SmartMark15

Just rewatched this tonight and my God, is the Kofi-Bryan stuff absolute magic. As soon as Orton got eliminated, the crowd got behind Kofi 100% and anything Bryan would do was the worst thing possible. Kofi's fire, daring Bryan to kick him some more, is the stuff dreams are made of for what you want out of a babyface. Determined, strong, and not willing to take any shit. Bryan on the other hand, a perfect heel. Taking any opening given to him and being relentless. His "OH NO" Running Knee kickout face might be the best the original Undertaker iteration. The way he builds up energy to hit that final Running Knee, he's just so instantly hateable. ****1/2

Loved Sabre working over the neck. It was fascinating how both men used their legs to their advantage. Sabre constantly grabbing a scissor hold on the neck and pulling Ibushi and every which way to twist him about was fun. Meanwhile Ibushi relying on his kicks and strikes to knock Sabre down a peg made for great transitions. I particularly enjoyed Sabre thinking he can bully Ibushi only for Ibushi to channel fighting spirit and beat the piss out of Sabre. One of my favorite moments was Ibushi distracting Red Shoes so he could kick the shit out of Sabre in the corner. That's some straight up William Regal goodness. ****1/4

This shit is fucking wild. From that first big punt Shibata laid in, this was just pure magic. I'll admit, it loses me a little in the grappling section but even those at least build up to a big strike laid in and then Shibata's fantastic comeback and combination. The finishing stretch of Fujita punting the shit out of Shibata until he stays down is really one for the ages. One of the best New Japan matches out there and I'd like to thank @ShittyLittleBoots for the recommendation. This was awesome. ****1/2+

This is what really gets me. This is the same company that gave us Bryan's historic 06 title run, Nigel's turn on the fans, Jimmy Jacobs and BJ Whitmer murdering each other all over the country, one of the hottest interpromotional feuds in history, and so much more greatness.

Masashi Takeda vs. Jonathan Gresham (GCW 4/4) Masashi Takeda vs. Jimmy Lloyd (GCW 4/6) Ishimori vs. Lee vs. Bandido (ROH/NJPW 4/6) Tetsuya Naito vs. Kota Ibushi (ROH/NJPW 4/6) Jay White vs. Kazuchika Okada (ROH/NJPW 4/6) LAX vs. The Rock N Roll Express (GCW 4/7) Daniel Bryan vs. Kofi Kingston (WWE 4/7) Tony Nese vs. Buddy Murphy (WWE 4/9)

That's just straight up sexual assault then.

Even with the varied views this match got on this forum, this is truly kind of absurd.

Seeing the card on paper, I always figured Rey-Joe would go short. It's very like Rey to have extremely short Mania matches and I thought they'd pull a JBL-Rey situation here. I was right except for the outcome.

Lee vs. Everett vs. Cedric Alexander from the second Mystery Vortex PWG is a great one. Stole the show that night and put all three guys on the map.

I'm judging this match as a full whole, from both guys coming to the ring all the way to the pinfall. I did not believe in Seth at all coming into WrestleMania and I sure as hell didn't think he was going to win this match. I loved the kayfabe reason for having this open being Lesnar not wanting to wait around backstage if he wasn't going to main event anyway. The beatdown Lesnar gave him to open was great. Rollins bumped his ass off and that was really the best thing he could have done during this match. It also made a nice callback to the Balor match with Lesnar ensuring that he got the momentum early. Rollins making his comeback and hitting three Curb Stomps clean to finally get that sweet pinfall on Brock was fantastic. Again, this from someone who doesn't even think Rollins is the right guy to pull it off. But in that moment, with the way they structured that match, it was fantastic. ****1/2

An insane 10 minute sprint that opened with some good grappling but quickly dissolved into a brawl of strikes once blood got introduced. An awesome display of economy of time. ****

Watched this twice, once at a bar with a live crowd, and another time at home alone. The reaction to the match in the bar was raucous and wild as everyone was 100% behind Kofi. I thought coming home that the lack of atmosphere might diminish the match but it didn't. Bryan laid out a fucking masterpiece here. Starting with a strong shine, marred only by a blown double stomp spot. Quickly rectified with a brutal cut off with the dive into the announce table, allowing Bryan to go after the ribs with laser focus. His immediate running knees to the ribs, the kicks and diving knee off the ropes, the elbows while applying the Lebell Lock, all pristine offense on Bryan's part. This leads into one of the best finishing stretches in WrestleMania history. Bryan turning up the heel antics, making the climax of his assault the brutal head stomping he was known for on the indies. Then Kofi powering out of the LeBell Lock to just PUNCH BRYAN IN THE FACE. Kofi getting his revenge with head stomps of his own and following up with a Trouble In Paradise and you have the match of the year, a modern WrestleMania classic, one that I do believe will only get better with time. *****

Guys, I'm sure no one here is surprised by me saying this but I'm claiming it: Daniel Bryan is the greatest pro wrestler of all time.

Thought this was excellent. Riddle turned up the heel persona by being extra relentless and bringing some fantastic offense to contrast nicely with Dream's 80's meets modern era style. The fact that Dream's offense isn't the best (especially with those axe handles) actually kind of added to the match for me? It made Riddle feel like an even bigger mountain to climb. That Dream got the quick pin to counter the Bromission for the victory was surprising and so satisfying that I didn't even mind that Riddle settled back into a face persona after the match. Great stuff bell to bell here. ****1/4

The two big NJPW title matches were both amazing. Okada looked like a fucking megastar, he always turns up the crowd playing when he's in the States.

Did that cameraman no sell an Ibushi crash?

I was wrong. It was an angle, ROH is already talking about it on Twitter. They just went from bland and boring to actively trash.

No way was it an angle. The announcers sandbagged the whole thing and it clearly disrupted the show flow.

Heard Cass was with him. Good on Bully for thrashing those absolute idiots.

Did someone jump the barricade? I saw Bully Ray run down? Or thought I did.

ROH production really fucking sucks. In MSG of all places, they mess up PCO's entrance.

Went into this match expecting very, very little so really it didn't take too much to turn me around on it. It was clear from the start that the main issue this match was going to have was being mostly heatless given the lack of story so the weight of the crowd reaction really had to come from the wrestling itself. On that note, the first fall was a pretty effective feeling out fall for me. They did some good stuff, some nice exchanges that didn't feel too cooperative (though there was some of that sprinkled in), and everything generally looked pretty good. I wasn't too big a fan of all their feints and counters because in kayfabe, I don't really see the reason for these two to know each other's offense so well? This isn't Tanahashi and Okada where they've been warring for years so there's not really a backstory they could build on in terms of the action. That being said, it ended soundly enough with the Last Shot to give Cole the win. The second fall was the worst of the bunch. The only bright spot was Johnny's energy hitting the Spear on the apron but the tension and selling they brought to the exhaustion felt entirely wrong for the pace they were going out. For that, the second fall moved at a snail's pace despite having some big bumps and spots in it. Just a lot of bland exchanges and lethargic action in this fall. The third fall is where they really got to play around. They finally turned the energy up and started throwing the bombs that could get us biting. A slight dip with the classic Gargano ~~~DRAMA~~~ moment with Cole calling him a failure on the outside. But they compensated nicely with an energetic comeback from Johnny and culminating in Cole hitting a Fairy Tale Ending on the table. From there, they just went into finisher trade overdrive but the spike in energy drove the match forward. The highlight of the match for me was UE coming out for some shenanigans and Johnny just going wild and taking all of them out. Thought that was excellent and created some real tension when you thought Cole might just slip away with that distraction. To have Johnny finally get the win was a great moment and to pair it with a (seemingly) final reconciliation with Ciampa at the end was a nice way to end the show. The strength of the third fall, and the benefit of just having the right guy win did a lot to boost this match after an abysmal second fall. ****1/4

The finish and the third fall (the shenanigans included) did a lot to save that for me. Second fall was horrid. Thought that the interference was actually a highlight.

I think that was much more a Dunne style match than a WALTER style match if that makes sense. I agree that Dunne got too much offense. Still really good.

I don't have this higher than WALTER-Devlin...but it sure comes close. I enjoyed this far more than I expected. We all remember how much love the ZSJ-Kid match got last year but this one definitely topped it by a very large margin if you ask me. A-Kid comes into the match still playing the hometown territory boy trying to get one over on the big veteran. Ospreay rarely gets to play the larger dominant force in a match so it was nice to see him try that role on for this match and I thought for the most part he succeeded in it. He came in with a sure confidence about him and it was nice seeing him get pushed by Kid and seeing Ospreay push back. The offense looked pretty great all throughout but the point in the match where it takes a turn for the excellent is when Ospreay starts taunting Kid with soft head kicks, allowing Kid to fire up against him. Not only did Ospreay play the overconfident vet but he got the crowd who were so happy to have him over turn on him suddenly. It was a great moment and a great way to lead into the finishing stretch where Kid looked like he might just pull it off. Awesome match for sure and I'm so glad it came to my attention cause of this forum. ****3/4