nivvad

It wouldn’t be an understatement to say that ACH is really bringing it in this year’s tournament. Of course, being injured isn’t something I would wish on someone like ACH, but it has really allowed him to show his more physical side instead of relying on his athleticism. Very good match with Ospreay being as great as usual, and ACH really hanging at that level with him, ****.

Two former tag team partners go at it once again for the KOD title. This started out a little slow with some ok outside brawling, but once they got in the ring is when things got good. Irie worked very well on top with his physical style, but I think it was Ishii who stole the show with his come back. You could feel the emotion between the two from the start of the match till even afterwards when Ishii refused to shake Irie's hand, ****1/4.

Keith Lee's final EVOLVE match in a title match against arguably his greatest rival, Matt Riddle. If you've seen the other matches between these guys, then you should know how physical match this would be. There was also plenty of callbacks to previous matches, even their PWG match, to build a great story from start to finish. Hate to see Lee go, but what a match to bow out on, ****1/2.

Holy christ if you think their first match was crazy then you have to watch this rematch. Much longer and for the belt this time around, but still all around a very physcial big lads match with the best of both guys. It might've gone overkill by the end with finisher spam and no sells galore, but the crowd was still eating everything up by the end. If Lee needed one final crazy match to finish off his indie career, then it was this match, ****3/4.

SHO hits it really hard with his first ever BOSJ singles match. This match was just really great with both guys mixing several different styles in one match. My favorite part was probably the arm work they did on each other as it built the drama very well. I've noticed it before, but SHO really brings an intensity to matches he's involved in, and he really let it show here. Dragon Lee was as great as always albeit a bit more sloppy than usual because of his leg. Here's to hoping both guys pull out some more great matches, ****1/4.

Marty and Hiromu are two very talented wrestlers imo, and while I didn't get the amazing epic I had thought I would get, this was still very enjoyable. The main problem I really had was both guys relying too much on their respective schticks to create some psychology, but it didn't grab me all that much. Also Marty's heat segment went a bit too long. Besides that, this match was still very great with cool spots here and there. Neither man felt on their A game for this match, but they still managed to put on a great main event, ****1/4.

Unsurprising to everyone, Taiji gave Ospreay his first singles loss in Japan since last year. What was surprising to me though was the length of the match. Maybe that is in the booking to make Taiji look as strong as possible, but both guys were still able to pull out a very good match in the time length they were given. Taiji really makes the new heel turn work, and Ospreay was as athletic as usual. A rematch between these guys very soon is guaranteed, ****.

This was not a match I had expected to be as good as it was. With two guys very well known for being high flyers, I expected this to try and imitate the Ricochet vs Ospreay matches from previous years. Ironically it wasn't as spotty as I thought it would be which allowed both guys to bring more standard wrestling into the mix. ACH in particular was great here. Flip was good too, but a little more awkward than usual. Hope to see both of these guys tear it up in the tournament, ****.

Kzy is finally getting the big singles push, and even has his own faction right behind him, and this match against one of the top DG guys was his latest test. It wasn't as crazy as the match with Mochizuki a few months ago, but Kzy still managed to put up a pretty fair fight against the just as crafty YAMATO. Discussing who needed the win more is for another time, but Kzy still managed to show he can hang with the main eventers, ****.

Shingo against Yoshino isn't a singles match you get to see very often, but it's always a great time when they clash. Seeing Yoshino warp around the ring at high speeds against Shingo's amazing power and timing makes for some great chemistry. Unfortunately for Yoshino, Shingo's power was just too much. He didn't even need to use interference to get the clean pin either, ****1/4.

Keith and Zack have a pretty underrated chemistry to be honest. While I wouldn't say it's on the level of WALTER vs Zack matches, Keith and Zack can still have pretty fun matches in any promotion. I like the psychology of Zack needing to work extra hard to get those locks and submissions on Big Keith, who dismisses Zack most of the time. I think Keith should've given Zack a cleaner pin for his last Progress match (for the mean time), but the roll up upset was cool too, ****.

The first Ohno standout match of the tournament against the mighty Tyler Bate whom is also WWE affiliated (un)coincidentally. Really fun match to say the least with Ohno working mostly on top which led to some great comebacks from Tyler. Not exactly the greatest hits from either man in this match, but they still managed to build up to a great upset for Tyler in the end, ****.

Only a month after their acclaimed WXW Shotgun match, and Starr and Zack go on to have another great match in Europe for the SSS16 tournament this time around. I really liked Starr struggling with Zack's technical work, so to try to gain his own momentum he used the striking power in his lariats. It was a lost cause though as Zack eventually trapped Starr in a finishing submission for the win, ****1/4.

After a pretty alright tournament, the final match thankfully delivered. Chris Hero vs Zack Sabre Jr is my favorite indie rivalry since Danielson vs McGuinness, and is at least in my top 5-10 all time rivalries, so I'm glad to see Hero and Zack go at it once again even if Hero's name was different this time around. I wouldn't say it was the best match between the two, but it was still an awesome battle of Ohno's strikes against Zack's skill that the former knows so well. I would've liked to have seen a more decisive win for Zack, but I'm just glad to see both men have one more match for the time being. If not, then Zack finally ends this amazing feud with a one up victory, ****1/2.