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cactus

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  1. cactus
    You could just tell that Riddle was having the time of his life getting to grapple with Shibata and it improved the opening matwork tenfold. They both tease getting in submissions early and the grappling is always quick and exciting with a great sense of urgency. They built up to the big bomb-throwing finishing stretch organically. Shibata brushing off chops from Riddle was badass and the fans went crazy for it. Yet another physical and hard-hitting classic from Shibata. ★★★★¼
  2. cactus
    This was my first time seeing SUWA and he killed it being a total dickhead that the Budokan just wants to see get his head kicked in. It takes a special kind of talent to get booed by the usually respectful NOAH crowd. He achieves this by messing with the on-air NOAH chairman Joe Higuchi. SUWA gets himself disqualified, but Joe insists that the match gets restarted. Knowing that he's not going to be disqualified a second time, SUWA breaks the rules again by kicking KENTA hard in the balls, all while the referee looks on. Masterful stuff. KENTA is a fantastic worker when he's fighting from below and this was a great example of that theory. The last few minutes saw them trade some devasting shots, with most of them being eaten by SUWA. ★★★★¼
  3. cactus
    AJ shows that he can brawl as well as he can hit his high spots. He was also able to throw a big flashy spot such as an enziguri or a 450 splash in here without it looking a lick out of place. Bully Ray is completely believable as a despicable scumbag. It's refreshing to see a Last Man Standing that didn't rely on weapon spots to pop the crowd, even the big table bump came about organically. This was a hate-filled bloodbath with a big bump at the end that would make Shane McMahon blush. I dug the swerve at the end, showing that Bully Ray might have won the match, but he didn't win the war. ★★★★¾
  4. cactus
    This was superior to the much more famous Unbreakable three-way as this was a lot more vicious and had a clear face/heel dynamic. Joe looked like a world-beater here and those stiff kicks were made to look even more deadly by AJ's selling of them. Styles found some pretty creative ways to gain an advantage over his much bigger opponent. The finish was great with Styles looking heroic in defeat. I'd say this is the second-best TNA match that I've seen so far, with only the Styles/Bully Ray Last Man Standing match beating it to the top spot. ★★★★¾
  5. cactus
    The faux-MMA presentation did wonders at enhancing the action in the cage. The style of this match stopped Angle from doing any of his usual stuff that has hindered a lot of his matches over the years (only wrestling at one speed, constant 2. 9 counts, and devaluing his finish by having his opponent kick out of it all the time, etc. ) and I thought his submission transitions were quite good here. Some of the crowd were not enjoying the more methodical pace of this match, but I thought it was good with a style that helps it stick out of the crowd. This might of been a bit 'Shoot-Style for Dummies', but I'm a dummy and I really enjoyed this. ★★★¾
  6. cactus
    I was 12 years old when I was channel surfing and I can across this match on the short-lived Wrestling Channel. This was the first TNA show I had seen and I was intrigued by the match type and I was later blown away by the spots these three would come up with. 12 year old me thought this was the best match he'd ever seen. Watching this back for the first time in over 15 years, I can say that this doesn't hold up despite this still being a fun spotfest with a unique gimmick attached to it. AJ Styles is so ahead of his opponents here, with him showing off his excellent selling when he gets his arm caught in Ultimate X structure. There are certainly some awkward moments here such as Styles and Sabin having to act dead as they spend forever getting Scott D'Amore out of the ringside area and there's a botch that sees AJ completely miss Petey when he's trying to knock him off the top of the structure. I did enjoy the creativity of the finish, which sees AJ springboard and steal the title from Sabin and Petey, who were having a tug of war over the belt. ★★★½
  7. cactus
    Now that's what you call a blow-off match! This was absolute carnage, but it's not without its flaws. My main critique of this is that it's way too long and drawn out. Like many of the later WarGames matches, the final segment went on forever and they could have easily trimmed 5 or so minutes of the final part of the match. That being said, this was still worth a watch and it felt like a goddamn car crash at times. Some of the spots here were insane. Homicide was made into a star by this match and the post-match angle is well worth sticking around for. ★★★★¼
  8. cactus
    This was a wild and chaotic brawl that managed to keep the hate flowing throughout the entirety of the 25-minute match. The fans are well into the ROH vs. CZW storyline and it makes for an incredible atmosphere. Necro was probably my man of the match, his slugfest with Pearce looked vicious, and anytime Necro and Samoa Joe are in the ring you can expect magic. My main gripe about this is that it went a touch too long and I couldn't buy BJ Whitmer kicking out of that devastating double foot stomp chair spot. The homophobia during that pre-match promo can right in the bin too. ★★★★¼
  9. cactus
    Abyss is the shits, but Styles carried him to a fantastic match by bumping and bleeding his arse off. Styles is outmatched by Abyss, so he has to use his superior speed to gain an advantage. The spots where he would launch himself into the crowd left my jaw firmly on the floor. There's a bit too much dead air during certain segments to consider this a strong MOTYC, but it's a violent spectacle that shows us how great of a talent AJ Styles is. This isn't Styles' best match during his TNA days, but I'd use this match as an example if I ever needed to dispel the myth that AJ only started getting really good once he started in NJPW. ★★★★
  10. cactus
    An epic from early on in the careers of two of the best ever. The opening grappling felt aggressive, where both guys were getting a feel for each other. The match starts escalating during the knuckle lock/monkey flip spot where Danielson does damage to Styles' arm and starts working it over. During one of the strike exchanges, Danielson gets cut open pretty badly. Even at this point in his career, Danielson is smart enough to take a moment and let all of the crowd see his wound instead of carrying on with the match as if nothing happened. The go-home stretch had some cool moments, such as the dueling Muta Locks and one of the nastiest back superplexes that I've seen. The finish was cool too, with Styles struggling to get Danielson up for the Styles Crash and has to violently ram his head into the turnbuckles and powerbomb him before he can finally get him up. The finishing stretch went on for a touch too long and I wish they didn't forget about Styles' bad arm, but this was still a hell of a match that you should go out of your way to see. ★★★★
  11. cactus
    I'm a touch let-down by this given its reputation, but there's still tons to love about this. Danielson puts in one of his best heel performances, his facials and mannerisms here are so god damn smackable. Although I warmed up to him as the match progressed, Homicide didn't exactly set the world on fire for me and it felt like he was coasting by on his natural charisma and likeability. He was rather sloppy and some of the early exchanges were rather rough. I started to come around on him when they got to the many false finishes. I particularly loved the one where he was passed out in Danielson's submission and how he grabbed the referee's leg to stop him from ringing the bell after not being able to respond to the referee's three-arm check. I dug the DQ finish fake-out, Todd Sinclair was the biggest babyface in New York on this night for letting the match resume! The actual finish came out of nowhere, but the reaction to Homicide's win was so emotional and joyful that I can give that bit of criticism a pass. ★★★★
  12. cactus
    Vader looks ridiculous wearing a do-rag, but I wouldn't want to be the guy to tell him that! This was more of the same as the GAB match, but they do some neat callback spots here. I was not expecting to see Sting bust out a second rope DDT in 1992 WCW of all places! Vader reminded me a lot of modern-day Brock Lesnar in the way how he clobbered Sting all over the place. I wasn't as high on this as most as I think the first GAB was a touch better, but this was a fantastic David vs Goliath match which had an incredible finish that saw Sting use Vader's own momentum against by landing a powerslam as he comes off the top rope. ★★★★½
  13. cactus
    This featured simple stuff done exceptionally well. Sting is the fired-up babyface ace and Vader is the monster heel. You can't get more pro-wrestling than this! The opening five minutes establishes everything you need to know about this match. Vader is a raging behemoth, but Sting ain't going down easy. Sting busts out things that I haven't seen him do before, such as an enziguri and a rolling wheel kick. These guys know the exact right moment to make a transition, with Sting firing up and for Vader to cut him off at the exact right moments. Some of the shots Sting takes are incredibly stiff. The match loses a bit of steam during the extended heat segment with Vader, but it's a minor complaint and it's not long before these guys are firing on all cylinders again. Sting getting a near-fall with the German suplex was a smartly-booked way to give him an out and an excuse to keep the feud going after such a decisive victory for Vader. ★★★★¾
  14. cactus
    They work with the time limit well. For example, they start this one by trying to get a flash pinfall and to gain that very important first fall. Sasha goes from aggressively competitive to full-on bitch mode in one motion as she takes advantage of Bayley's kindness by pulling her to the ground after Bayley offers her a hug after a stalemate. I loved Sasha's heel performance in their Takeover: Brooklyn match, but she was next-level evil here. Her teasing of the Bayley superfan was awesome, only damped by some of the smarky crowd's insistence on still cheering Banks despite how much of a heel she was. This wasn't perfect mind, as there was some sloppiness, such as Bayley having to move Bank's unconscious body to ropes so she can get a rope break. Things pick up again during the incredible final three minutes as Bayley has to hang on as Banks nearly breaks her in a nasty submission. Forget just calling this the greatest women's match to take place in a WWE ring, I'd also call this the greatest Iron Man match in history too. ★★★★¾
  15. cactus
    They managed to keep this one interesting during its 28-minute runtime by having a clear face/heel dynamic. Ono and Ikeda aren't afraid to bend the rules and sneak a shot in when it wouldn't be honorable to do so. There's even some comedy to be found during the first five minutes as Suraga and Oba mock Ono and Ikeda's pre-match warm-up. They do a good job of organically building up tension during the feeling out process and it's not long before Ono and Ikeda get frustrated and start going to town on their lesser accomplished opponents. Every strike here was stiff and every hold had a sense of struggle. The main thing holding this was its mammoth length. My interest starting petering out during the final ten minutes and it felt like they were padding out the match so they could tense a time limit draw in an effort to add drama. ★★★¾
  16. cactus
    Sasha Banks is incredible when she's playing the bitch and is motivated. On top of being a gifted physical performer, she's great at the little things, such as giving the crowd an evil smirk before landing her knee drop turnbuckle move and stomping away at Bayley's hand when she was about to get a rope break. Bayley's brawling was rather iffy, but we didn't get enough of it to detract from the overall package. Bayley sold her arm injury well and she took some nasty punishment on the outside. I completely forgot that they do a top rope poisionrana during the finishing stretch, no way they would be doing that in a women's match five years prior! Bayley wins the match after scoring two belly-to-belly suplexes and the crowd erupts with joy. This was a fantastic match with a truly feel-good ending. ★★★★½
  17. cactus
    Holy hell, this one surprised me. Both women made me a fan during this match. They start out with some slick matwork and there's a big struggle to get a front facelock locked in. Martinez gets frustrated and slaps Meiko hard! Meiko returns the favor by laying in some disgustingly stiff kicks right to the tits. Martinez was fantastic at being the heel bully, but I also admired Meiko for managing to still feel like a babyface while dishing out some seriously nasty offense. Meiko countering Martinez's escapes from her Fujiwara armbar by rolling into a different position was an incredible moment that felt very natural and realistic. People need to check this out. It's a serious contender to one of the best women's matches to take place in a WWE ring. ★★★★¼
  18. cactus
    I checked this out after seeing that the Segunda Caida guys had this as their 2003 MOTY, which is very high praise considering all the great matches we got that year. Although this doesn't quite top classics like Kobashi vs Misawa and Kobashi vs Honda, this is a damn fine TV match that was a refresher for me on the talents of Rey Mysterio. I've always thought Rey was great, but a few steps below being considered as a GOAT tier worker. However, this match made me reconsider my views, as he was fantastic at fighting a massively overpowered opponent and believably getting some big blows in. My favourite moment of this was when Rey would get Lesnar to wear himself out by running all over the ringside area. As much as I love the modern-day no-nonsense Lesnar, seeing him mock Rey for being undersized was fantastic and a great way of pissing off the crowd. The finish comes out of nowhere, but Brock bending Rey in half in the Brock Lock was quite the sight. ★★★★½
  19. cactus
    This might be one of the most violent matches to ever take place under the WWE banner. Cena bleeds an absolute gusher and seeing JBL's once-white limo stained with the blood of both men made for a harrowing visual. JBL does everything in his power to get Cena over as an ass-kicking babyface by being a despicable bully. The one thing I've always admired about JBL is that he has never tried to be cool and get himself cheered with the heel-loving subsection of fans. You could make an argument that he's one of WWE's last great heels. I wasn't too high on the finish as it was anti-climatic and JBL''s table bump felt like the only stagey moment of this hate-filled brawl. ★★★★½
  20. cactus
    The referee in this match was called Dick Brain. ★★★★★ The first fall features action that was way too slow and subdued for my plebian, modern taste, but I did like Valentine's subtle heel reactions and Curry's wild striking. Valentine now tries to keep Curry from wailing on him by locking in a hold and wearing him down. Although the first fall didn't engage me that much, I can appreciate the smart psychology behind everything. The second and third falls feature some amazing Memphis-flavoured brawling. The visual of a bloodied-up Valentine wobbling around was very memorable. Dick gets brained by a Curry right hand and they start brawling all over the ring and this one goes to a no-contest. I wasn't sure that I would like this at first, but they won me over in the end. ★★★★¼
  21. cactus
    This doesn't quite hold up, but it's still a fun match. Undertaker just isn't all that interesting when working on top as a bully. This would be greatly improved if they had someone like Hall Of Pain era Mark Henry as the match's heel. Jeff Hardy was made a single star by this match, so my criticisms amount to jack. I'd easily say that this was Jim Ross's best ever commentary performance. You could show a blind person this match and they would still get invested. ★★★½
  22. cactus
    Despite being surrounded by three great talents, Jigsaw manages to stand out of the crowd and put in a phenomenonal performance which features a fantastic babyface performance with some excellent selling. Watching Danielson bully Jigsaw and work over his leg was a real treat. The mat work was fantastic and it reminded me of something you would see on World Of Sport. I was thinking this was excellent until the second half, where the match broke down and you had guys running in and out of the ring constantly and it felt like a Michinoku Pro multi-man. Not that there's anything wrong with those matches, but that style of match wasn't needed here with the story they were trying to craft. ★★★★
  23. cactus
    This felt as if Undertaker was embarrassed by the shambolic Wrestlemania match and decided to put in a career performance in the rematch. He's all killer, no filler here. This was a total bombfest, which played to Lesnar's strengths. The trash talk here was top-notch. The shady finish wasn't brilliant, but I can forgive them seeing as they were desperate to protect Brock's aura. If you would have told me a week ago that I'd prefer this match over their legendary 2002 Hell In A Cell, I'd call you crazy, but here we are. ★★★★¾
  24. cactus
    An epic in every sense of the word with 90's AJPW levels of physicality and brutality. They managed to avoid a lot of the trappings that you will find in your typical Johnny Gargano or Adam Cole NXT Takeover main event, but this still could have benefitted from losing a minute or two here and there. The middle section where WALTER worked over Bate went on a touch too long as did the final finishing stretch. WALTER is a master of making himself seem bigger than he already is and Bate was fantastic as the plucky underdog. ★★★★¼
  25. cactus
    They cram everything they could into this 15-minute 2/3 falls match and it never felt excessive. Both Zayn and Cesaro complement each other well. Cesaro comes off as a rough-and-ready mechanic who enjoys working down his opponent with stomps and chin locks and Zayn flourishes as a plucky underdog who knows that he's outmatched. Zayn wins the first fall in seconds after jump-starting the match with a big dive to the outside. Cesaro takes control in the second fall and gets a completely convincing victory using a chin lock! The third fall is where they really turn up the dial and we get all sorts of big moves and near-falls. Both guys sell their disbelief of the other guy kicking out well and it never felt hokey and melodramatic (See: Johnny Gargano). Cesaro catching Zayn as he attempted his springboard arm drag and deadlifting him into the air for a Roaring Uppercut was a thing of beauty and a cracking way to wrap this match up. ★★★★
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