Boss Rock

Really liked this a lot. A ton of hatred and intensity in everything they did to each other. Toni's desperation and frustration really stood out, especially as she just started flailing at Rhea after she kicked out of Storm Zero. Rhea working over the back was also smart a good callback to their previous match. Really fun, urgent title match. ****

I'm still fine with the WM deadline.

This was good but definitely not on the level of their title match last year. While that match came off as urgent war between two guys trying to prove that they're the future of NOAH, this one felt more like your typical, slow-building title match. Really took a while to get going but Kenoh still brought a lot of violence with his kicks. In fact, Kenoh came off as a much bigger star in this match than Kiyomiya. Don't get me wrong, Kiyomiya is good. His offense is crisp and he's clearly athletic (those dropkicks were Okada-esque). But he still comes off as too much of a bland rookie when compared to the more fiery and intense Kenoh. Still, the second half of this match was a lot of fun and was filled with your typical big bombs and strikes. Just not their best effort. ****

Thanks! I love Mike Bailey.

Would definitely love to see a Darby Allin match but yeah he's 100% 'E bound.

This was fine but nothing special. We got some fun spots from the Bucks as usual and SANADA's repeated planchas were cool. And thankfully G.O.D's involvement in the match was minimal. Still, there wasn't really a lot you could sink your teeth into. Didn't have the same frantic pace and action that the Junior Tag Title match had even with more time. If anything, a good booking decision to put the titles back on EVIL and SANADA. **3/4.

I actually liked this one a lot. Really like how quickly they started with both Ishii and Sabre trying to finish each other almost immediately. Thought Sabre's arm work was good throughout and Ishii did a great job selling. Definitely could have used more time but all of their matches have been a bit more on the sprinty side so it still delivered for me. The no-sell on the superplex to hit that arm twist was stupid, though. ****1/4.

A much more violent match than I would have expected between these two. We still got plenty of flips and crazy moves, but there was a lot of intensity in everything they did, particularly with Will throwing kicks at Ibushi in the Tree of Woe. I agree with ShittyLittleBoots that the dramatic stuff was a bit overdone, but thankfully they didn't take up too much of the match. This match was unfortunately marred by Ibushi getting concussed and yet they still went with the normal finish of the Stormbreaker which was irresponsible and stupid. Still, everything before that was really good even if I felt they could have done even more. ****1/4.

I agree that the inconsistent leg selling really hurt this one as it had all the makings to be an arguable MOTYC. KAI looked phenomenal in not only working over Kento's leg, but hitting giant bomb after giant bomb to really make it seem like he was going to pull off the upset. Kento working over the head and neck as well as his comebacks were all good, but the abundance of Blackout knees he threw in the finishing stretch were devoid of any selling. Considering this is the formula that Kento and KAI have worked in pretty much all of their matches, I had hoped they would have tried something different or Kento would have put more thought into his selling. But it just wasn't there. That's not to say this still wasn't a great match (the finish in particular of KAI trying to kick the leg to escape the suplex was brilliant). KAI put in a career performance and Kento still knows how to make matches exciting. It just had the potential to be more than that. ****1/4.

I think Jun is going to be at the show, so we can hope!

Kenny Omega vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi 1/4/19 NJPW So far the match to beat IMO. Thirty-nine minutes and yet nothing felt padded or done just for the sake of doing. There was a lot of intensity and disdain in the early striking encounters and tons of big bombs near the end. Kenny played a good heel and Tanahashi was a good fired-up face who nearly lost the match by compromising his wrestling ideology. Excellent main event match.

You could feel the hatred in this match right when Naito attacked Jericho before the bell rang. Didn't feel like a typical plunder match and much more like a brawl that happened to have weapons. The DDT spot on the table was absolutely brutal and the aforementioned kendo stick spot from Naito really drove home how much Naito relished in punishing Jericho. Arguably Jericho's best match yet in NJPW. ****1/4

I feel like the last big angle they did was the return of SZKG. Lately it's been more about setting up the matches for New Beginning. But the show didn't look all that good overall.

This was a mess. No real story or logic behind anything that happened especially after Brandi was ejected. Juice's intensity and determination to put away Cody with a KO punch and two Pulp Frictions was cool in a vacuum, but it felt hollow at the same time. I guess the Fighting Spirit Unleashed match was a fluke as these guys have zilch chemistry. I like Juice a lot but he couldn't save this one. *3/4.

Match of the night and an early match of the year contender. At thirty-nine minutes I was impressed with how quickly they got going. There was a sense of urgency and disdain as both guys just laid into each other with strikes and slaps. Kenny isn't a great babyface so it was great to see him be a bitter and cocky heel while Tanahashi had plenty of fire in his comebacks. The leg selling didn't bother me too much as it wasn't like the Okada-Suzuki match where Kenny was in submission holds for 70 percent of the match. Him being able to fight off the pain but grab the leg after a big move seemed believable. I thought the ending was a little lackluster with Tanahashi simply turning the OWA into a leg drop and hitting a High Fly Flow for the win. But overall, this was a great main event match that had anger, intensity, and big bombs. ****3/4.

Really good sprint. I was concerned there was going to be padding and chain wrestling in a match that didn't really need it, but they got off to a quick start and never let off the gas pedal. While I feel like there could have been a little more anger and hate in the match, I still felt that Okada was a bit more aggressive than normal and I loved the Nakamura stomp in the rope. Both guys got to show their stuff in a match that never over-stayed its welcome and was a huge win for Jay. ****

Really liked the show a lot. Tanahashi winning was cool but it also seems strange considering everything over the last three years seemed to emphasize that Tanahashi was not the guy anymore. Still, there are some interesting directions they can take with this. But while I'm fine with the prospect of Jay challenging and I think he's improved tons since last year, I don't exactly like the idea of him with the top belt. And Naito-Taichi I guess is OK for a preliminary title feud, but we better get the Taichi who actually does stuff and doesn't just stall and rely on the same interference spots for 10 minutes.

Thought the show was really good overall. Ibushi-Ospreay, Ishii-Sabre, Okada-Jay, Naito-Jericho, and Kenny-Tanahashi being the must-see matches. Everything else was decent with the only real dud being Cody-Juice.

Predictions for WK: Ibushi BUSHI and Shingo (although RPG3K winning wouldn't surprise me) Ishii EVIL and SANADA Juice Taiji Jay Naito Kenny

I honestly think the main event workers don't need to be on every single Road To show. I mean obviously Jericho only wrestling three times a year for them is too much, but as long as the champ or top talent work all the ppv's and maybe one of the more important Road To shows it doesn't bother me.

Might be Rey Mysterio for me even if I'm not a huge fan of his masks that use the straps in the back as opposed to the full hood. But he's had so many awesome designs and colors and I loved when he would do the superhero tributes like Daredevil, the Flash, Iron Man, Joker, and most recently Wolverine.

I think I only saw two Casas matches this year but the old man has still got it. Thought Jun had a great year as well with the CC run and the Real World Tag League match with Sekimoto against Yoshiken.

I've been taking a break since my initial rough draft and have been working on my top 100 wrestlers for 2018 list, but I'll get back in the swing of things by re-watching my top 100 again before Mania. I actually did bump two matches off recently in favor of the Hansen-Kobashi and Flair-Steamboat fancam matches. I totally agree about the nitpicking and over-analyzing of "Was this match better than this match?" when really getting down to the best of the best. And apart from my top 5 or so, my opinion has fluctuated several times on certain matches. Misawa-Kawada '94 has been top 15, top 25, and top 10 at different points.

I honestly think Kenny sticks with NJPW full-time for a little while longer. He has all the leverage in the world with NJPW right now and I don't think he would pass on an opportunity for a big Ibushi program which is probably the plan for WK 14. That being said I'm sure he'll make a few appearances here and there.

Surprised WWE didn't try to sign her as she's been on NXT TV before and they've literally been signing everyone.