Makai Club #1

They had a story. They wrestled to that story and the fans that like these two will probably like it. But as someone who dislikes one of the wrestlers and doesn’t find the other interesting anymore, this came off so badly. They had one of the dullest, most dry walk and brawls I can remember. It all dragged out unnecessarily long. They tried to segment the match into three areas of the performance centre but each time it was the same - boring wrestling. The portion in the gym had potential but it was super uncompelling and awkward at times. Orton hanging Edge sounds like a killer moment but it came off as so flat. There was no spark or magic. And it wasn’t a crowd issue, it was an Edge and Randy Orton issue. Edge, god bless him, tried to inject something into this match but unfortunately it came in the form of cringe inducing facial expressions. It totally reminded me why I hate him as a wrestler. This was really bad, and I don’t see any value in it past it ending the feud. It reminded me of Bad Blood 04’s Hell In A Cell match. Everything was dragged out so much to the point where you couldn’t enjoy any aspect of it. Quite sad. DUD

I enjoyed it on some ironic level and I was kind of hoping that it's come full circle into legit enjoyment but the whole match was so messy it could've ever stop stepping on its toes. The trash talking was so bad. It's like they saw the Taker/AJ match and decided to do more of that. Taker vs AJ did it in a more natural way and in away that doesn't come across as so lame. Shouts of "HE'S GOT A BAD NECK" just makes me incapable of taking the wrestling seriously. The portion where they wrestled on top of the truck was so illogical. They had a super kick exchange/double sell spot on top of the truck. They didn't make any use of it at all, there was no purpose for Ciampa to lure Gargano on the truck. He didn't try to throw him off. He didn't slam him on the roof or anything. The only point of the truck was so they could have their signature spot on a truck rooftop. And that sums up the match for me. It was done so it'd be a cool visual and thats it. The finish was so bad. Russo-riffic swerves that make zero sense. Why did Candice LeRae only now coming out to stop the match? Why did she low blow Gargano in the balls only to do it to Ciampa a few minutes later? Why didn't she just do it to Ciampa then? Her acting for the entire bit was horrific, too. Primary school level. No conviction, no believability. This was clearly a physical match. They bumped big, they wailed each other with weapon shots but it was done in a way that takes all that away. Ciampa took the crutch shots like a champ - god bless him - but the crutch use is so passe at this point in the feud. The ring boards being exposed meant absolutley nothing in the match outside of a visual pin for Ciampa. It was just there. It means nothing to me by this point. And it takes away from the good parts of the match that could've worked if there was something to these spots. Bad match. I had fun watching but just writing this review showed to me just how bad this match was.

Looks like this is the start of the great feud between Tito and Valentine. It’s their first meeting since 1979 if cagematch is to be believed and they’d continuously have title matches until late 85. I love this rivalry. It’s maybe one of the best Intercontinental championship feuds of all time given its length, story (leg break) and great matches. It’s in for a shout certainly. The chemistry between the two comes off instantly. The opening exchange was full of intensity and struggle from a single arm wringer to a missed elbow. Valentine in typical fashion attacks the legs of Tito as well as the stomach a little which Tito sells really well, always staggering around when on his feet, struggling to stand. The work from Valentine looks really snug and nasty. Tito makes really energetic comebacks with his fist shaking but it’s all deliberately paced too because Tito’s still recovering from being on the defensive for the whole match. The 20 minute time limit ran out (it was around 16 minutes in reality and the graphics prior to the match said it was a 60 minute time limit so wtf?) in an lame way. Valentine was working the leg and then the bell rang. Flat ending to a real fun match. ***1/2

On the big stage, they went all out for it with a big pomp and circumstance finishing stretch. Nearfall that felt warranted and earned for the occasion. Great back and forth wrestling with Ibushi's reckless abandonment style against HARASHIMA’s deliberate style meshing superbly well. Great match. ****1/4

I thought this was fine. Sami running away from fun. Bryan slapping Sami was good too. Nowhere nearly as good as it should've been though. ***

Okay. It's time to add my two cents into this match. This has got to be one of the most unique matches of all time. Also one of the more talked about NOAH matches since the 00s. It has warranted tons of discussion from non-NOAH fans. Mostly good. And most of that comes from the way the match was worked. It was different. I'm a big sucker for unconventional matches. Unconventional media, in fact. Films, books, TV shows, even wrestling. Any subversion of a formula brings my intrigue straight away (Ironically my favourites are mostly formula driven but still). This didn’t need gimmicks to do that. And it's not even different because of the empty arena because that has become normal now. This was a normal title match between the champion and the challenger. It has a simple enough premise. However the match kicks off with a staredown. A long staredown. Think Riki Choshu vs Shinya Hashimto 97 in the Dome. It kicks off with a long staredown, but even longer than you’d expect. It was nearly thirty minutes long. It plays off Fujita previously staring holes into his opponents as a form of mind games. And I like that. It can border on pretentious in the wrong hands, and maybe Fujita is a wrong hand in some eyes, but it worked in this case. One could argue that this is one of those matches that you need to watch without spoilers or live. I don’t believe in that crutch honestly. The quality should shine through regardless, and this shines through. The match transitioned well from that with Fujita taking Shiozaki down and dominating him on the floor, obviously using his MMA training and experience to his advantage. But the appeal of this bit was Go forcefully trying to overcome that. Not taking the easy escape of the rope breaks, forcing his way through. Showing that pride of a champion. Another example of Go being defiant was him not selling the punt kick from Fujita. A big blow for him going back from even his original New Japan run. So that was pretty insane. And this was the story for most of the second half, I’d say. Fujita would throw some big strikes (elbows, slaps, etc) and Go would just keep coming back. I like how the finish plays on your expectations of a 60 minute time limit. Similar to Flair/Steamboat II. You expect a 60 minute time limit when you’re 57 minutes into the match but they don’t do that. Go overcomes the obstacle and reigns victories. In this case, I think the match would have benefited big time with a crowd but it was a good closing stretch regardless. The match had some big pluses. Great moments where I was invested all the way and loved. Go no selling the hard strikes hooked me big time. The staredown was a joy to watch. Perhaps could’ve been shorter but it works well into the match and it made the initial exchange feel significant. However, the match had its flaws. The match had to shoehorn in a crowd brawling section into the match with Fujita attempting to throw Go over the balcony. It wasn’t all that exciting or interesting. It could’ve easily been thrown out. Great match that is something that you won’t see often and is perhaps uneasy on the eyes but was something that I found enjoyable to watch. Far from an all time classic, in my opinion. But a great match that warrants looking at. ****

Millenials aren't heels - I don't know if that helps or not. Mad Blankey are the heel unit of Dragon Gate and there is only one heel unit at a time usually. Millenials are more tweenerish, I'd say.

5 lashes for the losing team. If The Midnight Express loses, Cornette gets lashes as well!! This was a combination of their other matches. The Midnight Express acting all cowardly and bumping huge for the face team when they do try and wrestle them initially. The crowd, as always, is hot for Magnum who uses it perfectly to make everything he does feel BIG. Eaton especially is excellent at throwing himself about and absorbing tons of damage. Eaton does these scrambling for cover spots and I always get a kick out of it. Mr Wrestling II goes wild with a chair after Eaton misses with it and the crowd eats it up. Eventually the MNX gained some control and cut off Magnum perfectly from Mr Wrestling II, going back to the grounded hammerlock that got them success in the prior match. The hot tag is made and it looked like Mr Wrestling II was about to pin Condrey but Magnum accidently got the ref distracted, preventing the cover from being made and Eaton took advantage and pinned Mr Wrestling II with Cornette pushing his foot off the bottom rope. Booo! One of my favourite things about these amtches is that it always has a “Do not throw anything in the Sam Huston coliseum” announcement by Paul Boesch. To Magnum and II’s credit, they take the lashes without much complaint. Eaton doing crying impressions in the background while Cornette and Condrey mockingly do “Two” chants was gold. Great match and great angle. ****

This was an excellent follow up from their Triple Crown title match in 92. One of my main criticisms of the match would be Misawa hitting the TD early, which while unexpected, was honestly something that didn’t have much prevalence as Kawada would control the match a few minutes later. However, I liked them playing from their first encounter with more strikes and big blows. Kawada was excellent with his targeting of Misawa’s neck with brutal downward elbows to the area, wrenching chin locks and eventual setups to the Stretch Plum. Kawada fought with great strategy effort too. He knew when to take his time and when to urgently follow up with his attacks. At first he’d wait patiently after Misawa rolls outside for a reprieve and then attack instantly as he gets into the ring. And when Misawa catches Kawada out doing that method, he’d learn from it and attack him on the outside too. He was very explosive when he was going back and forth with Misawa later in the match too. Loved their competitive stretches of offence, like the rams into the turnbuckle and the elbow blows which Kawada would actually win. Misawa was really good working from beneath, putting over Kawada’s work, working desperately with his big elbows and facelocks. The submission work by both men was excellent too. The crowd really latched on whenever the face lock or the stretch plum was locked on. The finish was really clever. The nearfalls of both the Tiger Driver and Powerbomb were effective and then doing a KO finish from a Misawa elbow gave it a big exclamation point. You can definitely feel the escalation of their feud from friendly rivalry to slightly nasty and bitter. ****1/4

Loved this a ton. A large portion of it was the two battling out on the mat struggling for either the cross arm breaker or sasori-gatame with sporadic on the feet slaps and high impact offence. It was pretty engrossing to watch, I thought. Tenryu twisting Choshu's wrist as a defence for the sasori-gatame is my type of wrestling. The little slap fests were fun. They really added to the intensity both radiate. Tenryu hitting a quick folding powerbomb and dropping Choshu on how neck was awesome as well. The finish was classic 80s Puro Wrestling with a bloody Tenryu, selling it all in the process, being pummpled by Choshu who snaps and pushes the ref causing the DQ. What isn't typical Japanese wrestling is Hara coming out and attacking both Choshu and Tenryu. Weird. ****1/4

This was super good. The only thing the match lacked was much interest from the crowd initially. The rest made for a very tight and compact match. They escalated from duel mat wrestling, starting from wrist locks into Gulak working on the famously injured neck of Bryan and into some scary suplexes. Gulak slamming Bryan’s head into the mat when Bryan tried to do the WOS handstand counter was great. He locked on some great moves but his focus was also very suplex heavy. Bryan hit a great looking Dragon Suplex which Gulak matches by launching Bryan on his neck. Bryan’s selling was pretty good - a little too realistic at times with him feeling his fingers. The finish with the Gu-Lock counter into the Yes Lock was a great explanation point to finish the match off with. ****

Incredibly fast start with Magnum and Mr Wrestling II attacking the MNX while they are still in their robes and totally beat them pillar to post for the opening five minutes. The Midnight Express do the recover on the outside spot but Magnum chases Eaton around the ring, putting a stop to that and causing the MNX to panic even further. The crowd continued to go mental for Magnum punching Eaton’s face when the match finally began to get some order. Mr Wrestling II does the same thing to an even bigger reaction. This is all sold really well by the Midnight Express who are flying everywhere selling, desperately scrambling for cover and cheating whenever they can. MNX are their usual great selves when they work over Mr Wrestling II with some great tag team work that gets great heel heat from the crowd and even elicits a bizarre “TWO” chant. Magnum TA gets a small hot tag but the MNX regained control before Magnum got himself DQ’d with a 2x4, which will lead to a rematch next month. The energy was crazy with the crowd being into EVERYTHING, very little downtime and great wrestling all round. ****

This was super good. It was slowly built but unlike the other slow MVC, this was still compelling and wasn’t filled with aimless amature style holds. Misawa vs Williams was set up nicely at the start before Williams pinned him for the win. The FIP section with the MVC working over Kawada was super compelling, with the offence being super snug with Kawada relying on kicks and holds to keep Gordy at bay. The finishing stretch was good with the duel facelock/stretch plum by the champions and it built well to the Oklahoma Stampede finish. ****

I must say. Akiyama is a great addition to these Tsuruta Gun vs SGA matches. A new name, fresh ideas and moves and someone that’s got more flexibility. Akiyama shows that in the big first part of the match. First exchanging some headlocks and takeovers with Kikuchi and then double teaming with Ogawa on Kobashi. Kobashi was pretty great in this I thought. He chained some great moves together in a big stretch. The match overall built superbly to a big closing stretch with Kikichi hitting all he had to pin Akiyama. Great match. ****

It’s fun seeing Kikuchi not be the lowest one on the totem pole in this match with Akiyama in the mix. Kikuchi went to town on young Jun. I’m pretty sure he fluffed a landing on the cross body and landed on Akiyama’s face. Kikuchi gets put back in his place by Fuchi however. There was some good stuff between them - I really like tests of strengths and they did a few in the beginning. Kobashi and Taue have some great exchanges down the stretch of the match as well. Kobashi also beating the hell out of Akiyama with stiff chops and then throwing Kikuchi on him was great. Note: I was typing this as the match progressed and I take back what I said about Kikuchi not being the lowest on the totem pole as Akiyama pins him. Poor Kikuchi. A good match but I thought it was a little tepid at times with Misawa coasting in the background while the other two put in the effort. Tsuruta Gun was a nice functioning team at least. ***1/2

Let's get the flaws out of the way first, the match lost steam around the 50 minute mark before picking back up in the last 2-3. Understandable but when the rest of the match is so exciting and so energetic, it's noticeable. It's very minor though because 50+ minutes of a 60 match being some of the most fun you can have watching wrestling negates it all. This was pretty fantastic. It's the epitome of the style. It has superb, snug mat work with great counters and most of all strategy with Fujinami mostly working on the leg of Inoki. There was a ton of emphasis on takedowns too. And heavy strikes that popped me big - Fujinami no selling the hard punches had me jumping around in shock and excitement. That's goddamn stubbornness right there, and then his sell of the following enziguri was also great. The sporadic strike exchanges all came at the perfect time and added to the ever rising drama. The high spots were all great. The struggle for the suplex on the top rope, Fujinami barrage of moves (that drop kick early on~! ), etc, etc. Going back to the aforementioned leg work, Inoki's selling was excellent - he in general was brilliant in everything he did from his transitions from hold to hold, his strikes, mat wrestling and selling was all up-to standard. He's limping was a constant presence. You don't need to be writhing in agony on the floor, although Fujinami's figure four which was still locked on when both fell out of the ring probably warranted it that level of selling (ouch). Fujinami was a king with his facial expressions, his fiery spurts of offence, his technique, everything. Inoki is a near god in New Japan and Fujinami didn't look out of place against him. Both brought it big time. The finishing run with Fujinami taking Inoki to his limit, refusing to lose to Inoki once again and thus keeping the title was great storytelling, and made for great significance for the promotion and Fujinami himself. *****

Huh, Tito Santana. It’s weird seeing WWF contracted guys on NWA shows such as these. I would only guess that Vince didn’t reign his guys in until the big push for mainstream attention later in the year. I love Tito. He’s one of my favourite wrestlers of the time period and it’s always super fun. Ditto for Butch Reed. A great power guy with super good technical ability and agile for his size. He is a former two time Mid-South North American champion. We get some classic Tito fire kicking off the match complete with arm drags and an armbar before they struggle for headlock control. Reed hit a brutal belly to back suplex with Tito landing on his neck with so much force. Tito really sells this superbly on the outside, fighting and struggling to get back in the ring and beat the count. From that point forward, this was all Butch Reed working the neck. Reed uses his big massive frame to great advantage, using it for extra weight and leverage while in a grounded front facelock. The match builds to the Tito comeback really well with some great hope spots for him and good cut offs from Butch Reed. The crowd chants for Tito when starts his initial comeback and pops big when he hits the flying forearm and pins Butch Reed. Great match. Tito Santana was predictably great as the sympathetic face, working from beneath. His selling was good and his comebacks were awesome. Butch Reed did some great work on the neck as well. Great effort all round. ****

I really liked this until it hits that last big closing stretch as it drags on a little too long. The selling and big spots were all good - no complaints there - it just felt overan to me. The match in the build upto that is surpsingly great with tons of emphasis on selling from Shinzaki who got cut by a Izumida headbutt. Loved how the champs' offence was mostly headbutts, targetting the cut. And it wasn't no-selling headbutts either, Shinzaki was out on his feet and struggling to stand at times. He was really good as the sympathetic FIP. Hayabusa hit his amazing looking highspots. That dive in the crowd to Izumida was both graceful and looked painful and the Firebird splash was predictably gorgeous looking. ***3/4

This is the last show of GAEA Japan with two big retirements happening. Chigusa Nagayo and Sakura Hirota. What a way to end. And Hirota goes out the only way she can. Sakura Hirota doing a Tiger Mask cosplay is the funniest thing you'll ever see. All the Tiger Mask routines are done in hilarious fashion, in addition to some dancing but honestly, Ozaki's reaction is what kills me. She is so bemused at Hirota and struggling not to laugh half of the time. The bit with Ozaki-Gun and the GAEA roster tripping both up when they ran the ropes was a super fun spot that plays on the usual antics of Ozaki-Gun. Great pay off too with Yumi Ohka (???) getting confused and tripping up Ozaki. And the hits keep coming with the continuously failed spinning back fist attempts by Ozaki. There was a really good spot with Police where Hirota throws the tiger mask away and has a slap fight with him, leading to a big kiss. I can go on and on, this is a riot to watch. Well worth checking out if you're into comedy wrestling. Hirota goes all out for her retirement match (which would last around 5 years) and gives the fans the time of their lives. ****1/4

Fujiwara trainee vs Olympic Wrestler. Hell Yeah. The mat wrestling was really fun and the crowd popping big for that knee bar rules. Not much to say on this other than this was a really good match. ***1/2

I think this is one of the few times that I've seeked out a Hayabusa match to see what the crack is. I've watched him being in certain matches like the Onita one, the ECW tag, the All Japan tags he has with Shinzaki but this I seeked out specifically for him, my focus was on him. And he was alright, I came out prefering Tenryu which is fine. Hayabuysa bumped well for Tenryu and was a nice underdog who kept kicking out of moves. Tenryu was great. I loved the he'd wallop Hayabusa with a lariat. That tope was super fun to see as well. Hayabusa had some hope spots and that was really it. The one thing that stood out of his was the pele kicks. Both messy and precise. More of that. ***1/2

Giant Baba looks really big in this match. I know his name is Giant Baba but after not seeing him for ages, he looks so tall. Or maybe Kawada is just small. Anyway, its Baba’s time to shine against the current generation. Kawada threw a chop and Baba sold it in a way that was really funny but in a good way. I love facials when someone throws chops and he sells Kawada’s chops super well. The opening exchanges were fine, Baba has limitations and I’m fine to judge him within those limitations. He does a fine job, Misawa and Kawada bump well for the guy. Kobashi is a beast in this match with a big effort to help the load on Baba. Kobashi gets pinned, obviously but he puts up a hell of an effort as the fans were on his side. ***1/2

DDT Extreme Title Best Two Out Of Three Falls Hardcore Match: Daisuke Sasaki (c) vs Yuko Miyamoto First Fall: Great starting out point with Yuko Miyamoto dominating proccedings, making great use of the ladder at the start to gain the advantage, using it to attack the fingers, in which he'd then rip on them afterwards and backdropping Sasaki on his hip. Sasaki used the chairs to get some of the momentum back and hit some of his big moves and get the La Mistica Cross Facelock for the win Second Fall: Miyamoto went right back to the ladders to again get the advantage and hit some of that sick offence like his moonsault knees into the stomach. Sasaki tries some counters that helped him the last fall but he missed the elbow and Miyamoto kept hitting flash pins until he gets the win. Great short fall. Third Fall: I admired Daisuke Sasaki being willing to go all in on the brain truma and all the bumps he takes in this last fall. Miyamoto nailed Sasaki with a chair shot, he slammed his head into he stiff tables multiple times and takes a brutal Fire Thunder Driver through the same table. Sasaki stuck it out though and kept in it. Sasaki was "cheating" (choking is cheating in this context) the entire match but he channeled some great babyface charm with his selling and willingness to absorb as much as he does and keep on ticking. Miyamoto was great as well, alongside Sasaki. He puts his all into every big move and has great timing when cutting off Sasaki's hope spots. Great final peice to an overal great match. Over three falls, all different from each other, with great esclation from smart weapon use at the start into high level big bumps and offence for the final fall. Sasaki blanded his cheating antics with great babyface drive - he had great techinique, great selling and great hopespots. Miyamoto was very good as well. He didn't put a foot wrong in any regard. There was a few things that could've been devloped more like the finger work that lasts maybe 3 minutes, however, it wasn't needed a whole lot. Great outing. ****1/4

Big match Honda is something to see. If you don't watch DDT, you fully expect Honda, based on look and personality, to be a comedy guy, and he is but he is also so much more. He is also one of the best wrestlers in Japan when he turns into serious Honda. And he showed that in this match. The early work on Togo's arm/hand was really good. Constantly nagging at it with his nasty submission holds any chance he could get. Togo sells it really well as well. Even as Togo gain control, Honda still goes for the arm. Togo's cutoffs for Honda's offence was great. A nifty counter here, pure ruthlessness there. Not only that, I thought Togo, throughout the match, had some great facial expressions, particularly when dominating Honda. Great overall performance by Togo. The matchups in intensity as soon as Honda gets busted open, as Togo goes ham on the cut with his punches, splitting it up even more. The punching in the match is excellent. Honda's selling puts over Togo's punches tremendously well - very Lawler-esc, in my opinion. The punching combo from Honda's comeback was great and I liked how it allowed Honda to stay on offence for a much longer period of time than most comebacks too. Just a little extra touch that the match had. Another thing that was great about the match was its ability to create drama. Certain moves had to be earned for like the punch from the second rope or the octopus stretch. The finishing stretch was excellent and allowed everything in the match to build perfectly. I think there isn't many matches that can stick with you even after months since you last seen this match. *****

I don't blame Taker for the finish, I blame Shawn Michaels for not DQ'ing Rock after Taker chokeslams HHH, waiting for the Tombstone. That judgement call messed up the finish. Shawn Michaels ruining matches as ref continues to be a trope for the ages. The match overall isn't hurt because it's still pretty incredible. It's suprbly paced, putting the vastly overrated Hart/Shawn Ironman match to shame. It's always exciting and engaging to sit through. The big struggle at the start looked great, something I always love in my matches but made perfect sense for this match both psychology wise and for pacing reasons. They esclate the match superbly well with a deliberate pace into hot and heavy brawlling with great selling, great face and heel work and an extremly hot crowd. Every fall except the first one, because when does a normal main event end in 10 minutes, was great and felt earned. HHH was great in these. It's hard to wrestle a strategic match to the point but he does it so well with his offence, mannarisms and desperation. The commentary was on-point as well. Excellent match, the 60 minutes was practically a breeze ****1/2