ShittyLittleBoots

This was a very good spotfest, that more than served it's purpose in being the hot opener for the show. Everybody got some time to shine - Ziggler with his Superkick sequence, Owens & Zayn with them destroying each other, Sin Cara with his two big dives, Stardust with the polka dot ladder homage to Dusty & then Ryder with his victory, which was a very nice, feel-good moment out of nowhere. ***1/2

There's a real sluggish feel to this right from the get go - Taker gets to kick's Brock's ass for a while, but very soon Brock takes over & he is pretty damn dominant till the end. I liked Brock's beatdown throughout - he did some very good work over Taker's leg & mid-section. Now while I'm sure some of it (if not all) can be "credited" to the concussion Taker suffered, I thought that his selling was really good - he sold the exhaustion of being systematically destroyed by an entirely different animal, a BEAST if you will, fantastically. He did have some very nice hope spots as well. The match definitely felt very cold right from the get go, which is very odd w/ it being a Brock match, a Taker match, let alone a bout between them at WrestleMania, but overall I'd say it's actually a very enjoyable, good match. Prior to this I actually hadn't watched it since 2014, so it was pretty intriguing going back to it & focus more on the actual match rather than the gigantic moment that is the ending. ***

The first half isn't interesting at all, but eventually the match gets going. The highlight of that said boring first half was EASILY Michaels getting F5'd - he kept on getting Brock's attention to get HHH back into things, so him getting F5'd actually felt pretty rewarding/fulfilling. Really liked the drama of HHH softening Brock's arm with them chairshots, and then locking in a Kimura of his own - they milked that very well w/ Brock's selling of it being amazing. Overall it's definitely too long, and there's lots of dull/forgettable stuff + HHH from underneath just wasn't very interesting, but there was SOME very good stuff in there, especially that Kimura drama I mentioned. **1/4

Unironically pretty excited for Mania. I think the card is looking real good. Ronda vs. Becky vs. Charlotte has much potential to be very fun, if not great even. Brock vs. Rollins will be at the very least very good unless they overbook it to hell. Bryan vs. Kofi should be great. Both guys have been killing it in the build & Bryan is the BITW, so this will bang. Orton vs. AJ could be great as well. LOVED the SD match they had a few years back, and with this being at Mania, Orton will surely give a very strong performance & AJ is AJ. Joe vs. Rey will be awesome. I've loved all of their interactions in their multi-man matches.

Their first singles meeting was one of the very best matches of 2018, and they built the story absolutely fantastically, so the expectations for this one were VERY high, and because of that, it ended up being a little bit disappointing, but very, very good at the same time. Liked the start with them teasing a quick Devlin win right away, only for WALTER to survive & then start unleashing on him. The handwork was awesome - it's a shame it didn't become a more focal part of the match, as it was kind of forgotten after a while. The Irish flag deal was great as well; the image of WALTER wrapping Devlin into it, and then stomping him & the flag was fantastic. The WALTER DQ & count-out walkout tease was done really well too, and Devlin's one last adrenaline comeback after that to finish the match off was superb. So yeah, there was lots to love here, but it just didn't have the magic, the shock, the danger & the pure emotion/feel of their 1st encounter. ***1/2

First of all, sorry for the ugly title! These handicap tag gauntlet tag deals are hard to deal with Anyways, this rocked my world. The first segment of the New Day going against Gallows & Anderson was pretty short, but I liked what we got very much; everything looked good and it served as a good opener for the Gauntlet. The 2nd segment w/ Rusev & Nakamura was very solid too - I actually thought that Nakamura looked the most compelling he has since probably SummerSlam vs. Jeff Hardy. And then out comes The Bar & things kick up into higher gear - Sheamus has a clear strategy going in, as he immediately starts doing some work over Big E's left leg; Big E is an awesome FIP with his selling & hope spots - loved the usual crawling-towards-your-partner-only-to-get-cutoff -stuff - might sound weird, but I thought Big E did that pretty amazingly. Not cheesy or over the top at all, he created just the perfect amount of drama in those, and the cutoffs by the Bar fellas were awesome as well. Xavier rules as the hot tag as much as Big E does as the FIP; some awesome, high energy flippy stuff w/ a nice amount of urgency & intensity to all of it. The finish of the segment with Big E pulling Cesaro from the top & Xavier then rolling up Sheamus was brilliant, as was the post-segment beatdown. The brilliance continued as The Usos' music hits, and they come out looking like the badasses that they are - LOVED Corey's commentary during this; between that, the presence of the Usos & the beatdown the New Day just received, there was a real great feel of danger & sadness, even. But then! BUT THEN! Just when it looks like Kofi's WrestleMania dreams might be done for, The Usos FORFEIT, because of the respect they have for him + Xavier & Big E. An absolutely AMAZING moment; it could've been so cheesy & cringe, but the way they did it, and with it being The Usos who did it, it was amazing. Absolutely amazing. Then Bryan & Rowan come out, and start beating the crap out of the New Day - Bryan of course goes for Big E's leg right away - his torture of it is unsurprisingly great, and the moment where Big E finally rallied up some punches, but Bryan counters that into a half crab was superb. The rest of the action is red hot, and the finish was creative & brilliant - the crowd counting the count-out so loudly was an AWESOME final touch to the thing, and the post-match with all 3 of the New Day lads celebrating was a genuinely great, pure babyface moment. The whole thing was magic. ****1/4

I absolutely LOVED the New Day handicap tag gauntlet from SD. That's my WWE MOTY so far - liked it even more than all 3 of Bryan's brilliant PPV title defenses. Kofimania running wild, indeed!

This was very much your paint-by-numbers cocky champion vs. young underdog stuff, and it was pretty enjoyable. Just solid action from start to finish, nothing that truly grabbed me or made me invested, but nothing boring or bad either. LOVED the finish with Nomura escaping that first Straight Jacket German attempt & then Kento immediately grabbing him again, this time not letting him slip out. A very nice bit of flash urgency there. **3/4

Definitely liked this better than their BJW match from January. They don't do it in an overly flashy, classic way, but Sekimoto & Okabayashi do some subtle invader heelish stuff, and I loved it. The stuff on the outside that lead to the Suwama FIP portion of the match was fantastic, and then big Shuji's hot tag that followed was great as well. Shortly after that, the match essentially kicks into it's 2nd, finishing gear, and there's PLENTY of awesome, BEEFY action to keep me interested. I won't lie though, I did think it overstayed it's welcome a bit, but overall it was really fun & the build to it was pretty amazing, so it's no biggie. ****

The beginning hold exchanging wasn't the most compelling stuff, but I still liked it - SANADA especially brought some charm into things & him locking Okada in the Paradise Lock was legitimately an awesome moment. Then there's some dull stuff with Okada on top, and then shortly the match becomes your usual Okada big match counterfestival - you either like it, or you don't care for it, and unfortunately I am on the latter boat. *1/2

Holy FUCK! This was just absolutely amazing from start to finish. I already loved the opening lock-up, and then the match just quickly explodes. Okada being a dick is always great, and it's especially great when he does it against his grumpy stablemate in the STONE PITBULL himself. Ishii answering to that by doing those exact same playful little kicks to Okada's head was superb & then the whole punishment section of him chopping the shit out of Okada was just WONDERFUL. Okada getting things back to his side w/ that DDT was great, and my goodness Ishii sold that thing like a boss. That of course did big damage to Ishii's neck, and that immediately becomes a big target for Okada's attacks; LOOOVED the whole sequence of Ishii waking up, Okada reacting to that immediately, Ishii showing that his neck is hurting & Okada then caving his forearm into that thing. I really could just make a long-ass list of my favorite moments in the match, and for the rest of it I am actually going to do just that: - the macho-battle with them both marching towards forearms, just eating them - Okada with that signature neckbreaker on the knee of his, cementing his dominance by going after the hurt neck - the great callback to their G1 '16 match w/ the Rainmaker pose -> Ishii popping up, but this time Okada was ready for it - Ishii's goddamn BOMBS; lariats, headbutts, you name it - Okada with one of the sickest German Suplexes I've EVER seen - dat damn height! - Ishii with the Nakamura-esq Armbar counter! - JOHN WOOOOO after Ishii's epic fiery pop-up no-sell moment! - That finishing sequence w/ the spinning Tombstone & Rainmaker What a BADASS match. ****1/2

Now this was the insanely brutal brawl it promised to be! The Briscoes were working their asses off, PCO was the crazy bastard that made him blow up in 2018 & Brody delivered some good violence to the dance as well. A fitting main event for the Anniversary show. ***3/4

Ishii straight up bullies YOSHI-HASHI into showing some damn personality, and it works in some short bursts - the moments where HASHI actually answered right back at Ishii's trashtalk & showed some fire were good, but for the most part, this was the same ol' boring ass non-charisma having YOSHI-HASHI that I've come to expect in pretty much all of his matches. Some points for Ishii being Ishii & HASHI actually showing SOME personality in a couple of moments, but yeah, this wasn't good. *3/4

These two always bring such fun, fiery & competitive chemistry against one another inside the ring. This was a yet another banger between them. Zack is awesome with his submission work & I loved the way he set up traps for Ibushi in this one, with him baiting him into striking exchanges, only for him to catch him w/ submissions out of nowhere. The biggest target of Zack's attack was Ibushi's leg, and while Ibushi certainly isn't a good limb seller, I thought his work here regarding that was inoffensive & Zack getting the win via Orienteering With Napalm Death definitely helps too, as the legwork paid off in the end. ***1/2

This was absolutely fantastic. There's a fun "dad vs. son" dynamic to the thing, with Thatcher taking on the man he idolizes & someone who he has trained under a bit. The matwork is fantastic as expected, and they tell the story of Ishikawa pretty much owning Thatcher there, which then lead to Thatcher having to resort to some brutal strikes to try and get the advantage. Much like in the Inner Circle tag, Thatchman puts all of Ishikawa's work over big time by selling every hold like they're killing him. It of course helps that all of Ishikawa's holds look uncomfortable & brutal as hell. ****1/4

This was really goddamn good - awesome action from start to finish, with everybody getting time to shine. I thought Rey & Joe especially looked great during this; Rey with his amazing smoothness hitting those highflying spots, all the while making them look really impactful & then Joe with his bulldozer work, especially in the beginning. ***3/4

I am gonna be honest: I didn't care for the match at all until it spilled to the outside, and I got them Shield vs. Evolution flashbacks with their all-over-the-place chaotic brawling. That's when the match started to RULE, and it never stopped ruling big time after that. The sequence Corbin & Reigns had inside the ring while the other four were outside was great, as was the whole Triple Powerbomb bit w/ the heels first trying to do it mockingly, only for The Shield to PUNISH them with the real thing. The finish with the boys just destroying Baron was superb too, and I won't lie, I got them goosebumps when Rollins got fired up yelling "one last motherfucking time!" when they went for the Triple Powerbomb to get the finish. Awesome stuff. ***1/2

It's LIGER in a big match, so of course it ruled. He played his greatest hits, which is always fantastic & Taiji was great bumping his ass off for him. They created a real compelling battle w/ some great drama revolving around Liger pushing the younger champ to the absolute limit. ***1/2

Not quite as crazy as some of their previous meetings, but still really good. Naito gives Ibushi's neck a hellacious beating throughout - that Tombstone on the apron spot was an absolute holy shit moment, and Ibushi's explosive comebacks were very good. Always pop for him using the Boma Ye. ***1/2

This was a great three way dance. Just great spotfest action, with some great bursts of 1-on-1 action, especially by Bryan, in between the big spots. Bryan was great with everything he did, receiving & giving an asskicking, Ali was in his element bumping like a maniac & busting out those gorgeously vicious dives of his & these kind of matches definitely fit Owens' move-set & wrestling style very well. Dat finish! ****

They kicked, chopped & forearm'd the crap out of one another with their absolutely brutal looking strikes, and the arm targeting by Nagata was superb, but with the match going over 20 minutes, I felt it was dragging at points, so that's why it's not quite in the MOTYC status for me. Still a really good smackfest though, with the great stuff in it being really, really great. ***3/4

The first half or so was pretty damn great. Some good mind games w/ White being a dick & Ospreay showing off with his athleticism - then the ribs of Ospreay become the main target of Switchblade's onslaught, and it's absolutely FANTASTIC. He's really vicious working over Ospreay + has some awesome rib-targeting-cut-offs to Ospreay's comeback attempts. That's when I thought the match might be heading towards something really good, but as Ospreay gets more of his shit in, he drops the selling except for a few coughs here & there, and the match adopts the more typical NJPW main event formula w/ counters & finishing stretch-wrestling. It's not interesting, but the first half & White's work there was so good that the match couldn't be bad overall, even with a VERY uninteresting 2nd half. **3/4

This had such a great start with PAC going to work on WALTER's leg immediately w/ them kicks, and then using that as a set-up to bring on his flippy combinations. The finger dislocation looked disgusting & much props to PAC for continuing the match after that - I actually really liked how he seemed more grumpy than usual after he put it back in place, as he started angrily just stomping WALTER. WALTER on top working the arm & being the awesome big lad that he is was great as well, of course. The best moment of the match though was PAC dropping WALTER w/ those leg kicks - felt like a huge moment & the crowd certainly reacted like it was exactly that. Gave me some Danielson vs. Morishima 1 flashbacks, too - just absolutely loved it. Really good match & the best I've seen PAC in so far post-WWE. ***1/2

Everybody got their time to shine - Joe was eliminated first, but the whole time he was there, he looked like a killer just beating the crap out of everyone, especially Bryan. Jeff wasn't there for long, but he got that one big Swanton moment, which was legitimately a very neat spot. Styles looked like the all-time great that he is with his legendary bumping, selling & offense - that Tower of Doom spot they did w/ him, Kofi & Bryan was awesome, because it wasn't the usual; they did it uniquely with AJ doing the pull-up German. Orton was vicious during his time in the Chamber & that DDP-esq RKO he delivered to AJ was great. And then there were two. That is when the match kicked off into another level; Bryan & Kofi crafted a truly special final battle, one of the best of all-time, if not THE best. The scrappy slugfest to start it off was really good, and I LOVED Kofi getting fired up & asking Bryan to deliver some more kicks. The nearfalls were sooo goood - the callback to their Gauntlet match finish was great, and then the Busaiku Knee one was amazing; Bryan has protected that move so much since he debuted it in 2013, so Kofi getting to kick out of it felt pretty damn big, I thought. Also love, love, LOVED the LeBell Lock struggle with Bryan having to fight to get it locked in, and Kofi brought the goods with his emotional selling once it was locked in. The whole finishing stretch with them on top of the pod was also pretty phenomenal - extended battle there, and once Kofi got the upperhand, he went for the big risk in the dive & paid for it. Excellent stuff by the two, and overall I'd say this was the best Chamber in years. One of the best ever, too. Bryan vs. Kofi is no doubt THE match to make at Mania now. The way the crowd BELIEVED in Kofi was special & the heat Bryan received for doing basically anything to him was also special. They got a magical dynamic in their hands, I can only hope that they capitalize on it. The way how strong Kofi was booked, and the post-match (wonderful btw) babyface moment w/ Big E & Xavier gives me some hope they will. ****

Not sure for how long it's gonna be up there, but it's there!