Makai Club #1

Well, this blew my expectations out of the water. Gisele Shaw looked very awkward making her entrance and I thought she was going to be a total stiff in the ring. Even her first headlock looked so wooden but then she totally blew me away. I loved Shaw's condescending heel performance early on. When she offered a handshaw with that fake smile which slowly turned into a look of intent, I just smiled. Shaw using her size to her advantage really well, putting tons of aggression behind her offence, also blending that with her great athleticism. Her strikes in the match was actually pretty good, at one point she cut off a Natsumi Maki comeback with a nasty punch to the stomach.The selling by Natsumi Maki was very, very good and made Shaw look that much better - her screams made Shaw pulling into the corner post seam all the more painful. The attempted comebacks by Natsumi Maki were incredibly well done. They were filled with a ton of fire, they respected the size difference and was cut off at the right moments. What I think the match did well was to keep its momentum going. Even in the down points of the match, which weren’t many, they were able to recover or get back into the swing of things well. Like the “sort-of” messed up Springboard cutter. I think the finish could have been executed better. However, this was a cracking match overall with two very good performances. Both lead into each other’s strengths and made each other look great. ****

This match is known for a few things. One, Necro has shoes!! Motherfucker. And two, it was done just hours after the classic Joe vs Necro match in the same arena for IWA Mid-South. The match were Necro face-planted off a scoop slam, and here he is ucking it up in CZW having yet another wild brawl. Legend. Toby Kelin running out without Necro and getting assaulted 2 on 1 was great and got the crowd to go mental for Necro’s arrival even more son. Klein getting split open so early ruled also. The crowd brawling that went backstage was phenomenal. The crowd either scattered or run towards the action. This is where the bumps got insane. Necro being thrown into the steel shutter with so much velocity, Gage getting a gusher by having his head rammed into said shutter. Klein suplexes Pain on the road outside the building and being thrown off the balcony, feet first!! And by the end of it, everyone is covered in each others and their own blood. There is also a great ECW/Chairs homage spot which suited the match more than you’ll usually see it. But one of my favourite parts of the match was the punches. I usually hate the spot where two wrestlers would sit and chairs and do whatever but the stiffness in these punches made it all worth it. You could hear Necro’s potatoes to Gage’s head. Great spot. The finish was sadly messed up with the time keeper ringing the bell too early. Oh well. And Zandig announced rematch afterwards! Yay! ****1/2

Both men have a little rep of getting a bit too cutesy with the suplex no sells/fighting spirit spots and cutesy this was. Mainly towards the end. It wasn't a total turn off but I do think they could've done much better. The rest of the match was perfectly fine. I think they did a great job of getting the crowd into the match, not like they needed any help, and played to them well. It just didn't grab me a whole lot. It didn't drag or seem unwatchable, it just felt there. **1/2

The match starts off like any traditional big match, rather slow and hesitant. Big feeling out process to gauge each other due to the size difference. Before they quickly start hitting big chops, and by “they, I mean Okabayashi leathering Nomura up with vicious sounding chops. Nomura got his spots in early with his hard kicks and begins to target the arm, even getting the better of the champion before falling victim to Okabayashi’s chops once again. Nomura’s kicks to the arm sounded great. The audio made it painfully clear how forceful the shots were. He had some nice arm submissions, like the Octopus Stretch. Which lead to a great visual of Okabayashi, with him being a giant beast of a man, being strong enough to walk to the ropes with Nomura still hanging on like a vice. Nomura kept going after the arm whenever Okabayashi went on offence. Okabayashi’s selling of the arm, for the most part, was good. Nomura throwing closed fists and giant suplexes near the end was great in a sort of “I'm getting desperate to beat him” way. Gave him something new and different to build upon in this match, with it after all being his big coming-out party. The finishing stretch with Okabayashi fight back against Nomura was good. Kinda basic with it not being as emphatic as I thought it could've been, as far as Okabayashi was concerned. Still. I thought this was a very good match. A hell of a Nomura performance with his great assaults on the arm, his desperation near the end when Okabayashi was getting back into it. This was his match and he more than earned it. Okabayashi was also good, even if I haven't really praised him. His selling was good, it could've easily been forgotten about and whilst his comeback felt run of the mill, it was a pretty good mill at that. His chops were brutal as always and he put over Nomura greatly. ****1/4

Not much of a match since all the lumberjacks attacked Nash. nash got the taser and beat all of them, kidnapped Gorgeous George and went off with Torrie, who was quite happy to leave with Nash. And of course, Sting was in a hummer (was he driving the hummer). The only problem was it was Black. Lol.

I've always been someone who wasn't a huge fan of these matches. Didn't hate any of them, but like most NXT matches, I thought it was slightly over hyped. It's similar to this match. It's a very good match but I wouldn't give it high marks like some/most would. The Revival do an excellent job of establishing their roles in the match. Whilst making their entrance, DIY were standing on the ropes and Scott Dawson, in a moment of simple & pure genius, pushes him off and taunts him. Lovely touch that was just a sums up what they did in their match. I adore their bruiser approach to things. Constant communication to keep on top, tagging in and out and hitting some double team offence. You got a bunch of that in this match. DiY are very likable and their offence suited being the underdogs perfectly. Ciampa was excellent as the FIP and Revival maximized that further with their great cutoffs. The closing stretch didn't grab me as much as it should've. The near falls weren't as dramatic as they were intended to be, imo, but I do acknowledge the crowd bought into it. The finish was extremely clever too. ****

This was just nothing. The first two falls were so filled with nothing. Paint by numbers on an engeigous level. Basic can usually be better but this was basic on top of basic. The third fall was better in parts. Much better tag wrestling with the two interacting more past house show offence. Disliked the forced drama at the end where Dawson seemed more pre occupied by telling Dash not to tap then sell the seemingly "painful" hold locked upon him. Big step down from their last match. **1/2

This was it, their time to show me that they are the “GOAT” like people are saying about them and they didn’t deliver one bit. I thought Trish out in a ton of effort but her output was so mediocre. She is very athletic but most of her offence lacks any fire and looks flimsy as hell. That odd rope assistant lucha roll that she pulled off earlier in the match is a perfect example of that. Charlotte did absolutely nothing to make me care about the match. Her beat down of Trish was so paint by numbers, very boring to sit through. And hearing her unenthusiastically trash talking doesn’t help things one bit. The crowd came alive for Trish’s comeback but that’s really all the praise I can give it.

The heat was off the chants for this match. The crowd solidly behind the DDT guys and Tanahashi and Komatsu ran with it. The New Japan guys started off with attacks on the outside attempting to brawl before the ref gained control and got them in the ring. Stuff like that, they played the subtle heels the entire match, not necessarily cheating but being ultra aggressive and acting super cocky, especially Tanahashi. Ohka was excellent in this match, his selling was great, his offence looked good, he had a great performance overall. He brought loads of fire which allowed the crowd to get behind him even more than they already were. HARASHIMA didn't do much until the end but what he did was awesome. His interactions with Tanahashi were very heated and I can totally buy in the dislike between the two. Fantastic performances from both teams and a very hot Korakuen Hall crowd. Great mix. ****1/2

Oh gosh, the stomps, the kicks, the pure brutal assault HARASHIMA inflicts on Irie earlier in the match is hard to watch. HARASHIMA was superb in this match. HARASHIMA has a great mix of flashy but stiff moves. Someone like Tanahashi has flashy offence but it’s rather flimsy and doesn’t make much impact but HARASHIMA has just that. And it just flows too. Irie was good in this I thought. Despite his goofy look, which I love btw, he is very intense when he absolutely goes for it. The crowd responded to him well and he had a great run of offence. Very good match. ****1/4

Seems odd that Gargano would respond to a review like this but I think he handles it delicately. He doesn't make himself look like a complete a-hole, at least.

Money feud, that.

Watch them set it up mid show

The first fall was decent, much better than I've previously seen from either guy in a while. Cole’s selling was good at the start but he then started using the bad leg to hit moves that he really shouldn't be doing with the bad leg, so disappointing from him there. Gargano pretty much offered nothing. His leg work was fine but you never really believed that he'd get the tap so why bother? The finish came out of nowhere though. The second fall was the usual boring WWE plunder brawl where they walk and punch each other, move and repeat. And all the usual table and barricade spots. Yawn. None of the leg work in the first fall mattered, nor was it sold or mentioned again. So disjointed. The third fall was pretty much everything I expected. Excess on top of excess. Unnecessary near falls. Totally contrived spots on to egregious level. Just bad. The match overall was pretty bad. The first fall as decent and was a good catalyst for the rest of the match but they pretty much abandoned everything they set up and started going back in the “we're the best in the world” cloud. The final fall was gross. This was very much a disjointed match that went way too long between two guys who aren't very good, so like their other matches but better.

I don't know. My biggest pet peeve about these matches are when the first fall(s) end quickly like that. I wouldn't mind if one fall matches end like that occasionally but it usually is only reserved for 2/3 matches.

Not just the excess but you can telegraph the problems that the layout of the match will cause. Going from a No DQ match to a singles match in the same flow sounds like a recipe for disaster.

If the main event goes 45 minutes onwards, I'm going to be really upset since they could've easily put better matches such as ACH vs Lee (forgot their names) or Dain vs Riddle on the card in that time

That's smart, very smart. You do not want new viewers to come in cold because you don't really know how well AEW can promote these guys and make new fans out of that. Building that connection before they wrestle is vital.

Interesting story behind this match. As of a few hours before, this was supposed to be Sakaguchi vs Kota Ibushi for the KO-D Openweight Title but Ibushi was out with High Fever so HARASHIMA took his place instead due to his high ranking in the DDT Election that year (3rd place). Yukio Sakaguchi, who is the son of former NJPW President Seiji Sakaguchi, is the defending champion of the KO-D Openweight Title and has already beaten KUDO (Peter Pan) and Daisuke Sasaki (DDT Who’s Gonna Top). Sakaguchi was rather new to wrestling at the time, well compared to HARASHIMA anyway, with him being three years into his career in wrestling and was 42 years old at the time so there was a lot against him but he took to wrestling like a glove and was on a high and he wasn’t ready to let that slip. This was an excellent match considering they weren’t opponents only a few hours before. A match built around grappling and stiff striking which meant Sakaguchi’s MMA career came into play here. Sakaguchi controlled the majority of the match but HARASHIMA put up a fight hitting some nasty kicks. One thing HARASHIMA brought into play here was his excellent facial expressions. They were on point and add a tone to the match. A highly unique match, especially in DDT and a great one at that. ****1/2

Flair > Hart (Love both guys but when Flair has the longevity at the time and the better quality) Kawada > Okada (Both are my all time favourites but I can't deny Kawada. More dynamic and exciting) Misawa > Kobashi (Kobashi is great and all but I always considered him my least favourite of the Four Pillars.) Danielson > Tsuruta (Hard but I do find myself more inclined to watch a Danielson match over Jumbo) Tanahashi > Taue (Taue rules and he is so innovative but Tanahashi gets me emotional invested much more and is in more of my favourite matches than Taue does)

The match started off hot and heavy w/ the crowd all for Bryan and all against Wyatt. Getting rid of the Wyatt Family almost immediately was a good direction to go. Wyatt saying that he wants to do it alone was something different to his game. Wyatt took a nasty Foley bump into the stairs (leg/knee first) which was a good transition to Bryan going all in on the leg. Bryan tying up Bryan in an inverted surfboard into a curbstomp was a great nod to his days a vicious bully who would tie you up in knots - added a nice feeling of intensity and hatred. Wyatt’s beat down of Bryan was well done. It wasn’t mind-blowing but it served its purpose of getting heat on himself and building to the Bryan comeback. Although I would argue that they took a bit too long to get to the comeback and the match felt a little stagnant as a result. In fact, Wyatt’s best offence came in the form of the cut offs to Bryan’s hope spots, like Wyatt nailing a Sister Abigail after blocking a Bryan tope in a spot that went much smoother than it should’ve. The finish soon after felt a little flat though and the air got sucked out of the arena which was a bad note on what was a very good match. I do wish that the leg work earlier on was followed up on but I can buy that Wyatt’s beatdown was big enough to send that plan waywards. ***3/4

As soon as I heard about this match, it excited me big time. Hideki Suzuki can be controversial depending on your stylistic preference but I think he is different enough to give NOAH that much needed variety that they lacked in both the undercards and in matches. It was interesting seeing Go try and muck it up on the mat with Hideki. Go isn’t exactly renowned for his grappling skills, he is more of a hard hitting striker if anything but I think he did solid enough. I think he was better on the defensive side of things more than offensively but he was a good match for Hideki. Hideki was his usual self. Hideki holding on the cravate whilst Go tried to slam him, flipping Go over onto the crowd was a cool little spot. Hideki locked on some gnarly submissions too, like what sort of looks like an inverted version of an armbar. Hideki does some good extended work on the arm throughout the match which does occasionally perk up the crowd into buying a submission win. Go sells the desperation of him wanting to get out of the hold well, too. One thing that I did love in the match is how occasionally they would pepper each other up with some stuff strikes like Hideki’s brutal kick in the corner that came out of nowhere. The match got a great bursts of energy and intensity once Go started making a comeback in the middle of the match. His chops looked and sounded horrible to take w/ Hideki adding the little touch of trying to block them only for Go to chop him in the head instead. Only flaw with that was that Go did it with the arm that was worked on by Hideki. Which leads to another flaw of the match. They decide to switch up the targeted limb which is fine but its forgotten entirely with Hideki never really going back to the arm and Go not selling it all that well. The match then ends in a draw which, whilst flat, was also a shock to me, you don’t really see draws outside of Round Robin Tournaments these days but I think it was a good booking choice. Keeps one of your big names and one half of your tag champs protected in Go and keeps Hideki protected for any future feud he may have with Kiyomiya, Nakakima, etc. A very good match overall. Definitely could’ve worked the switching of the targeted limb by Hideki better and I would’ve preferred a better run to the draw rather than it just ending like it did. But it was a good, stiff battle that combined both guys strengths well. ***3/4

Once again, Naito didn’t really come alive until he was trading bombs with Shingo at the end. Naito can do much better but he really hasn’t done it for me in the G1 this year. He took some nice bumps but nothing to really make me care about him until the closing 10 minutes of the match. Very unsympathetic imo. Shingo, on the other hand, was much more fun and interesting, as always. Shingo excelled in the dominant role in this match. Sensational from him. But like I said, the finishing stretch was great with the two just hitting bomb after bomb and getting some great near falls. ***1/2

Ishii vs Yano - A great comedy vs serious match. Great nearfalls down the stretch Juice vs Taichi - A okay match. A bit boring in parts but fun overall. Cobb vs Goto - Much improved over their other matches. Good match White vs Moxley - An awesome 'face beats down the heel w/ the heel cheating' match. Naito vs Shingo - I've feel I've grown out of love for Naito. He simply doesn't engage me whilst fighting from beneath, if I'm honest. He improved in the latter parts of the match though - his bread and butter. Shingo, from start to finish, ruled though.

The entrances set the whole tone for this match. Both coming down off lifts that would normally be used for construction. The video package playing in the middle of the two, whilst they are angrily trash talking. It was a tremendous visual. As way Wagnery having a large entourage and Blue Demon Jr having only one, which is his son, Hijo del Blue Demon. The match starts out hot, with Blue Demon attacking Wagner before he could take the honorary mask off and busts him open, with the blood turning some of the mask red and smashing him with a bottle. Just absolutely great rudo work from him. Him and his son double teaming Wagner to hit a chop was just a tip of the iceberg. Wagner showed he wasn’t averse to brawling and whacks Blue Demon Jr with a metal pan rips the mask and busts him open. The match got much more intense when Blue Demon Jr used a hammer of all things and goes to town on Wagner’s back and hand. The visual of Blue Demon Jr being drenched him his and Wagner’s blood whilst furiously locking on the Fujiwara armbar was amazing. And teased Wagner tapping for it in the match so well every time. Wagner’s short comeback with him desperately trying to win Demon with the Wagner drivers was so great as you could feel the urgency and desperation that he had. The finish was good, the interference I could’ve done without but the use of the weapon fit the hate filled feud they’ve built for the past year. Awesome match really. Blue Demon isn’t renowned for being a good wrestler but he brought some great rudo work in this match to match Wagner’s technico performance. ****3/4