SmartMark15

I initially thought that my answer to this question would be early to mid 2000s WWE considering it was the wrestling I grew up with as a kid. At my age, here in the Philippines, the love for wrestling at that time was still a visceral notable thing with people growing deeply connected to guys like Cena, Guerrero, Orton, and Batista. I came in late on that wave at the start of 2006 and of course, it changed my life. I have a fondness for the Ruthless Aggression era of 02-04 as well just for the names and quality of matches I could find when watching retroactively on DVD compilations and now the Network. I think a better answer, however, would be 2000s ROH. I had to go out of my way to see ROH shows here in the Philippines and being my introduction to the American indie style with guys like Joe, Bryan, and others really changed the way I perceived wrestling. There was a sort of kinship I felt with those fans in the tiny, dimly lit armories and arenas. The chants were unique to me at the time and the fans' passion was so strong. It's the closest I could ever get to the ECW feel of the 90s.

Ronda Rousey's punches from Mania this year were fantastic.

Atlantis - 31 years vs. El Satanico (1984) vs. La Sombra (2015)

Absolutely agree that this was the main roster MOTY for the WWE. Just a simply worked match that built to a big moment (the knee into the post) that informed everything that happened afterwards. Gotta applaud Miz for his heel work in this match. His facial reactions to Rollins powering through the Figure Four Leg Lock are just golden. Then you have Rollins putting in one of his best babyface performances ever with the knee selling. Those little moments of hesitation that facilitated Miz getting back the advantage are Bryan-levels of excellent. You've got an absolutely wonderful Intercontinental Championship match here and the best thing on the main roster all year. ****1/2

@Matt D https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K9jf6IBADi4&t=9s

This is really something else. I went into this cold with only the reviews here to give me any thoughts on this match. But it was something else. An incredibly hot atmosphere with two large, tough men that created a fantastic and simple match. Every suplex popped me, the headscissors spinning escape looked fantastic, then you have that great moment when Hashimoto spits right at Zangiev to lead us into the finish. Intense, exciting, and dramatic. *****

Easily Okada's best title defenses of the year. Slow open yet still much more engaging than any other sequence he's done this year because of how hot the crowd was for Tanahashi. Then we go into the truly great meat of the match when Tanahashi stands up to Okada's Rainmaker pose. What a moment. From there, the pace and intensity really picks up. Both guys worked their characters so well here with Okada doing some great heel work as the cocky ace disrespecting his predecessor. The finishing stretch was wonderfully tense and exciting with nice little changes from their past matches like the wrist struggle being done on foot and Tanahashi being able to escape it. ****1/2

Even as a Sabre Jr, having loved his New Japan Cup reign, this one dragged on hard for me. Uninteresting first 10 minutes or so as usual and giving way to what I thought was a disappointing finishing stretch as well. ***1/2

While I don't relish the No Time Limits stipulation, 2/3 Falls interests me as it's a structure I could see working for these guys. Not to mention this is the first time in months that I've considered Okada's title to be in jeopardy and this has the makings of something great, if they can hold off on some of their worst habits that is.

Could I stay in this for now? Let me know!

No love for John Cena? Great decade for matches and promos from the guy.

If you want I can double up with you. Wrestling is so stupid and I love it. Johnny Cockstrong with a solid (hehe) enough comedy gimmick for a small time show like this and it was fun to see all the guys sell for his dick. Basically a lot of my-turn-your-turn spots. Josh Thor (currently Oleg the Usurper) didn't wow but his Off With His Head finisher stood out. Matt Marvel spamming power moves was a little boring and repetitive but the match was short enough for it not to drag it down. Overall, short, fun and enjoyable. **

@HeadCheese https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vSCSUMHbGIU

Highly regretting not getting on this sooner. Hoping to join!

Now there's the guy everyone seems to have some faith in. I've been really low on the Switchblade gimmick because it reeks of adolescent indy geekiness but this was a damn good match. Finlay was a great bumper, a good seller, and made for a good fired up babyface. White had some good control segments and seemed to have a real good sense of urgency in this match. Some great moments from White too like catching Finlay's hair in the finishing stretch to regain control. Just little moments like that are really nice to see. This felt like a really good ROH main event that went just a tad too long. Dragged a little in the middle but picked up enough at the end and with a hot opening. Overall, very promising stuff from both guys and certainly better than pretty much any of Okada's title matches this year. ****1/4

Okay, wow. That was awesome. A bombfest yes but an incredibly fun one with some added nuance from the legendary Akiyama. Him showing vulnerability at just the right time by selling Zeus' chops is the stuff of true masters. I fell for way more of those false finishes than I expected to and the match just continued but not in a dragging way. ****1/2

It's crazy how good this got so quickly. After a somewhat slow first half, after the crowd brawl things really kick into overdrive. Big suplexes, hard shots, and brutal strike offs all building to a hot finish. This was awesome, compact, and entirely wonderful to watch. ****

So Gargano and Ciampa are inexplicably continuing their feud and I'm not complaining because it's the best feud of the year.

One of my favorite moments. Loved it.

Finally saw this and it was a wonderful and simple six-man tag. Big bumps that get bigger and bigger all leading to a hot tag from Eddy to get the three babyfaces destroying the heels. It was fun seeing the heels rag doll for the Steiners. Incredibly fun stuff. ****1/4

We are a spoiled, spoiled bunch that we can get something like this on free television. Bryan on his second match back showing that he's still one of the fastest, hardest hitting, and simply most talented men in the world today. And he goes in with the best wrestler the company has seen in the last two years. Of course this was going to be fantastic. It was going to be good at the very least. But they went and did just a little extra with the limb targeting along with the smoothness of everything. Shinsuke going for the back of the head Kinshasa to Bryan was a greet heel move, and that's not even getting into his promo earlier in the night. ***3/4

Too long? Maybe. Too much offense for Steph? Definitely. So much fun? Yes. This was ridiculously good with Steph stooging like an old school heel and Rousey being a murderous badass. Rousey overdelivered for sure. Strong in ring charisma that made her come across as a real killer. Her athleticism also meant she was pretry damn smooth in the ring. This is fun pro wrestling, over the top heel stooging and a killer babyface. Sometimes simplicity works. ****1/4

Jericho confirmed for this show.

After the shocking outlier of the Takeover main event, SLB and I are right on the money with this one. Except I'm tempted to rate it even higher.

Early morning here in the Philippines and I don't drink. I just personally found a lot to enjoy on this show. Was it strange? Yes. But it was surprising, engaging, and I want to see what's next. It's not masterful NXT but it's captivating in a strange way.