aaeo_

Fair enough, not familiar with his young lion days but he's been generally bad in CMLL. Maybe it's just the setting.

Quintet 3 took place last night. The format of Quintet is two teams of 5 face each other in a series of 1 vs 1 matches with an 8-minute limit. If someone gets submitted, he's eliminated, if there's a draw after eight minutes, both are eliminated. The team that runs out of members loses. There's no heel hooks allowed and the referees are very quick to issue warnings for lack of activity in closed guard, so it isn't necessarily the best ruleset for jiu-jitsu but it might be the most entertaining. Polaris vs. 10th Planet is an outstanding match on this show. Every bout in it ended by submission. It's hyperagressive, high level grappling, which isn't that common. Really worth a watch.

how lame would it be if it's just Kawato?

Pretty good match, they do wacky shit from the beginning like Ibushi driving Sekimoto off the ramp on a dolly, somehow dollies also played a part of another match they had in Korakuen Hall, so I guess that counts as a callback. It's less of a demolition than the other Strong BJ matches in DDT, and weirdly I like it less. Wrestling genius Sasaki meshes with Sekimoto and Okabayashi strangely well, beyond just getting beat like other DDT "juniors". They base pretty well for him and he can grapple a bit with them. Ibushi brings the violence with stiff strikes, but it's a bit disjointed in general. There's a lot great moments in that finishing stretch, which starts with Strong BJ putting on the double torture rack, but the timing is somehow slightly off. Things like Sasaki getting a big reaction and then Ibushi taking just a bit too long to climb the ropes and do his dive for the final pin. Either way, it's a good ending to the Strong BJ title run.

Akito's great DDT extreme title run comes to an end against Honda. Honda has the drip. He's not a workrate guy or anything but sometimes everything clicks for him on a mostly serious match. This is a "fall to the hell" match, where there are no ropes and you lose by falling out of the ring. It bothered me that there are pinfall attempts, which were never gonna be the finish, but everything else is good. They get so much out of this dumb stipulation. Akito works the leg, which is what you'd do in this match and also what Akito would do every match. Honda's thing is how expressive he is and the connection he has to this crowd, which means him struggling out of holds and coming back throwing big right hooks is very good. The finish is exactly that and it's a blast.

Akito had a pretty interesting WORKRATE run as DDT extreme champion between 2014 and 2015. He had a good iron match with Sasaki, a match where the rules changed every 90 seconds against Shiori Asahi, and this, a last man standing match against Irie. There's also a catch rules match against MIKAMI which I wasn't able to find online, but I'm curious about. Akito's actually a really interesting technical wrestler. He doesn't do many shoot submission holds but he has a bunch of interesting, flashy holds most of his matches are very heavy on limbwork. Anyway, the rules for this are that they get a 10-count after a pin or submission and if they can't get up, they lose. Akito spends this whole match working Irie's leg. Irie's selling is really good, it could've been goofy with how dramatic he gets, but it works very well throughout. It might be the most high effort selling I've seen. Late in the match, he's running the ropes and his leg gives out under him so he just goes flying out the ring. Akito gets pinned three times off of lariats but in the end, the legwork pays off and he wins when Irie can't get up after being submitted with a heel hook. Oh, and Irie breaks a tensor early on when running the ropes, which I thought added to the match in a way. He's a large human!

I haven't been particularly into NJ since Omega won the title but that main event catches my interest as much as anything they've done since other than a couple of G1 matches. Lately, I noticed I like Omega more in tags. Plus, I like everyone in that match. The opener could be cool as well. This is what all their events except for the two or three biggest ones feel like to me, it'll probably be an alright show. Those are some valid points about their promotional tactics though.

Much better match than their Saitama Arena match and I probably liked it a bit more than their 2009 Ryogoku match. The opening matwork is really good, as per usual. This time, there's no singular focus on a limb or body part but Ibushi does gain the upper hand and from there starts getting off his bigger. Match centers around HARASHIMA outlasting Ibushi. Thankfully, he doesn't just lay down and absorb offense, which almost always makes for dull wrestling. But for most of the match, Ibushi gains the upper hand at every turn. Ibushi counters all of HARA's big match moves, such as the kneedrop (?) he does over the ropes and the diving somato. HARASHIMA escaping the phoenixplex through headbutts was dope as well, and he wins by finally hitting the diving somato. I don't know if I'd call those "callbacks" but it does play into the familiarity these two have with each other. It's a really great match. As a side note, this is one of the best DDT shows I've seen and I've gone through a lot of their stuff last couple of months. It has a pretty good/funny undercard and two incredible matches at the top. Sadly it's not on DDT Universe but it's well worth seeking out.

Keisuke Ishii does some incredible stuff in this match. He's in for most of the match and has to sell for two bigger guys but does it well enough and gets enough things to get more over. It's a great performance. The finishing stretch where he goes against Sekimoto all on his own and almost beats him is great, after a whole match of him just being outmuscled. Strong BJ is also really good, continuing their monster outsider tag title run. I love their double torture rack spot every time they do it. Irie does everything he has to really well too. Honestly, I have a tough time getting into Team Dream Futures, because of the incredibly goofy name/terrible gear/awful dye jobs, but this match is a banger.

Okabayashi and Endo were the best part of that somewhat disappointing tag match at the Saitama Arena I saw this morning, so I was happy to see that they booked this on their next show. It's a fantastic match! Endo zeroes in on Okabayashi's arm and works it with some holds and on the ring post early on. Okabayashi briefly gets the upper hand and starts beating up Endo, but Endo lands a great dropkick followed by an Asai moonsault to halt his momentum. The back half was very good. Endo goes for several kimuras and armbars, and Okabayashi picks him up and slams Endo to get out of the hold several times. I've found I really like that sort of repetition in wrestling. Endo gets to reverse the torture rack into a kimura which was wonderful. Okabayashi wins with a splash after folding Endo up with a couple of lariats.

Starts off with some intricate matwork, which is always great to see from HARASHIMA, even though you know this match is going long and will steer pretty far away from "technical" wrestling. He starts working Ibushi's body with punches and stomps, which I liked. He picks Kota out of mid-air with a dropkick. Sadly, he stopped focusing on that immediately afterwards as they went outside the ring. I did think Ibushi walking away because he wants to fight Hara on the entrance stage was fantastic. Ibushi does a moonsault off a large screen before they climb back to the ring. Later on, he finds a way to counter the somato with a double foot stomp, which I still don't really understand. There's a truly fantastic strike exchange which builds from the two trading forearms, and has one of those great Ibushi open palm combos. Ibushi catches HARASHIMA when he tries to do the diving somato and beats him with the phoenix plex, which he'd done in their previous 2009 match. I thought the middle part, everything between the two of them going outside and that strike exchange, was a bit lacking since they just sold and did big moves and that's my least favorite type of wrestling, but I thoroughly enjoyed the rest of this match.

Disappointing even though Strong BJ are great in this. Sekimoto and Okabayashi take turns body slamming Takeshita, which is a nice tag team sequence. Takeshita is super awkward and does shit like crawl for the tag when Endo is laid out outside but it's fine for the most part. It's kind of a shame because Endo was pretty great at getting beat up during this tag team run. Endo's hot tag is really good. But then, instead of going into overdrive like the other Endo/Takeshita matches after the initial heat segment, Endo gets cut off and Okabayashi beats him up. And then Takeshita comes back in and fights Sekimoto, and that's kind of whatever because he did just get savaged for ten minutes. I like both of these teams but the match just had a somewhat dumb structure, could've been way better.

lol i don't think so. i saw his coacalco match with aramis and i really liked that, and he's had cool performances in a couple trios (the okada one, his anniversary show) off the top of my head.

i watch a lot of boxing, and consequently i follow boxing news, and sadly that means sometimes reading things that promoters and associated lowlifes say. and that shit is a lot like pro wrestling, which isn't a surprise at all but sometimes you really do get incredible stuff. like this amazing quote from Eddie Hearn about Joshua-Povetkin: so uh, discuss boxing and carny shit in boxing.

Takeshita and Endo continue their title run with a win over KUDO and Sakaguchi. Having seen about four of their tag title matches, Takeshita and Endo stick pretty closely to the same structure every time but I guess it works since I've really liked two of those matches, the one against Golden Lovers and this, against Shouten Doji. Endo gets beat up and cut off and the other team fucks him up, then there's a back-and-forth finishing stretch and Takeshita does a bunch of suplexes and wins. It's pretty good but I do wish this was a bit different because KUDO and Sakaguchi are both good technical wrestlers (especially Sakaguchi) and they don't get to showcase that, even when torturing Endo in the middle of the match. Takeshita is pretty awkward in grappling situations. Really enjoyed all Sakaguchi and Endo interactions, Sakaguchi is an asshole and Endo sells for him great. There's a great moment when Sakaguchi goes for a flying armbar but doesn't get it and Endo tries to do a moonsault but Sakaguchi gets the knees up. It seemed like that was the moment when Endo's comeback would've started but Sakaguchi just kept beating him up. Finishing stretch is cool because sometimes they're setting a big spot up and Sakaguchi just comes in and tries to choke someone. Really enjoyed this match, despite all my whining in this post haha.

they should do it before the next anniversary show, considering he is already booked for the next triplemania

Good tag match. Golden Lovers are in control for a lot of the match. They isolate Endo and put him on various submissions. Endo is actually really good at that because he's struggling like hell at all points to get to the ropes. The crowd really gets behind Takeshita and Endo as a result (it helps that Honda is their hypeman). I thought he was by far the best person in this match, he's still selling fatigue down the crazy finishing stretch. Once Endo and Takeshita come back it turns into an absolute sprint. Ibushi stiffs Takeshita a lot, which was cool. Takeshita's series of suplexes on Omega for the finish was very good as well. The worst part of this match is Omega's pec flex, which is by far the most annoying tic he ever had.

Union Pro title match. Sato struggling to keep Ishikawa down was fantastic throughout. Sato's selling when he gets thrown outside or whenever Ishikawa gets a suplex is fantastic. Most of the match is very slow and methodical, they get the most out of even things like Sato blocking a powerbomb. Sato rolls out of the ring twenty minutes in and Ishikawa starts really dominating him. Sato is hurt by every strike Ishikawa throws but he has this nice desperation takedown into a kimura. Unfortunately for him, Ishikawa picks him up while in the kimura and piledrives him. Sato gets a guillotine choke and tries to pin Ishikawa but he kicks out, he follows with a suplex and Shuji still kicks out and then he tries the armbar but Ishikawa stacks it and slams him. Having thrown everything at him, Sato just defends for the rest of the match. Ishikawa gets the splash mountain with seconds left, but he can't get the pin before the time limit. Sato keeps the belt with the draw and the ending with him refusing overtime to get a winner is very good. Incredible match, Sato is outstanding in it.

King of DDT final. I really like KUDO. He's a decent grappler and all his strikes are thrown like a real kickboxer. So he has pretty great punches but they look really tight, rather than like the big haymakers of all your favorite brawlers. His kicks are even better. And he actually stands in a boxing stance if need be, I like shit like that. Kodaka is someone who wins me over everytime by either doing crazy shit or just playing face, and he does here. He's always pretty over by just taking a beating any way he can. It's cool. I did think the structure here was pretty rote, with an outside brawl that just sort of happens before they climb back into the ring. There's a nice moment where KUDO tries to climb the ropes and Kodaka climbs them to superplex him. And then KUDO throws him off but before he can do a dive or something, Kodaka gets up and climbs again. And KUDO throws him off again and again. Eventually, Kodaka finally gets him in position for the superplex, but KUDO escapes and lands safely. So there's really no huge payoff for that but i thought that built nicely and they still hold your interest really well until the ending. Good match, especially the second half.

This is a cool random trios match on DDT Universe. Honda & co have the Monster Army gimmick, which I guess is Honda's the general and he does army hand signs to tell the other two what they should do. It's very like Buck Turgidson. On the other team, Ihashi is dressed like Ibushi (they have similar names, get it?!?) and does his moves to varying degrees of success. Both bits are funny. I like everyone here so I really enjoyed the match. Honda bosses his team around. Hino plays a goofy big guy pretty well and he really leans into the gimmick. This is Sasaki way before Damnation, but he's still kind of the same dude with the weird charisma. His punches are already great. Ibushi's literally exactly the same as he's in a big match. Omega mostly just chills on the apron until the ending. Ihashi gets the win by being dragged on top of Honda because he was the legal man, after Ibushi wrecks Honda with a flying kick. It was good!

Didn't think I would like this after seeing two matches between these two and feeling kind of lukewarm about them, but this is the best one. They go to bigger stuff earlier on and just do that crazy shit for like fifteen minutes. Favourite moment was Generico stuffing Ibushi on the apron with a kick and then Ibushi stuffing Generico's DDT through the turnbuckle with another kick. It's a pretty fun match in this mold of twenty minutes of big spots and crazy offense, which is what all their matches should've been apparently. They probably could've ended it with the crazy brainbuster on the apron. The only thing that really bothered me was Generico doing that and then going for the brainbuster on the corner after Ibushi kicks out. Seems like a downgrade. And the ending was really soon afterwards, with Ibushi kicking out at three. So the ending was just generally weird.

he's got a yellow belt too. sounds like the match/show was fun

The first five minutes is largely inconsequential, lame grappling but it picks up when Ibushi starts working Generico's arm. Generico's selling is very consistent in that he's always doing it but he still hits all his stuff just fine. Some of the offense in this match is pretty incredible though. I thought the teases of Generico's corner brainbuster were cool. It was a bit long but still fun and I thought much better than their first match.

they're doing another LA Park-Rush singles match next month in Monterrey.

Although Omega working the arm does tie the first half together, i thought the actual shit he did to the arm looked very weak for the most part. There's a very sloppily applied armbar, which Ibushi stacks into a pinfall. Omega lifts him up with his feet back into the armbar, that was really cool but in the end the armbar still looked bad. Ibushi's comebacks are good and Omega stopping the moonsault from the corner was cool. Ibushi's selling is solid and Omega does sell in his goofy way so this fits the traditional mold of a good match, but really for me the shit they do in the back half where they go nuts is where it gets very good, since that's what they really excel at.