Jabroniville

I haven't watched nearly enough MPro stuff to really know the history behind them (I was like "hey you notice Men's Teioh fights more like a Western guy than a puro guy?" and someone had to explain to me that was literally his gimmick, lol), but I really dug it. Of the MPro matches I've seen, this is by far the longest- it seems they killed time by extending the "everyone pairs off" thing for 15 damn minutes. Which is way too long for me, but at least establishes character bits (Hamada's smarts/experience, Yakushiji being this spitfire rookie who keeps surprising the heels with his talents and perseverence). The "meat" really develops when KDX starts cheating after that point. I actually liked the final ten minutes, as guys were finally tired enough they could be left in the ring and possibly pinned- this led to the classic "Everyone gets their sh*t in" spots and last-second saves. Great showcase for Taka in particular- a real star-making performance. Overall I went ***3/4. But that's without knowing some of the history. I wish Sasuke had been in it, lol.

Remarkable match that was VERY well booked. It was a bit "Finisher Beamspam" like a lot of matches have been lately (a powerbomb ON THE TACKS and you can't get a pin?), but some of it had explanations- the Super DVD into a ladder should be an MDK, but there was a delay in the pin and it was more of a "toss them off the top onto the ladder", which is a pretty routine spot in matches like this. The powerbomb had Britt flailing in agony, making her harder to keep down. And hey- at least it led to the finish. I'm going ****1/4-1/2 or so, and am really impressed with both women. Britt has a lower floor than many wrestlers who have matches this good, making me suspect she does a LOT of pre-planning for her big bouts, but it makes me very curious what she can do with others. Rosa is awesome and hopefully can get out of her NWA contract soon and be full-time in AEW.

Hooooo man, this was the worst Manami/Kyoko match ever- why, it barely got four stars! This really came off like two people trying to have a ***** match but the world just not clicking right for them, as Manami's early slips led to a lot of crowd-killing submissions as they tried to get it together, and Kyoko looked stiff and hurt. And then they're like "okay time for MDKs" and they just hit repeated finisher-tier moves and bump like lunatics (that superplex suicida-to-boot-off-the-top move was so, SO dangerous) and we're back in the game. Selling? A BIT, with people lying around after moves, but then they'd still hit all their flying stuff with little problem. Less psychology and more "GO GO GO!" but screw it, that's good enough sometimes, especially when it's bugfuck insane like that. And hey- they did multiple "learned from the last move/second try hits" spots as well, so they used their heads a LITTLE. But then they botch 2-3 big moves right in the end-game, which probably shows they'd have been better off ending it early. ESPECIALLY since the biggest botch was their finisher, resulting in an improvised mess at the end. Toyota trying to improvise and do the "St. Battle Final" ending, but on a way heavier opponent than Ozaki, was disastrous as Kyoko lands funny and won't take the pin, so they have to re-do the original finish, but with a weaker sunset flip off the second rope. Rating: **** (so, SO flawed, but also full of amazing spots and one of the best five-minute finishing stretches you'll see... unfortunately, that stretch lasted seven. I mean, it was heading to ****+ until they blew the finish. Hilariously, I think this is their worst match)

Brilliantly laid-out match. Aja dominates a ton in the early going so her elimination is unexpected, but also doesn't make her look weak. Kansai looks GREAT for outdoing a double-team and ending up the winner. She KOs the goddamn WORLD CHAMPION, too, leaving Akira against impossible odds against two killers. So of course you give her the hope spot and have her pull out a win over Hotta (who is still actively being pushed), only for her to do the honors, so to speak, giving JWP's top star the win in the end. I also loved the story there of Aja beating Kansai over and over again during the Interpromotional Era (two solo matches by this point I think, plus the TKO fall at Thunder Queen), then taking her own medicine with the same kind of TKO fall here. And a sign of what's gonna happen next year. Going through a Finisher Surge at 12 minutes in was perfect timing, because you effectively get a whole new match once that's over. Then they kick Akira to death and give her NO chance until a big mistake costs them Hotta. Kansai should easily finish her in this state, but that German on the floor puts the fight out of her and Akira pulls out SO many last chances and nearly brings her down until Kansai proves to just have too much HP left and then it's over. Even Aja & Hotta were fantastic in defeat, cheering on their partners at ringside and getting way into it (Aja sold her knock out for several minutes, too). Remarkable story overall. Rating: ****3/4 (one of the great one-sided matches- a **** war to begin ending with a lucky K.O., then a come-from-behind win, then a near-win that ultimately breaks the hearts of the fans. Phenomenal storytelling)

I loved that it devolved into a slugfest again at the end- echoes of their last bout! Hokuto's dead on her feet but still fightin- and then we see Etsuko Mita and Mima Shimoda- her trainees and fellow LCO members, BEGGING AND CRYING in the aisle! With Aja, Minami and others behind them! Minami is stoic, but Aja has a wonderful look of dreaded concern for a respected rival. Camera catches a major whiff of an uppercut that's sold, and Mita has to be PHYSICALLY RESTRAINED from getting into the ring. And finally Kandori uppercuts Akira's soul out of her body to score the three. Perfect ending. The story here was perfect- Kandori wasn't out to have a MATCH- this was revenge, pure and simple. Letting go of holds early, taking her time with each strike- she was trying to physically destroy her opponent. And that desire for revenge started to cost her, as she turned away a handful of chances of victory to do more damage, until it was too late, and Hokuto's reversals has done their damage. There was a bit too much slowness and lying around in submissions, as much as they served the story, and there wasn't that great visual of two bloodied warriors, as this was way more one-sided, but I still loved it. The shot of LCO having to be prevented from entering the ring was an amazing hook (yet it's the look of agonized sorrow on Aja's face that has stuck with me for weeks- that woman belongs on Mount Rushmore), and Kandori finally getting her pound of flesh by killing Hokuto with strikes was perfect. I still have to go ****3/4, though. And a full five if you count "overall story/booking" into things.

Haha, AWESOME!! Kudo did the literal exact opposite match ANYONE could have been expecting- no weapons, no cheating, no nothing! She beat down Aja with TECHNICAL HOLDS, and damn near beat her thanks to all the state of the art arm stuff she was pulling. Aja, used to just bullrushing people over or taking tons of MOVEZ, didn't have anything to counter that, and it even weakened her Uraken! Fantastic psychology as Kudo can and will reverse ANYTHING, Toyota-style, and Aja starts to become desperate, especially once a big finish gets reversed and nearly costs her the match. That final Uraken, and Aja's "NO STAY DOWWNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN!" pinfall, was perfectly timed and way into character. When they finally recover, Aja hugs her- one of my favorite "Aja Things" is how much she respects and admires toughness in others. Megumi's clear heartbreak at realizing she lost? That's why she's the Ace of FMW. Rating: ****3/4 (can't believe Meltzer only gave this ***3/4, but then he's always been kind of a "MOVEZ" guy)

Holy HELL this was a performance. Completely different from the 2/3 Falls matches, this one was instead a tightly-scripted, perfectly-choreographed performance that took all their prior bouts into consideration, with callbacks throughout. The "Quick Pin" of the second match and the Doomsday Splash Mountain finale were both reversed by Team AJW in this one, for example. Yamada in particular looked amazing in everything she did, but everyone played their parts perfectly- Kansai as the lethal kicker who was nonetheless vulnerable, Ozaki as the giant bitch who was a precision attacker who would do anything to win, and Toyota as the Reversal Queen, always selling her ass off. This was one of those matches where they're 18 minutes in and you're like "this is ***** already" and they JUST KEEP GOING for another seven, because they haven't even started Escalating Finishers yet. How does it compare to the Match of the Year at Dream Slam II? They're very different "types" of matches- this one eschews the "Stretching Portions" almost entirely in favor of Savage/Steamboat-esque match flow and reversals. Literally four times I said "oh SHIT" or "oh JESUS" at a reversal (the Doomsday Splash Mountain reversal, Toyota's Teleporting Dropkick (when she comes FLYING in from way off-camera to stop a pin), the Turning Splash reversal, and the Japanese Ocean Cyclone Suplex failing to score a fall), and they had me at least three or four times with the near-falls at the end (and that's me knowing who won ahead of time). This is on the short list of greatest matches of all time for me- top five at least, and has an even shot at Best Ever. It's not quite as STUFFED as the other matches they had, but is better paced because of the shorter time and single-fall nature of the match. To me, all three matches are *****, but this is the best of the lot, made all the better if you've seen the prior two. ***** all the way for me.