Richeyedwards

He missed 2 months back in 2017 due to a neck injury, it was a miracle he even came back and ridiculous that he came back after only 2 months he was expected to be out for 6-12 months. He has been living on borrowed time ever since.

I would add the jr tag title match teaming with taduske Vs Ogawa and Suzuki from start of november, not motyc but a really fun tag.

My moty matches for this year with a baseline cutoff of ****1/4 in terms of what I watch it goes 1.AJPW 2. NOAH 3.BJW after that it is very rare that I will watch any other promotion other than a one off match or from produce shows: Hikaru Sato Vs Yusuke Okada Aoki Atsushi Tribute match AJPW 18/06/2019 Kento Miyahara c Vs Jake Lee AJPW Triple Crown Heavyweight title AJPW 24/10/2019 Kento Miyahara c Vs Yoshi Tatsu AJPW Triple Crown Title Daisuke Sekimoto & Yuji Okabyashi c Vs SUWAMA & Shuji Ishikawa AJPW Tag Titles 19/03/2019 Katio Kiyomiya c vs Naomichi Marufuji GHC Heavyweight Title NOAH 10/03/2019 Kento Miyahara c vs SUWAMA Triple Crown Title AJPW 24/02/2019 Daisuke Sekimoto & Yuji Okabyashi vs Violent Giants c AJPW Tag Titles BJW Sekimoto 20th anniversary 13/01/2019 Hayata &Axiz Vs Yo-Hey, KENOH & Kaito Kiyomiya Noah 29/03/2019 Katio Kiyomiya c vs Masa Kitamiya GHC Heavyweight Title NOAH 01/02/2019 Kaito Kiyomiya c vs Kenoh GHC Heavyweight title NOAH 05/01/2019 Masashi Takeda Vs Toshiyuka Sakuda BJW Ikkitousen death match survivor 2019 BJW 28/02/2019 Kento Miyahara vs Jake Lee AJPW CC Final 29/04/2019 I did fall out of watching any wrestling during April so I missed a lot of the cc and the summer so out of even the promotions I watch I missed a good deal a lot of the matches are from the first 3 months of the year as that was when I was watching with regularity.

Maruyama has been a full time ajpw guy for around 3 years now, he occasionally gets a jr title match or all Asia tag match. He teamed with Zeus in may in an attempt for the titles. As for bodyguard he has not been in ajpw much this year he missed the cc and was mainly in zero-1 and bjw teaming with sekimoto for the bjw tag titles. Sadly he badly tore his quad half way through the rwtl this year so forfeit the rest of the matches and has had to relinquish the bjw tag titles. But before he got injured there was a good match Vs Kento Miyahara and Yuma Aoyoagi. As for zeus? He is one of the best guys in ajpw and is good in pretty much everything he does, he hasn't been pushed as much as he was last year when he won the triple crown but had a good cc, Vs okabyashi and Shuji Ishikawa as good matches. He is currently the ajpw tag champ with ryogi sai.

Santnar got something out of the pitch but other than that it looks difficult to score on with any fluency but also gives nothing to the bowlers, the worst type of test match pitch. Probably a draw

Ramsey back after a year with 2 goals, what a guy

They would get none of the past library unless they buy it off NTV who own all of the classic footage NOAH don't own it. Same with ajpw they would have to buy it off of NTV (1973-2000) or gaora (2000-present). NTV make a good amount of money off those libraries so would be paid a good amount to have it taken off of them. This is why ajpw TV only has 2017 onwards stuff on it, they simply don't own anything before then.

The omega janella match was ok for the first ten or so mins, when they got to the bit with the suplex onto the ladder it seemed that they would be at the finish. But they went for another 15 or so minutes it got pretty dull

It would be pretty funny to have a tv-14 show and have fans thinking there will be blood but instead it is because of some of the imagery in a bray video

Hell of a fun pod listened to them all in a few days, I am sort of suprised the thunder in paradise theme wasn't used as a theme

Best mat worker I have ever seen, everything from his working of holds to positioning was perfect. That 1969 match Vs Baba is one of the best matches of all time. RIP the intelligent sensational Destroyer

This like the entire show was a lot of fun, you had plenty of crowd pleasing stuff from the guys, getting their stuff in and generally looking like they were having a lot of fun. Kento with the old triple crown for the first time since 2013 was awesome. Tanahashi and Tatsu acted as heels for most of the match working a heat segment on Kento before he got the hot tag to Sekimoto. The heat segment was not great as Tatsu and Tanahashi do not have very good offence. Tanahashi’s offence can work for singles matches where he takes his opponent apart and Tatsu works in a heated brawl with SUWAMA or Akiyama but not so much in a 20+ minute tag where they are expected to work a heat segment. It was not a bad segment just nothing special, they worked of the aura and the specialness of having Tana and Kento in the same ring. they did a little comedy work early. Finish run was good with Kento and Tatsu even though there was no doubt as to who was going to win there. I really liked the match but it was more a showcase about moments rather than outstanding work they through in a couple of big moves such as the Seki stacked German which was surprising to see Kento and Tana take. ***1/2 Post match where Kento thanked Tatsu, Seki and ignored Tanahashi was good, Kento looked like so much of a star.

The two that come to mind immediately from the little WWE that I watch are Brock vs Cena from Extreme rules and Brock vs Reigns the first one

This is the 5th of seven matches between these two from 2013-15 and is one of the shorter ones… at 29:55. The length of the match does show and does work against it. For the entire first half this match was mostly all SUWAMA as he dominates Shiozaki attacking both his neck and his lower back in an attempt to set him up for his major moves the backdrop, the last ride and the Sleeper. The work over the sleeper was the best stuff in the match as SUWAMA uses it to both wear down his opponent, choke him out illegally and to try to win by putting him asleep. The final sleeper around 20 minutes in where Shiozaki was almost put out was really the last time where SUWAMA was in the match as the rest of it was Shiozaki taking over and dominating most of the offence of the finishing stretch as he refuses to go down to SUWAMA again and delivers most of the offence as all that SUWAMA gets in during the finish is some desperation moves and attempts as gaining space using his great double hand chops. I did love that SUWAMA got none of his big moves in as it made it obvious that Shiozaki won definitively and finally put SUWAMA away at the 5th time of asking. This did feels a bit too long as the bit before the last sleeper but after Shiozaki made his first comeback after SUWAMA’s long control segment was a bit pointless. Shiozaki just got back into the match he did not do anything major in terms of a transition he just was back into it. Cutting that out and making just a little tighter it would have been a really great match. **** The date on this should be 28/09/2014 not 15/09/2014

This is arguably the best match of tanahashi's career, the other ones in contention are probably the 2004 match Vs fujita and Vs Suzuki from 2012. In this match tanahashi is technically a free agent as he refused to sign his deal with NJPW at the start of the year. But really everyone knew that he was not leaving and was really a representative of NJPW. He entered the tournament didn't lose a match in his block (but did draw twice) and got to the final to face SUWAMA. SUWAMA was at this point just about to be ace he was the hottest act in the company and beloved by the crowd on this night. This was to be his crowning moment. They worked the match with Tanahashi as the dickhead outsider putting in a great performance as someone who it is so easy to hate. SUWAMA was the stoic but tough face determined to defend his company. The dynamic is simple but very effective and with two guys who pulled the characters off expertly it did not really matter what the rest of the match was like it would be a success. Tana worked the leg a bit because that is what happens in a Tanahashi match by law. SUWAMA did a little leg work of his own but nothing substantial as he mainly worked from underneath. Having Tanahashi give out most of the offence in a match is a dangerous idea because most of his offence normally looks like shit: his strikes, stomps, flying firearm and the fucking sling blade all look bad usually. But here he worked a bit more snug with his strikes so that it was not laughable that he was in contention with SUWAMA. Him going for a sling blade and just getting dropped on his head with a backdrop was cathartic. There was a sequence built around the Texas cloverleaf which was done expertly as the crowd really thought that Tanahashi would make him tap out. When he finally got the ropes the mass exhale from the crowd was outstanding. The joy of the crowd at the finish was palpable as SUWAMA was mobbed leaving the ring. This was a triumph as it made sure that SUWAMA already a big star seemed like a superstar, this is using an outsider correctly in a tournament to get your top guy over. ****3/4 close to both guys best matches.

This is an unheralded masterpiece of a match, Now the first few minutes are cut as this is joined in progress so it is impossible to get a complete picture of the match but we can get fairly close. Here in 92 Fuchi is just within touching distance of Misawa he is not in the position yet where it would be impossible to win he just needs to put in the performance of a lifetime to have a chance at victory. Thankfully he puts in just that. He tears at Misawas leg putting it through a myriad of holds, stomps and throws, using the ropes and the tables at ringside. Misawa's selling is impeccable showing real pain at every attempted move. The comeback when it comes is brilliant it uses nuanced but very simple selling, Misawa tries to do his normal moves but just edited to cater for his leg, for example instead of doing his running twisting lariat he just throws Fuchi into the ropes and jumps at him as he is unable to run. This is a rarely talked about absolute classic, I loved this for the entire 10 minutes it lasted this is exactly what I want from wrestling and Fuchi is forever underrated as one of the best ever.

This was for Kaito's GHC Heavyweight Title This match went 29 minutes but on the broadcast version Samurai TV cut it down to a shade over 22 and this did good for the match. I am not sure what they cut out but the result was 22 minutes of a fast paced bombfest with both guys going for the win from the off. The pace the two wrestled at you would think they could have been going 10 minutes not 30. Kaito is still only 22 and a good way from the finished article, in particular when it comes to working a control segment but his facial expressions and selling really draw me into his matches. Luckily for him his three title matches in this reign have all been against bigger guys who like to dominate with nasty stiff offence that Katio takes extremely well. By sticking to this formula they are managing to have some good and fresh feeling main events, It will be interesting to see what happens with his next challenger being Marufuji, I expect a slower match built around Maru dominating again but with more holds and less power offence I am not sure it will be as good but could still work. ****1/4 on a level with the Kenoh title defense from January.

The new ownership of NOAH have stated that they will be making a couple of changes to branding such as changing the logo and changing the ring mat so it is no longer green. They are doing this in order to to break away from the old regime and changing from green as it was Misawa's colour and the hope that they will not be stuck in the past. The logo personally I don't mind but that green mat is a good bit of branding and sets them apart on a visual level immediately.

Kushidas last NJPW match is Vs tanahashi and I don't think that has happened yet

GET are tag champs at this point having won the belts in an untelevised match 7 days prior but this is non-title. Kobahsi comes into this match with his right leg heavily taped up and as you would expect that plays a large part in the match as the army and in particular Kawada attack it at every opportunity. The nearly ten minutes that are devoted to Kobashis leg being worked over is the best stuff in the match as both Kawada and taue twist him up and stomp and kick at his leg in a painful looking section. Ace takes the position of hot tag and he does it very well, flying around recklessly. The crowd were dead for much of the match which was a problem but they eventually got into the finish with ace going up against Taue after Kobashi took himself and Kawada out with a massive lariat. The finish sets up a match on the upcoming budokan show and keeps Kobashi unbeaten but looking a little vulnerable going into his 25th anniversary match vs Misawa. ***3/4

This was a snuff movie and it was amazing. The best KENTA have always been his matches when he is a jr and against much bigger and more established heavyweights. Here he is against Tenryu a guy who’s grumpy old man phase (my favourite character in wrestling) went on for over 20years. Tenryu destroys KENTA and it is a joy to watch every strike thrown is brutal looking and sounding. Every move looks really reckless and dangerous. KENTA looks like his teeth are knocked around in his mouth and he is bleeding from there. This is amazing professional wrestling between KENTA at his peak and Tenryu at the end of his. ****1/2

After a long wait one of my most anticipated matches of the first week of January finally aired and it was really good. Ashino is a guy who just oozes charisma and confidence, he is a model ace who can play as both a dickhead heel and as a technical babyface. Here he worked the later against the invading #STRONGHEARTS faction representative T-Hawk. T-Hawk was always one of my favorites in Dragon gate when I watched and I never got the hate he got as he was really good. This was worked from the off with some stiffness from the chops of T-Hawk and Ashino Quickly learning that he would have to avoid them and get into his usual tactics of taking a limb apart. Ashino is probably the best out there at taking a limb apart feeling focused in his attacks but also letting the attacks breathe and let it sink in to the audience. Here he went after the left ankle to set up for his finish the ankle lock, he was relentless in his attack and it was sold well by T-Hawk when it was being done. But now we come to the main stumbling block of the match, T-Hawks selling. When he was being worked over it was very good, it was also very good at the end stretch as he struggled to get much movement but when he took over after the heat segment he kind of forgot about selling until the ankle lock a few minutes later in the match. This was disappointing as T-Hawk has always been one of the better guys from the dragon system when it comes to selling MUCH better than someone like Tozawa or Yoshino. But here he let me down a bit. This was not match ruining or anything like that it was not Suzuki vs Okada it was not useless. But it did for me at least stop the match from being a MOTYC. People who do not place such a emphasis on consistent limb selling will probably really love this match, those who I watched the match with definitely seemed too. This review probably comes off as overly negative, I did really enjoy this match and Ashino was impeccable throughout. This is a match I do highly recommend but do think it could have been even better. ***3/4-****

This was Outstanding This was Sekimotos 20th anniversary show and they did a BIG main event for it, both in terms of the size of the people involved and the matchup. AJPW giving BJW such a major world tag title match was a big deal. As you would expect given that this took place in BJW the crowd were all behind Strong BJ and the Violence Giants playing as heels throughout. They took 75% of the match after SUWAMA threw Okabyashi into the wall of Korakuen they took over and worked over Seki for a while. The selling was very well done by sekimoto and he got some great sympathy. The hot tag when it came was great and from there in turned into a back and forth bombfest full of stiff strikes and some big throws. The crowd was really hot for the whole 26 minutes and the fact that they were able to get some serious sympathy on strong bj two massive roided up guys and made them look like underdogs was very impressive. They did a pop up spot on a suplex but was one that was done well as Yuji was staggering and looked out of it like he got up on instinct but really was not all there. When strong BJ did get some of their signature spots in the crowd exploded and it really was a great pay off to all their struggle throughout the match. The result is interesting and sets up Yuji being in the CC and potentially Lee and sai challenging soon. As well as a possible big guns match a rematch from sumo hall in 2016. Current MOTY dethroning Kenoh Vs Kaito ****1/2

Suguira Vs ashino is a match I had never thought about but now really want.

This was a good albeit too long match. This was worked with Suzuki doing every trick he could think of to beat KENTA such as interference from Genba and Kanemaru, low blows, ref bumps and fake blood and the Eddie chairshot spot to draw a DQ. It was KENTA’s job to fight back through this and kick his ass like everybody knew he could in a fair fight. This story and the antics of Suzuki worked well enough, However there are two issues, 1. is that this felt like a lesser version of KENTA vs SUWA for the jr title from 2005 there were some similar moments such as the Joe Higuchi involvement and that match also had a far hotter crowd. The SUWA match also had one thing going for it that ties in with the second problem with this match. The SUWA match was 15 minutes bell to bell this was 32. The opening of the match was very meandering and didn’t seem to have much point to it in parts until the interference started they also seemed quite off on a few spots. Once KENTA got cut open it got good and after the fake blood spot it got really great as it transitioned into the fast, stiff and angry action of a KENTA finish run with all the impressive spots and counters and some nasty strikes that you expect. But a good deal of the match was meandering and served no real purpose it was as childs said a bloated version of KENTA vs SUWA It is still a match that i would recommend but not one that is a great match as it could well have been as there was great stuff in there. ***1/2