Boss Rock

I've always sort of made the comparison to Misawa as well when it comes to Okada. The guy you know who probably has a 1% chance of losing, yet still finds ways to make you think his opponent is gonna pull it off.

Nice!

It seems like almost every year there's one guy in the tournament who really steps up and breaks out. Last year it was Juice Robinson, hopefully someone like Page or White can do that this year.

Episode two was a bit of a step up from episode one, but still had a few kinks. First was a trios title match. Next was a match for an Aztec Medallion Grave Consequences next week! Consider me hyped. Pentagon vs. Matanza was the main event. Final vignette

I definitely think this is the best and most fair way to proceed. Really appreciate you guys making this decision and will absolutely help out every way I can.

The B Block is definitely the one to pay attention to, but I agree that unless you're a major NJPW fan or completionist (which I happen to be, ha), you don't need to watch everything. A Block is absolutely the block you'll want to cherry pick.

This was quite the fun read.

Very sad news but I know he had been dealing with heart issues for a while. Haven't seen nearly as much stuff of his as other folks here have, but what I did see him in he was almost always great. Loved the way he would just club people with his massive arms simply because he could.

It's crazy how much better the B Block is than the A Block. They should have at least traded Ishii for Page or Makabe, ha. And it definitely looks like the finals will be Okada vs. Ibushi or Naito unless they really hammer home how devastated Okada is at losing the title and go with Tanahashi.

Him or Finlay would have been loads better than Page. And I was really hoping Tonga would get the Yujiro treatment after lousy showings in the last two tournaments, but alas.

That's good to hear. And whatever is decided upon is fine because I'm having way too much fun with this project

Luchablog's review was also interesting as he pointed out that a ton of stuff seemed (intentionally or not) retconned or not even mentioned. Like obviously Vamp's master is going to come after Pentagon and Mil's going to go after Cuerno and the gauntlet, but they never once mentioned what happened at Ultima Lucha outside of the opening vignette.

Thought this premiere was solid if a tad disappointing for a few reasons. I'm convinced Dario faked his own death. Antonio ordered the hit but Agent Winter said Dario was killed by "gangbangers". Something definitely doesn't add up there. I dig the new temple set up. I just hope there will be enough scaffolds/high places to jump off of. The first half of Aztec Warfare dragged and the action just seemed off, like everyone was a bit rusty. It also didn't help that the editing and camera work felt super choppy. Eventually, Pentagon came in and started cleaning house. I feel like this episode was basically an apology for Pentagon's on-off booking for the past three seasons, just letting him kill people left and right like a badass. The second half of this match was a huge step up as some of the more familiar faces came in and got their time to shine. I had a few issues with certain eliminations like old-ass Chavo taking out Fenix AND Cuerno. Also wasn't crazy about Mil getting eliminated as quick as he did but they're obviously building to something with Catrina so I'll let it slide. Overall not a bad match and the finishing stretch was a lot of fun. Was never all that impressed by Marty before but he killed it in the Fenix match and he was great here, too. With all that said, this was still easily the worst Aztec Warfare which is a shame as it's always one of the most exciting parts of each season. I'm hoping this episode was just a bit of growing pains as I had similar apprehensions about season 3 and things turned out very well for the most part. Either way, glad to have more wrestling to watch during the week after having checked out on Raw and SDL.

Didn't like this one as much as the BOSJ match, but it was still very good. The opening was very hot with Hiromu using the guitar case as a weapon and dropkicking Desperado into the guardrail, but the crowd brawling segments meandered quite a bit more than their last match. Desperado working over Hiromu's leg was also inconsequential and forgotten rather quickly. Really felt like they were just killing time until Kanemaru tried to interfere and BUSHI misted him, then things really took off. HIromu ripping off Desperado's mask only for Desperado to say "fuck it" and hit him with the belt anyway was great stuff. The last five minutes had some really good intensity and culminated in a satisfying victory for Hiromu with a bit of poetic justice thrown in for good measure. A bit disjointed but still a very good match. ***3/4-****

This was definitely a major step up from the Backlash match. I still wouldn't say Cass is "good", but he had a somewhat better idea of how to work his heat segments. But this was definitely a Bryan performance by bumping and selling as well as he did and constantly attacking the leg. Not a great match but perfectly solid.

Blocks announced. LOTS going on in the B Block: A Block Okada Tanahashi Elgin EVIL Fale Makabe White Page Suzuki YOSHI-HASHI B Block Naito Ibushi Kenny Ishii SANADA ZSJ Yano Tonga Goto Juice Think this kind of confirms Okada wins the tournament.

Ronda is a natural. Her selling and facial expressions are phenomenal. The moment as Ronda is peeling Nia's fingers apart for the armbar was great stuff. Not thrilled about the ending, though.

Basically everything you could ask for in a tag team opener. Frantic action, desperation, and great nearfalls. I knew there was no way Oney and Burch would win, but they did a fantastic job making me think they could pull it off. Oney was the star here but bravo to all four men. ****1/2.

Coming from someone who didn't like the fact that this feud was continuing after the masterpiece that was their New Orleans match, this absolutely knocked my socks off. Very few matches have sold such hatred and an utter disregard for an opponent's well-being than this one. There was very clear escalation from your typical No DQ spots to more brutal segments such as Ciampa driving Johnny into the steps with a chair around his neck and then an air raid crash. The work on Johnny's neck and the work on Ciampa's knee also did a great job calling back to both men's injuries leading to this match. But it was the last 10 minutes on the stage that took this match from a MOTYC to a classic. You felt Johnny was going to a place a babyface such as himself shouldn't go but at the same time you never once felt sorry for Ciampa. It's a real testament to both men as workers that the face and heel dynamic was still clearly defined despite the shades of gray we saw from Johnny near the end. And it was only fitting that Johnny's thirst for revenge ended up costing him and giving Ciampa the victory in clean yet appropriately cheap fashion. As violent as this match was, I can't wait for the next and possible final time they face off. *****

This match was a bit of a disappointment considering what both wrestlers are capable of. I really liked the opening moments of Nikki messing with Shayna's head and keeping the normally dominant champion off her game. But after the promising first few minutes, things never really took off. Very much just an exchange of moves until Shayna could lock on the choke. Nikki's expression of bliss was cool but the finish still felt a tad anti-climactic. Not bad but not exactly very good either. **1/2.

Very good match and impressive showing for Lars. Loved the story of Lars dominating the majority of this match and shaking off or having an answer for all of Black's best strikes. I really liked that they made Lars look both nearly unstoppable and vulnerable down the stretch without damaging his aura, something that's a bit of a fine balancing act. Major Black Mass whiff aside, this was a really good, hard-hitting match. ***3/4.

Well done. Liked this a lot.

Great show. I think the last match needs to be more of a straightforward wrestling match with Johnny realizing he does not want to become the man Ciampa is.

I thought the first few minutes of this were kind of rough and a reminder that Dream still has a bit of work ahead of him, especially when it comes to working heat segments. That being said, the second half of this match was truly great and served as a reminder why so many of us were high on Dream to begin with. Ricochet also delivered in a big way. ****

I think Bryan is the better seller and storyteller, but it's very close. I think A.J. is the better bumper. And they're both equally good at working to their opponents' strengths and getting the best out of them.