nivvad

It would be hard to argue that Sugiura hasn't had the most consistently greatest Japanese title reign this year. Sugiura has somehow been able to tap into a part of himself that can pull out fantastic title matches, all while elevating his opponents even when he beats them, at his older age. Nakajima was fantastic here too as he was very disrespectful towards the champ for most of the match, but it would be that charismatic cockiness that would cost him. Nakajima had the match won multiple times, either with the knock out punt, or hitting his Vertical Spike, but Nakajima just wanted to keep on beating down the unbreakable champ. The finish comes a little out of nowhere, but I can't say it was dissatisfying as Nakajima truly got what he deserved in the end, ****1/2.

I completely appreciate the sentiment that was brought with this match. Did it reach the epic levels that I was hoping for? Probably not. Cody being a third wheel made this match very awkward, and you could totally feel it in the once again lukewarm crowd. I really enjoyed the work all three men put in though. Cody brought a more athletic self to the match in order to keep up with Kenny and Ibushi, and the Lovers steadily built the tension to a boiling point of Ibushi snapping on Kenny. Speaking of Kenny, he did a great job in being the more dominant one in the match as was expected of the powerful champ. They got a little over their heads with a few sloppy spots, but the narrative kept things nice and concise. If the crowd had been more into this, I bet this would've been a classic, ****1/2.

Jay is finally finding his stride and I'm finally here for it. I was a big Jay fan when he returned, I dug his aesthetic and move set, but crowd connection was missing. Along comes the G1, and he throws away having a good enough match for the sake of gaining heat which drastically turned me off. Following Kobe though, he's finally putting all the pieces together, and this match with Tanahashi proves it. He kicked old man Tana's ass for most of the match, and Gedo's presence also added a lot to Tanahashi's comebacks. Thankfully Jay wasn't beaten too definitively because it would've killed his momentum. Not to mention the after match shenanigans is great booking, ****1/2.

This was a really great match for the vacant Junior Heavy title. I really dug their match in the BOSJ months ago, but this match was probably even better. Not as technical as I had hoped but still very physical, and they built the drama well with KUSH and his hurt hands. Unfortunately the crowd was a bit meak throughout the match which brought the atmoshphere down. Both of these guys were voted 3rd and 4th in the poll as to who they wanted to win, so unfortunately they didn't really care who won this match, ****1/4.

Golden Lovers would easily take the tag team of the year if they were more consistent with their incredible match ouput. Four of the best wrestlers in the world in one match? Of course this would be incredible. It would be shallow of me to say this had no story and was basically a match where each guy played their greatest hits. I liked the subtle build up to Omega and Okada throwing down again because it felt worth it when they finally got a few minutes to show off their incredible chemistry again. Of course, any combo of these four men have incredible chemistry. Though the match was entirely inconsequential in the end, this was still one of my favorite tag team matches of the year, ****3/4.

Death, taxes, Marty and Will have a banger of a match. Two guys from the UK who have mastered the art of pro wrestling, and this match was another example of it. Mostly a bomb fest with lots of big moves, but not for naught as Ospreay had to bump and sell more to make Marty look strong as the victor. Hopefully from here on out Ospreay finally moves up to the heavies, ****1/2.

Easily the best ROH singles match this year which isn't surprising considering it has Will Ospreay in it. Don't get me wrong, I think Jay is a great talent, but Ospreay was the clear star of this match, and maybe that was the point of the story told throughout it. If you have any doubts about WIll Ospreay transitioning very well into a heavyweight, then this match could probably change your mind. No excessive dives, no dangerous spots, just an awesome ROH title match which is what the promotion desperately needs more of, ****1/2.

My favorite match of the tournament so far. Kento Miyahara vs Jake Lee is going to be one of those feuds that produces an all time classic eventually, but this match was no slouch either. I loved seeing Jake kick in Kento's chest, and I loved seeing Kento rise from the dead to deliver some brutal strikes back. It will probably be a one sided feud mind you where Kento wins most of the matches, but Lee still comes out looking great in the end, ****1/2.

While their 2018 matches have been far away from their best stuff, Tanahashi and Okada still know how to keep things fresh in and out of context of their matches. The tables had flipped in their characters from their Dontaku match, so the sense of struggle that came from both men was very intense. They wanted to make this match about selling the knees, and for the most part they did that, except Okada who was pretty mediocre at it. His character work more than made up for it though as he was a desperate man who wanted his chance at the spotlight again and would even take the crowds dismay to do it. They didn't rely on flashy tricks this time around as it felt more like a Tanahashi match in the best ways. I even love the nod to Nakamura with that Avalanche HFF finish. Don't even get me started on the after match storyline twist, ****3/4.

Lethal and Gresham have had several underrated matches just this year alone, but this was their best outing yet. The first half is a little bland as nothing much happens, but the drama really starts kicking up when Gresham starts working Lethal's arm. You could really feel the tension increase dramatically once Gresham got that first fall, but Lethal wasn't going to let that loss affect him too much. I loved the storytelling with the Figure Four as the foreshadowing of the move eventually became the dealbreaker of the match. The 5 minute overtime was also a great way to finish the match in the best way possible. Gresham is a vastly underrated talent in the wrestling world, so I hope this match is the one to catapult him into bigger opportunities, ****1/2.

You don't usually see amazing matches like this tag match on Road To shows. Of course, considering the talent involved, all of whom have had multiple MOTYC, it was expected for this match to be tear down the house. I have to give the MVP award to Ospreay of all people in this match because he really delivered on the offense he was allowed. He took the opportunity and made himself seem equal to his partner and his opponents. Just thinking about it, this might be the best match of the tour, and it's just getting started, ****3/4.

This didn't quite reach the levels of their G1 classic, but it was still a hell of a 2nd defense for Kenny. The one thing that obviously keeps me from giving this a perfect rating is the fact that they just had to go 30 minutes. Ishii is someone who thrives in 20 or below minute matches, so forcing him to go longer will noticeably affect the pacing, which did happen. I wouldn't call the middle of the match "filler", but it was definitely missing the urgency of their G1 match. That said though, I loved the story of Kenny quickly trying to go for the kill this time around, and he kept that pace up for as long as he could. Ishii played a great underdog in countering Kenny's tricks and even tried to add insult to injury in several spots. I can't fault the competitors for going 30 minutes because it's a New Japan problem in general, but that doesn't mean I didn't find this match spectacular, ****3/4.

Akiyama and Aoki make their way back to NOAH in over 5 years. This was a bitterness fueld match as Sugiura and Harada quickly let their feelings towards the All Japan outsiders be known very early in the match. This was very physical with lots of signature stuff from both teams. The closing stretch with Sugiura and Akiyama was great, and I hope it leads to a big singles match soon, ****1/2.

Sorry, but when he's in that Emerald Green ring, I will refer to him as KENTA. Getting the negatives out of the way first, this was structured like every KENTA vs Marufuji match post-2006 was structured, which was to put on the most "epic" match possible. They didn't accomplish that, but I can't deny how great this match was. The chemistry was still there, and they beat the hell out of each other like it was still the mid-2000s. Also in a way I feel like KENTA was holding back quite a bit. He wasn't as stiff as I remember him being. It was a nice little one off though, and I'm curious where this match takes NOAH next, ****1/2.

I'll be damned if all these guys in one match can't have a spectacular match in only 12 minutes. I can see quite a few people not liking this, but for what it was, it was pretty incredible. Everyone got time to shine, even Bandido who thankfully got to do his spots. I heard the original plan for this match was to go almost half an hour, but what we got was probably just as good, ****1/2.

On one hand I thought this match was fantastic, but on the other I don't think they should've gone on as long as they did. It shouldn't have eaten time for the main event, but I guess that's what happens when you have Okada on the show. Looking at the match more positively, this was a very well executed match about Marty trying to prove he can beat the great Okada. It was a classic Okada match with a slow build to an exciting climax with cool sequences and great nearfalls. Loved the addition of Tiger Hattori too, ****1/2.

Easily match of the night that lived up to the dream match. This had a very quick pace from the onset with Penta taking Omega out of his comfort zone into brawling territory. The rest of the match Omega would get bursts of momentum here and there before Penta quickly destroyed him once again. It was a really great clash of personalities with some mind blowing moves and kick outs, ****1/2.

This match completely lives up to the hype if you are familiar with the NOAH main event style and wrestlers. Shiozaki and Sugiura are two guys who have a large history together in the company. Their most recent outings against each other were tainted by Suzuki-gun, so this was their chance to have the epic match everyone knew they could have. It's physical, it's emotional, but at no point does it get boring. Shiozaki gives his literal everything in this match, putting on a performance that you rarely see from him. This is easily the best "pure" NOAH match in years, ****3/4.

Zeus's first title defense is a tough one as he faced the very dominant Ishikawa. It's a shame the attendance for this show was poor as both guys put on an incredible main event that was full of bombs and stiff strikes. As much as I can say Zeus has improved greatly over the past year, Ishikawa put on an even better performance. The match did go a bit overkill by the end, but it made Zeus look very credible as a retaining champ in the end, ****3/4.

Easily the best match of Miyu's long reign. Not that it should be a surprise that the two arguably best wrestlers in the promotion put on a very great match. This all strikes as Miyu and Yuu just beat the piss out of each other with kicks and chops and impactful moves. The chemistry was on point, and it was pretty satisfying to see Miyu beat the one woman who ended her first reign, ****1/4.

This was a very good match with lots of storytelling and great chemistry between Bryan and Miz. Unfortunately the crowd wasn't all there which kind of brought the match down a bit. The potential is there for a classic, just need the right atmosphere, ****.

A dream match that I didn't expect to happen, but never say never I suppose as this match tore the house down. Two very physical behemoths finally collided in the UK of all places, but that didn't stop either man from tearing each other apart. Even though Ishii was coming off a very exhausting G1, he didn't phone it in at all and gave a great performance that you would expect from Ishii. WALTER was very good here too as his chops resonated throughout the building multiple times. None of the chops from Ishii even came close to sounding as loud as WALTERs. I was hoping for a future WALTER vs Suzuki matchup, but that will be the next dream match I hope eventually happens, ****1/2.

Because most of the time when it happens in Japan, it looks good. Gargano and Ciampa's sequence was painfully awkward and was the type of stuff you could see at your local indie. I'd probably be more leniant to someone like O'Reilly or Strong because their style is very physical compared to Gargano and Ciampa who's interpretation of "fighting spirit" is spamming Germans and Superkicks. Even Cole and Ricochet did the same sequence earlier in the night (which was also kind of awkward but didn't feel out of place) and it looked better. That sequence is also another problem that I kind of have with this feud. Neither guy has the ability to actually go full violence because they're both more concerned with hitting their spots.

This was a very good spot fest of a match, so I won't take that away from them. It really feels like this feud has become such a parody of itself at this point. The NOLA match was the perfect way to end this feud, but then it kept going, and going, and going for no other discernable reason than to just milk this feud for all it's worth. So because of that I had almost zero emotional investment in this match. Aside from that absolutely terrible "my turn your turn" sequence, this was a great weapons match with lots of destruction. The stupid finish at the end is also quite hilarious too. Praise this feud all you want, the udder is already dry at this point from my perspective, ****1/2.

I wish the crowd would've been more alive for this because this was a really good match. In all honesty, this match had the best storytelling of the night as it didn't have to rely on melodramatic towels or immature "darksides" to get their point across. It felt like a real fight with both women wrestling defensively and trying to play the submission game until it finally resulted on one woman gaining the win even if it was a lucky roll up, ****.