ShittyLittleBoots

I loved this. Suzuki was the perfect boogeyman here, always putting White in trouble & not letting him dictate the dance, and White's selling of it all was superb. The gameplan to attack the knee in the latter stages of the match was done great, and I also thought that Gedo's whole involvement was done well here, with it playing to the story of the bout pretty much perfectly. ***3/4

Well holy shit, this was all kinds of epic. You see, Jeff Cobb's whole thing is that he is extremely powerful. And then there is one Tomohiro Ishii, who is THE toughest son of a gun out there. Putting that out there, out loud, you can already imagine how beautiful it could possibly be. And when it comes to Jeff Cobb vs. Tomohiro Ishii, they delivered just about the best match possible here. Such a great bout all the way through. Cobb looked like a million (& then some) bucks & Ishii's performance was simply masterful with the way he put everything Cobb had to offer over. ****

The battle between two of the biggest scumbags in the company. That's already such a lovely starting dynamic, there was little to no chance that this wasn't gonna rule. And rule it did! Whenever they are actually going at it, it's of course awesome stuff since both of these guys are studs, but where this match truly stands out & shines is the clash of personalities between the Switchblade & Dangerous T. The beginning double-stalling, the "forearm"-battle, the Gedo involvement, all such good, FUN stuff. Loved the whole thing. ***1/2

On paper this was one of the two genuinely somewhat interesting looking Will Ospreay matches in the entire tournament, and my goodness it delivered tremendously. Suzuki is just in complete torture mode the entire way through with his amazing, vicious work over the arm -- all the while throwing in some brutal strikes to Will's face here n' there for good measure. It's so compelling to watch, and I gotta give credit to Ospreay too, because this was a helluva selling performance from him. One of the great moments that comes to my mind instantly is when he blocked MiSu's PK with his hands up, but his right arm was so brutalized, he ended up eating shit anyways. Then there were a couple of absolutely lovely bits where Will went into a little forearm-flurry, but MiSu just ate them all & ended up killing him with some of his own. Lovely, lovely stuff. And of course then there's the goddamn La Mistica sequence. Hell. Yes. The definition of a G1 banger. ****

Been doing some catch-up, and so far the biggest highlights for me have been Suzuki/Ishii, Tanahashi/KENTA, White/Shingo & Taichi/Ishii. All were very, very good.

These two had one of my favorite matches of 2019 at last years G1, so naturally this one was one of the most appealing looking matches for me in this years tourney. The starting dynamic is very different compared to that of the bout from last year -- now KENTA is a full-blown asshole who loves to be a prick any & every chance he gets. He largely was on top for majority of the match, and I thought his work doing that was really good; the legwork was awesome, especially with his always vicious looking & sounding kicks. Tana of course absolutely rules when he has to fight from underneath; his charisma shines so much with that pride & emotion showing in every comeback bit he gets. Really liked the Cloverleaf finish too! It was a very nice little "screw you" to KENTA whose main gameplan was to target Tana's knee, but in the end it was him who had to tap out to a submission targeted towards his legs. Made all the sense in the world too, since Tana's best flurries started with those Dragon Screws. A real good piece of business all around, and a highlight thus far in the tournament. ***3/4

These two had an absolute banger at last year's G1, and they continued that trend here with a yet another awesome match to their names. They just beat the hell out of each other right from the get go with Taichi being the charming asshole that he is, and I just love how much disdain Ishii shows to him. It's a real lovely dynamic that makes for some compelling stuff when they're kicking & chopping it out. ***1/2

The video package for this match was goddamn fantastic. Between it & the one for Reigns/Uso, WWE has been knocking it out of the park with 'em lately. I've been a pretty big Kyle O'Reilly fan since 2013, so seeing him in a big main event spot like this warms my heart. The match itself was really, really good. I thought Finn & Kyle brought a very nice amount of grit & struggle into the bout, which is something the NXT main events haven't seen in a while. Some very solid technical wrasslin' in the beginning stages, and once Bálor delivers that big spinning kick to Kyle's mid-section, the big story kicks in. Kyle sells the ribs really well throughout I thought, especially in those big knockdown moments, and Bálor was pretty damn good with his work over those said ribs. There were a few moments where he was busting out some real lame looking stomps, but then he totally made up for them a few moments later with a big irish whip chest-first into the corner or a big boot to the mid-section. All in all, it was probably some of the most compelling work he's done on the offense in his WWE run thus far. Kyle finding an opening with that low dropkick to the knee was awesome, and him continuing that attack to counter Bálor's ruthless destruction of his mid-section ruled -- there was quite a few great singular moments in the match, and one of them that stood out for me was when Kyle grabbed that leg, he was desperately looking to go for _something_, Bálor counters it into an abdominal stretch & we briefly get an awesome image of Kyle in big trouble, bloody mouth and all. Now Kyle got out of the hold very quickly, but I thought the whole little sequence there ruled. Great sense of struggle, despair & tenacity. The "big" leg-drama towards the end with the dragon screws on the ropes, and the leglock stuff was solid, even though I do think that the leglock-part of it fell a bit flat -- funny enough, I've always thought that Kyle's leglocks look a bit weak, and such was the case here. The rest of that stretch was pretty great though, and the actual finish w/ the Coup De Grace was awesome, and made all the more sweet because Bálor finished him off by delivering the deathblow to the bodypart he had been targeting for most of the match. REALLY GOOD SHIT ALL AROUND. Did I want it to be even better given the hype? Yes, but I am also satisfied with what we got, because it was indeed awesome. ***3/4

Kushidaaaaaa, fuck yeah. That man was completely on point here with his relentless assault on Dream throughout -- he was nasty, he was punishing, he was focused. Absolutely lovely stuff by him on the offense, and while Dream's lil' heat segment wasn't all that interesting, I thought his brief answers to Kushida's onslaught were good & his selling (of the arm, and overall too) was great stuff. ***1/2

Man, Jay White was just so good in this match. His attack on Shingo's back in the early going, his selling, his facial expressions & his timing on all those things -- so, so good & compelling to watch. Shingo was awesome as well; I always like to call him a "bulldozer" when he is on the offense, and I got that feeling here again when he was just running through Switchblade with his STUFF. Talking about running, I do think the match ran too long by the end of it - they could've wrapped it earlier and it would've been a tighter package, but like 95% or more of the overall thing was absolutely lovely, so yeah, I loved it. ***1/2

One of the most appealing looking matches on paper that has happened in 2020. And it was exactly the kind of a lovely, badass fight that one would expect a match between Eddie Kingston & Jon Moxley to be. It didn't take long for them to just start laying it ON with them strikes & bigger stuff in suplexes and piledrivers, and it was all just awesome stuff. A pretty damn great TV main event. ***1/2

The video package highlighting this feud before the entrances was really great. Got me pretty pumped for the match. Sadly the match itself was really damn yawn-inducing. 20-something minutes of Reigns talking trash in cringe fashion -- at first I thought it felt natural, but by the end with all the "CALL ME DA TRIBAL CHIEF" stuff, geeeeez. He dominated pretty much all of the match too, and his actual work doing that wasn't any interesting either. Just very generic & forgettable. Certainly not a match of my liking. There were a few positives though, such as I did like Reigns jawing Lil Naitch, and that one comeback bit by Jey was pretty nice w/ that Superkick & that finish splash of his. *1/2

This kinda goes exactly as one would expect, and I for that reason wasn't really looking forward to watching it, BUT as usual with going into Ishii matches in general, I have my doubts about my interest in them, but usually always by the end, I come away with something I really loved. Such was the case here. Him & Suzuki brought the violence big time, with it being most in display in that absolutely wonderful sequence where Suzuki destroyed Ishii with those deadly forearms -- those strikes looked & sounded awesomely brutal, and Ishii's epic selling complimented them peeeerfectly. All in all, I really loved this. Sure it felt a bit long, as in it could've used some trimming, but come on. That is to be expected. Comes with the territory. This ruled. ***3/4

Oh hell yes. The fact that this is a THING that happened is already wonderful, and the match certainly ruled too! A pure brawl from start to finish with Eddie getting to shine for all of it. Loved every second of him pummeling Cody down with his always nasty blows, and he also got to showcase his fantastic selling with them building to the (great btw) finish with his left knee proving to be a weak spot throughout. ***3/4

I would put this on par with Orange Cassidy's PPV match vs. PAC, which means it was VERY GOOD. Jericho's lengthy heat segment works well between him delivering some nice punishment, and OC being great at taking that said punishment. That eventual big comeback ruled w/ that excellent jokey kick sequence into a REAL Superkick bit, and everything after that is also great with both guys looking strong. Great performances by both men overall. Definitely the best out of the 3 matches (Page & Omega vs. Private Party, 8-man tag, this) I watched from this show. ***1/2

Interestingly enough, I thought that Adam Cole was easily the more compelling performer of the two here. He didn't overdo his cute indy shit, and his work actually seemed pretty focused through the entire match + he had some real good facial expressions & he also sure bumped his ass off for Keith's big moves. It still wasn't a good match though. I thought that Keith Lee's whole jokey nature didn't fit into the atmosphere of the match at all, and it especially stood out with Cole being way less goofy & annoying than usual. I largely didn't care for any of his comeback runs or work on offense in general after Cole's periods on control, and it's what certainly hurt the match the most for me. **1/2

This is a pretty legit dream match on paper, and it ended up being the best match of the night (including AEW as well) by a pretty fair margin. It ended up being & feeling like kind of a sprint, and that suits both of the women involved, so of course it ruled. Great swagger shown throughout with a solid feeling of danger & urgency in their work -- loved it all the way through, but a special shout-out is in order for that plexiglass spot, which was just SO awesome. ***3/4

Yeah... The whole marketing line sure did them dirty, but ignoring that, this was essentially exactly what you (or at least what I) would expect from a Edge vs. Randy Orton match, but it's stretched out to 40+ minutes & they add a shitload of more finishers n' kickouts to fill out that time. If you like the two, you probably liked this, but I can't say that I am a fan. By far the best stuff in the thing was the beginning minutes with Orton at first trying to embarrass Edge, and it eventually turning into Edge returning the favor by successfully baiting Orton a couple of times. That was a legitimately pretty charming lil' dynamic they got going for a little bit. All the finishers from other wrestlers they busted out; Angle Slam, Pedigree, Unprettier, 3 Amigos, a goddamn Rock Bottom, just felt cheap & them going "look at how smart we are pal!!!" -- not my kind of stuff to say the least. And then there's WWE adding the piped-in crowd noise, which was ridiculous, and then there's also the PC wrestlers crowd, of which chants make the whole thing feel extremely masturbatory. I totally get why some people loved this, but this was so not for me. *

This was a rock-solid tag team affair. Fun seeing Daniels tagging with Kazarian instead of Scorpio Sky, and he sure looked pretty good in there, and his style complimented that of The FTR's as well. I would say that I liked FTR's outing vs. The Butcher & The Blade a tad bit better, but this was also very easy to watch & pretty enjoyable. **3/4

First of all, a big shout-out in order is for that finishing sequence - loved how out of the nowhere the urgency rose & just like that the match was over. Totally caught me off guard in the best way possible. That was the highlight of the entire match for me I think. Didn't care for the (thankfully pretty brief) stuff on the outside w/ Minoru's chair-shtick & that classic NJPW count-out tease, but all in all, this was a pretty fun match. They sure brought out the hard hits for this one as one would expect, and as one would also expect, every strike looked & sounded pretty nasty. I do think there were points where the action wasn't quite compelling at all though, and as a summary I would say that if you'd trim the fat in this, it would be a very, very good to borderline great smackfest, but as it is, it's a _good_ smackfest. ***1/4

I can appreciate Ishii's (always tbh) extremely good selling, and the legwork did give the match some charm & identity, but as an overall package, it didn't do a whole lot to me. Felt like a generic Ishii match with a different opponent, BUT to immediately backtrack that statement a little bit, as mentioned, the legwork did somewhat freshen things up & there was one genuinely fantastic moment in the match in Ishii's comeback when he just ran through Desperado with that shoulder tackle, making this definitely not a COMPLETELY dull & forgettable affair all in all. **1/2

Well, I personally keep track of my WOTY rankings w/ the matches I've rated 3.5+, and as it stands, Bryan has the volume. The Gulak matches & the Styles matches are the top ones, but he's had quality TV matches literally every time he has been featured, and he has been featured quite a lot w/ this IC program and all. In the end it all falls down to matter of an opinion and how you see his matches, but for me, I always find something extremely enjoyable in his matches, and I more than likely always end up loving them on some level. Omega is the only guy out of those that you mentioned that has had more than 1 match worth watching this year in my eyes.

I would say that Bryan's weakest year is 2011, but even in that one he has some of the best WWE matches of that year in the MITB & the Steel Cage vs. Henry + a bunch of very good TV-gems versus the likes of McIntyre, Del Rio etc. He didn't wrestle a single match for almost 3 years, sure, but what he did every time he was/has been active, is way more than enough for him to be #1, imo. Even right now in 2020 he is the clear WOTY in my eyes w/ the #2 (Moxley) not being particularly close. Every year since 2001 he has at least one top-tier MOTYC (most years way more than one, too) & then a bunch of great matches, and that's quite something when you realize it's 2020 now.

Same week when WWE is promoting a PPV match between Edge vs. Orton to be the "Greatest Wrestling Match Ever", they give two of the actual best in the world, two of the greatest of all-time 30+ minutes. And what we ended up getting is one of the best TV-matches ever. Thought that's quite funny to think about, and shows what a giant rib that whole marketing line for Edge & Orton is. This was unsurprisingly amazing. Bryan is in the lead for the WOTY 2020 race by a pretty big margin at this point, and while AJ hasn't been in too many stand-out matches lately, he is still who he is, and he is the 2nd best wrestler in the world. The two have had an amazing, competitive chemistry with one another ever since their very first singles meeting in 2002, and here we are, 18 years later & they still bring that fantastic feeling of competition out of each other. Every single thing they do in the match matters & goes perfectly with the story they are telling -- it's two guys who operate at a higher level than everyone else going at it. The MEAT of the match is the dueling bodypart-targeting; it's something that has been present in their matches for a loooong time, and as always, it's amazingly compelling to watch & follow. Both guys are nasty & vicious as hell bringing the hurt to one another, and the selling is great throughout. Everything looks phenomenal, there's no wasted motions as mentioned, and the body-language by both guys is sublime. Comparing this to their previous matches, this honestly doesn't offer much new, but it doesn't need to. Their rivalry has always been about two of the best wrestling the fuck out of each other, and that's what they did once again here, producing a real clinic & a stone-cold pro-wrestling TV classic. ****1/2

It's Daniel Bryan & the #2 isn't very close either.