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Makai Club #1

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  1. Makai Club #1
    This sounded really appealing on pap. Otsuka is a name I've seen little of but enough to know I like him. Ishikawa speaks for himself and Yone I love from NOAH. This was good. It's always wild seeing these types of matches being done in tag form and sometimes they work and sometimes they can be awkward but this was the former. They utilizes the tags well and did some great saves (which replaces pin saves). Greco and Ishikawa had some cracking exchanges on the mat, like where Greco was on top with Ishikawa leathering him with slaps. Yone showed some great fire even when taking the brunt of the offence. Otsuka offered his spunky offence as well. ***3/4
  2. Makai Club #1
    Kinda long but I dug it for the most part. The battle at the final few minutes was great. The striking and mat work was good, Sano still had some great strikes and Tanaka brought the determination and speed to the mix. ***1/4
  3. Makai Club #1
    Tricky match to gather thoughts on because the work is pretty good. The wrestling is stiff and violent, as expected. There was some good selling overall. The pacing didn't allow it to drag a whole lot despite being over 25 minutes. And there is a ton of history, not just in SEdLINNNG, but in Joshi in general. But ultimately, I was left cold by this. There was violence but it never sucked me into the match. The drama and emotion just simply wasn't there to carry the weight of the stipulation. At the end, I felt very little towards the match or the significance of what the result means, and I'm a fan of both women. The match was really good but it just didn't live up to what it was trying to achieve, imo. In a vacuum, as a normal match, this would've worked better (it has worked much better) - the early brawling was good, the strikes looked good, there was some nice escalation towards the end, etc - but when the match doesn't hook you whole hardheartedly, does that matter? I like aspects of the match, I just didn't love it overall. ***
  4. Makai Club #1
    This was high octane stuff. There was some great mat wrestling exchanges between Chono and Hase early on with the two struggle for holds. Add Muto to the mix as well, even if he isn’t known as a particularly great mat wrestler, he was pretty good here. Sasaki was excellent as the rabid dog that got unleashed every time he got in the ring. Even when Chono would school him with the STF, he still brought that scrappiness to the match. The back stretch of the match was superb. Very heated. Tons of nearfalls that were impossible not to get sucked into. Loved the brief heel psychology in the match with Muto attacking Hase, while illegal, when he had a scorpion deathlock on. A total breezy ride. ****1/2
  5. Makai Club #1
    Excellent stuff. The Great Muta gimmick can be hit and miss with me here but Muta was in full swing with his mannerisms, the difference in style and offence he did compared to his Keiji Muto matches. All was a big hit with me. Him kicking Hase’s ass, causing Hase to bleed heavily. Him throwing some great offence like his chops and back fists was great to see. Hase was a great contrast to Muta. Very straight laced, super babyface here - he great at rallying the crowd behind him, mounting fiery comebacks, along with the face soaked look he had half the match. Hase even was selling when on offence, occasionally stumbling around and upping the urgency of his offence to end the match. Muta getting DQ’d at the end was a perfectly fine finish as well. Protects both guys at this stage. ****1/2
  6. Makai Club #1
    A mega disappointment. Morishima was good on offence as he usually is but with the added interference disrupting the match and lowering Morihima’s performance, he can only do so much. And it doesn’t help that Nagata, who is normally a bright shining light of charisma, is virtually a robot in this. Didn’t make me care, he didn’t look like he cared himself and he is winning the title ffs. Bad match. **
  7. Makai Club #1
    Takeshi Morishima is a beast on top. Love Morishima because he offers something different offensively compared to the rest of the roster. His clubbing shots were great, he uses his weight and size very well. At one point he was able to turn a simple slam (as a counter to a KENTA move) and make it into an impactful game changing move. I like KENTA but he really didn’t do much to make me root for him. This is where he lacks compared to Marufuji. He is superb offensively but he doesn’t connect emotionally for me and he didn’t here either. With that being said, the finishing stretch was pretty nuts. A better KENTA performance and this would’ve been better. Morishima was excellent though. He brought it big for his title win. ***3/4
  8. Makai Club #1
    HARASHIMA defends the KO-D Openweight Title Another MOTYC from DDT Sweet Dreams 2014. This is just slightly lesser than their Peter Pan match because the match has a more forgettable start but I think the finishing stretch is in some ways superior. HARASHIMA being busted open by an Irie headbutt then Irie pounding the daylights out of HARASHIMA before HARASHIMA found an escape by kicking Irie in the face was a great end to the match. The first few minutes are unmemorable but the rest of the match is more than adequate. ****1/4
  9. Makai Club #1
    A superb tag team match with so much creative tag moves and sequences thrown together. Great pacing with the start being slow, with three trying to fit in the ring at the same before getting more and more crazier with the offence being thrown around. This could’ve been a total mess but it worked so well. The entire match was exciting with Omega, Endo and Kodaka doing the chops at the early parts of the match to the all out bomb fest in the finishing stretch. ****1/2
  10. Makai Club #1
    This was an awesome match. What Takagi lacked in technical skill compared to the others, he more than made up in charisma and impactful offence. His presence made him a highlight in a match where he could’ve easily been a non factor in. The exchanges between Sato and Sakaguchi were great. Both from an MMA background and putting it to great use here. Akito is a superb technical, wrestler as well and fit in just fine on the mat with Sato. Great match. ****
  11. Makai Club #1
    Everything from the build with Takeshita constantly beating HARASHIMA with the wall of Takeshita whether it was via towel or submission to the match was excellent. It all seemed to point to point victory but the doubt of Takeshita was always there. And it climaxed so perfectly. KUDO returning to ringside, DISASTER BOX being at ringside, it being the biggest show DDT has had in years. Takeshita was excellent in the match. Loved his work on the back, everything looked very impactful, and built to the Wall of Takeshita. Even him turning a bit heelish when egging on DISASTER BOX was great. But the match was built around HARASHIMA’s excellent selling and underdog performance. His comebacks were fantastically timed. His facial expressions were great. Him persevering and overcoming Takeshita, the one who shot over him as the ace of DDT back in 2017, was enthralling to watch. The post match promo was heart-warming as well. *****
  12. Makai Club #1
    KO-D Openweight Title Match: Shigehiro Irie (c) vs. HARASHIMA - DDT Ryogoku Peter Pan 2013 18/08/2013 I can’t help but love Irie’s entrance. Him crying just at the moment makes you automatically on his side. He was fantastic during the match as well as was HARASHIMA. I loved how everything built throughout with there being tons of great escalation in offence both guys. Really loved the early sections of the match. HARASHIMA trying to beatdown Irie with his strikes only for Irie to lay into him with a lariat or squish with his body by sitting down on HARASHIMA’s chest. There was a great sense of struggle in the match where momentum constantly shifted back and forth. Irie adopted some tremendous counter wrestling to match HARASHIMA’s direct assaults. Irie hit a sick powerbomb off the top rope followed by an over the shoulder driver. His elbows looked raw as hell, too. HARASHIMA was out right ruthless in the final stretch, hitting strike after strike before hitting a springboard elbow/type finish for the win. A great climax to a great match. ****1/2
  13. Makai Club #1
    SAG vs Tsuruta-gun is simply fantastic. One of the best (if not THE best) six man tags of all time. Fuchi was amazing in this match. He was a great heel in this match, cheating whenever he could and being a slimy hateable dick. He sold excellent when he had too as well. Kobashi was the ultimate babyface, selling his arse off for 15 minutes but making some great comebacks. He gets the crowd behind him so well. In-fact, everyone was fantastic in the match. The only criticism I would have for this match is the length. There are many times where I drifted off and became disinterested but that's gonna happen when a match is 52 minutes long. *****
  14. Makai Club #1
    I liked it. Although Kenny was very animated with his mannerisms which is always annoying but given he was in a new territory, I get why he was "projecting". I liked the early work on the back by Kenny on Fenix, although it wasn't sold very well. The wrestling was quite fluid and fast paced. The finishing stretch was good, it's not often you see someone land on their necks in a lucha libre ring which is a bit different, and the crowd seemed to like it. Fenix's nose leaking like a faucet was a cool visual. One of the better Omega performances in a year where they are lacking. ***1/2
  15. Makai Club #1
    I like the Judgement Day one. A fun 10 Minute ish match. But one can argue that Khali shouldn't be losing in 10 minutes
  16. Makai Club #1
    This was fantastic.. Maybe the turning point for Kawada turning from Misawa’s partner to a top guy. Maybe not. The difference from this match and their Champion Carnival match is clear. In that match Kawada was on the defensive, this time he was on offence. And boy was he dominant. Smart use of the headlocks and the abdominal stretches to wear down Jumbo. Him being able to grind Jumbo down was fantastic to watch. Jumbo having to struggle and fight for everything he got is a rare sight, even against some of his toughest opponents. Misawa included. The crowd was red hot for everything as well. Being Pro-Tsuruta but Kawada having tons of fans as well. The finishing stretch was fantastic and eleavted by all the struggle beforehand. ****1/2
  17. Makai Club #1
    This started off hot with a brief brawl on the outside and kept on being hot through the match. I recently watched the 2015 Becky vs Sasha match and Sasha showed how nasitly she could work over an arm and how adaptable she is in using her surroundings to suit that approach. And she did that again here by slamming Becky’s arm in-between the doors. Sasha hitting meteoras into the ladders and chairs was awesome, too. I’ve not been a fan of Becky for way over a year now with her performances being disappointing every single time but she seemed to have great chemistry with Sasha and she was really great here as a result. Both women really going all in on the big impact spots of the match added a ton to the match as well. The match was really good, even if it was basically a TLC match inside a cage. And I would say the match went on 5 minutes longer than it should’ve but that’s nitpicking. ****
  18. Makai Club #1
    I love this feud. People really don’t like it for various reasons, I didn’t even like the WM match but there is so many great matches in this feud. This, the SD June match, some house show matches, even the Summerslam match which is arguably marred by WWE “storytelling”. This is a very unconventional match as far as WWE. It's a style of match built upon dislike and resentment but instead of a brawl, it’s very much a typical match with so much more grit behind every hold. Honestly, if you want to study how to create a hate filled match in modern wrestling, watch this match. The aggression and hate is honestly steaming from Eddie’s body almost. Then they played into the story that Eddie can’t beat Mysterio, even after he is cheating. And that just escalated things way higher. Eddie’s work on the back is a true piece of art. His nasty powerbombs on the table, the torque and modifications he puts on certain submissions holds to apply more pressure. So much snap and violence in everything he did. And of course, Rey’s selling of the work was excellent. His brief hope spots were great as well, adding drama to the mix among everything else. The DQ finish totally works within the story as well. Everything just worked so perfectly. ****1/2
  19. Makai Club #1
    I love the entrance for the simple reason that Misawa and Kawada getting mobbed and struggling to get to the ring while Hansen gets through easily with his bull whip. Lol. This was excellent. Kawada was a total killer for most of the match. He was the one getting the advantage for his team, he was the one beating Hansen up when Misawa was struggling. A great switch from what Misawa usually does. Misawa and Kawada showed tremendous team work early in the match when going for Hansen’s arm. Then later Spivey and Hansen also showed why they were the champions and attacked the knee of Misawa using a table. This was a great match. ***3/4
  20. Makai Club #1
    I wouldn't be so sure. Park vs Rush didn't happen in a mask vs hair match because CMLL refused to pay the fee Park wanted for his mask. AAA might. Either way, this is BIG news. Rush was CMLL's biggest star (arguably)
  21. Makai Club #1
    I kept on using the words "beautiful" throughout watching the match. Beautiful this, beautiful that. Because that's the only way to describe it. It's fucking beautiful. The first two falls were tremendous. Excellent maestro skill shown by Virus. Superb matwork with tons of struggle mixed with finesse. I loved that both falls were given just the amount of time needed, neither blown away without a thought. Both laid great foundations for a grand climax. And it totally delivered on that. Great bursts of intensity and increase in tempo for the third fall. Both guys throwing their all in hitting bombs like Maya and his tope or that brutal running knee to the back of Virus. Maya really showed his worth in that aspect. His counters to set up that neckbreaker on the knee were amazing. Virus was great as always. Tremendous match. From start to finish. ****3/4
  22. Makai Club #1
    I think the idea of the demon is great, a nice added WWE spin to his special attraction on the indies but the problem is that Balor doesn’t wrestle much differently. A bit more aggressive facially but yeah, it’s mostly just the same Balor. Expectations can hurt matches. I don’t think it did here, but I imagine for some it might. Neville got to show off how he can work while on top, grinding down Balor, toning down the aerial offence for more strikes. Balor had some nice offence and gelled well with Neville. He got the crowd behind him, got some great nearfalls and looked great for the finish. ***1/2
  23. Makai Club #1
    The video package set up the build to the match really well. Giving a brief history to all these people with each other and how they link. What their motivations are. The match showcases that well. Everyone is aggressive, seems determined to get the win. The wrestling was very exciting. Everyone got a little time to shine and have some good sequences. Banks had some great character work. Bayley showed tons of fight and aggression in this match. Charlotte had her moments and Becky... ur a big forgettable if I'm honest. Good match for the most part. ***1/2
  24. Makai Club #1
    Just for context, Super Libre basically means No DQ. This is hot and heavy from the off with the teams fighting from the entrance. The violence is there right away with Cerebro being cut open via biting. Next minute we see Black Terry in the match bloodied up with Diablo beating the hell out of him. Terry's selling in the match is off the charts. He looks so vulnerable when absorbing everything the rudos dish out but when he goes back on offence he is able to transfer it to great heat for himself and the match. Cerebro added some great strikes where he looks like he is trying to break Diablo’s face. This was a wild uncontrollable brawl. And it was awesome. ****1/4
  25. Makai Club #1
    After returning from his very successful excursion, he re-debuted as Blood WARRIORS’ new henchman. This was his big shot, against one of the most prolific wrestlers on the roster, Shingo Takagi. And this plays out as such. Tozawa is a beast - his pre match assault, his mannerisms, his look, his offence. Everything clicked the way it should. I loved the Shingo and his face jacket (since I normally see him wearing it when he is a face) - the whole atheistic rules. He excelled the against adversity dynamic. His selling awesome, he really knows how to make it look more impactful due to his own style being similar. His comebacks were great with being filled with so much fire and will behind them. This is Tozawa’s match though. His facial expressions sell the match alone. This is a total different DG match than you’ll see, even if you watch Shingo’s matches alone. A lot of more compact and simple - it ruled. ****
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