Boss Rock

Bit of a slow start but really good stuff. Liked how they continued the theme from the Ishii/YOSHI-HASHI match of the Chaos stablemates pushing each other to the limit almost to the point of disdain (particularly Okada throwing some stiffer forearms and booting Ospreay's head while he was down). Ospreay's offense was great as always and Okada did a great job selling bomb after bomb. ****

Yeah, I was a huge fan of that one.

Active: Kazuchika Okada Kento Miyahara Tetsuya Naito Zeus Tomohiro Ishii All-Time: Kenta Kobashi Mitsuharu Misawa Daniel Bryan Undertaker Stan Hansen

This was a pretty solid match if nothing you need to go out of your way to see. Nicholls is still really bland to me, but I did like the aggression and his chops are surprisingly hard. Okada also did a really good job selling the damage and appearing to be on the ropes on more than one occasion. I particularly liked the finishing stretch where Okada couldn't get the tombstone and struggled to hit the Rainmaker. ***1/4

Remarkable how good Liger looks at 54. He literally looks like he has not lost a single step in the last 30 years. Taiji did a good job but this really felt like more of a showcase for Liger and that's really what it needed to be. The retiring vet getting one of his last moments in the limelight by proving he can keep up with and even surpass the best wrestlers in the world. Great matwork, great selling, and great babyface fire. Again, Taiji did what he needed to but this was the Jushin Liger show. ****

These guys were in a really tough spot considering the bait-and-switch they pulled with Kofi, but the fact they managed to (somewhat) pull the crowd back into their favor is a testament to how good this match really was. Ali continues to take Darby Allin-levels of insane bumps and Owens thrives as the badass babyface fighting off two guys at once. Like the fatal four-way for the U.S. title, a really good spotfest with everyone getting their time to shine. ****

Really good spotfest with everyone getting their time to shine. A lot of the spots in these kinds of matches (especially when involving more than two people) can feel forced and contrived but everything felt pretty natural for the most part. The real story though is how unthinkable it is that Rey somehow still looks and moves like he did in 1996. Unbelievable performance. ****

Didn't quite reach the level of their last two G1 matches but it was going to be pretty hard to screw this one up. Lots of big bombs and awesome, fast-paced sequences. Thought some of the neck bumps were a bit much even for a Kota Ibushi match, but he did a great job working his selling into his comebacks. Unfortunately another big match loss for Naito but he still looked really good as well. ****1/4.

Excellent match and I would agree it was exactly what a tepid first round show needed. Nagata is still incredibly limber and still has a great deal of oomph behind his strikes. And Ishii is still one of the best wrestlers in the world. While this was ultimately a back-and-forth war of attrition, there was a really cool story of the aging vet proving to a younger, more firey opponent that he still has plenty of gas left in the tank. Absolutely no respect between these two with a series of slap exchanges that give Suzuki-Okada a run for its money. Terrific match and one of the best this year so far. ****1/2

The Taiji match was proof Liger can still go at a high level, he hasn't really lost a step at all.

Really good match and I would agree it's probably Jay's best match yet. Ospreay was the star here but White more than delivered. While I still think he's better suited to be an upper-midcarder, I would disagree with the sentiment that Jay is a "bad" wrestler. He's consistently been delivering against good wrestlers for close to a year now. His work over Ospreay's ribs was consistent and logical and Ospreay sold really well (even if his grunting was annoying). Ospreay's offense was stellar as always without sacrificing any of the work Jay did on his ribs. I don't think the match needed to be as long as it did, but at the same time it didn't feel padded like a lot of other NJPW main events (it also helped that it didn't go 30+ minutes). Great stuff. ****1/2.

Just watched this one for the first time.

The IC title during the Nakamura days was definitely a big deal, although in a lot of ways it felt like a sort of consolation prize for Nak not getting THE push. Still, guys like Tanahashi, Naito, and Nak did a really great job making it feel like a legitimate number 2 belt.

Really great match and a terrific bounce-back for Kento after his disappointing performance in the KAI match. Kento tries to soften up Suwama early with shots to the head and neck but makes one mistake and Suwama decides turnabout is fair play. I love how Suwama varies his approach to attacking the neck by not only throwing huge shots but also trying to choke Kento out with sleepers. I felt that Kento's comebacks were also a bit more earned. As much as I love his breakneck speed and offense, he sometimes recovers a bit too quickly. This time it came off much more as Kento actually running on adrenaline and a will to survive as opposed to a "Nope, I'm fine!" sort of thing. The finishing stretch is also one of the hottest of the year so far and tells Brock Lesnar who the REAL proprietors of Suplex City are. One thing I've really noticed in these title matches is that Kento starts off as kind of a cocky hotshot who proceeds to get in over his head and has to mount these valiant comebacks. Not sure if I think that's a good or bad thing for a top face, but's interesting nonetheless. ****1/2

Like that they're doing something different with such a huge field. Awesome to see Nagata, Kojima, Tenzan, and Nakanishi getting spots. Would have preferred them keeping Naito and Ibushi's hopes of winning alive longer, but yeah that match will rule.

A masterclass in the minimalist approach to wrestling. Thirty minutes of two powerhouses just throwing chops, lariats, and the occasional submission at each other. Sekimoto turns it yet another excellent babyface against the more arrogant Hino. There's also a really interesting story being told of two guys so evenly-matched that neither can maintain control for more than a few minutes at a time. The selling is also top-notch with both guys spent yet still trying to throw everything they can behind each strike. A must-see and one of the best matches of the year so far. ****1/2.

Thought night one of Honor Rising was pretty good. Scurll-Narita was decent, BC-Gresham/Liger was brilliantly booked, Sabre-Umino was really good (Umino is definitely someone to watch for), Ospreay-Dalton was a lot of fun even with Dalton working through an injury, and Goto-Cobb improved upon their NEVER match last year. Main event wasn't anything special but did what it needed to. Also stoked at Charlton and Kelly basically confirming Gresham will be in BOSJ this year. In some rather bad news Finlay separated his shoulder at the end of the main event for night 2.

Excellently-booked match. While this was always going to be about Kofi and Bryan, everyone got their time to shine. Of course once we did get to the Bryan and Kofi showdown, an already good match was taken to a whole new level. Kofi once again proved he's a tremendous babyface and Bryan turned in yet another terrific heel performance. This type of heel/face dynamic is proof that finisher kickouts CAN work. Can't wait for the Fastlane match. ****1/4.

I sort of wished they cut the first five minutes or so of this match, but everything else was great. Easily PAC's best post-WWE performance and Kzy once again delivers in a big match setting. The finishing stretch had some tremendous bombs, particularly the backslide driver by PAC. A bit too many big move kick-outs but the finishing stretch has some of the most exciting action of the year so far. ****1/4.

Cena-Punk MITB is such a tough one for me. Don't get me wrong, the build-up, atmosphere, and crowd reaction are out of this world. But the match itself, while great, wouldn't even be my pick for best match of 2011. The second half is tremendous but it takes too long to get there.

Bryan-Wyatt I think is a great match that often gets overlooked and doesn't get enough love.

Cena-Lesnar: Extreme Rules 2012 Bryan-Cena: Summerslam 2013 Bryan-Triple H: WrestleMania 30 Brock-Cena-Rollins: Royal Rumble 2015 Sasha-Bayley: Takeover: Brooklyn Sasha-Bayley: Takeover: Respect Zayn-Nakamura: NXT Takeover: Dallas A.J.-Roman: Extreme Rules 2016 #DIY-Revival: NXT Takeover: Toronto A.J.-Cena: Royal Rumble 2017 Gargano-Almas: Takeover: Philadelphia Gargano-Ciampa: Takeover: New Orleans Gargano-Ciampa: Takeover: Chicago II

I would hope so. Had been thinking for a while it would be those two matches at WK 14. And I'm sure they would allow Kenny to come back and do a program, seems like the door is still open there.

I thought Tana-Jay was very good and probably their best match together. I also think Jay has improved in leaps and bounds by taking his already good execution and applying an actual character he understands to it. He's done trying to be the mysterious "Switchblade" and is instead a more traditional heel who just happens to have the nickname of Switchblade. That being said, I don't quite agree with putting the belt on him. On the one hand, it's a somewhat fresh decision after putting the belt on Tanahashi when NJPW spent the last three years telling fans he wasn't the ace anymore. Him beating Kenny in the ME of WK, while pretty much done because Kenny was leaving, still seemed like a really bizarre decision after having Okada and Naito surpass him in their prior feuds. But Jay still just doesn't have "It". Like his booking has helped and he's far more confident, but he still seems more suited to be an upper-midcard heel in the IC title picture. I do agree that he'll end up being a transitional champ as he likely drops the title to Okada in MSG or to Naito at Dominion (I still think Okada-Naito is the ME for one of the Dome shows). As far as Ibushi goes, I think him leaving would have been a huge blow to NJPW. Outside of Okada, Tana, and Naito, there aren't really a whole lot of wrestlers who are both good in the ring and could be believable top stars for the company to push (not to say I wouldn't be happy with Ishii or Juice getting a title run, heh). And I do think a hesitancy to fully commit to Ibushi was due to him being a freelancer. Once Shibata signed he became the NEVER ace and was seemingly being groomed for at least an IC title run before his injury. I actually wouldn't be surprised if Ibushi jumps in line ahead of Naito to become champ.

Really fun tag match. While I think the post-Takeover brawl warranted a more violent match, for a Network special that will most likely end being pretty inconsequential in the grand scheme of things, this was an enjoyable spotfest . Definitely worth a watch. ***3/4.