he was gonna pull someones head off. Doering standing there and robotically tapping someone on the back is not that. Hansen was also great at working holds and the subtler things like attacking an arm etc, something Doering either doesn't understand or chooses not to do. He knows the powerbomb on the floor, but he doesn't understand it's the Hansen monkeyflip and chinlock that marks true greatness. This match could probably be cut up and re edited into something decent. Whole match was horribly slow, with about a dozen spots where both guys where down, and felt disconnected from the crowd. At no point did either guy show an ounce of spark. Not fun to watch. Zeus vs. Suwama (AJPW 4/7/2018) This was marginally better than the previous abomination. Mostly because they worked a basic, focussed match. Typical opening with shoulderblock and a test of strength and then Suwama goes right away attacking Zeus' bad leg. It seems Suwama has gotten better at the little things (selling his wrists after the test of strength, nice energetic dropkick, varied legwork) but from what I can tell he still has no business working long main events without someone to handhold him. Zeus performance left me on a dry note aswell: at no point did he offer significant resistant to Suwamas legwork, and after Suwama had worked his leg for 10 minutes straight his choice for comeback moves is a triple suplex and running lariat. Then he proceeds to give your typical „I'm doing moves now – whoops, I just took a move, better clutch my leg“ hit and miss selling performance. My favourite funny spot was when Suwama puts Zeus in an ankle lock (Kurt Angle influence running wild in 2018 baby), Zeus takes a while to get out, then Zeus puts Suwama in a (very loose) ankle lock. So Zeus, after having his bad leg destroyed for 10 minutes does not tap to an ankle hold, what am I suppose to believe him putting the hold on Suwama with no set up is going to do? Of course Suwama does not have the goods to add any significance to this sequence. The ending is your typical heavyweight stuff, some lariats and then one guy wins. It is beyond me how this is exciting or praiseworthy to anyone but here we are. The most baffling thing is how people are saying this was worked in the traditional AJPW style, even though the most prominent aspects of that style, great selling and storytelling and deadly headdrops are all missing. Considering: Takuya Nomura vs. Yuya Aoki (3/21/2018) Okay this restores my fate in wrestling. Scrappy, intense fight. No bullshit wandering around. Nomura is a legend in the making. I disliked Aokis masochistic tendencies, but once he drops that posturing shit he will probably be great too. Very expressive performance from him. Nomura almost KO's him before they even lock up but he still goes to grapple with Nomura. Then he catches him with a nasty kick on the ground and I'm way into this already. Nomura was incredibly vicious and precise in beating down Aoki. The little elbow to the gut before uppercutting him is what sets Nomura apart from your average worker who uses strikes as spots. His reversals were also great. Aoki leaning into Nomuras kicks came a bit across as a young guy trying to go beyond his limit in order to topple a superior, more experienced fighter. Great dive. Loved the palm strikes. Wonderful finish which tells everyone the focus is to win and not to do spots. Not a classic (yet) but it made me happy. Zack Sabre Jr. vs. A-Kid (Whitewolf Wrestling 4/14/2018) Sabre in those trunks makes me laugh. I liked the opening grappling a lot because of how rough it felt. The spanish crowd being really into the grappling was really cool. A-Kid looked very competent. Zack Sabre Jr. being a prick towards his opponent was good. The slap exchanges were pretty stiff but felt goofy after watching Nomura/Aoki. Some of the near submissions were pretty brutal indeed with Sabre almost ripping the leg off after Kid tried a 619. I really liked how A-Kid kept coming at Sabre, slapping him, diving for ankle picks etc. The finishing run wasn't terrible but not very engaging to me, altough there were 2 cool spots: A-Kid obliterating Zack with the super kick and him catching Zack in mid air with a backslide for a nice nearfall. Verdict: a good match.

Added: Pete Dunne vs. WALTER (wXw 7/22/2018) Close to or perhaps better match than WALTER/Thatcher. The opening of this ruled as Dunne would try to ankle pick the big guy, bruise his leg with kicks etc all while running for the ropes like Lou Thesz whenever WALTER came for him and escaping Walters grappling attempts. The first thing Walter does when he gets ahold of Dunne he caves his chest in with a massive stomp. Walter then decides to put a beating on the cowardly weasel only for Dunne to start targeting his wrist and fingers. Dunne basically wrestles like someone who studied a lot of Bryan Danielson and Terry Rudge matches, which is GOOD, but he also has some weak moments such as a really weak thigh slapping enzuigiri, goofy Shiranui etc. I also felt his arrogant behaviour felt a little tacked on and misplaced considering how savvy he acted earlier. That's a lot of nitpicking, on the other hand I really loved his PRIDE stomps and trying to break the fingers while hanging off of Walter. Walter reacting to Dunne biting him by trying to break his jaw may be the spot of the year. Walter countering Dunnes goofy pump handle finisher with a judo throw that felt very organic. Weak finish as is typical of wXw booking. These indy matches feel somewhat experimental and like throwing too much shit on the wall but the raw talent is undeniable. I suggest Dunne study some Yoshinari Ogawa and both of them watch more SWS and WAR.

@ aaeeo

Not for the faint of the heart, as it's a 50 minute long old school title bout built around mostly simple hold for hold work without any flash whatsoever. That being said Terry Funk is damn great here and Dory well atleast he looks like he is concerned with what is going on. Funk's selling made this look like an epic war, and he was bumping huge aswell. Loved his desperation escape from a butterfly suplex attempt. Lots of punishing headlocks, armlocks and leglocks. The crowd was pretty into this aswell considering this style was pretty much passe at this point. This is mostly back and forth but every once there would be a slick backslide or unexpected toe hold. This is for the purists and Terry Funk superfans only but I don't regret watching.