SmartMark15

It’s old dudes punching each other in the face. I don’t know how else to more succinctly explain the appeal of this match. For a more discerning fan than I, there is decades of history and legacy between those two that enhances every move they did in the ring on this night. Being a much simpler kind of dullard though, I enjoyed it because it was two old dudes doing irresponsible and stupid things with their bodies. The punches in this match thud with such a disgusting smack that it’s almost comic to an indie crowd who have been taught thigh slaps and kick pads. Once you get past the initial shock with a laugh, what you’re left with is stiff strikes and two men headbutting each other very hard. It’s shocking, almost disgusting, and insanely compelling stuff. ****1/4 https://josephmontecillo.wordpress.com/2020/03/21/yuki-ishikawa-vs-daisuke-ikeda-wxw-ambition-12-3-7-20/

I’m so rarely the low vote on something as universally loved as this match even among the harsher critics in my own bubble. But I just didn’t understand this one at all. Surely, it didn’t aspire to be anything more than just a fun spotfest and they definitely worked that match towards that aim but even from that lens, I don’t understand. After the initial enthusiasm for both guys at the bell, the crowd lulls almost entirely into an exhausted dullness as these two run through their back and forth awesome. Things perk up again after Bailey’s springboard off the top to the floor but then things just settle into a pretty monotonous trading of spots. Very little sense of escalation or struggle in transition. Just moves being done that are pretty cool in their own right. But then they just continue happening and these two just absolutely lose me. But hey, who am I to complain? I didn’t lose any cash throwing money into the ring after. Depending on just how much hype this sustains through this year, this feels like it’ll be 2020’s Ospreay-Shingo for me. **1/4 https://josephmontecillo.wordpress.com/2020/03/17/bandido-vs-mike-bailey-wxw-16-carat-gold-2020-night-2-3-7-20/

I write about David Starr a lot. There’s a few reasons for that. First and foremost, there is the fact that David Starr is a very good wrestler. He has consistently been a top level performer on the independent wrestling scene for the last four or five years, cranking out excellent matches in promotions all over the world. And even when he falls short, it’s rarely because Starr himself puts in a poor performance but rather that other elements and choices get in the way. That is the case for this match here. This match could have worked. At around the twenty to twenty-five minute mark, there still existed the potential for this to be a great match. Around the thirty minute mark, I finally accepted that this was a bad match. By the time the match crawled aimlessly into its finish at the forty minute mark, I knew that it was bad match for sure. A lot of the problems here are problems I’ve discussed about David Starr in the past. It’s helplessly bloated, aiming for the kind of maximalist spectacle and awe that Starr’s best OTT and Beyond classics attain but falling short every time. Those aforementioned matches work so well because of Starr’s ability to invest into longterm storytelling that bolsters and excuses the instances of overindulgence. That’s the reason I can enjoy forty minutes against Devlin, WALTER, and even sixty minutes against Janela. Here against Bobby Gunns, it just feels perfunctory. The length of the match is exhausting. In fact, the whole match gives off a vibe of exhaustion especially from the crowd. The live crowd are visibly exhausted and somewhat detached from the proceedings even when the action is good (as it was in the early technical exchanges). It’s only after Starr’s amazing tope dive into the crowd that things liven up only for things to be dampened again by a crowd brawl that dulls the energy of the fans who can’t see the action. There are flashes of brilliance here in how Starr sells the damage that Gunns does to his arm. Credit to Gunns as well as there’s a lot of good arm work there and he’s such a dirty bastard that it’s easy to root for Starr. That heel-face dynamic makes the ref bump teases and the subversion leading into low blow spots so satisfying. But the match just doesn’t stop. It keeps crawling its way towards a miserable ending, the worst possible one: Starr losing. It was an inevitable result. As soon as the title vs. career stipulation got announced, it was always going to be Starr losing. His disappearance from PROGRESS at the tail end of 2019 and his very public criticisms of the WWE have made it so that there was no way this match would end with Starr holding the wXw Unified World Wrestling Championship above his head. Prolonging the suffering of that impending doom into a 40 minute slog felt more cruel than celebratory. Starr’s loss bring us to the second reason that I enjoy watching and writing about David Starr so much. David Starr is one of the few wrestlers left in our time who so vocally and thoroughly represents something beyond himself. The moniker of INDEPENDENT, the calls to unionize pro wrestling, the concerted efforts to never settle for less and always demand for more. These are the things that David Starr embodies not only as a character but as a person. In the face of criticism and cynicism, Starr has never once backed down from a very core principle: that pro wrestlers are workers and deserve to have their rights respected. As someone who came from a university that prides itself on activism and social responsibility, this always struck a chord with me. No matter what I think of David Starr’s matches, I can only ever respect what he stands for and the methods he uses to fight for those principles. Which makes it so crushing and disheartening when those same principles stand in the way of his success. In his farewell speech to the crowd, David Starr tells the fans that “Freedom of speech does not mean freedom from consequences.” In this case, Starr’s insistence upon calling for unionization of wrestlers has led to him drawing the wrong sort of attention from the entity that stands to have the most to lose from that: the WWE. Both David Starr and wXw have gone on record that neither party wanted to part ways. It doesn’t take a genius to see why they would have to though. Starr’s politics have essentially made him persona non grata at WWE-affiliated events. That the WWE casts a shadow on the result of this match does as much to sour me on it as the overindulgent layout does. There’s so much about this match that’s upsetting, some of it beyond the control of even Starr and Gunns. Unpleasant and grueling in all the wrong ways. Indicative of the worst of pro wrestling both stylistically and systemically. **1/4 https://josephmontecillo.wordpress.com/2020/03/17/bobby-gunns-vs-david-starr-wxw-16-carat-gold-2020-night-2-3-7-20/

My tribute to Jumbo Tsuruta's final year at the top of All Japan.

https://josephmontecillo.wordpress.com/2020/02/09/jon-moxley-vs-minoru-suzuki-njpw-the-new-beginning-in-osaka-2020-2-9-20/

https://josephmontecillo.wordpress.com/2020/02/27/kenny-omega-vs-pac-aew-dynamite-2-26-20/

https://josephmontecillo.wordpress.com/2020/03/01/kenny-omega-hangman-page-vs-the-young-bucks-aew-revolution-2-29-20/

This was probably the best match in Philippine wrestling history! Let's talk about how Chris Panzer's PWR Championship defense against Robbie Eagles made me physically ill.

A primer for non-fans would be interesting but I feel like that's more in line with other channels than mine. Never say never though! Thank you so much for the kind words, Ica and I appreciate it very much.

This week's video comes from my girlfriend as she reflects on her struggles trying to understand Kazuchika Okada!

Talked about the trilogy between Zack Sabre Jr and Jonathan Gresham from Beyond Wrestling in 2016!

A brand new edition of Walking the King's Road where I cover the Jumbo-Kawada Triple Crown match as well as some highlights from the RWTL '91! https://youtu.be/CjSzP9gV6Cw

Pretty sure he used that line to hype Mania and Seth left with the belt.

It's the Top 10 Wrestlers of 2019! Of course I shoehorned Bryan in because it's my list damn it!

Awesome back and forth with Ospreay controlling things really well in the driver's seat. Do wish that Takahashi had sold the neck a little bit more but they compensated on that front with everything looking awesome. Surely there'll be some back and forth on the Sasuke Special spot but I thought it was awesome. ****1/2

Watched the main event twice and while on the first go around I actually enjoyed the first third because of some of the details on the mat and because of the facial expressions and character work both guys brought, I definitely felt the sag the second time around. I still do stand by that the character work uplifts as compared to most Okada matches and I agree that Okada being smart enough not to work any limb for a long time means that no super obtrusive no selling had to occur. But what a fantastic finishing stretch to have. Definitely my favorite Okada match in quite a while.

Excellent project idea. Can't wait to see the results of this.

Here's my Top 20 in video form. Enjoy!

It was great. The Walls of Jericho was great even though I would have liked to see Jericho be a little more urgent in his work.

Thank you, man. I appreciate that a lot especially since I get a little pushback locally when they think I'm too harsh sometimes.

https://ko-fi.com/post/Top-15-Live-Matches-of-2019-PWR-MWF-WWE-Live-M4M21AH2Z I rank my 15 favorite matches from 2019 that I saw live which is mostly local stuff as well as a WWE house show and PROGRESS in Toronto!

https://ko-fi.com/post/Three-Star-Matches-and-a-Sun-Wrapping-Up-PWRs-K3K61A6NN It's the wrap up to 2017 with PWR. We say goodbye to Billy Suede, hello to Zayden Trudeau, and...A JAKE DE LEON HEEL TURN?!

Since I'm on break from full video essays for the holidays, I thought I'd drop some BONUS CONTENT on you guys! First is a Q&A I did to celebrate hitting the 1000 subscriber mark. And next up is a collaboration video I did with the people at Why It's Great where we talk about The Rock and what makes him such a great performer.

While I definitely think Reigns is likely the better overall performer, he's been booked to have no importance. It's sad but that's how it is. Okada takes this one fairly easily.

https://www.ko-fi.com/post/Three-Star-Matches-and-a-Sun-The-Panzer-Era-T6T619JAN It's the post-Wrevo X stretch of shows as Chris Panzer reigns as PWR Championship! Jake de Leon vs. Ralph Imabayashi wrestle on all three shows and Billy Suede ascends to the top!