ShittyLittleBoots

The boys did it again! Another absolute banger between 'em, this time inside the steel cage. I thought they used the cage gimmick pretty damn wonderfully, with lots of intense, additional brutality being brought into the thing w/ it. Uso continuing the attack on Bryan's bum knee from the Chamber was nice, and Bryan's armwork was beautiful as usual; especially that finishing sequence w/ him smacking it a few times against the cage, then that big butterfly suplex from the top rope, finished up by the LeBell Lock. ***1/2

This ruled. Had a completely different feel to it than any other New Japan match of recent years; the whole build, the blunt NJPW STRONG presentation -- it all fit the nature of this match & these two to a T. KENTA & Moxley had a real heated fight that felt like a constant scrap for the entire duration of it. The thuds of KENTA's kicks & forearms, Moxley's terrific selling, loved everything about this. The ending with KENTA telling Mox to fuck off before getting put down was simply perfect for this match as well. Really great stuff all the way through. ****

A yet another quality match between these two. Maybe even the best one they've had so far. The focus on Bryan's weakened knee coming from the PPV created a very compelling dynamic for the thing, and Uso more than delivered going after that bodypart; some of the big spots revolving around it were legitimately real nasty in the best ways possible. ***1/2

This was fantastic. Bryan & Cesaro started it off wonderfully, and the match really never let up as it continued; Corbin got to have a really nice run before getting eliminated first, KO was a very solid ball of energy the entire time he was involved, Zayn was great, Uso did his thing - he definitely was the least exciting man with his output, but the big focus wasn't on him anyways, so it's all good & it's not like he was bad, annoying or anything like that -- he just didn't have those standout moments that the other men in this did. The easy MVP's for me were Bryan, Cesaro & Zayn. Those 3 were simply fantastic, which isn't a surprise at all. This thing definitely goes into the upper echelon of Chamber matches after this initial viewing; non-stop great action from start to finish. ****

Well I thought this was pretty darn awesome. It had such a fun pace to it right from the get go + everybody delivered extremely well spirited & energized performances; Sami Zayn in particular was on fire all match long, with his exchanges against D-Bryan certainly being my favorite bits of the whole thing. ***1/2

This eventually ended in a dq & turned into a multi-man tag when a lot of people got involved, but everything before that was really great. It isn't a surprise since it's AJ & Bryan going at it -- as always with the two, they simply make every bit of their wrestling look better than anybody else's. Everything is awesome, and it sure wouldn't be a Daniel Bryan vs. AJ Styles match without them going after specific bodyparts of one another; especially Bryan's targeting of AJ's arm was glorious. Because of the finish this definitely won't be remembered as one of their best matches or anything close to that, but it's still a yet another neat addition to their storied, fantastic rivalry. ***1/2

This was just so much fun. This kind of matches are always at their best when they got that organic chaotic feel to 'em, and I think this bout offered exactly that pretty excellently. No downtime whatsoever, as the action was hot right from the get go & remained that till the very end. Everybody looked great, with Archer in particular shining & coming off as a monster threat all the way through. ****

I didn't notice what could've caused it, I think I first noticed his head bleeding during the LeBell Lock spot. Looked like a pretty nasty cut.

And with this, the first truly great match of 2021 has arrived. These two had an already awesome match a few weeks prior also on SmackDown, but this one was even better. Cesaro & Bryan get just a bit over 4-minutes, and goddang do they make the most out of every single second they're given; it's super intense & physical right from the get go with no feeling-out bullshit -- both guys are here to settle some business. It doesn't take long for Bryan to start working on Cesaro's arm, which is obviously superb in all of its focused viciousness, and Cesaro sells it beautifully. Bryan busted out a couple of really neat counters during his control period, namely the backslide one & especially him countering Cesaro's Uppercut-frenzy into an armbar, ultimately transitioning it into the LeBell Lock. Truly awesome stuff, and that continued when it came time for Cesaro to handle some business; the way the end started for D-Bry with Cesaro digging those knees deep into his back was magnificent, and the way Cesaro continued the attack w/ that big torture-rack-backbreaker-thing, followed by the SWING & then making it all pay off with that Sharpshooter finish? Absolutely fucking sick. Bless these two. What a wonderful match. ****

Fun starting feeling-out process, which is something Tanahashi does exceptionally well especially compared to most of the other New Japan main eventers. Pretty compelling legwork by both men, inconsistent selling of that said legwork, but that is to be expected & there was a few pretty neat moments revolving around Shingo actually selling the knee. The drama also increases as the minutes go & the boys start busting out bigger bombs, and it's pretty exciting stuff, even though I do think that the match, unsurprisingly, started to drag towards the end, especially in the last 10 minutes or so. All in all it's kind of a generic big New Japan match w/ the usual "problems" (which aren't really problems, but are more about my preferences in wrasslin'), but it's TANA going against a man like Shingo Takagi, so in most cases it wasn't gonna be anything less than very good, and such was the case here. It was a good one. ***

I liked what I saw from the Great-O-Khan in his Tokyo Dome match against Tanahashi, and this was a yet another good showing by the lad. As a pure single individual showing, I'd say it was about on par, but as an overall match, this was even better than that said neat Dome bout. Liked just about every bit of offense O-Khan showcased here, and the strategy of weakening Tenzan by the neck was nice. Tenzan definitely more than showed up too - what a lovely, fiery performance by the veteran. Of course with the stipulation and all, much of the match is centered around them Mongolian Chops, and it of course RULES, because both fellas sure throw 'em with everything they got. This was just a real sweet deal all around tbh. Loved it all. ***1/2

This was exactly what it needed to be with these two - two badass mofos having a badass pro-wrestling fight. Both guys have such great arsenals, it's a joy watching them beat one another up. Archer served more than well as the babyface going against Eddie. Wonderful sub 10-minute STUFF. ***1/2

There's a real lovely cat & mouse dynamic to start this off, and both parties play their roles wonderfully. A-Kid more than brings it throughout with his arsenal of chops & especially those kicks, and WALTER sells BIG time, to say the least. That knockdown as the result of those repeated leg kicks was a great moment. WALTER's big selling & A-Kid's excellent, almost perfectly executed gameplan of using his quickness & weakening the champ by going after his leg was such compelling stuff -- the way the whole match played out made each time WALTER got his hands on A-Kid feel so fulfilling, which is kind of weird to write out loud because he was & is the heel champ, but it felt like that. Watching him unleash his murderous onslaught was awesome. Extremely good shit, this match was. Almost felt like one of those big Wally vs. ZSJ bouts. ***3/4

This is REAL one-sided, and rightfully so because there aren't many, if any people in wrestling that take a shitkicking like Darby Allin, and that allows Cage to look real good in the process as well of course. The big man just throws Darby around like its nothing, with some real big, brutal looking spots being busted out. On paper that sounds absolutely wonderful & for the most part it is exactly that, but I do think that some of the spots should've felt bigger than they ended up feeling. For whatever reason, some of the big throws on the outside & all didn't register as those big moments that they could've & should've (for me anyways). It's all good though, because the match still totally rules. My favorite spot of the whole thing actually was Cage falling on those steps - that shit felt real blunt & impactful. Real good stuff on the attack by Darby overall as well of course; he brought that signature explosiveness & creativity into everything, and as pretty much always, it's awesome. A very good match. ***1/2

It's always a damn joy watching Cesaro & Daniel Bryan wrestle each other. I'm not sure did I like this bout more than their excellent also-TV-match from last April, but yeah, it's a yet another absolute banger between 'em, of course. Fun n' great armwork vs. legwork story that plays off naturally, wonderfully, logically & it's compelling all the way through with some creative spots & moments in there. Beautiful pro-wrestling between two masters. ***3/4

I ended up re-watching everything I initially put on my MOTYC list all year long, and this is how my top-10 favorite matches list ended up looking: 1. Daniel Bryan vs. Drew Gulak (WWE 05/11) 2. AJ Styles vs. Daniel Bryan (WWE 06/12) 3. Daniel Bryan vs. Drew Gulak (WWE 03/08) 4. Daisuke Ikeda vs. Yuki Ishikawa (wXw 03/07) 5. Kota Ibushi vs. Taichi (NJPW 10/16) 6. Matt Riddle vs. Timothy Thatcher (WWE 05/27) 7. Daniel Bryan vs. The Fiend (WWE 01/26) 8. Jeff Cobb vs. Tomohiro Ishii (NJPW 10/10) 9. Keith Lee vs. Roderick Strong (WWE 01/22) 10. Timothy Thatcher vs. Tommaso Ciampa (WWE 12/06)

This thing is completely carried by the legitimately great match between Nakamura & Bryan. Nakamura looked & felt more spirited than he has in at least 90% of his main roster matches; him & Bryan already had a nice little TV-match last year, but this was even better. If I were to rate it as a singular match, I'd give it ***3/4. But as it is, I would go *** on the overall gauntlet, and that's still a helluva score considering none of the other segments in it were anything, really. Adam Pearce being in a WWE PPV World Championship match outta nowhere in 2021 is pretty amazing in all of its randomness.

This is the best of the three singles matches they've had against each other this year. The pre-match attack by Jey set the tone for Bryan to be the underdog in this match, and as everybody should know, that man sure can rock that role magnificently. That he did, and I also thought that Jey's performance working on top was rock-solid. He had some nice, nasty & vicious moments in there. There's also a few good bits where they tease the Bryan comeback, only for Jey to not let that happen, and it made the eventual moment when the big comeback actually started feel all the more better & bigger. The comeback was great, and I loved the leg-injury after Bryan dumped Jey outside -- brought some nice focus to Bryan's attack, and I in particular really liked him transitioning from the LeBell Lock to the half crab. The scrap on the mat which lead to the finish was also absolutely awesome. Just a really good match all around. ***1/2

This was actually so great. I could just sum it up by saying that Drew McIntyre throwing AJ Styles around like a small child is so much fun & AJ countering that bulldozer-work by going after the bigger man's knee is some extremely good professional wrasslin'. McIntyre's selling was pretty outstanding throughout the whole thing, and AJ had his big match boots on - to say the least - as far as selling & bumping of his own goes. A total match made in Heaven, those two are or at least were here. The last third w/ The Miz cashing in that briefcase wasn't as flat-out amazing as the singles match it "followed" (if you can call it like that?), but I thought it was also solid, and they played it very nicely into the finishing stretch of the match w/ the 3-way gimmick bringing some nice flavor into the ladder/TLC match trope of climbing & fighting on top of the ladder(s). ****

There's some nice charm to this kind of a "Kenny Omega as the touring champ" type of match, and him as a base for an exciting luchador works more than well, so this definitely looked to be a promising match-up already on paper. I thought it was a real good match. Kenny pretty much brutalized Laredo Kid any moment he got a chance to do so, including big spots on the apron & the guardrail. Very enjoyable work by him on the offense in all of its viciousness. Laredo Kid also delivered with his fun lucha moves, but what I liked the most about him in this match was the legwork; the way he started it early, and especially the way it came into play in the closing stages of the match w/ terrific amounts of great drama & urgency, it was some pretty great stuff all in all. Kenny's selling was also on point; they milked those what-I-assume-are Laredo Kid's signature submissions extremely well. ***1/2

Much of the match is centered around El Desperado's work on Hiromu's knee, and I thought he did a nice job targeting it & Hiromu sold it well enough throughout. It was kind of the usual NJPW bodypart-selling, with him still hitting his movez & all, but I thought he sold it really well in some bigger, key moments & Despy's work towards it wasn't ALL that vicious, so it probably didn't require much more dramatic selling. Other than that legwork, there's also of course some good, explosive bombs à la Hiromu Takahashi showcased through it all, and it's indeed good stuff. The whole unmasking sequence was also extremely badass, including the full-on wild scrap they went on to have after the mask got thrown away. All in all it's a very good tournament finals feeling epic, and it doesn't feel forced at all. ***1/2

Comparing this to the women's War Games match, this one was much better. They portrayed the dislike between the teams pretty nicely throughout, with the match at its best feeling like a chaotic brawl, doing the gimmick solid justice. However, unsurprisingly with its 45-minute runtime, there was some periods of time where things weren't as interesting as one would hope. For the most part I enjoyed it very much though. It was a good one. ***1/4

The whole dynamic with Leon Ruff being the champ, but being overlooked by the other two, especially Damian Priest, was really fun. There's some nice moments in the match centered around that, with Ruff bringing the fight & getting thrown around, and it's indeed fun stuff. Priest & Ruff both looked overall really good throughout I thought. Gargano was also there; he didn't stand-out like the other two, but he also did his thing & looked solid - the fast-paced spotfest nature of the bout certainly fit him pretty well, and funnily enough, I actually liked his talking here, as the bit with him teaming up w/ Ruff for a while to beat the bigger man up in Priest was one of my favorite moments of the match. The whole ghostface-mask-dude invasion at the end was pretty wacky & I do think it sucked some energy out of the match which it was shining with beforehand, but even with that, it was still a really good and fun match all in all. ***1/4

This wasn't much. There's maybe one or two pretty cool moments in the whole match. And even those moments weren't really that neat in all honesty. The action upped a little bit once Io entered the match, but still wasn't very interesting. The nicest thing I feel like I can say is that I thought it flowed nicely & didn't drag, so there's that at least. Gentleman's **

This was easily the most appealing looking match-up from the show on paper, and I thought it ended up being kind of a best possible match between Timothy Thatcher & Tommaso Ciampa. Meaning it was fantastic. Loved the early work on the mat - felt slick, looked tight & violent + there's a good struggle behind it all. Awesome stuff, as was Thatcher's big control seg w/ him targeting Ciampa's neck. Thatchman brought lots of nice, focused, creative, vicious work there, and I thought the whole gameplan was sold extremely well w/ Ciampa feeling like he was in true peril. Ciampa's big comeback w/ that clothesline flurry was very nice as well, and the spot & the visual with him locking in that badass looking choke (Ciampa legit has one of the best looking chokeholds in pro-wrestling imo) w/ Thatcher bleeding from the ear, 'twas badass. Also loved the whole finishing stretch; beautiful amount of grit, struggle n' brutality there. It ended this match perfectly. It was a great one. In many ways it was the Timothy Thatcher show, and boy what a glorious time it was, but at the same time I don't want to say that, because Ciampa was also really good, suited the style extremely well & simply brought it. ****