Boss Rock

There was a really good idea for a match here but the execution just wasn't there. I dug the pre-match attack quite a bit as well as Taichi jawing with Makabe. But it went on. And on. And for God's sake what the hell are we doing here? Naito finally came back after what felt like an eternity to have what could have been a really good match if it hadn't had all of the momentum from the pre-match angle sucked away. Naito's selling for the most part was pretty good and I thought the overbooking kind of worked to an extent because Taichi's not supposed to have any real shot at Naito. But there was just too much. The finishing stretch was cool in a vacuum but Taichi shouldn't be that heavily protected when it comes to stuff like an emerald flowsion. If you have Naito come back right as Taichi is arguing with Makabe and make this match about five minutes shorter I think you have something really good here. But ultimately, what we got was a really bizarre mixed bag.

Yet another update, this time for 2011.

Taichi-Naito was...interesting. Like there were some cool ideas but the execution wasn't really there. The pre-match attack angle was good but went on about five minutes longer than it needed to be. Really took the steam out of the rest of the proceedings. The rest of the match was fine and actually had some cool moments, but it still felt longer than it needed to be.

I think SANADA has a serious case for most improved over the last year. Since the Okada match he's been regularly delivering in singles matches.

KUSHIDA vs. Hiromu Takahashi at Sakura Genesis 2017 is one of my favorites. Almost more of an angle than a match to put over how dominant Hiromu is, but it's so beautifully put together.

Two guys hitting each other very hard, so definitely worth watching. Sekimoto is also a pretty compelling babyface which is something I feel like he's been doing more of this year.

Probably my second favorite match of the show. You don't see too many back-and-forth submission battles in WWE but Asuka and Becky did a really good job of it. Tons of urgency and while I don't think Becky should have submitted, extra points for the Cattle Mutilation. ****1/4

Probably my favorite of the show. Tons of aggression from Sasha and had an answer for virtually everything Ronda could throw at her. The working over Ronda's hand was a great callback to the Bayley series and despite the fact there was no way Sasha was going to win, there was a brief moment they made me believe she could pull it off. Using her arm band was also pretty ingenious. The finish was a bit too out of nowhere and superhuman, but Ronda's selling throughout was still pretty great. This felt like an absolute war. ****1/4

This is the type of Brock Lensar performance that made so many of us believe he truly was a one-of-a-kind special attraction. The absolute monster who could still sell his ass off and make his opponent look great. Excellent story of Finn blitzing Brock early as opposed to letting him dominate the first half of the match like he did against Bryan and A.J. He did eventually get his suplexes in which Finn sold like death for but it was the abdomen selling really took things to another level (Brock hobbling around and not able to hit the F-5 was probably the best part of this match) This was also easily Finn's best match since his title defense against Gedo in 2013. Great fire and great comebacks. Too bad the post-match sucked. Still, a pretty awesome match. ****

I was surprised this was such a mat-based and submission-heavy match, but they did a really good job with it. The limb work was well-done and the story of Tanahashi challenging KUSHIDA with slaps served as great preludes to KUSHIDA's comebacks. The finish (not the result) was a bit surprising but still worked. A fitting farewell to one of the best and most consistent wrestlers in NJPW. ****

One of if not the best match on the card (the other being Bianca-Shayna). The fast-paced, "anything goes" style of UE matches are always fun and it's a credit to Strong and O'Reilly that they're so consistently good at it. It was going to be tough to for UE to have believable heat segments with Hanson and Rowe, but Hanson taking himself out with a suicide dive really helped. Not to mention UE are so good at working over and breaking down their opponents in 2-on-1 situations. Loads of bombs, near-falls, and urgency. Can't go wrong. ****1/4

Really liked this show a lot but the Gargano-Ciampa stuff is still such a mess.

Really good, hard-hitting match. T-Hawk's chops are a violent thing of beauty and Ashino's is great at working over his opponents' limbs. I agree that T-Hawk's leg selling was a bit spotty especially with the finish, but it wasn't like Ashino had been working on it for 15 minutes straight either. All in all, a highly enjoyable title match. ****1/4

Sometimes less is indeed more. As already mentioned here, simple yet effective story of Sekimoto overpowered and fighting an uphill battle against the larger Hama. Just the simple stuff like Hama's "Really?" face during the test of strength really drove the narrative. Sekimoto is a great babyface and really thrives in this type of setting. ***1/2.

A PPV-caliber match that we got on free TV. Always good stuff. Since they got a lot of time with this one, I really liked how they started slow with Rey consistently keeping Andrade grounded with the headlocks and holds. Really told a good story of Rey being the wily veteran who is always one step ahead. And one step ahead he remained as he surprisingly controlled the majority of this match. Andrade still got his fair share of offense in, particularly a nasty powerbomb to the floor. The finishing stretch had all the high-speed, high-impact offense you'd expect from these two and yet still left room open for another rematch (which was obviously intentional with the 2/3 falls match this week). Unbelievable that Rey is still this good, although it helped he was in the ring with one of the best in the world. ****1/4

What I wrote in the MOTY tracker thread: Well that was quick. Already have a new MOTY and January isn't even over yet! An epic clash of the titans as these four behemoths just annihilate each other for 25+ minutes. Suwama and Shuji are great "heels" in controlling the pace and overwhelming their smaller, yet still very strong opponents. Sekimoto and Okabayashi are also born babyfaces. Sekimoto is an excellent face in peril while Okabayashi cleans up as the mother of all hot tags. There wasn't just a lot of big bomb throwing, but some great long-term selling as well. All four guys looked exhausted near the end of the match and their strikes moved just a little bit slower and they couldn't get quite as much elevations as they usually do on their suplexes. That's a great attention to detail that's often overlooked these days. I also loved how in the end when Sekimoto hit the assisted German suplex on Okabayashi to lift Suwama, Okabayashi dragged Suwama out of the ring as he rolled out to ensure he couldn't interfere. Even if this doesn't end up being the MOTY when all is said and done, it's going to be extremely tough to top, at least when it comes to tag matches. ****3/4

I agree that it was a shame we didn't get to see the full version of this, but just like their match last year this was a banger. Great, back-and-forth striking contest between two of the hardest hitters in wrestling despite both being on the smaller side. Really didn't like those headbutts Nomura threw in but this was still a blast and had a very BattlArtsy feel. Not quite a MOTYC for me but definitely the sprint of the year thus far. ****1/4

Shuji Ishikawa and Suwama vs. Yuji Okabayashi and Daisuke Sekimoto (1/13/19 BJW) Well that was quick. Already have a new MOTY and January isn't even over yet! An epic clash of the titans as these four behemoths just annihilate each other for 25+ minutes. Suwama and Shuji are great "heels" in controlling the pace and overwhelming their smaller, yet still very strong opponents. Sekimoto and Okabayashi are are also born babyfaces. Sekimoto is an excellent face in peril while Okabayashi cleans up as the mother of all hot tags. There wasn't just a lot of big bomb throwing, but some great long-term selling as well. All four guys looked exhausted near the end of the match and their strikes moved just a little bit slower and they couldn't get quite as much elevations as they usually do on their suplexes. That's a great attention to detail that's often overlooked these days. I also loved how in the end when Sekimoto hit the assisted German suplex on Okabayashi to lift Suwama, Okabayashi dragged Suwama out of the ring as he rolled out to ensure he couldn't interfere. Even if this doesn't end up being the MOTY when all is said and done, it's going to be extremely tough to top, at least when it comes to tag matches.

Update for 2009.

I'll jump off.

80's: Terry Funk vs. Ric Flair (WCW Great American Bash 7/23/1989) 90's: Mitsuharu Misawa and Kenta Kobashi vs. Akira Taue and Toshiaki Kawada (AJPW 6/9/1995) 00's: Bryan Danielson vs. Nigel McGuinness (ROH Unified, 8/12/2006) 10's (as of now): Kazuchika Okada vs. Katsuyori Shibata (NJPW Sakura Genesis 4/9/2017)

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.