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Makai Club #1

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  1. 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.
  2. 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
  3. 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. ****
  4. 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
  5. 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
  6. 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.
  7. 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. ***
  8. 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
  9. 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
  10. 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
  11. 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. ****
  12. 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. ***
  13. 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*
  14. 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.
  15. 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
  16. 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
  17. 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. ***
  18. Makai Club #1
    I thought this was pretty excellent. Loved the striking in the first half of the match, looked stiff enough and it was pretty entertaining to watch. That and some lovely mat work with some nice counters and tight looking holds. Then they kicked it up a notch and had a mad finishing stretch w/ tons of nifty sequences and big moves thrown together. The nearfalls were well done and I thought they both worked well and had a great showing. ****1/2
  19. Makai Club #1
    Fujiwara bum rushing Chohu then pounding on him for the entire match whilst the fans are cheering for him was a wild ride. I'm not say they were anti-Choshu but they weren't cheering him either. Fujiwara was fantastic, his punches looked stiff and nasty as hell. His headbutts were rough. His facial expressions were excellent, and his selling of the headbutts that HE did himself was awesome; really putting them over as damaging. Choshu didn't do much but sell but when he went on offence, he was good too. The speed of Choshu's lariats was crazy. Excellent match. ****1/2
  20. Makai Club #1
    The grappling at the start of the match wasn't the most exciting, sure but I think it did its job of establishing that Takada needs to take to the feet and go for the striking in order to beat Maeda. Maeda may be a prolific striker, but it's all Takada has. And that he does. When they go to feet, this match takes off in an upward trajectory. Some of the strike combinations were cheer out loud great. Nasty stuff strikes mixed w/ desperation and urgency by Takada. Great dominant performance by Maeda controlling most of the match but selling excellently for Takada. I think their 1989 Jan match was better but this was still a classic. ****1/2
  21. Makai Club #1
    Excellent match. The grappling was great to see, so snug even for 80's NJ. Then the striking was good. Everything felt like a battle and struggle. ****1/4 Edit: Much better second time around. Loved the grappling throughout the match. I thought I'd be more into the striking aspects of the match, given that's what I like about wrestling the most, but they sucked me into the back and forth struggle for holds that the stiff as hell strikes were actually a low point in the match, and I still loved those parts all the same. And what about the ending, Fujiawara with a heel hold, Maeda with a rear naked choke. First one to fall loses. Great match. The restarts didn't bother me a ton but they did disrupt the flow the match had a bit. ****3/4
  22. Makai Club #1
    If given perhaps a few more minutes (maybe a 12 minute run time in total) this could've been a MOTYC but alas, this was still pretty goddamn good. Some excellent grappling, the striking was great and it felt like a competitive battle. It just needed a bit more time to settle. ***1/2
  23. Makai Club #1
    When Strong BJ vs Violent Giants was announced for this show, I was like gaaaah, and I thought this was very good match. Loved the little start by Sekimoto and Suwama, exchanging some grappling, trying to feel each other out, countering each other then standing off. That was good. Then the finishing stretch was pretty awesome. Sekimoto was fantastic here with his energetic, fiery offence whilst also selling all the damage of the match too. Ishikawa's knees were brutal as hell and he hit some big moves that got me off my seat. Him and Ishikawa going off was my favourite parts of the match; some great exchanges between the two. Hoping for a one on one match between them soon. Now for the disappointing parts. The middle section was kinda just there, some nice back and forth exchanges but it all seemed really basic and it didn't reach the level I wanted from it. Overall this felt like a very good battle between four big men, it just didn't reach that level of being a great match for me. ***1/2
  24. Makai Club #1
    Great match. Excellent character work by the Rougeaus at the beginning. Everything Marty Jannetty did was so great. Everything looked so graceful and his hot tag at the end was awesome. Michaels was a really good FIP and Rougeaus did a great job of cutting him off, getting heat on themselves and getting the crowd behind Michaels. Wrestling clinic, this. ****1/2
  25. Makai Club #1
    Fantastic match. Easily one of the best NXT title defenses of all time. Roode's performance was great, his selling was top notch and his counters were really well timed. Itami shined with his excellent striking and his constant flurries off offence. Both showed great character work with their arrogant, cocky demeanors at the start of the match. Loved the way they excellent the false finishes, Roode being unable to get the pin due to his arm (that was injured early on in the match) and Itami knocking Roode out of the win with the GTS, then being unable to get him back in the ring in time to get a 3 count. Shorter than the recent "classics" on the Takeover shows but that's all it needed to be. Glorious match (ha) ****3/4
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