Boss Rock

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.

Tye Dillinger also seems to be on his way there. B.J. Whitmer is also most likely going to work with them in a backstage capacity.

Fenix is probably another one for most athletic today. The way the guy flies and maneuvers off the ropes (especially his tightrope stuff) is insane.

@joeg https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Icvizxc3UB0

That really stood out to me as well. Whereas so many matches try to shoehorn these types of lines into matches to be as dramatic and epic as possible, this felt much more like trash talk in the middle of a fight.

Violence, violence everywhere. Outside of the typical "Take 20 minutes to climb a ladder" spots, this was tremendous. TLC/ladder matches have become too focused setting up for the spots but this felt far more natural. The focus was actually on trying to hurt your opponent rather than do something really ridiculous to pop the crowd (although there were still some pretty cool spots) which is what the typical WWE plunder match has become. Asuka, Becky, and Charlotte made it perfectly clear they hated each other and would do anything it takes to win. That's all it needed and they delivered in full. Best TLC/ladder match in years. ****1/2.

I've been far kinder to Gargano and Black this year than most, but this was a bit of a trudge. I liked how Gargano attacked Black at the beginning and we got a bit of a brawl before the match began. The action in the first half of the match was fine enough as well. But the escape spots were still as dumb and as formulaic as any WWE cage match you've ever seen. And my God was this long. After the 10 minute mark this became just a chore to sit through until Ciampa's interference. And while the idea was interesting in theory, it was way too hokey in execution. So ultimately, I guess this was OK. There are far worse cage matches. But definitely not something anyone should take any time out of their day to see.

It really says something when you can get a "This is awesome" chant without a ton of big spots and flashy moves. This was a pretty straightforward yet extremely physical match. It's such a rare trait for wrestlers these days to make matches feel like a big deal without a ton of bombs and kickouts, but that's what A.J. and Bryan did. Even if both haven't had the best years, they reminded everyone that when it comes to pure talent, they're quite possibly still the best in the world. And the small package finish was brilliant as it gave Bryan a clean win and while A.J. looked great in defeat. Sort of a "Got 'im!" that's tough to pull off but works so well when executed properly. ****1/4

@cad Love this one and I hope you will too!

I dig the match overall and if anything, the title should be made into a proper openweight belt that both juniors and heavies can compete for. Would certainly give more for the juniors to do.

Microstatistics gave me Megumi Kudo vs. Mayumi Ozaki (FMW barbed wire match 4/18/1997). Really fun and violent match that did a great job building up to the barbed wire rope spots. Conversely, the barbed wire board spots were so simple yet so clever and completely unexpected. While I really like what Masashi Takeda is doing in BJW right now, those matches are way more indulgent. This match was more about building tension to those spots which I think has become sort of a lost art. I also liked how the match went on it became less about Kudo trying to punish Ozaki with the barbed wire and more about using literally everything in her arsenal to try and put her away.

New updates.

Golden Lovers are definitely my pick for tag team of the year. Not a single bad match yet and these makeshift teams they've been facing have been better than the majority of NJPW's actual tag teams.

@Microstatistics Hideki Suzuki vs. Kazumi Kikuta https://rutube.ru/video/a7bdc779e51c8024845c648c4be83e97/?pl_type=user&pl_id=1067514

Late on commenting on the matches I've been given so far, but here goes. NotJayTabb gave me Eddie Kingston vs. Chris Dickinson from Limitless Wrestling this year. They're both guys I'm familiar with but surprisingly haven't seen a ton of either's matches. But both have a reputation of being mean, tough dudes. Really fun, hard-hitting match that subverts from the usual indieriffic enzuguris and suicide dives (not to say I necessarily have a problem with that, there's just too damn much of it). I like how they played up Eddie's status as an indie legend and for Dickinson to get a victory over him would be a big deal. For anyone who's jaded with today's indie wrestling this is definitely one to check out. From Headcheese I went with Tortugas vs. Rokambole Jr, Dragone Bane, Villano V Jr, and El Capo del Norte. Comedy wrestling is definitely a guilty pleasure of mine and this was that type of comedy wrestling that's so dumb and ridiculous it's actually really good. Loved the chicken game at the beginning, the sumo contest, and everyone taking turns chopping each other, even the ref! Never taking itself seriously for a moment but still slipping in some cool high-flying spots, this was a lot of fun.

I believe Kawada trained him.

Funny how much better makeshift teams like Tanahashi and Will are then the majority NJPW's actual tag teams. I agree with SmartMark's sentiment that there was too much padding in the first third of the match, but the rest of this was awesome. Just an excellent bombfest with the fast-paced action you'd expect from these four (although Tanahashi took a bit of a backseat in this one). I really hope Will's match with Ibushi is the first of many forays into the heavyweight division as he really came off as the star here. ****1/2.

Definitely a step-up from their G1 match. Goto has always been best when he's either a perennial loser who's trying to prove everyone wrong or when he's working with urgency. This was definitely the latter as he was particularly violent in his attempts to keep Ibushi grounded. Ibushi dazzled as always with his flashy offense even he took some ill-advised neck bumps and threw a shoot headbutt or two. Not much to say except very good and very physical. ****

Without a doubt the greatest Taichi match I've ever seen and it's not even close. I would have never guessed this guy could be a pretty decent wrestler when so many of his matches revolve around the same tired 10 minutes of stalling with intermittent interference spots. Instead. Taichi rushes Will from the beginning and works over his ribs. I've always seen flashes of Taichi having good striking so it was good to see him work lots of kicks in this. Will's comebacks are well-timed and he does a great job selling the ribs. Just a really good, back-and-forth match that never overstays its welcome or feels padded in any way. ****

For HeadCheese, I pick Kaientai DX vs. Gran Hamada, Super Delfin, Great Sasuke, and Gran Naniwa from Michinoku Pro (12/16/1996). One of the greatest spotfests ever.

Not that I know of, I typically tune out during the tag league. But I agree on Goto. Like he's decent, but not really the guy I would always give this sort of push to.

Along with Goto-Ibushi for the NEVER title they're doing Taichi-Ospreay for a title shot, which I imagine sets up Ospreay-Ibushi at WK.