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This was quite refreshing from Joint Promotions, as the rounds can sometimes hurt the flow of the match at times, but there were no interruptions here. As usual, Breaks stole the show with his attitude and armwork, he was a blast while arguing with the crowd and the referee. Lots of snugness from him and good selling from Turpin, even though his action was a bit sloppy at times. I know it's a traditional thing, but I hate JP referees not counting the pinfalls like "normal referees", it takes a lot away from the experience. Good and surprising finish, this was a nice little match ***

A great match and a really outstanding NWA World Title defence formula for Flair. Jumbo was put over in a great way, he completely dominated the champion on the mat and with the strikes, but was maybe too calm and he didn't have the killer instinct to win the match. It took Flair 20 minutes to finally get some heat on the challenger's leg and then Jumbo managed to reverse that as well in only a few minutes, it really looked like a night where nothing could go wrong for him. Great double countout tease, in an era where it was a very common finish; the double pinfall was also a genius move for the way it happened, but execution of the suplex was a bit too clumsy ****1/4

They had a really nice brawl and it worked as a very strong angle, more than a classic match, as it was too short to be a blowoff between the two. Rose was such a good heel that fans were now cheering Borne, despite his anti hero attitude and words. It got blood and Rose's beatdown on Borne was fantastic, in and outside the ring, after everyone making fun of his weight. This was clipped here and there, which was a shame, but it all made sense given where they were going ***1/4

This was unique. Not my cup of tea, but definitely unique and good in its own way. Brody and Stomper just brawled and destroyed each other with chairs for 5 minutes, all around the ring and also in the fans' seating areas. It got bloody and of course the poor referee couldn't do much about it, so half of the rosters comes down to finally set Brody and Stomper apart. Again, I can't call it a great match, but it was cool ***

Really good match and, with a more fitting stadium/crowd, it would have probably been ever better. It felt important, as a title shot to the World Title was on the line here. Kerry came out of this, at least in the eyes of the Texan fans, as a peer compared to Race. He took all of his punishment and still managed to win, albeit in an almost lucky was, but still clean in the middle of the ring. The No DQ stipulation was used to allow extra aggression, fights at ringside and heated sequences, instead of using lots of weapons. Race conducted the match with a good pace, even though I wasn't fan of a couple spots, like the 1 count after a piledriver just in the middle of the match; but the rest was all well done, they both bled as Kerry never gave up and used his fists to avenge Race's punishment ***3/4

Of course, this was not on the level of their 1989 matches, but it was still a good bout. Steamboat showed fire and was actually in the hot seat for a long time, so this was a bit different from a typical Flair touring title defence (despite Ricky not being a territory regular). One of the highlights was listening to a man with a raspy voice cheering for Flair and trying to keep up with all the fangirls chanting Steamboat's name. Flair changes his formula and this should be seen by the ones that accuse him of wrestling the same match every night; he gave Steamboat lots of offence and even the finish protected the challenger ***1/4

This wasn't too good. Lots of unexciting limb work, which is fine I guess, but one would expect a 10/12 minutes Junior Heavyweight match to be a bit more interesting. Mask was a bit sloppy and got a few things wrong, both in execution and while conducting the match, their chemistry wasn't the best. Anyway, they managed to keep this short and simple, with a clean finish to boot **1/2

This was nothing special, to be fair. Yes, lots of interesting details (Bobby Heenan was great at ringside and JYD had a massive pop with his entrance), but the action itself wasn't extremely good. Paul Boesch was really good on commentary, also moaning on some silly fans throwing objects in the ring. Dog was hitting hard, but something didn't click despite Bock's ring presence. The finish was quite of a genius spot, when Heenan counted the pinfall instead of the referee to deceive JYD, I liked it so much that the DQ ending felt perfectly fine **1/2

Considering their styles and limits, this was fought very smartly and was way better than what I imagined. A bit of stalling at the beginning, but Dory handled most of the actions and so it wasn't that bad, despite the lack of exciting action. Brody did very well later on, when they brawled all over the place and it got bloody, this was probably the best singles Brody had in a while. He also bumped a little bit, mind you. Not the strongest finish, but it was a clean title change at least ***

Good stuff, but it was heavily clipped. To me, tag matches in the cage work only without escaping the structure and if the tag rules are respected, these are the main reasons the match delivered. Blackwell is a guy that I never really got much exposed to, but he rules in this environment with his power moves and dominating the champions in the heels' corner. It was smart to let Brunzell sell for most of the match, Gagne was fine in the final comeback and the crowd loved the clean finish too. Can't go higher due to the savage clipping ***

This was a good match, but I really don't love the formula of a very long first fall and then 2 quick ones, unless it's very well done: here it kind of make sense, because Slater suffered so much at the beginning and couldn't last longer, but he won the second fall too easily considering his disadvantage. Lots of goodness in the first section of the match, Bock was on form and his legwork didn't have any flaws. There was some clipping in the middle though, that's a shame. Some of the moves looked a bit sloppy, mainly a piledriver from Bock in the third fall, but I liked the roll up sequence that led to the finish. ***1/4

I don't want to overrate this, but this was fantastic. Andre took his time, killing Khan (no pun intended) slowly and calmly, until Khan finally found an open with great legwork. Andre sold like crazy and it made look Khan impressive like hell, trapping King Kong and desperately trying to keep him down to prevent any reaction. Man, even at the end things were electric, like Andre covering his face to stop Khan's blows, as his bad leg prevented him from moving promptly. Andre was a bit sloppy towards the finish, but he was probably exhausted and it also helped with the beg storytelling. I didn't expect this to be so good ***3/4

This was a very solid bout, it's incredible how much I like all the Tiger Mask and Dynamite Kid matches, apart from the ones they have against each other! Wright looked so grizzled, almost undermining Mask's worth on the mat and paying it later when the champion came back. This almost felt like a Joint Promotion match at times, due to the clean breaks and spots segmentation. Not the most exciting or even best technical match out thee, but this has some serious silly details in every hold, like snapping the fingers slowly or pushing an an elbow on a hip. All of the good stuff that makes a fight realistic. It has its ceiling, but I am happy I saw this ***1/2

This was a great match and had great storytelling. Forget about dozens of unrealistic and silly spots, the barbed wire was there to stop them from escaping the ring and finally having a definite finish. Yes, submission holds can belong in a barbed wire match, if that makes sense. Top notch brawling right here and Lawler finally managed to get revenge on Mantel by making him bleed, even though Dutch was really booked as a peer to Lawler, as the finish proves with the exhaustion pinfall. A few minutes are clipped and don't make it to the footage, but there was so much greatness here that it can be ignored ****

Man, there was so much to love here. The crowd was so hot for everything they did and all the lumberjacks interactions made sense, getting heat on Backlund and creating interest every time somebody left the ring. I was not a fan of a piledriver kickout 5 minutes into a match, though, it's dumb in the 80s as it is in 2024. Backlund's goofy charisma keeps on giving and the finish was gold, as the goodnight Irene hold was always protected up to that point. This might easily be the best lumberjack match ever, as I don't remember any of them being better than this one ***1/2

This was a good match and a textbook Lawler Memphis title bout: good brawl, decent selling, an attentive crowd and a bit of stalling. I did like the fact that the No DQ stipulation didn't translate to crazy and exaggerated action, but at least ensured a finish when things got uglier later in the match. Not the best limbwork from Mantell to be honest, but Lawler's selling was good at least, although he forgot about it towards the end of the match. This was very easy to watch and I was surprised by the finish in Mantell's favour, even though Lawler was kind of protected anyway ***1/4

Much like Lawler vs Funk from the previous year, this is more of an angle rather than a real match (even though the bell actually rings this time). It's far from a bad angle anyway and it sets the tone for the rest of the feud, but ranking it as a match it's not really ideal. Some good bumping from Lawler, but it's quite overbooked and it very much works as an advancement angle. A very good angle, to be fair **1/2

This wasn't the best version of Finlay vs Davey Boy in their prime, but still a damn solid match and a fun attraction. Lots and lots crispy matwork without any shenanigans, Finlay was at his best when he worked on the opponent's arm. More strikes and moves that you would see in a normal Joint Promotions match of that era, so that made it more digestible and well. I liked the continuous selling, apart from a few instances, plus the way they sold their exhaustion (even though they were probably really tired by the end), but the 35+ minutes lacked any major drama spots and kind of dragged at times ***1/2

Much like the Dory/Terry match from All Japan, I liked this, but I can see why it might not be some people's cup of tea: it was a slow and methodical match, with solid limb work and a lot on emphasis on them struggling to get from a hold to the next one. Dory was more rational and less mobile, but Robinson spiced this up with good selling and initiatives. It looked like everything was done for a reason, which is a good thing. Robinson working on Dory's leg was definitely the best part of it, while Dory's armwork was more restholds than anything else at times. The 30 minutes didn't fly, but they did a good job at keeping the stalemate alive until the latest parts of the contest ***1/2

This was decent, but it looked like another smoke and mirrors showcase, which is surprising due to Race's level. They just fought for 10 minutes before the non-finish, so this didn't reach the heights of their 1983 bouts. I mean, this wasn't bad, but it felt quite flat at times and didn't pick up until they both started bleeding as a result of their fight. Not everything looked super smooth, on top of that, especially Race's piledriver. Another problem was the crowd not being able to pick a side, which influenced the guys and there was not a consistent babyface or heel throughout the match. Anyway, the ending was well done and they did leave people wanting more **1/2

This wasn't the best Flair title defense, but it looked like Florida was behind Graham and so this felt quite important (locally, at least). Flair brought some different elements, working on the challenger's throat after a sudden bump, but things were not very smooth when Graham was dictating the pace after his comeback: he worked on Flair's legs for a bit, but never consistently, then picked it right back up at the end for the non-finish. Even Flair getting coloured seemed too much, this was a pretty good match after all, but it seemed like they were trying hard to have an epic one ***

The attendance was quite impressive, but unfortunately the crowd wasn't as vocal as I wished (the japanese commentary seemed a bit out of place as well). This was a solid match for what it was, with good parts and interesting points, but a few dull moments and executions too. I didn't really care for the first too falls, they were too short and a bit dull, but the last one was really good. Hamada was clearly a step above his opponent, he bumped around really well and seemed quite reckless at times. A bit irritating to see the legwork on Hamada being completely forgotten later in the match, it didn't lead to a long heat segment, but they did nothing with it ***1/4

This had a great crowd and a big match feeling, which made it really special. And the action wasn't that bad too, Baba couldn't really go but he worked this match so smartly: pacing around the big guy, working on the arm and selling as much as he could. In comparison, this was as good as any Inoki/Hansen fight (maybe with the exception of one match only), despite the bigger limitations here. This was short and sweet. There was also a throwback at the Ace going out of the ring after Hansen's lariat, which lead to the predictable non-finish. Not a problem at all, as this needed to continue anyway ***1/4

Despite having a few dull points (and in a 20 minutes match between them, this shouldn't be a thing), this had some great moments and it was a good match overall. All the limb stuff looked so strong and challenging, in opposition to other matches where offense seems quite light. Jumbo's heat segment on Bock's back was the best part of the match, the always found a way to back to it, even when Bock started to get more offense. I liked the finishing stretch, there was a really good nearfall and good crowd support; the non finish is not that unpredictable, but I hate airplane spins and here Jumbo ends up looking very silly due to this finish ***1/2

This was a nice match and it was the best of the series so far, but it still had a few flaws. They definitely worked better, once again, with a shorter length to fill. The matwork was crip and the athletic stuff didn't seem to come out of nowhere. I particularly enjoyed Dynamite's vibe, he was extra focused and made Mask look great when going insane for the amount of offense that dished by the champion. I wasn't too fond of the ringside stuff, anyway, but I rarely am. The crowd loved this towards the end and I can't blame them, it was a good sequence and a nice finish. They deserve some credit for not letting a botch affect them, as they quickly recovered from it ***1/4