AstroBoy

Couldn't top the Mexican Death Match but still a really good match. Where the Mexican Death Match was an absolute war for survival with killer spots and great heat, this was more of a race to see who could hit the biggest and most deadly high spot to put the other away. Agreed totally that the setting up of spots changed the flow of the match, the same natural rhythm that helped the Mexican Death Match so much. But within this context it wasn't egregious or anything. It makes sense these two would be trying to go for some insane kill shot as often as possible. And there are certainly some wild spots here, most notably Tajiri's double stomp through the table onto all the chairs which looked painful as hell. I don't think I could ever tire of watching these two do their thing.

God there are some meaty lariats and chops in this match courtesy of Tenryu and Sasaki. I loved the snap on Sasaki's rope run bulldog out of the corner. Those Tenryu chops to the throat area of Suzuki were brutal looking. This is paced perfectly and each new turn seems to yield a satisfying strike exchange. Only really didn't care for some of endless chop battles at the beginning of the match. I thought Tenryu and Sasaki were really good here and yeah it's a really solid ten minute wrestling experience.

Man Kanemoto is showing some awesome heel charisma here. Even when Fukuda is dominating in the ring it's Kanemoto egging him on from the apron. And this match is fine if a little blah. There is some good grappling, some nice strikes particularly from Koji and a sense of struggle between the two sides. Just nothing pulling it all together. Really enjoying Kanemoto in these situations though.

This was perfectly average from what was shown. Agreed on the insane superplex, that looked very painful. There were really some nasty/awkward looking powerbombs in this one too. Nothing offensive but nothing memorable.

It has to be said -- Nakanishi's spear on Iizuka here was absolutely incredible. I thought Nakanishi looked really promising here and it'll be interesting to see his career path as this goes on. Hashimoto brings incredible fire and expressiveness to these strike exchanges and it goes a long way. I too thought the finish was fine for all involved. This was good.

Halfway into the match and it's good action. Can't put my finger on why but I liked El Samurai here. For some reason I got a sort of El Samurai as the Christian of NJPW vibe from these 5 or so minutes. They are really getting over the cross armbreaker of Tanaka and Liger goes absolutely berserk on him right at the closing bell to heat up the issue between these two. I'm intrigued.

I thought this was pretty meandering actually. The intensity, stiffness, and hatred in the spots between Kanemoto against Ohtani and Takaiwa were all great but never built within the match for me. Just didn't seem to be any kind of progression by the end of the match other than isolated hateful standoffs. I also thought, though they covered for it admirably, the match lost a bit of steam on the Ohtani botch. Still a fun match. Just didn't get out of first gear for me. I liked the January dome tag of Ohtani and Takaiwa vs. Kashin and Tanaka better.

The first few minutes of this caught me off guard. Blue Panther licking the gushing forehead of Olimpico was some awesome shit. I loved the spill Mr. Niebla took when Rancor just slaps him out of the ring. CMLL really knows how to make their technicos look valiant and tough as hell as Olimpico fights back with a vengeance and busts out the bloody tope and reverses a double team attack to go after Panther some more. This was a super heated match and yet another reason to prioritize all things CMLL in this time period.

I thought it was good but found a disconnect in that Kawada's onslaught never made Vader feel particularly vulnerable. Now if the point was to get Vader over as a monster then that's great, but if the point was to make me think Vader was reeling from the attack of Kawada then I just didn't get that vibe. For how much offense Kawada took I just never sensed Vader was really in danger and I think it gave me a going through the motions feeling. The work itself is good and I agree that Kawada's scouting and counters to Vader were smart and well-integrated. His furious kick rally at the end of the match was fantastic and desperate. Earlier in the match Vader is just killing him with hellacious clubbing blows in the corner. I don't think anything could live up to the dream of what these two COULD do in a perfect match against each other but this was not a disappointment either.

Awesome looks totally not mentally there when Guido is on offense. He looks actively bored like he's trying to remember what groceries he needs to get after the show. I had never seen these two against each other before and was curious how they'd work it but this wasn't anything special. I kind of wish Guido would have actually controlled more, though he did look good taking Awesome's big offense. Highlight of the match is Sal talking into the camera at ringside. At least Awesome has a nice powerbomb.

Gotta throw some love at this one. Kind of a hidden gem as Benoit sold the fact that Sid was an unstoppable monster and then flipped the tables with a great attack on the leg. Benoit's cutoffs here were so perfect and well-timed that by the time Sid hit that chokeslam they had peaked the match in great fashion. Totally a match that got the most out of its limited parts. I loved it.

I'll add on and say this was a really hot start with a really hot finish and a bit of a lackluster middle keeping it down in my eyes. A very strong 4 star type match but I just felt things meandered a bit with Vader on offense during the middle. There is great drama in here, great bombs, some badass german suplexes, a big fight feel. . . it's only the "fine" middle part of the match that keeps this from being a classic. That said I liked it a lot. Akiyama is great going right at the monster champion and trying to take him down right from the opening bell. And then when he is desperate and resorting to desperation arm bars, knee attacks and top rope dropkicks. It's a nice progression from one strategy to next based on him getting mauled. Worked well.

I liked it a great deal. The focus by Hase was excellent and the armwork kept gaining traction throughout the match. Almost like watching savings pile up, the armwork took on more and more meaning and power as the match moved along. Misawa did a good job of portraying annoyed and maybe flustered but not over his head which leads to the contentious nature of the finish. I would say there is a little bit of an insubstantial feeling that the ending gives me that drops this in my eyes. Yes the arm work story is a good hook but what does it mean if Misawa just throws the elbow and wins anyway. Well I guess that depends on the taste of the viewer. I would say it drops my view of the match if only ever so slightly although I see its merit all the same.

Takayama's knees to the gut looked brutal and Akiyama sold them really well. Liked the legwork by Akiyama and he just carries himself so well in this. Not anything I would feel super compelled to go back and rewatch but a good wrestling match. A good ten minutes.

This was really entertaining. Dragon's onslaught at the beginning was fantastic and he took a real hellacious bump off the clothesline to open the match. UBG seemed decent, at the very least serviceable, and they work a nice cat and mouse type of match. Given some more time to breathe this could have been even better but it's still a really nice 10 minute match.

Yeah the Villanos attacking Atlantis was a pretty awesome moment and helped push this over this feud over the edge for me. I will echo the enjoyment for the Fuerza/Casas exchanges. Fuerza looked pretty good in this. It's great to watch this kind of stuff in context knowing there are big payoffs coming down the line. Such a better way to view wrestling than just trying to watch the top-end stuff in a mad rush.

Holy shit. This was like a wild gang brawl in an arena setting. I loved Tarzan Boy just coming right out for the kill immediately before the rudos start to divide and conquer. Olimpico gets spiked right on his head and they do an amazing number on Tarzan Boy in the ring. It should be noted that the booking and performances of everyone have helped in this feud to present Tarzan Boy like a real badass who is always willing to throw down but just always outnumbered. Great stuff. Ultimo Guerrero is just wailing on Rivera at one point with dangerous looking shots outside the ring. I thought what we got here with the stretcher job and chaos of an ending was perfect. This was completely awesome. Satanico has come off like a real killer all through this month of footage.

I liked this way more than everybody else. A really solid little match that just felt "right" to me. Not sure if I could necessarily back up my feelings here, might be more of a personal taste thing. Arkangel in particular looked really crisp. Even just the way he hit the ropes, the force of his shoulder tackles, etc. I thought he sold the leg just fine even if it ended up being not much more than a bump in the road of the match. Tigre stalking him and going after the knee in the second fall was good stuff too. Dives were a lot of fun. Nice big power bomb for the finish and I'm a happy camper.

I am such a big Psicosis fan. He was criminally underappreciated in WCW and always popped up in fun matches when given the chance. And this was a really enjoyable TV sprint. Everything Psicosis did was so crisp and well executed but he took the time to play to the crowd just enough to make sure the match wasn't just in a heatless vacuum. Kidman was good here too but it was more of a Psicosis show for me. They got a good nearfall out of the leg drop and Psicosis took a nasty wheelbarrow suplex leading up to the finish. Easy thumbs up on this match.

In relation to the other feuds going on in CMLL at this time I don't quite feel the same level of hatred but it's still solid. Negro Casas stands out in a good way here. I enjoyed this a good amount but it did not grab me beyond feeling like a mid-feud placeholder type match.

Villano's punches to the helpless Atlantis looked so devastating and believable. That portion of the match is a testament to the storytelling power that wrestling can have. Atlantis being ragdolled around the arena while desperately trying to cover his face was awesome and added so much fuel to his comeback. Of course it culminates with him throwing the row of seats at his bitter rival and it's great. The deflating clean win by Villano at the end is another big moment. The possibility of wrestling to take away the air and belief from a frantic crowd while building to an even bigger payoff. Truly pumped to watch the rest of the feud progress. Very good match.

This was fantastic. Satanico was so awesome taking the cheapest of dirty shots during the match. Kicking Tarzan Boy in the knee, throwing kidney punches, pulling his hair the whole time. His slaps to the chest were vicious. And Tarzan Boy is game to take a major beating from the rudo team and they give him a hell of a beating. Los Infernales just unleash a tirade of cool team moves and Tarzan Boy takes a disgusting thrown gut buster that looks like it ruins his stomach. Technicos get a sudden comeback in the segunda and it leads to them going apeshit in the final fall as it devolves into a brawl and then more of a back and forth battle. The cheapshots and violence between Tarzan Boy and Satanico escalates. There are some great dives including Bucanero's wild one right in front of the seats. Tarzan Boy cheats to win and I am invested in watching where this goes from here. Hatred makes any style of wrestling accessible.

Not too familiar with these teams. Shocker's charisma helps highlight a nice beating from the rudos in the first fall. Big comeback seemingly built around making Lizmark look fantastic. Tinieblas had some pretty bad offense in this but a nice ending as Bestia gets caught performing a low blow. This was fine as I look at every lucha match right now as a foundation in my overall understanding and appreciation of the style.

Both guys had a real good grasp on playing to the crowd and playing decisive roles in this match. Instead of going out and jamming a bunch of spots into a short timeframe they established a strong dynamic between the two of them and it paid off in a really fun match. Cabana looked very polished and promising here but I was also really impressed with Punk's selling. His comeback felt well earned and I think both guys looked better than I expected them to look at this point.