soup23

Think it is more a combination of the Lucha effect and this not even being a top 7-8 show on New Japans calendar of importance. I would expect more reviews and thoughts trickling out throughout the week. Also I would expect more live reaction during the New Beginning shows.

Watched both shows. Everything has been enjoyable so far. I have been disappointed in both main events. Cavernario vs. Dragon Lee is my top two lucha guys in their peak going at it and while it was good, it never kicked up into that other gear that I was hoping. It did look like Cavernario had a shoulder dislocation that they popped back into place. Maximo vs. Hechicero really disappointed me in the fact that I'm not sure the match was even good and there were at least 4 other matches on the show I thought was better.

A kind of by the numbers AJPW tag but still some good stuff to bite into. Mainly seeing Kobashi and Hansen revive their rivalry and go after each other with a ton of vigor. This match also provided a good look into Johnny Smith. He seems like a good mechanic but also someone that doesn't really move the needle for me one way or another. Akiyama is made to look strong as he was heading into the big Misawa singles match and overall this was mostly used as a Burning showcase. ***1/4

Beginning is good with the young crew really going after the vets. They even give a cocky pose of all three of them posing. Ito and Toyota take over control and do a pose of their own! Awesome. Toyota is being a prick and raking the noise and mockingly clapping before stretching Wakizawa out. Ito continues the carnage and Kansai is excellent on the outside kicking away an attempt at a rope break. The vets really dominate the first portion of this match until we get a nice spark of offense from the underwings. We get some back and forth before heading into the final third of the match. Things break down predictably and we get good bursts of action and some dive sequences. Ito ends up putting things away for the vets. Fun match with an easy to read dynamic that played out on screen. ***1/2

This is my peak Crazy Max team. They do all the great stuff that I hope. I thought Genki looked a little shaky at points here and it is clear that him and Saito are really young and just kind of finding themselves. Tokyo whiffs on a back spin kick but otherwise looks pretty damn good and his sequences with CIMA were the highlight from a technical standpoint. Fuji continues to maybe be my absolute favorite wrestler in 2000 so far or at least in contention. The comedy stuff he mixes in works and doesn't overstay its welcome and his move set and execution is spot on. I am thinking he might land on my GWE list in 2026. This didn't reach the tip top form of the other Toryumon multi mans but still made me craving more from the competitors. ***3/4

Crazy has got himself a bit of a haircut. I have been slightly more lenient of the ECW type crowd than Charles up to this point but when Crazy barely botches a rana and they yell You Fucked Up here, I got annoyed. They double down by chanting for tables too. This was an all out sprint for these two as they run through their spots as fast as they can and then Crazy wins and hightails it out of here. **1/4

To say I was hyped about this as a lead into the apuestas would be an understatement. We cut to Villano having Atlantis in a Boston Crab to which Atlantis sits straight up from. The armdrags are beautiful and Villano is able to finish things up with his submission. If something works why not go back to it right? Villano does with some added leverage of his leg wrapped around Atlantis’ head. Atlantis is able to work that into a Gory Special where I would have liked more struggle from. The repertoire of rollups Atlantis rolls through was a nice bit of him throwing the preverbal kitchen sink to try to even things up. Atlantida is hooked and that is a wrap on fall two. Time for the big third fall but wait a minute here comes the doctor. Villano can’t continue and gets carted off to the back! What a rudo piece of shit. Amazing stuff here. All of a sudden Villano comes out from the back and gets hit with a back breaker and a lariat. Villano returns the favor, goes after the leg, locks on a submission and wins! The towel is immediately thrown over Villano who hightails it to the back and something may be awry. Villano gets pelted with garbage and its apparent he switched with his brothers when he went to the back. Atlantis is PISSED! He delivers a spirited promo demanding retribution. Holy shit what a feud. Classical lucha beginning to the biggest stakes by the end. ****

The squad is all here. Rudos kill the tecnicos in the first fall. Fouls and punches are thrown around constantly. Satanico continues to brutalize TB. After some quick flash by the tecnicos in fall #2, here come the rudos again as they bum rush their opponents and win in two straight falls in an easy manner. 1000% Guapo. ***

It feels good to be in Arena Mexico. I am unsure if Zumbido trips or gets crotched on the top rope but he is pinned in about 25 seconds of action. Black Warrior isn’t far behind. We get some more wonderful CMLL clipping with the rudos in control and Black Warrior doing a huge tope into the stands. Zumbido follows and Pimpenela is able to win the second fall for the rudos as B. Warrior powerbombs and pins Felino. Black Warrior bites off Felino’s mask and holds it in his mouth in my favorite spot of the match. Into the third fall we go with Zumbido and Safari facing off. Felino comes in and we get the built up pairing with him and Black Warrior. Safari is able to hit a really cool Asai Moonsault as the tecnicos are flying around all over the place now. Felino hits a big powerbomb from the ropes with both guys bouncing off the mat and him having to hang on to prevent losing his mask. The tecnicos win. Some good stuff here and there and good fire between Warrior and Felino but the clipping killed it for me coming off the heels of the Olimpico vs. Panther match and the NJPW junior stuff. I hope this isn’t a trend that continues in CMLL. Also, our boy Zumbido seemed a bit off in this one. **1/2

The first fall of this spends a lot of time grappling. The action is fine but not too inspiring. Super J (NOW Sting) mixing it up with the likes of Hash and Sasaki is an interesting look I suppose. Match breaks down and Sasaki is able to secure the first fall for his team. Hashimoto raises the intensity in the second fall by demanding that Chono get into the ring to face him. Second fall really features a big segment between Hashi and Tenzan which was exciting. Hash is able to tap him out for the second fall. A good match but it didn’t make me forget the multiman NJ classics we have seen before. That may be unfair but is kind of the expectations that are going to be present when I see these type of matches on paper. ***1/2

Well what do you know, the last half of a hot looking NJPW juniors match. Kanemoto is able to get some revenge by beating up Liger and Otani is always good for dishing out the punishment. The clips we see here look really strong and we do get enough in the back half for me to rank. Finish was a bit perplexing as Kashin pins Otani. **3/4

As evidenced by her standing with holding Big White and teaming with Toyota along with being involved in the LCO match, it is obvious that AJW had big plans to build around Kumiko as the up and comer and future star. The opening matwork centered around the leg was pretty pedestrian. Pace picks up a lot and they really throw a lot into the back half of this match. Some lands and some is less successful for me. I can’t quite put my finger on it but I just can’t get totally invested in Maekawa at this point even though Azumi was game for this match and didn’t drag things down at all. Even the flash pin with Azumi winning worked for me as it kind of played into the fact that Maekawa’s mind was elsewhere to a degree and now she has suffered the consequences by losing the belt. ***1/4

LCO getting jumped before the bell was a nice taste of their own medicine as they wont be able to bully their way through this entire match. Unfortunately, Nanae has a bandage on her shoulder and as soon as the slightest opportunity presents itself, LCO attacks. Tomoko gets worked over a good bit too when she comes in. However, I think this match really presents showing her and Nanae as stronger than the girls we saw get decimated the month before. The match breaks down at the end with a big brawl around ringside with chairs being thrown with reckless abandon. I liked that sequence as it felt like a natural progression of LCO being frustrated and the match just breaking down. Back inside the ring Watanabe gets a close nearfall on Mita from a powerbomb. They pair off again and into the crowd we go. I really enjoyed even in the brawling segment LCO targeted Nanae’s shoulder. Mima takes Tomoko up to the balcony area and teases throwing her over as the match gets thrown out from being completely broken down. Maekawa gets heavily involved and it looks like we have a lot of challenges thrown out as the segment ends. I really enjoyed this as a vehicle of things to come and a pretty kick ass segment and brawl as a standalone. ***3/4

This was neat to see as a matchup that I am not that familiar with. Match doesn’t have a lot of time or meat to it but it does continue to show that Rikishi is over like crazy and the Germans that Benoit gave him were appreciated and impressed the crowd. Schmozz finish and Too Cool dances to end the segment. **1/4

The Rock is just on another level of over right now. Match was fun as hell as the NAO may feel played as characters but I do think they saw the writing on the wall and amped the effort level in the ring a bit. Gunn seems to be pinballing around more and Road Dogg is doing things like his cocky shimmy punches with a bit more purpose. Match never loses steam and Cactus and Rock pick up the win. A really fun tv match here. ***

This has become a heck of a storyline. DVon hits a really sweet neckbreaker when Christian is crotched on the top turnbuckle. The Dudleys really dominate the match and work over Christian. It is effective, southern style wrestling. Edge gets the hot tag and starts running through his finish. Bubba hurts his leg and rolls to the outside. Missile dropkick into a roll up give E&C the win. I really thought Bubba was playing possum there. Sure enough Bubba grabs BB when the stretcher gets rolled out and they give her a powerbomb through a table to a big chorus of AHHHS from the crowd. E&C come back but DVon scurries them with chairs. I am digging all of this. **1/2

There is something delightful watching this match where 3 out of the 4 competitors are in the same faction at this very moment in 2017. I struggled with this one more than the other Toryumon stuff because I think the personalities of these guys weren’t there as compared to the likes of CIMA, Fuji and Masaaki Mochizuki. The other issue I have here is this seems like a heel vs. heel matchup. I ge that Susumu and Kanda are playing a loner type gimmick but it failed to really convey that too effectively and this by the end just felt like decent to good juniors wrestling instead of the great action and storyline development I have become used to. They can’t all be hits. **3/4

A long promo to start where we set up Hall vs. Jarrett tonight and the winner gets Sid tonight. Hall does his survey which the crowd pops for. The match proper is more spirited than I imagined with Hall and Jarrett both working hard even through all the cheapshots and interference. The crowd is still wanting to cheer Hall. Mark Johnson makes a quick count but Mickey Jay says the match will continue. Hall decks Jarrett with the belt and Johnson pulls Jay out of the ring. Here comes Sid down and him and Hall give double powerbombs as the show goes off the air. **1/4

Some good mat work to start gives way to Marvin opening it up. He then does a completely nutty dive where he does a springboard corkscrew dive to the floor. Incredible agility there. Fugaz tries a swantom dive and misses a bit hitting the floor with a nasty looking bump. Fugaz redeems himself with a sliding tornado DDT sending both into the Korakuen crowd. After a bit of back and forth, Marvin is able get the pin. Just a collection of spots but some were really impressive. ***

Good for Olimpico being fed up with getting the shit kicked of him and taking it right to him sweatshirt and all. Mask ripping and a weird cut where we go to the entranceway and now Panther is ripping up Olimpico’s mask. Olimpico is busted open and Panther tasting the blood is always a classic rudo spot. Panther wins the first caida on a submission and we come back to a bloody Olimpico being paraded around the fans. Clip to the inside where Olimpico makes his comeback. We come back to the final fall and the guys in the mix of it. Finish was really rewarding for me with Olimpico using the ropes to win. The clipping made this a little odd and I don’t know if I should rank it overall so I am going to be safe and not rank it but I really enjoyed what I saw and CMLL continues to crank out the quality.

Hall is nearly as tall as Sid. Sid as big time babyface anchor of a promotion is odd but he continues to try hard and not get a better reaction from the fans that are there than I would have imagined. Some of the calls here reminded me how much I dislike Madden on commentary. Ref bump happens two minutes in and here comes Jeff Jarrett. They beat up Sid but then have an argument and we get another turn as Jarrett breaks the guitar over Hall and places sid on top of him. I give up. Jarrett tells Steiner and the Harris Brothers that you are either with him or that bitch. *

These guys have the audacity to air highlights of Clash 9 before making Funk and David come out there. Some utterly bizarre booking where they make David look courageous for not backing down here. While Funk cuts a promo on Ric Flair, David starts beating him right across the head with a chair. Funk is able to take over and beats David’s ass. He piledrives David on the concrete floor and then through a table. All of this has weirdly turned me and the crowd around as they chant We Want Flair. Funk gives Ric five seconds to come out and that doesn’t goad Ric out either. Funk is cussing like a sailor and being bleeped. Funk ends up quitting giving David the win. Arn is in the back cutting an Arn angle that is great and full of emotion as if you expect anything else. A straight angle instead of a match but something that actually worked in some very strange way.

A really hyped match that I haven’t seen in quite some time. Radicalz interrupt X-Pac and Tori. Crowd is really hot for Eddy as he thanks the WWF fans for their support. Benoit asks for Cactus Jack. The crowd here really is molten. Steph has a more edgy outfit on tonight. HHH asks for one more match with Jack with him putting his career on the line at No Way Out. HHH allows Cactus to pick the match but without any barbed wire and thumbtacks. The payoff of Foley to Hell in a Cell is greatly built up to. HHH also brings some great intensity to the promo describing the career stipulation and it including all of Foley’s personas. Foley talks about main eventing WrestleMania and that being the only milestone he has left. A huge pop when Foley says when I win. This was an incredible promo on both behalf. The Radicalz then turn on Jack as we learn that HHH gave them contracts and they are repaying their gratitude. I am not sure how I feel about the heel turn so soon for these guys but the promo set up wasn’t that contrived so I can give it a pass as of this moment. The main event is presented as 5-2 until Too Cool and Rikishi musics fires up and we get a huge brawl with the crowd going completely ape shit. Rock is paired off with HHH and HHH gets suplexed on the entrance. This is the peak of the Worm which I am a bit ashamed to admit was probably my favorite move in wrestling at the time as a 14 year old. Rocky chant fires up. Rikishi is right there heat wise with anyone in this match and I still think they really had something with him at this point. I don’t know how much staying power it had but they should have done more. Him and Benoit seem to have fun chemistry together. Benoit gives Rikishi a huge German making Lawler and Steph pop on commentary. Cactus goes after HHH and throws him on the table before everyone pounces on Cactus and he is the FIP. Good kicks in the corner by HHH and he shoves Hebner down. Cactus makes the hot tag to Rock and the crowd comes unglued. Rock does one of the better hot tag sequences I can remember giving everyone hell. Saturn gets in a moment of shine taking Rock out with a nice superkick. King is marking out on commentary. Big legdrop from Grand Master Sexay and he gets tripped by Eddy allowing the heels to take over and take control of Sexay. Steph is better here on commentary than the first time but still around passable level. Sexay does a double DDT on Dean and Benoit and makes the big tag to Jack. Chaos ensues and Benoit is able to pikc up the win with a diving headbutt on Sexay. Great booking. All ten men continue to brawl when the Outlaws come out with a lead pipe. The lights go out and Kane reemerges with his father Paul Bearer to a great pop in his old WCCW stomping grounds. ****

You get so conditioned to WWF filming that the aisle way coming from the right hand side of the screen really bothered me more than it should. E&C really haven’t created their personality that would make them really popular yet but I have liked them a lot as a team. NAO don’t have much to offer anymore and feel like the old guys that everyone is waiting to leave so the party can start. I like the Dudley’s on commentary and they have came a long way from the shaky debut. Hot tag made to Christian and he rolls through his offense to some good applause. Crowd really bit on the nearfall of Christian and Edge does his spear and then a hilariously awkward crotch chop. Bubba decides to interfere slamming Christian’s neck over the rope allowing Road Dogg to hit the Pump Handle Slam for the win. Bubba and JR have good heat with each other afterwards. **

No idea what to expect from AAA in the 2000’s but would be lying if I said I was looking forward to it. Also can’t say I have watched much of either of these two. The KISS character seconding Cobarde was pretty sweet looking. Tiger Steele also is a huge figure even if he is shit in the ring. Cobarde mostly sticks and moves with speed to escape Tiger. I know that is a little odd to say from a wrestler in his 50’s but it is what happened. A weird pin occurs with Tirantes put on top of Steel and then he counts for some reason. Steele comes back with his Kevin Nash cosplay offense and he does a half hearted chokeslam to Tirantes. Steel has a submission of a back breaker but Tirantes gives the win to Cobrade. I don’t know how Steele and company could have expected anything else. Needless to say, this didn’t exactly make me want to run out and pick up everything from AAA in 2000. *3/4