ShittyLittleBoots

Whole thing was a great read & extremely fun to follow along!

This match is a masterclass. CM Punk's performance was legendary; from the badass old-school babyface opening to obviously the selling & his overall babyface magic, he was simply undeniable. This was a damn near 40-minute match with most of it having him in peril & it could've EASILY become uninteresting at many points given the length, but Punk's perfect selling & portrayal of his character made it damn sure that I was glued to my screen the entire time. He never, and I mean never forgets that he is hurt, and it's beautiful how he showcases it throughout. Obviously you have the big moments where MJF is on it like a shark, but I think what I adored the most about all of that is the little moments where Punk did small adjustments to continue the narrative of his arm being fucked. Or later on the knee. 7 years out of leaving the business, grey-bearded Punk getting systematically picked apart by this 20-something year old punk. But he damn sure tries his hardest, and he gets MJF a few times in the middle of this vicious attack, he gets him good, but the work by Maxwell shows beautifully in those moments, as you can clearly see that the juice has been sucked out of him, and in particular a couple of specific parts of his engine. Goodness gracious what a beautiful story to watch unfold. CM fucking Punk, man. There's so much to it that I loved. Even when MJF botches the ring post Figure-4 Bret Hart spot, Punk immediately saves it by kicking his way out of the hold with the leg MJF couldn’t lock in. So good. As I said, this is a beast of a thing with its length, but it never feels like it's _actually long_, because of how compelling the wrestling is. I think this even outdid both of the Hangman vs. Danielson matches when it comes to that, to be honest. A single match performance by CM Punk that I could never do proper justice, and MJF definitely delivered in the biggest match of his career up to this point, to say the least. My immediate reaction is that it's my favorite match to happen since Kofi vs. Bryan, Mania 2019, and obviously that could change, but as of now, I am really super-duper high on it. ****3/4

Bryan vs. Lesnar for the longest time was my biggest dream match ever, and to see it finally happen, it was incredible. Especially since the dynamic going into it was completely unexpected with Bryan's surprise heel-turn, but my fucking god did it work beautifully.

Hmm, interesting! When reading that, I instantly thought of the early Summer of 2013 where Bryan was having 2-on-2 & 3-on-3 tag bangers vs. The Shield almost every week. It seemed like he perfected the babyface tag formula - whether he was the fip, hot tag, you name it - there. It's some of my fondest memories of him personally, and having re-visited many of those matches many, many times, I think they hold up to the level I thought of them almost 10 years ago quite wonderfully. Obviously not on the level of Misawa's best tag stuff, but it's still great wrestling IMO. EDIT: ah, should've scrolled further down before quoting, just now noticed that SmartMark had already brought the exact same thing up x)

Yeah, this thing is red hot. Everybody plays their part & then some more-- the Jumbo vs. Misawa exchanges & brawls are fantastic, Jumbo's selling & character work is simply wonderful throughout, Kabuki n' Fuchi look really good wrecking Kobashi, Kobashi is a terrific face-in-peril & Taue in sort of the "hero-role" for his team was great. Everybody in this is great. ****

Four big bad beefy motherfuckers doing things you would expect. The first half is awesome with that, but what I love the most is the Tenryu FIP section. The accidental hit by Tenryu to Hansen, causing him to fall off the apron, it cost them two everything. After that, the MVC boys are like sharks smelling blood seeing a target in lonely-Tenryu's knee, and oh boy do they go to town on it. Everything afterwards is them just working that knee & I love it. You wait & wait for Tenryu to make that hot tag to a pissed-off Hansen who is waiting for it, but it never comes. The fate of this match was sealed with that one critical moment, and it's a story that I loved watching unfold. ****

A very notable match, given that it's the very first ever singles meeting between the two. It's not a good match. The finishing stretch is very good, and they manage to get the crowd into it as well with it, which is something, because the atmosphere was almost-completely dead for most of this match. I don't think the match is bad, as they don't overstay their welcome, but its just felt like most of it fell completely flat. Certainly wouldn't expect them to go & have the matches they would go on to have for years to come together based on this. **

My goodness what a beautiful thing this is. For the most part, you get what you expect, which is Tenryu brutalizing Takagi & being a mean cranky bastard to him-- but it doesn't come without a super sweet, fiery, spirited & straight-up fucking awesome little run by Takagi. The match is really probably perfect for what it was meant to be. ***3/4

THE TENRYU SHOW. God what a magnificent bastard he is throughout this whole thing. He delivers a wonderfully nasty beating to Takagi, showing him no remorse whatsoever, and it's a joy to watch. His beef with the boys ringside is also great. Watching Jumbo's reactions to Tenryu kicking his teammates ass is very fun as well. It's an awesome match. Comparing it to the other Tenryu vs. Jumbo tags from around this time, I don't think it's as great overall as 1/14 w/ Misawa & Fuyuki, but it's still indeed one to watch because of the bona fide Genichiro Tenryu awesomeness. ***3/4

This match fucks so much, my goodness. An absolute banger all the way through, no questions about it. I love how heated it feels every time Jumbo & Tenryu are in the ring, whether they are fighting each other or whipping the young guns, they radiate that big fight energy throughout this thing and its beautiful. Speaking of young guns getting whipped, I love the whipping Tiger Mask receives-- the way that whole section of the match begun with Tenryu saying "fuck you" to him & his cute little kicks by pushing him down by the mask? Oh so wonderful! Man that Tenryu, he was just a complete king in this match. You could say that he was the star of the bout & I wouldn't argue it AT ALL, but damn, all other 3 also (at least almost) matched him in their own ways; Misawa with his all-around rockin' young babyface performance + Fuyuki was the perfect little bro to Tenryu's complete asskicking-bully. I absolutely love the small package nearfall he gets on Jumbo after Jumbo runs into Tenryu's foot, and talking bout Jumbo, he was also simply brilliant. I already mentioned the big fight feel he gave off with his mere presence, and the beating he unleashes on Fuyuki's knee is great. I love how it becomes the main target of his attack very early on in the match, and then it's what gives his team the victory in the finish. Oh & that finish! So uniquely awesome & perfectly executed. Add the perfect Korakuen atmosphere into the mix, and you got yourself a truly kick-ass 2-on-2 tag match. ****

This was waaaay better than I remembered. Everybody knows about the historical significance the match holds, but it's actually such a damn great professional wrestling match too! It's not an 'epic' at all; it's an honest, tight sub-30 minute title match that executes the most important upset of the decade perfectly. Okada's performance is great. He's fully focused on his gameplan of weakening Tanahashi's neck for the Rainmaker, and I thought that his work doing exactly that was extremely good & compelling. His selling of Tanahashi's comeback legwork is really good as well-- I especially REALLY liked how he sold it when delivering some big moves of his own such as the tombstone or the elbow drop. The finishing stretch is pretty darn great too, with just the right amount of epic counters before Rainmaker puts an end to things for a great, shocked reaction by everyone except Gedo & Okada himself. I can't say that I am shocked at how good this bout was, but I certainly have some newfound big time appreciation for it, it seems. Loved the beginning with Tana schooling the youngster, the middle with Okada's dominant work over the neck, Tana's comebacks going after the leg, and then that said great finishing stretch. It's an awesome match all the way through. The just-about perfect arrival of Kazuchika Okada as a main eventer. ****1/4

Been wanting to re-watch this for a good while, and finally decided to do so. I've always been fascinated by the whole story of this match. The battle of two vastly different pro-wrestling ideologies-- it's a classic tale, and here Tanahashi & Omega did a hell of a job with it. You can feel the dislike & pettiness through their work right from the get go, in particular with Kenny who was just a total dickhead to Tana throughout. It really sold the storyline, and the nastily brutal output by both guys certainly helped as well; I love Kenny going after Tana's back, and while Tanahashi's selling certainly could've been better, I do think he does a pretty great job being the face-in-peril overall. Omega is a monster on the offense delivering the vicious punishment. The big moments where they go for each others signature-things with Tanahashi trying to splash Omega through a table, but instead crashing & burning for it, and then later on Tana kicking out at one after Omega went for a big "fuck you" by using the slingblade & the HFF-- I thought those 2 great, great moments really encapsulated the whole story they were out there telling very beautifully & effectively, as well as the differences between the Hiroshi Tanahashi & Kenny Omega characters. It's some mighty great stuff. And it's a mighty great match too, the almost-40 minutes it goes just flies by. Sure there's some periods where it isn't as compelling as it is for the majority of it, and as already mentioned I thought Tanahashi could've sold his back better, but it's still one helluva match to say the least. ****

The first & only time (before this) I watched this back when it happened in 2016, I didn't like it at all. Now though, the 2022-me got goosebumps during the finishing stretch when Okada busted out the Emerald Flowsion. It is quite possibly the single coolest & coldest thing he has ever done. I goddamn loooove it. It certainly helps that everything leading to that insanely amazing finishing stretch was simply phenomenal as well; Marufuji was just firing on all cylinders, he laid all of his shit in, upping the brutality w/ all of his offense, in particular those chops. The damn chops. Chops are so overdone in wrestling these days, but hot damn I can watch Marufuji chop fools all day long-- especially if one of those fools happen to be the ace & king of his rival company. There's also plenty of legitimately awesome counters here as one would expect in a big Okada match, and with all praise I've given to Marufuji, I must say that Okada also definitely brought the heat. The story they went out to tell was told perfectly via his output. It's a really special match. I am glad I finally decided to re-watch it. ****1/2

Adam Page defends his AEW World Championship. Yeah, make that two in a row for Hangman vs. Danielson, then. A yet another TV-wrestling classic with no hyperbole. Much like in the first meeting of theirs, Danielson was just a complete tour de force here; he was an absolute marvel bringing the big time punishment to the champ, and you couldn't ask for a better man to put you over than him here between his always-great selling & the way his whole AEW run thus far has built up to THIS. Hangman got to escape from every submission he has established as a match-ender as well as kickout of every move he has used as a finisher in the company leading up to this bout. And you know that Bryan doesn't let his big moves go to waste, so it's damn sure that every single one of those big kickouts & escapes by Hangman felt earned. None of it was cheap. It was all earned through this intense war that they put each other through. Danielson's strategies right from the start get me hooked, and his brilliant, brilliant, BRILLIANT onslaught on the offense keep me there, and then you have the blood; this match is the perfect example of blood upping the levels when it comes to a pro-wrestling match. Bryan's attack on Page's cut is wonderful, and then when he gets busted open himself, the intensity & overall urgency of the bout kicks up to another gear in lovely fashion. Not to mention the cool visuals it creates. A very early 2022 MOTYC, and I suspect it will stay pretty high up for me till the end of the year. It's a perfect sequel to their first match. ****1/2

Adam Page defends his AEW World Championship. The most cliche compliment one could give to a 60-minute broadway is that it never feels like it's going one hour, and such was the case here, so I'm saying it! This did not, in any way, feel its length. The work is extremely compelling right from the get go with a really nice dynamic between the two. The highest of highs that this match reach are in Danielson's big work on top; he is punishing with his onslaught towards Hangman's mid-section & arm, and later on the cut on his forehead. All absolutely WONDERFUL stuff. Page was good too throughout-- off the top of my head I can't recall any performances of his that I would put above this one, but to be fair, he was in there with the greatest wrestler of all-time who delivered a legendary performance, so I don't know does that, in fact, have more to do with that. A top-2 MOTY for me. ****1/2

This shit rocked. A totally lovely fight that right from the entrances fit the story the two had built perfectly. Kingston's pre-bell backfist, Punk doing the CENA, a legitimately amazing Takayama-Frye scrap, Eddie doing the GTS taunt & eating one himself right afterwards, Punker rocking the crimson mask, bless up. This shit rocked. ****

A genuine dream match right here, and the crowd sure made it feel like one with the atmosphere they provided from bell-to-bell. I must admit that for 98% of the time the generic strike-trading sequences do absolutely nothing for me, but here MiSu & Dragon sucked me right into 'em -- much of it has to do with the fact that it's THEM doing it, but also because those said sequences were genuinely fantastic with the timing of when to stop em, when to sell big, when to show that fighting spirit~! etc, you know the deal. This was pro-wrestling happy magic. ****

Everytime he wrestles, it's just further confirmation (for me) that Bryan Danielson is the greatest professional wrestler to ever live. I have said it a million times by now, but I just did again. This match was beautiful. They built it to the 30-minute draw wonderfully, as the action kept on upping itself with a perfect crowd to boot. They played their hits, but with that competitive spirit of wanting to prove who truly is THE best. It's a real natural story to tell & dynamic to play off of, and these two did it with ease. I could go on for a looong time about how great Dragon was here, but I also must say that Kenny Omega is at his finest when he is delivering simple viciousness w/ his amazing arsenal of signature moves, and there certainly was QUITE A BIT of that in here, to say the least. The way he also presented himself & treated this match helped make it feel like something special as well-- the most serious & focused Kenny since at least that Dome Main Event vs. Tanahashi, probably? Goddamn this whole thing was greatness all around, no better way to put it. ****1/4

That text by Danielson is just beautiful, man. It's actually insane to think what a career he had in the WWE.

This was such a banger. They went about 8 minutes or so, and that left us with no time for filler. Meaning that this was an absolutely wonderfully action packed time bell-to-bell. It's a lot like their first meeting from last year, but in a lot more sprint-ish fashion. I loved it. Fantastic television main event. ***3/4

Obviously the end-goal here was to make Ki look like a killer as his heel run continues, but Lethal actually got way more than I thought he would. And it was for the better! He totally ruled as the fiery underdog babyface bringing the fight to the odds-on favorite. I thought that his punches in particular looked really good & fit his role perfectly. All of Ki's offense looks awesome too, obviously. It's a fun match. Didn't need to go for as long as it did, as it does feel like it drags a BIT at times, but it's not a real complaint or anything because it still didn't go on for very long & both guys delivered, so yeee a very respectable 3-boy. ***

You shouldn't be too stressed about how other people rate silly professional wrestling matches with a totally silly star-rating system, my man and as you said yourself, 3 3/4 is still very good indeed! How did you yourself feel about the match? Why not share thoughts?

John Walters defends the ROH Pure Championship under the Pure ruleset. Goddamn this was such a joyful time. It's that signature early 2000s ROH/indy action where both of the competitors come off as so charming, focused & hungry, and it results in an absolute banger of a match. All the technical prowess was beautiful to watch, Walters' work over the neck was awesome & Nigel's all around babyface performance was so damn good. Great use of the Pure ropebreak rules as well. This was an absolute blast. ***3/4

Hey it's another first ever 1-on-1 match-up on this show! And much like Aries vs. Punk, it's very good. Shelley's heat segment working on Danielson's neck was very solid; he has a certain charm about his work, and he is also a good little dickhead & he certainly commits well to a strategy. It's good stuff. The absolute highlight of the match is what follows, though. Dragon coming back & going to town on Shelley's banged up arm, wringing & twisting it everywhere viciously, it's so damn awesome. As was Shelley's bumping & selling of it. I do think the match could've easily been trimmed quite a bit though & Bryan could've sold Shelley's neckwork more during his wonderful asskicking-section. That's what separates the 'very good' from the 'great' here. ***1/2

This is the first ever 1-on-1 contest between these two according to Cagematch, so it's already kind of notable for that. And it's a very good one. It took a while for it to get cooking, but once it did, I was definitely sucked into the story of Aries' arm vs. Punk's ribs. They sold well & busted out nice dedicated, focused & even creative offense to further that said story. It's awesome. The finish isn't though, as it features lots of fuckery w/ a ref bump followed by all of Generation Next running in as well as Ace Steel & Steve Corino. It's not good, but everything else here is. ***1/2