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Makai Club #1

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  1. Makai Club #1
    Awesome match. I haven't watched an older Okada match in a long time and I'm glad I chose this match to watch. Perfect showcase for Ibushi. Okada sells his arse off for him, really puts him over as on his level as well as doing some excellent work himself. Love Ibushi's work from underneath as well. Nothing gets me more pumped than an Okada match. Ibushi was incredible too. ****1/4
  2. Makai Club #1
    The problem with that is that Bryan is on SD. Unless they do a speical inter brand match.
  3. Makai Club #1
    Awesome to see Roman make that announcement. Glad I watched it live opposed to the day after, like I usually do. Buzzing for his eventual return to th and ring too! Really got my emotional, which doesn't happen ever.
  4. Makai Club #1
    Very good match bolstered by a great performance by Suwama. Everything he did seemed to have that extra bit of impact behind it. Loved his work on Kento's neck. Loved his variation of throws and suplexes. Suwama's offence was crips and pinpoint loved what he brought to the match. However Kento didn't really do it for me. His comeback felt really underwhelming to me, and I was never really pulling for him during the match. His selling was decent I'd say although he could've done better in the high-end parts of the match. The closing stretch was really good, loved Suwama kicking out of everything Kento did and and loved the struggle to lock on the delayed german suplexes BUT I didn't buy it as a finish because Kento used it quite a few times through the match so when he pinned Suwama with it, it didn't feel climatic to me. Now I'm not for one to complain about spamming moves but not when it was done like it was in this match. Shame really because I really did like the match but it certain things didn't allow it to reach its full potential. ***1/2
  5. Makai Club #1
    Man. I can hear people’s excuses now. “It’s all old school you wouldn’t like it”. Well since when is Shawn Michaels “old school”. Ha! And there are far more technically proficient matches then, and before 1996, so do away with that crap. When the first twenty minutes consists of nothing, but an extremely weak looking arm bar, with no sense of struggle or pain, and a superkick to an announcer that was telegraphed a mile away, you know you’re watching a bad match. Now that’s not to say that they couldn’t turn it around but they didn’t. HBK continued on with his awful work on the arm that was unimpressed and didn’t look even remotely painful. It was just there to pad out the time which I get but you have to try and make it look like you’re wrestling, and I blame Bret for this two. He was a dead fish in this match as far as being in the holds are concerned. His selling was also really, really bad. The rest of the match had a few chin locks and the occasional big move like the piledriver and the moonsault to the outside, so it’s not without its positives. The crowd was dead for obvious reasons and it really meant this math had zero energy or drama until the end. Bad match made even worse by awful limb work and bad selling. *1/4
  6. Makai Club #1
    Basically yeah. Him returning to the ring would be amazing but just good news that he is getting better is more than good enough for me.
  7. Makai Club #1
    This was a one man show, if I'm honest. The match was all Trev. Trevor Lee dominated the match. Trevor Lee lead the grappling. Trevor Lee had the best moments in the match. Everything he did looked brutal yet majestic at the same time. It's hard to explain really. Everything he did in this match stood out to me as something special. This match made him look like a world beater going into the fed, now I don't know if that's the best choice as far as the company and the idea of putting over someone on your way out but it's a good send off for Trev nonetheless. Now onto the bad parts of the match. I really didn't like Cain Justice in this match a whole lot. Everything he did looked so amateur compared to Trev, so much that it was very jarring and took me out of the match whenever he was in control. I liked how much fight he showed and the overall story but he didn't do a lot for me. Also the ending I found pretty laughable and if they really wanted it that way, Cain should've won. Oh well - still a great match, largely thanks to Trev. The pacing of the match was fantastic. The length was very daunting but it really didn't seem that long. The story was well told, except for the ending. And the drama was, well, dramatic. ****
  8. Makai Club #1
    I was worried coming into this match. PAC can be a bore when he plays up his slow, methodical heel character and Ospreay in the main event can be over the top. That could've very easily been the case here but it surprisingly wasn't. Was it a classic? probably not. I'm sure some will like this a lot better than I did. The start of the match was pretty good. They did a few flips, showed off being all cute with it. PAC was aggressive with his offence and was super good with his facial expressions and mannerisms. There was a few cool spots where Ospreay jumped the guardrail after PAC attempted to throw him into it (which was a nice call back to a similar spot earlier in the match where Ospreay went rib first into the barricade). The middle was pretty forgettable though. And the closing stretch was a bit overbooked. CCK interfering, ref bumps low blow and time limit draw. It wasn't terrible but it didn't leave me wanting more honestly . So it didn't do its job in that sense it still was a good enough end part of the match to make up for the middle part which was look at your phone territory. ***
  9. Makai Club #1
    Doubt it. Ibushi is a big enough star that it would've leaked out that it was a work. The announcement that he signed was leaked very quickly so no doubt it being a work would've also been announced.
  10. Makai Club #1
    Another hot start to this rivalry. Starts of similar to their May 82 match. Intense grappling and both guys struggling for the advantage. After such a hot start, the match becomes blurry and by blurry I mean I don’t know what happened because it’s very forgettable. However Riki Choshu locks on the Sasori-Gatame and the match starts getting some energy to it. Then they bring out the big bombs and have a pretty intense finish. Disappointing overall and a huge step down from my previous ****1/2 rating but alas, it happens. **3/4
  11. Makai Club #1
    Kiyomiya is coming along quite nicely as GHC Heavyweight champion so far. The third match of the reign, if you include the Sugiura match, and the third great match. If he keeps this up, he could rack up a title reign that may even outdo the one before it. But before we get ahead of ourselves, let's credit Kaito for bringing it here. Kiyomiya excels in the underdog role as he shows here with some great selling and fiery offence - key for a great face champion, imo. Masa Kitamiya shows his worth as well, setting the tone early on with him taking the match to Kiyomiya. He has a nasty high impact based offence that fit the match perfectly. His spear looked deadly and he brought lots of explosiveness to the match opposed to the babyface aura of Kaito. There isn't much noticeable clipping from its initial 29 minute run time, but it most likely added to the match. ****
  12. Makai Club #1
    Odd match to analyse because this wasn't a Hell In A Cell match. This was a TLC match inside the Cell. Now they did a decent job of pull that off. The first half was pretty boring but not bad enough that it took away from the rest of the match (breaking the cell wall onward) which was pretty fun and way more interesting. I ultimately didn't feel like this was an epic match like its reputation claims it as, but my feelings towards Edge as a wrestler (he is awful) will no doubt affect that. In saying that, he didn't do anything particularly awful or bad - a wee little boring as was Taker in the first half of the match. He was solid towards the end. Taker was Taker. Great ass kicker but still not as great as I would've liked. ***1/4
  13. Makai Club #1
    Fantastic match. They used the point system to perfection here. The striking is clever and the grappling is excellent. Some good subtle extra work by Fujiwara with his facial expressions too classic. ****3/4
  14. Makai Club #1
    I agree totally with this. The ideas were good and I see what they were going for. Whilst I appreciate the effort, the execution was flat.
  15. Makai Club #1
    I do love how they just threw the TAG stipulation out of the window. So much so that The Revival mentioned it on twitter . Anyway this was solid. Basically nothing more than a few greatest hits, nothing really of worth beyond that. The Panama Surprise was indeed a suprise, but sadly it still looks like utter shit . Don't really get why people loved it so much but whatever, this is fine. People gonna overrate it because it's NXT but this was just a spot fest mainly, and much better examples can be seen elsewhere. ***
  16. Makai Club #1
    Another good match. First part was built around getting the Paradise lock on Suzuki then Suzuki making SANADA pay when he did get it on. Suzuki was a bit different from usual. He didn't try to pick a limb and go for a submission, he went after Sanada with strikes and brawled outside of the ring - fitting with the story of the match. SANADA sold well enough and he got to shine towards the end of the match with his reversals. The way they transitioned from hold to hold, move to move was splendid. They bounced off each other so well. ***3/4
  17. Makai Club #1
    When Iizuka came out to attack Naito I thought "this cool, something different" but it went on for SO LONG. The crowd doesn't know what to make of it. Naito is out for an absurdly amount of time, so much so that Taichi should be rewarded the belt due to Naito being unable to compete but he comes back after 10 minute or so. That sucked then we get to the match which was pretty dull. The match doesn't know what it wants to be. Taichi cheats all match but then Taichi is kicking out of Naito's stuff, absorbing everything and staying alive - like a face. It's just a mess really. As a Tachi fan, this was disappointing. Taichi beating down Naito all match simply wasn't compelling enough for this match to be any good. *3/4
  18. Makai Club #1
    Excellent match. After Ronda's disappointing show at the Rumble, she totally made up for this here. Ronda was clearly pissed off by the crowd pre match and thus brought tons of aggression in this, going at Bayley early on like a rabid dog leading to some cool scrambles for the arm bar. Then Ronda's selling came into play when she twisted her leg in the corner, Bayley zeros in on the leg, hitting a nasty dragon screw in the ropes. Ronda selling her leg and arm (from Sasha's rumble and Bayley's initial arm work early in the match) superbly. Bayley was great here too, loved her work here and she did a great job at the limb work. Glad to see Bayley back into the mix again. Tons of fight and struggle in this. Nice little rough match here. ***3/4
  19. Makai Club #1
    Excellent match. Loved the duel limb attack - Bryan going for the arm and AJ going for the leg. So simple but works so well. AJ’s selling was excellent. He did a great job at selling it the initial pain, to the short term and long term selling of Bryan’s work. Bryan did a good job of selling the leg along. Then the back and forth between the two was really good. Highly engaging I though which surprised me considering this is coming after a rumble. The switching of momentum were done superbly and it allowed the match to flow without fail. ****
  20. Makai Club #1
    Yet another good opener by The Era. They did a pretty good job at cutting War Raiders off and slowing them down by attacking the legs like only they can. They also did some very smart wrestling, coming in attacking the other when they looked like they were gonna get a tag, hit some double team moves and generally covered for each other well. War Raiders did some impressive acrobatics but other than that, I feel like they didn’t contribute much. Maybe the entrance. ***
  21. Makai Club #1
    This was one of those matches that would either deliver a ton or absolutely bomb. And I feel like it was the latter, if I’m honest. This match failed to connect with me. It was just SO dull. So, so dull. None of the action was entertaining, not the flips, not the submission attempts. Nothing. I found Gargano’s heel work really forced and not natural at all which isn’t a total surprise because whilst Gargano is an excellent babyface, he is also a bad heel. It wasn’t just Gargano though. Ricochet added nothing but his aerial moves which looked great but nothing flowed well at all. The set up and execution felt off, somewhat. The structure was so jaaring. Big move, rest, big move, rest. No thanks. The pacing was awful too, everything dragged at a snail's pace and it just made the match even worse. I never experienced this match, I endure it. Sorry but 1/4*
  22. Makai Club #1
    Both shined here. Momo was an excellent bully here. Her entire dismissive demeanour towards Tam. Her stuff kicks which at the beginning was just little teasers but towards the end were killer blows that were desperately trying to end the match. She blended her performance and role into Tam's perfectly. I wouldn't say Tam was the underdog here in the sense that she was selling the entire match but she was very scrappy, found ways to match and even beat Momo with her kicks and suplexes. Everything was quick and urgent from her and of course, her selling was great. Great pacing too like most modern day Joshi matches have. Tam Nakano isn't not a great wrestler but she brought it, and brought it all in this match. Everything just clicked and meshed together greatly.
  23. Makai Club #1
    One of the hardest things a wrestler can do is try to keep the fans invested in a match that goes over 60 minutes long. Usually there is a lot of downtime in the beginning with an action packed ending to help keep the match for burning out towards the end of the match but there is very little downtime at all. Even given that most of the wrestlers don’t last very long, the pace the match goes at is still pretty extraordinary. The crowd is hot, and I mean hot, for all of the match. Constantly going wild for the wrestling whether no matter the pairing. There was great individual performances by Yatsu, Fujinami and Hamaguchi, very hot crowd and a great ending. It’s very highly regarded as one of the best New Japan matches of the 80’s and I would have to agree with that praise. One of the best gauntlet matches I’ve seen and, surprisingly given the run time, a very, very easy watch. ****3/4
  24. Makai Club #1
    Since the final battle match is so scrutinized, people hardly mention this one which is a shame because this was pretty fantastic. Great back and forth struggle. Some excellent leg work by Eddie and, surprisingly, great selling by Davey for the most part, even if he could've done a better job for the final parts of the match. Some great striking and grappling. Both put up a tremendous fight. I think there was a few spots that are a little suspect like the top rope falcon arrow into the armbar and the apron spot that's blown off quite quickly but other than this, I thought this was a well put together wrestling clinic. ****1/2
  25. Makai Club #1
    I don't know, this match just didn't connect w/ me on the level I wanted. Structurally it was like CMLL w/ two short falls and one longer one but the last fall didn't reach that great level that it should've had. Most of the offence was mostly biggest hits but nothing in terms of depth beyond that imo. ***
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