Migs

Adding the Golden Lovers has really elevated these main event tag matches. Their matches with Ishii/Ospreay, Ishii/Okada, Cody/Page have all been excellent too, and I can't imagine another pair of singles guys reaching this consistent a level in tags.

Seems like a pretty weak way to use PCO.

Ibushi-Ospreay is official, and no Goto (I guess he'll be in the NEVER six man gauntlet thing).

If I'm picking one match, Taichi/Sabre vs. LIJ. Taichi/Sabre also had good matches with Page/Takahashi and Suzuki/Iizuka. Best Friends vs. GOD was also pretty fun.

Every time they bust out an ECW match that was clipped for TV, we always find out that Paul Heyman was smart and sane fan really needed to see the full match.

On the plus side, Best Friends vs. GOD was the best match in at least a week and a half (I really liked Evil/Sanada vs. Sabre/Taichi).

A difficult man who made some beautiful art. I do wonder if his bitterness in later years stemmed in large part from his body preventing him from practicing his art form (recognizing he wasn't always the best dude even when he could wrestle). But it must feel like a terrible tragedy to believe you are put on the earth to do something and then be unable to do it for the last half of your life.

I'm really not sure what the end game would be on a Best Friends feud. Chuckie T going to Bullet Club and being part of a new North American version?

Brody King as well. Sure seems like they are intent on restocking the roster at the moment.

This is an odd bit of business, very 80s WWF house show main event, mixed with extra Attitude Era gaga. It also feels like it's blowing off Devitt-Tanahashi in a very Cena feud way, where Devitt's early victories are giving way to the eventual conclusion that Tanahashi is above him. Agreed that Bloody Sunday is a very effective near fall, perhaps some proof of how far Devitt had come in a few months. The sting of him losing here I guess is mitigated by him not being particularly long for the promotion - but it still feels like a bit of a bummer. A very interesting curiosity.

The Hogan title win in '96 is pretty important, as it's the night they spray paint the belt. ('97 a bit less so.)

The only thing announced for the final night is Goto-Ibushi for the NEVER title.

I've really enjoyed Taichi/Sabre so far, particularly against LIJ and Page/Takahashi. Agreed that it's been a fun tournament so far, although nothing must-see.

This felt like a pretty solid performance from Anderson (particularly as compared to what he's been slotted into the last couple of years) and a fairly average Tanahashi performance. Enjoyed myself and bit on some of the near falls, but wasn't really engaged all the way through.

Havoc has a weird charisma about him that I enjoy, but I agree that his matches tend to be pretty weak. He's more of a comedy garbage wrestler in the ring, even though at times he wants to be serious. If you take the Callihan match as comedy, it was entertaining - but that's not what the build was going for.

Perhaps I'm too optimistic. If I'm disappointed... well, it's not like ROH has much going on for it if those guys leave. Maybe it's time to replace them in my wrestling viewing with something else.

If someone can't get that an African-American man swiping Hulk Hogan's moveset is a fascinating and engaging decision, I don't know what to tell them.

We're also still a month off from Final Battle - I wouldn't be surprised if they haven't cemented the finishes yet. If this mystery promotion falls through... ROH is set up to do something big in December. If not, they all go out putting over the guys that remain. ROH either has the hot angle or they make the most out of tough situation.

I do not think it's a coincidence that they all are getting title shots on their "last night." It feels to me like the most likely play is them staying with ROH and New Japan, but with more options to work outside those two and "break down barriers." Certainly to do more big shows like All In, but also just to pop up places in the U.S. and keep themselves fresh.

Surprised they didn't go with more of an angle to finish, but that was great.

If that top line is true, good for them for seeing what's happening with Becky and running with it. I know that's what a sort of low bar for a wrestling company, but given their tone deafness over the last few years, that's very encouraging.

It is spectacularly weird. The slo mo replays of body slams, the green screen, the cuts to fans in a bar(!) - it's so low rent and 80s. I want to watch it with friends just to crack jokes about it together.

It didn't help that they lost power during Page/Cody-Briscoes, which looked decent otherwise. Enjoyed the Bouncers-SCU, but I'm down for any Bouncers match at this point. These cards feel pretty hit and miss to me on the whole, other than Toronto.

I think MLW has gotten better in terms of angles (which makes sense, as it takes some time to develop the characters), but I still haven't really cared about the outcome of an MLW match yet. It's main upside is that it's a watchable, 1 hour weekly show that moves well and keeps the action level up. It's never a slog to get through. In 2018, I feel like that might make it the best weekly show (not including New Japan, who's weekly show isn't really comparable to anyone else's).