ShittyLittleBoots

It is their 2nd most famous match against each other. And for a good reason! It's just an all out war. Pure brutality with Bryan delivering nasty blows to Nigel's nose, that suplex onto the guardrail, slaps & headbutts galore. Action-packed to the fullest with it being incredibly compelling in its brutality from start to finish. Unified (their most famous match) has an incredible peak when Nigel gets busted open, but this might be a tad bit better as an overall package. ****3/4

Haven't watched this in many years, but decided to do so today in honor of the upcoming AEW match of theirs! It's a classic. They once again make beautiful use of the Pure ruleset & it builds the match up so nicely to the incredible climax that it reaches in the end. I will say that having watched both of the matches on the same day, the battle over the ropebreaks isn't quite as compelling here as it is in their Weekend of Champions match, but it's still really good, and as mentioned, the peak of this match is simply incredible. The famous ringpost-spot is sickening, but it absolutely makes the match as it leads to fantastic drama in the finishing stages. Nigel rising up like a zombie, coming back & hitting that brutal rebound lariat is a thing of beauty in all of its glory prowres violence. The finish with Dragon completely brutalizing Nigel with his signature elbows is visually stunning as well. After this viewing, I am not quite feeling the full five on this one, but it's still an undeniable classic in my eyes. ****3/4

This is for Bryan's ROH World Championship. Coming off of their first match at Weekend of Champions, this rematch is for Bryan's World Championship since Nigel did beat him via count-out in that said previous match. I do think that their first match is a tad bit better (the Pure rules stuff is just so much fun), but man this thing rules so much as well. The competitive energy is just off the charts with the match feeling like a constant cock-fight with Bryan & Nigel trying to prove to one another that they truly are the best in the world. The match is compelling wrestling from bell-to-bell with the action beautifully building towards the end. Awesome, creative finish as well to boot. Terrific 2nd match to further their rivalry. ****1/4

This is for both Bryan's World Championship & Nigel's Pure Championship. Which means it's contested under the Pure rules. The first chapter in a legendary rivalry, and it is an excellent match. The way they wrestle with the Pure rules & the way it builds to the exciting, fantastic finishing gear - it's just brilliant. All the hold exchanges are awesome. Bryan's cravate-control is terrific & I love how it tied into the Pure rules with it forcing Nigel to use a rope break. Same goes with Nigel baiting Bryan into punching him with closed fists, just brilliant stuff. Perfect usage of the Pure rules. I also usually always find Nigel's armwork very compelling & there's plenty of that here - he is great with it, and Dragon's selling is also great until the very end. Watching this it is clear that there is some special chemistry in there right from their first singles match on. ****1/2

Samoa Joe defends the AEW World Championship Fuck yes what a match. Joe looks like an absolute beast throughout, just destroying Hook in exploding fashion, and Hook looks like a badass taking that punishment & having superb moments of his own on the offense with his comebacks. 9 minutes of pure kickass action. ****

This was beautiful. Bryan is out for revenge after he broke his arm in their first meeting, and the agenda is clear. He wants an eye for an eye. He goes after Okada's arm ruthlessly in the most vicious ways you could imagine; he stretches it with violent intentions, he kicks the shit out of it (his kicks seriously looked more vicious than usual), slams it around. It's the American Dragon special & he is doing it to the face of the company at their biggest show of the year. Saying it's a beautiful sight would be an understatement. When I was an angry teenager my big complaint about big Okada matches was that it always felt like the work before the finishing stretch felt like hollow filler, but here the work before the (excellent btw) finishing stretch was my favorite wrestler of all-time punishing the shit out of him while Okada himself delivers one of his finest selling performances? I mean come on. The post-match was absolutely amazing too. Felt big just like the match did. There is nothing like a classic match at the Tokyo Dome, and The Rainmaker vs. The American Dragon was a classic at the Tokyo Dome. ****3/4

Roman Reigns defends the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship. This had a lot of the Roman Reigns main event match features that suck: you get him controlling things way too much w/ spotty (in regards to how interesting it is) work on top, melodramatic dialogue of course (even though it wasn't actually THAT bad this time - still annoying tho), Bloodline run-ins, a super lame, energy-sucking finish, but goddamn it, there was still that magic in the air that this match was bound to have. There was close to zero fucking chance that Sami Zayn was gonna win the World Championship here, especially right before WrestleMania, but he still made me believe. One of the best, man. One of the very best. ***3/4

100% baby.

Kazuchika Okada defends the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship. It's a NJPW main event, so of course there's some filler-padding in there that's super forgettable & really just a bunch of absolutely nothing, but man, when Okada & Shingo kicked it up to another gear, this shit got fantastic. Awesome reversals, selling, moments. If you're into the NJPW big match formula, this really (probably) is an exceptional match, because even for someone like me who is very much tired of that said formula, it still ended up being a big time banger. ***1/2

ROOSH gets to be the best nasty, violent, charismatic motherfucker that he is possible as he delivers an absolutely lovely & brutal pummeling. A pummeling which Danielson sells absolutely perfectly throughout. Perfeeeeectly. Just a motherfucking badass match, man. Rocked my world. ****3/4

Love you daddy.

Darby Allin defends the TNT Championship. This was fucking awesome. Exactly what a No Holds Barred match between these two should look like. Memorable spots & visuals throughout. Violence. Joe gets to be the best Samoa Joe-in-2023 possible because of Darby's willingness to get completely ragdolled. Fuck yes. ***3/4

Bryan & Mox wonderfully bring the violence, and Top Flight shine on their roles as the young underdogs trying to make a name for themselves. Highly energized, awesome action bell-to-bell with great urgency. An absolute banger. ***1/2

Will Ospreay defends the IWGP United States Heavyweight Championship. Not gonna lie, I wasn't feeling the first half (or so). It wasn't until Ospreay got busted open & Omega went into nasty murder-mode that I got into it, but oh boy did I love that shit. Kenneth was looking like a killer out there, and Ospreay was selling like a king. Cringe overselling is always a possibility with him, but here he was truly fantastic; selling just the right amount of big, you know? Moments like Kenny smashing Ospreay's head onto the table repeatedly, all the beautifully brutal V-Triggers, the Croyth's Wrath & the whole sequence leading to it w/ Will's amazing selling = *chef's kiss* beautiful goddamn stuff, beautiful goddamn stuff. There was stuff that I disliked too, though. I thought that all of Will's comeback bits towards the end were pretty bad & actively brought the match down. Especially that Hidden Blade after he had just ate the V-Trigger; wrist control stuff like that just feels like a parody at this point. It's still a great damn match, but yeah, it would've been on an entirely different level had I liked Will's work on the offense more. Or cared for the first half. Just says how otherworldly great Kenny brutalizing Ospreay was when it's still overall such a banger even with those factors. ***3/4

I watched the least amount of wrestling I have watched in a long ass time in a single year in 2022, just full-on cherry-picking throughout the year on what to watch, so my list is kind-of boring, but here's what I would have as my top-10: 1) CM Punk vs. MJF - AEW Dynamite 2/2 2) Angelo Parker, Chris Jericho, Daniel Garcia, Jake Hager & Matt Menard vs. Bryan Danielson, Eddie Kingston, Jon Moxley, Ortiz & Santana - AEW Double or Nothing 3) Adam Page vs. Bryan Danielson - AEW Dynamite 1/5 4) Brock Lesnar vs. Roman Reigns - WWE SummerSlam 5) Cash Wheeler & Dax Harwood vs. Jay & Mark Briscoe - ROH Supercard of Honor 6) Bryan Danielson vs. Jon Moxley - AEW Revolution 7) Jon Moxley vs. Wheeler Yuta - AEW Rampage 4/8 8) CM Punk vs. MJF - AEW Revolution 9) Becky Lynch vs. Bianca Belair - WWE WrestleMania 38 10) Johnny Knoxville vs. Sami Zayn - WWE WrestleMania 38

This kicked so much ass. I've been loving this whole little story between the BCC & Yuta. It's been an absolute home run, and this match was perfect for it. Sure you could argue that by the end they went into the overkill zone with the 2nd Paradigm Shift kickout, but I thought it fit the match well, because Wheeler motherfuckin' Yuta went into Terminator mode & was not going into that good night. The blood was an incredible addition, Yuta kicked ass right from the get go & Moxley was wonderful dishing out punishment to the kid. A hit in every way imaginable. This in some & many ways reminded me of the famous Nigel vs. Tyler match from 2008, where you could feel that a new star was born out of a youngster by having him go toe-to-toe (& some more) with an established ace-level star. Just terrific stuff, man. ****1/4

These two were featured in a great tag match a few weeks ago where they set this match up perfectly. A 10-minute match which was all about young Wheeler Yuta standing up & showing fire against the greatest professional wrestler to ever live. It's a classic story to tell, and I usually love it every single damn time. Bryan was obviously fucking great at his role, dishing out punishment & being a little extra-dickish to his opponent. Yuta was also awesome, rocking his role pretty damn excellently; he showed just the right amount of emotion for a match of this kind. Him stealing the Danielson elbows & then spitting at Danielson before getting his head stomped in = such good shit, my god. What a banger of a TV-match, a brilliant little angle. ***3/4

Oh hell yeah, baby. This is what we're here for. It was exactly the kind of violent, gritty pro-wrestling it promised to be. Bryan Danielson & Jon Moxley style. The crazy thing is that even though it was so fucking great, it easily could've been even greater if it was a bit tighter package & the crowd was more into it, I feel. But as implied, that's really just a minor note, because this was absolutely awesome. Full of gnarly output by both men; moments like Bryan's crossface shots during the LeBell Lock, Moxley blocking the incoming headstomps in awesome fashion, all the slaps, Bryan's work over Moxley's mid-section throughout w/ them vicious kicks n' knees, the whole finish w/ the Triangle where Bryan punched the shit out of Mox's face. So damn lovely. Now they've bled together in this beautiful thing. The post-match too, my goodness. The match was just what I wanted out of it, and then you give me THAT as well? Just a beautiful thing, the whole thing. ****1/4

PUNK LOOKING LIKE HE HAS A FIRE INSIDE. MISERIA CANTARE. THE JACKET. THE SHORTS. An entrance I won't forget anytime soon, my god. This was pretty damn great. Exactly the type of violence that a Dog Collar Match should offer. Defined heel-babyface roles w/ both roles being rocked excellently, great hate-filled feeling throughout the entire thing, great offense, great selling, big moments that are treated as big moments, fantastic crimson mask by Punk, a feel-good ending. It didn't have the insane first-viewing impact on me that their first match did, but it still was undeniably great in my eyes. Love Your Hate & that stuff. ****

This was a pure tag team masterclass. That's the simple way to put it. No cute smarkbait stuff a la FTR vs. The Bucks 1, but a straight-up, tag team warfare. Intense, perfect, naturally flowing professional goddamned wrestling where all 4, and in particular Dax Harwood, came off as some of the very best wrestlers in the world. Bless. ****1/2

Yeah, this was damn great. They wrestled it like a Big Title Match, which is more than fitting, because that's exactly what it was. Excellent flow, big time feel, both women upped the intensity & violence + busted out stuff that you would in a match of this caliber. I loved it. Excellent performances by both Becky & Bianca in an excellent match. ****

This was AMAZING. Perfect for what it was always gonna be. Sami fucking Zayn, man. What a damn professional wrestler. One of the very best & the exact dude to perfectly do a match of this kind. A complete blast. ****

This match oozed importance with its billing, video package, the entrances, the aura & demeanor by both men. This could've & should've been something so damn special... but it just wasn't. It was the usual post-WM31 Brock vs. Roman match. Signature moves galore. Suplex, suplex, suplex, Superman Punch, Spear, F5, F5, Spear, Spear. I still enjoyed it though; I would actually say that it's one of the better versions of the match, as watching 2022 Cowboy Babyface Brock do his thing, throw bombs, sell his ass off, you know the deal, it's extremely fun & feels fresh + Reigns definitely can throw bombs as well, but MAN, this really should've been something so much more. The ending in particular was so damn cold. ***1/4

I think this is solid in all of its simplicity. Very much exactly what you would expect a Cage match between Hogan & Bundy to look like. The beginning with Hulkster's shine was legitimately pretty awesome w/ all dem punches n' shiet, then the Bundy control seg that followed wasn't very good at all, but the Hogan comeback followed by the finishing gear where they up the drama is extremely solid & pretty interesting because of how dickish he got towards Bundy. Overall the match is nothing to _really_ write home about, but as I implied, it's pretty darn enjoyable in all of its simplicity. ***

Adam Page defends the AEW World Championship This was pretty much the best-case scenario for this match-up. God it ruled so much. It's the kind of a match where the more I think about it, the more I like it. Just straight carnage from start to finish with no bullshit in the way of it. Insane spot on the steps, insanely epic finish. Awesome visuals with the blood. Hell. Yes. ****