nivvad

Another crazy match between Shirai and Satomura. Arguably one of their weaker matches, that doesn't tell the whole story when this match was pretty amazing on it's own. You had the signature stuff from each women as they put on a very intense and physical fight. Satomura was very close to winning too, but the bell sounding a time limit draw took that away, ****1/2.

It doesn't matter what country they're in, both men know how to put on an awesome match with their insane chemistry. Zack doesn't usually get to work heel in Progress, so seeing him being such an annoying prick to WALTER was a refreshing take on his character in this specific promotion. The match was just as physical and intense as their usual matches are with WALTER chopping Zack into the next dimension, and the latter having to stray from his usual technical antics and go for a more diverse move set. Though the match was short, and not their best, this was still a fun watch from start to finish, ****1/2.

The first ever meeting between the Stone Pitbull and Mr Athletic himself in a great physical war. Jeff Cobb in New Japan can be a great thing, and there was no better example than Cobb showing he could not only match up to Ishii, but even dominate him at points. Cobb would be the perfect candidate to be in the G1, and I hope it’s this year, ****1/4.

A sort of dream match with the most underrated high flyer in the world vs the best high flyer in the world. Fox has been great in EVOLVE, so it’s cool to see him get a big chance to show off his skills against a great talent like Ospreay. Both guys had immediate chemistry with their athletic skills while not going too far with it. Fox’s clique thankfully didn’t prevent the match from a screwy finish with Ospreay getting the win, ****1/4.

An epic war of a match for Ilja's second title defense. Somewhat of a short match, but a total sprint spot fest from start to finish. There was a toooooon of chops from literally everyone, and even though it was mostly spots, all four guys managed to weave in their respective intertwining stories. Starr and WALTER went at it, Ilja and WALTER went at it, but Banks wasn't going to be left out as he also took the fight to each man. I would love to see singles title matches against Ilja in the future, ****1/2.

A big opportunity for Ben K to finally make a star out of himself in his first ever OTDG title match. In my opinion I think he proved that he is future top guy material because he was great in this match. The chemistry of Mochizuki's striking and experience factor played a great foil against Ben's shocking strength. Also, what I loved in this match was actual selling of a limb! That's right Mochi targeted Ben's arm throughout the match, and guess what? It played into the finish! Another star making title match for Mochizuki in a great title reign so far, ****1/2.

On a card that seemed very sub par at first glance, this main event seemed to be worth the wait because it delivered nicely. Taven and Scurll started off by having a slowish paced match to kill time, but once the other members of their respective teams started coming in is when things got crazy real quick. So many flips, dives, bodies and tables broken. Even Page Moonsaulting off of a balcony! Great main event to hype up the Anniversary show next week, ****1/2.

Austin Theory is going to be a star one day there is no doubt about that (hell he even had a WWE tryout just recently), and it was really apparent in this match as he had a pretty brutal grudge match with Zack. Theory isn't as technical as Zack, but he makes up for that with smooth agility and Priscilla Kelly by his side. Even with his valet by his side, he still managed to have a pretty even match with Zack as they just beat each other with full on disrespect, mainly instigated by Theory's heel work. Zack of course being the technical wizard kept on a barrage on Theory's leg which with some luck allowed him to capture Theory in a leg lock submission to retain his title, ****1/4.

It's pretty cool to see AR Fox back in the place where he made a name for himself. I'm glad Fox's posse by the way didn't get in the way of this match because it was a great match for Lee's title. Lee wasn't particularly as flippy as he could be because he was all about the physical punishment, but that was fine because Fox was the one flying everywhere doing some really cool moves. It was a struggle that saw Fox take Lee to the limit, but in the end the latter gets the pin with the Ground Zero out of nowhere for the win, ****1/4.

Personally, my favorite match between the the Limitless one and the Bro. Maybe it was the Reseda crowd that put this match more over than it actually was, but this was still a pretty insane match. I’d liken it to the Lee/Dijak match from BOLA the previous year as they both had lots of big man athleticism, and tons of no selling and finisher kick outs. If I’m being honest though, I prefer this Riddle/Lee match just because of how much better the flow was. After it was all said and done, it took all of Lee’s finishing moves to finally put down Riddle, ****3/4.

I honestly believe this match is arguably in the top 5 best PROGRESS tag team matches ever because this was pure insanity. Yeah, the match started off a bit comedic, but it progressively got crazier and crazier that it practically became a Kings Road worship match with so many strikes, head drops, and sequences from each man. Though David was the one pinned, he sure proved he isn't a weak link. Also, Matt Riddle vs Pete Dunne in PROGRESS fucking when, ****1/2.

I really don't care if the 205 crowd doesn't give a shit, I loved this match, and it's the best singles match Hideo has had in WWE thus far. I don't think either man should be stuck in the 205 division because their talent is bigger than that, but they still found a way to have a great match without the usual WWE restrictions. In shocking fashion Roddy was able to get the upset, ****1/4.

Maybe it's just because both men made names for themselves there, but this match felt like a PWG match with how crazy it got. Surprisingly awesome chemistry between both men, yet I shouldn't be surprised since both men are especially talented. Not your standard big vs small guy as Lee sold really well for Bailey, ****1/2.

A very heated match with a kind of clunky outcome of a match. I say that as a good thing though as the sloppy grappling was very intense with both men throwing their signature strikes here and there too. Zack was especially brutal as he was a man on a mission to declare dominance in OTT for future events later in the show, ****1/4.

Sad to see Tam go, but still a great faction warfare match. Things started with a decent pace with Sumire taking the piss out of AZM and ultimately eliminating her. Things really got good of course when Io got in, and she had a great showing with Kagetsu as they are pretty much the best wrestlers in the match. Things progressed foward with Hana and HKZ putting on a great fight until the latter eliminated them both in a very scary spot. It eventually came down to Tam and Momo fighting with pride on the line in a pretty stiff battle. Alas Momo came out on top thus unfortunately Tam had to leave Oedo, ****1/4.

This was awesome to watch all four very talented individuals put on a stiff tag team war. A bit sloppy at times, but I think that added to how physical the match would become. Each man had time to shine, and I'm glad Suzuki didn't have any SZGN goons around to hamper the match. In a surprise twist SZGN take the tag belts thus making Zack a double champ, ****1/2.

A rivalry that started down under finally comes to the UK. This match was pretty bonkers as both guys did some incredibly dangerous moves, especially with Will bumping all over the fucking place to make Brooks look as great as possible, but it's safe to say he doesn't really need the help since he's great on his own. Brooks made a great impression and hopefully sticks around for a while, ****1/4.

This overdelivered BIG, and arguably stole the show. You have four of the best not just junior heavyweights in the world, but some of the best wrestlers in general, so of course this was going to be the crazy spot fest I had hoped for. Scurll and Ospreay were definitely the stars of the match surprisingly as the former played up the heel work very well, and the latter was the one doing all the amazing spots like that fucking insane Moonsault off the scaffolding. Hiromu and KUSHIDA also had time to shine with the former actually getting the least out of all four men. Definitely an upset win for Ospreay, but it was the perfect finish to get his revenge on Scurll, ****3/4.

The rematch between two greats from two different (yet similar) worlds clashing once again. This match was very similar to their first Champion Carnival finals match, but with some slight differences. Marufuji was much more cocky this time around, which would probably lead to his inevitable loss later on. Also there was a lot more selling from both men in this match than in the previous one. Unfortunately for Marufuji, the dream of being Triple Crown and GHC champion at the same time was thwarted by Kento’s undying resilience to hold onto his title, ****1/2.

“Shit Finn Balor” isn’t so shit anymore. In all honesty though this is the first Devlin match I have seen since his lackluster performance in the WWE UK tournament, but it’s obvious in this Sabre match that he’s vastly improved. He showed great intensity and psychology in dealing with his injured wrist, which was a major target for Zack. Speaking of Zack, he was ironically the killer in this match as he super predacious in trying to annihilate Devlin body part by body part. The story they told and the physical war they waged on each other set for an awesome title match main event where Devlin survived by a hair. Looking forward to seeing where Devlin takes his momentum next, ****1/2.

The second of two WrestleMania weekend rematches in an OTT ring. First off, I’ll say I much preferred their WrestleCon match to this one. They just did a lot more physical stuff, and the crowd was quite a bit hotter. Not to knock this match though as it was still very fun stuff with what you would expect from both men, and that was a very physical battle. In all seriousness though, I need Cobb in the G1 ASAP, ****.

You can’t ever expect Ospreay and Riddle NOT to have an awesome match. This OTT match played off their EVOLVE match from a month prior, but they didn’t have the drama of Will’s neck to build off of this time around. That said, both men brought a considerable amount of intensity and urgency to beat the hell out of each other in hard strikes and crazy moves. Loved the storytelling towards the end with Riddle’s urgency backfiring on him as it led to Ospreay getting his win back from the former, ****1/2.

Fun little match that I didn't expect to be as good as it was, especially for a TV match. Jeff and Bryan had very good chemistry which was surprising to see too. Love Bryan's new heel hook sumbmission too, ***3/4.

I might not love this match as much as others, but it was still a pretty good brawl of a match. I will admit the first 5 or so minutes are really hot with Hiromu and Desperado beating the hell out of each other. After that though the match slows down for Desperado to work on Hiromu, and this is where the match doesn’t live up to the hype imo. Basically, both guys just did moves, and not in an exciting way. I’ve never been a fan of the typical SZGN shenanigans either, so the finish was pretty lame imo, especially for a main event. Very good stuff, but could’ve been way more heated, ****.

It is super refreshing to see a straight up technical match in a New Japan ring again. Ever since KOR left, KUSHIDA hasn’t had anyone up to par on his technical level, but thankfully he had Scurll to be up against (even if the latter was still more goofy than usual). It wasn’t all chaining any ground work though as both guys got very physical. There was some great arm work from Scurll on KUSHIDA’s arm too with the latter selling really well. A little anticlimactic with the finish, but still a great match, ****1/4.