AstroBoy

I liked Neutron and Dr. Oborman pairing off in the first fall a lot amidst all the other stuff. Yeah Ricky Marvin is a total madman and treasure every time he has popped up. This was a frantic and very fun sprint and nothing stood out in any kind of bad way. Really enjoyable. ***

AJ really embodies the douche character here. He is still a little clunky on offense at times but I like the way he takes offense and his athleticism really shines. It's clear how talented he is in moments and he carries himself well in a fight scenario. The match itself is fun enough with some nice use of the stop sign. A bit of an awkward setup leads to AJ putting Trash through the table for a win. **1/2

There has been so much more violence in this feud than we saw in this match. So it is a tad disappointing. More than anything this just feels like paint by numbers. They work through the motions of hatred and conflict but it feels much like time wasting to get to the convoluted finish. It is one nice moment with Rikishi coming off the top but ultimately it's not much more than a vehicle to advance this Tazz-Rikishi thing. **3/4

Yeah it's almost as if Corino plays a sympathetic babyface taking opportunistic moments to hang around in the early parts of the match. Lynn really acquitted himself well to dominating Corino and controlling him in the early going. Corino's blade job is really sick. His shifting in the second half of the match kind of resets the roles to what you would expect especially with Victory helping here and there. The rollup sequence kind of feels trite but just as I'm rolling my eyes it culminates nicely with a cradle piledriver and win by Lynn. This was good and I thought a really good showing from both, particularly Corino. ***1/4

Yeah this offered a little bit of everything to me and I enjoyed it although it did feel kind of long when it was over. El Samurai was believable in using a little opening to grab a desperation reverse DDT. I thought this was good just a little underwhelming. **3/4

They both had a good grasp of the basics and probably more importantly, both really invested in working the crowd first and foremost. The simple stuff comes off well and some of the more ambitious stuff comes across not quite as hot. Punk's athletic comeback with the dropkicks kind of shows his limitations athletically. But the match is really solid and both look ready for great things moving forward for sure. **3/4

This was brisk and pleasant and they took advantage of the time they were given. There's not much more beyond the surface here of them trading some nice holds and pulling out some nice moves but everything came off pretty cleanly and both look ready for bigger things. Dragon throws in a nice opportunistic finish to steal the win. **

Santo's fire and execution is just so awesome in the first fall of this. They work a screwy finish to award Panther the first fall, though, and we pick up with Santo working holds on Panther in the segunda. He is masterfully working holds as the seconds distract the referee and this helps give Panther a chance to sneak in a low blow and reversal in momentum. Overcoming the odds, Santo pulls off a nice victory roll to steal the second fall back. Santo two great topes and a headscissors to the outside in the third fall. The pacing here is excellent as Santo keeps coming desperately close to grabbing the win in the third fall. Some referee silliness leads to Panther finding his opening and *thinking* he's stolen the final fall only to get caught in a small package for the 3-count. Big pop for the finish and expertly pulled off. Santo was absolutely fantastic from start to finish here and this was a great match. ****1/4

This was a little hard to even follow but a fun diversion if you're looking for some over-the-top wrestling nonsense. The fire stuff is at least pretty well done and they achieve a palpable sense of chaos/danger in the post-match. It's just not much of a match.

I really liked the leg attack by Kanemoto. Him adding little things like a backhand slap to Takaiwa's face while holding him in a leglock is really great. Takaiwa perseveres through the leg pain to put together a really nice stretch run of moves that look like they will be enough to do the job but Kanemoto gets an opportunistic win in a very solid match. ***

They very refreshingly go through a quick standoff exchange and then Ohtani dives RIGHT IN to take Tanaka down and we get some good grappling. Ohtani takes over with some face washes in the corner but poses a little too long and sets up a nice Tanaka dive to change momentum. We get some good work and then Ohtani uses some of his moxy to take over and come away with a win. A nice, compact match that didn't really stand out too much but was very easy to take in. **3/4

This felt a little abrupt with the ending being what it was but what we got leading up to it was solid. Nakanishi had a few awkward moments, particularly with Ogawa, but he and Nagata were fun foils for their opponents here. Nakanishi throws a nice body punch in the corner on Murakami at one point. Murakami is fun both instigating and getting the tables turned on him, and the reactions for Ogawa throwing out the STO are huge. Post-match brawl is fun and pretty chaotic. ***1/2

Road Dogg looked fine here and Jericho was pretty spirited at the start of the match up. I was a little surprised to see Road Dogg pull out the moonsault attempt and it's not surprising when it misses. Jericho's Lionsault brings his shin down over Road Dogg's face which looked like it sucked and Jericho continues on his path toward the HHH match at Fully Loaded. **

They worked a nice little match and maximized the strengths of both guys. It looks like Booker is kind of getting the "fighting champion who must prove he can be champion" role here and this is just a simply laid-out and executed match that made the situation in WCW seem kind of fun. Booker's little run of offense leading to the finish was nice and he works well in this role. The bit with the table was well built-to and paid off. ***

Kidman and Jarrett actually go out and put on a fun TV match here. They did a good job of stacking the deck against Kidman and allowing him a chance to fight back a bit even after the interference. Several credible nearfalls but Jarrett still decisively gets the win here. A bright spot on Nitro. **1/2

This was a blast. Loved the power wrestling from Takaiwa throwing around CIMA and decisively winning their test of strength. Ohtani and Kanemoto were great heels here and just dismissive to CIMA in particular. The Kanemoto/CIMA interactions were really great. I will never tire of watching Takaiwa just lariat people to death in these matches. The camera angle made the dives at the end stand out and look fantastic. This was just fun from beginning to end. ***3/4

Both guys approached this like serious business and went about things like a real war. Intense matwork, extremely stiff strikes, and they are telling the story that they want to tell on their own terms. Homicide goes after the leg a little and has some disgusting lariats and throws as well as some really nice matwork. Ki busts out his hard kicks and real explosive offense too. They cover pretty well for the top rope headbutt spot and trade some big moves down the home stretch before the messy finish. I can definitely see this as a groundwork for ROH style and both guys seemed perfectly comfortable here, particularly Homicide. A really good piece of history. ***3/4

I felt like the flow, pacing, and spacing of moves throughout the first half of the match was really great and this felt like it was building so beautifully. But the further it went on, specifically after Hayabusa's sort of blown phoenix splash, it just felt like it dragged on a bit too much. I don't mind the idea of both guys emptying their tanks against each other but it felt sort of overkill here or at least diminishing returns. ***

I wasn't as high on this because of a couple of things. One -- although his best efforts -- I don't think Danielson's offense played well against Cade here and didn't get over very well as a legitimate threat. Also for as good as his pre-match promo was, Dragon didn't convey a ton of personality when he worked over Cade. He bumped big for Cade and put over Cade's offense big but I didn't think he had the personality to carry his work when he was on offense. Personally I didn't think Cade brought a ton of fire either. His chops definitely lit up Dragon but I thought his strikes in general were pretty flimsy. Cade looked the part but didn't play with a ton of urgency to me. He did hit a killer lariat though. Still a fine match. **3/4

Scott Hudson apparently becomes DDP at one point during the match and calls Hogan "Hollywood Scum Hogan". This is really heatless and the two have some awkward exchanges early and then they bail and start brawling in the crowd. For the spot they're in, I actually think that's a smart move to give the crowd something different. Jarrett gives Booker a really rough piledriver on the table and it doesn't give as they finally build some sympathy for Booker. Jarrett cuts off Booker smartly and puts him in a sleeper to give the crowd a chance to get behind Booker. It really feels like Booker is not that explosive and hitting some of the wrong notes on his comeback here and Jarrett goes after the knee. They are at least succeeding in getting the crowd behind Booker. This is feeling like a really underrated Jarrett performance to be honest, although it's odd that he would work a 10 punches in the corner spot late in the match. Nice feel-good finish and Booker T is the champion. This was a pleasant surprise. ***

I didn't find this to be so awful. It was short and plodding and didn't really come together to much and Goldberg looks incredibly more dynamic here than Nash but it was just a regular wrestling match. Steiner turning, like every angle in WCW, is indeed super telegraphed and pointless. Nash's half-assed sidewalk slam on Goldberg was pretty laughable but Goldberg brought out a nice superkick and judo throw. *1/2

I remember watching this live and it just felt like WCW was so far gone and I didn't know how to bother with it anymore. My memory of all that stuff is spotty, although filled with fond teenage memories, so it's been fun to rewatch this kind of stuff with a different perspective. Agreed that Jarrett just seems like someone stuck in the most awkward of places. This could have been handled so much better without Russo's whining but it at least leads to a legitimate main event with the best intentions. I guess.

So easy and fun to watch Infernales run through a bunch of cool double and triple teams during the first fall and then put over their opponents with their bumping in the second. Good action and then we get the rudo move from Ultimo that helps lead into the finish. I've enjoyed most of the Infernales stuff from the year so far and this was no different. **3/4

This is largely carried by spectacle. The business with Muta and Hokuto at the beginning is cool and then Power Warrior runs through him with power stuff. They work a deliberate pace for a bit and Muta uses the mist again leading to a run-up moonsault that gets a nice response. The end bit with the mist is honestly really clever, well-done, and definitive as Power Warrior blocks red mist then mists Muta himself to lead to the lariat and victory. This was good for what they set out for. **3/4