AstroBoy

Solid match with commendable performances but Williams didn't have a ton of ideas on offense. Of course his limitations were what they were, but it didn't make for very enthralling work considering he took most of the match that wasn't clipped here. Kawada is very subdued and understated here and that was actually a nice antidote to excess. The finish felt sudden but in in a good way as Kawada counters some strikes and puts Williams down with an enziguiri. ***

I kind of thought this was a lackluster TV match. Road Dogg and Saturn didn't add much beyond variety and I didn't think it was a particularly good performance from HHH, who seemed kind of lackadaisical. Him in a face type role is still finding a sweet spot. I really really really hate his ducking a clothesline and then hitting a neckbreaker spot. It never looks smooth and always requires an awkward moment of he and his opponent grasping for each other. *1/2

They really did a good job elevating this past filler into a pretty heated match with a couple good false finishes. Steven Richards did a lot of good work outside the ring and getting involved. A lot of the false finishes were built around his interference and they orchestrated a couple hot moments. **1/2

Joe was certainly being led around by Regal here, but that makes for a lot of fun. Regal has his usual great little touches, some shots to the face while he has Joe grounded, and he destroys Joe with some rough forearms after Joe flails with a few weak strikes during a comeback. Joe had that sense of kind of willingly laying and getting into certain positions at different points, a very transparent participant at moments, but he worked hard and made a good enough impression. Some of his attempts to come back from underneath fell a bit flat but the match being so ground heavy and physical helped keep this from veering anywhere bad. **3/4

This is kind of hard to judge traditionally but, you know what, the hate was there. And they went balls out with the crazy spots. Some real good spots with the wire early on and the stuff with the scissors was pretty grisly. **

This ruled. I am loving the booking in NOAH as they have mixed in typical big match structures with shorter matches and brawls like this one. Used sparingly, blood here really gives this an edge with Kobashi seeking vengeance on Omori. His attack is just awesome and he unloads a great measured right hand to the head going after the cut. The interplay between Takayama and Kobashi is great and even Omori looks like a tough guy in defeat. Great stuff all around. ***1/2

Nothing like "I'm an ASS MAN!" blaring in the arena to accompany the man who is defending the honor of a woman scorned by a sleazy guy. Classic, but somehow the crowd goes pretty nuts for Gunn and this is a good role for him. The reaction of Eddie and the crowd both are priceless and then Chyna kind of wears the same expression for way too long and the match doesn't really end quick enough. *

Of course the angle is the forefront but the match is fun enough. I am starting to think that Kane and the Rock have really good chemistry. The way they play off each other really makes Kane's best attributes come out and vice versa. Angle is kind of an afterthought here but his character work is good for a laugh as Rikishi gets the pin on him after the Kane chokeslam. **1/4

Rock solid TV match advancing some stories. The way they handled the dissenting partners and friendship of X-Pac/HHH was actually really smooth and not painfully overdone. Jericho looked good as a fiery babyface here, having a lot of energy in his comebacks and being pretty on through the whole match as he was kind of the workhorse here. The Benoit german suplex on Triple H was really a killer nearfall that had the crowd fooled. Actual finish was considerably more underwhelming but they continue to put Benoit over strong on the way to No Mercy. **1/2

I liked them going balls to the wall, and this was an earnest attempt at making Skipper stand out, but this had tons of sloppiness and awkwardness. It didn't ruin the match or anything, and in some ways they just recklessly took each other out with spots and that added to it, but Skipper seemed pretty lost on more than one occasion and the rope-walk rana in particular was brutal. Decent high spot match, though, and Skipper is good enough at conveying cockiness no matter what is going on in the ring. The Rey somersault plancha to the floor was a real beauty, and then Skipper finishes it with his really contrived and stupid finisher. **

It's hard to even invest in the action between Sting and Steiner because the dumb shit just overwhelms everything that goes on in the match. It's mind-numbing. Steiner has such a bigger presence than all this stuff and should have been an out of control heel who didn't bother with scheming and cheap tactics, etc. Booker T and Sting end the show on the strong note and that's kind of nice, but this was blah. *

Disco and Wright really got over here and gave the crowd something to actually cheer about, so naturally they bait and switch the title change. Ah well. Jindrak and O'Haire are still kind of rough around the edges, see O'Haire's karate thrust/knee lift combo. But clearly there is a lot of potential and presence from both. I definitely agree that Wright is kind of a what-if guy, at least seems like he could have had a solid career. A fun, pretty hot tag match. **1/4

This was pretty memorable, although I don't think it was terribly interesting in the way that it got there. This starts with a lot of promise and the tension is completely palpable. Kawada constantly trying to take down Sasaki and finally wiggling free to control him with a headlock was really great, so was Kawada later ending the strike exchange with a cheap shot punch to repay Sasaki for earlier. Should also note that Kawada's sell of the punch was a thing of beauty, slowly crumpling to the ground against his will. When Sasaki takes back over and grounds Kawada with a headlock I kind of lost them because I thought they had an interesting story going of Sasaki being more dominant and physically overwhelming and Kawada being more resourceful to hang in there. Now maybe I'm reading into the match my own way too much, but Sasaki deciding he also had to ground Kawada just felt like an off note to me. From there it just kind of becomes a war of attrition and that works fine enough, but it lacks much to set it apart or really be something different. The finish, though, was great and felt like a huge deal. ***3/4

I have been thinking about the tag team scene in WWE lately, and how awesome it was from the moment the Shield stepped onto the scene in late 2012 until almost the moment they broke up. Every week seemed to have multiple quality tag and trios matches that got ample time and focus. Tons of good teams were hanging around and lots of makeshift combos gave TV trios tons of variety and kept things fresh. I want to know, for point of comparison, what other 18 month or 2 years stretches rival this one in terms of tag team quality? Late 80s NWA? I am sure there are plenty of other candidates out there, but just curious what others hold in high esteem. I am planning on revisiting this time period and taking a deep look at the week-to-week that WWE was putting out there, but I think it'd be much more interesting if I had something else to parallel against it.

In the hands of lesser wrestlers this would have been a slog. But the testament is their way to emote through the grappling struggles, the strike exchanges, the real simple fight they put on, elevating it to a big deal. Solid and unspectacular but a testament to both guys' talents. ***1/4

Slick spots down the stretch and Takaiwa murders Kanemoto with a lariat. Good finish too and a deserved big win for Takaiwa.

This wasn't that good. Triple H has the look of a guy wanting to put on a solid TV match but doesn't bring anything interesting to the table. As if he was striving for an under the radar good match as a notch in his belt, but then he didn't know how to carry that out. And they got a good amount of time too. Saturn busted out good offense but he had no presence and this ended up pretty flat. *1/2

After the hot start this really lagged in the middle. These guys are familiar with each other, no need for a big slow feeling out process, particularly at this point of the Kobashi and Akiyama feud. The booking at the end was fresh to me and this NOAH booking has been just dynamic enough to set it apart. Plus that indelible image of Taue in stiff ill fitting jeans and no shirt. ***1/4

Good show by Fuerza and Felino. I loved their pairing in the opening fall and both guys carried portions of this with their charisma and some solid work. This just kind of drifted along at a nice pace and represented the sweet spot of an "easily digestible match". The comedy and nonsense was sprinkled in but didn't overwhelm everything going on and that was a huge plus here. Really really fun trios match. ***1/2

Just watching this now but have to say that Joe Coffey seems like every bad wrestler stereotype rolled into one person. Impossibly bland while also throwing super weak strikes and not having anything that actually sets him apart. Awful hair and look. Most derivative moveset possible. I just don't see the appeal.

I am really tired of all spots that involve someone on the ring apron jumping to avoid a hand sweep of the leg, then turning to hit a superkick instead.

I adored Casas and Dandy going at it to start things off. The smallest things, like Casas needing to get aggressive and punch away at the midsection of Dandy to turn him over for a crab, were fantastic. They gave a sense of urgency while remaining deliberate. Good stuff. The other stuff here was not so memorable, and I'll agree about a just meandering and wandering rudo control segment that didn't build to a great payoff. There were some fun individual moments but this was not anything memorable. **3/4

Looking at that pre-commercial graphic for the Daniel Bryan-Luke Harper match just now. Are they trying to do that stupid WWE thing where they drop the name Luke and just call him "Harper"? Why are they so stupid about that?

Natural Disasters vs. Burt Stiles and Tom Stone (11/16/91) note that, when possible, dates I use will be air dates. Not much to say here as the match goes less than two minutes. The Disasters are headed toward Survivor Series where they will team with IRS and Jake Roberts against LOD with Big Bossman and Sid but Sid has had to pull out of the match. Typhoon always looks sharp doing his splash and here it leads to the Earthquake finish as they clean up quickly. Natural Disasters and IRS vs. Big Bossman and Legion of Doom (11/27/91) Here is a Survivor Series six-man elimination. Truthfully there isn't much to say about Typhoon and Earthquake here. Typhoon was very robotic and out of place in a few key exchanges, just sort of standing like a statue waiting to take offense from LOD members. This wasn't a strong outing for him. Earthquake was better and had a nice strength battle with Animal, including a real impressive catching of Animal and turning it into a backbreaker. Bossman was a lunatic here, moving a million miles an hour and just flying all over the ring and the floor to get the better of IRS early on. He really looked great here but got eliminated after a briefcase shot. This has a lame finish as IRS accidentally hits Typhoon with the case and he gets pinned, so Earthquake just walks off and leaves IRS to get picked off by the tag champs to end the show. What a weird main event this show had.

This kind of hit the sweet spot for me. AJ bumps around for Romeo and then Romeo gets posted and from there it's a simple story. AJ uses his opportunity on offense to try to put him away with flashy moves, giving comebacks to Romeo when he takes too many stupid risks. I got behind Romeo here (the blood added alot) as he tried to hang in there and played the gutsy babyface fighting with pride and courage. Good rollup finish. **1/2