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We are still going by the Pegasus moniker but Benoit is in with the big boys now and they waste no time attacking each other with strikes. Benoit’s chops in the early going are some of the most lethal chops I have ever seen as they ring out across the cavernous Tokyo Dome. Benoit really taking control here helped the match speed along and it didn’t overstay its welcome. Tenzan is someone that can have some sympathy built up for him in the right setting and this was exemplified here. Benoit is really ferocious on top and stops Tenzan at every turn including catching him on the top rope and sending him crashing down with a super plex. Benoit is also able to hoist the big man up for the triple German. That followed by a diving headbutt earns a nearfall. Tenzan starts mounting his comeback which feels well earned and picks up the victory. I enjoyed this a lot more than I thought I would coming in. ***

Look I like Kashin alright and probably more than most but this match will essentially live and die by how inoffensive he is. Takaiwa and Tanaka start out with some dueling leg mat work and Otani shows he is an ass by giving it a sarcastic applause when he comes in the ring. Otani and Kashin proceed to have a really nice exchange with some added touches like Tanaka moving out the rope when Otani reaches for them and Kashin and Tanaka double teaming Otani. Tanaka finds himself in the wrong corner and Takaiwa absolutely waylays him with a lariat. The action here hasn’t taken a turn where one person is worked over for an extended amount but it has remained interesting and the strikes have been impressive. Otani runs through some of his signature stuff on Tanaka including the face wash and the springboard dropkick. Takaiwa gives no fucks about throwing out these vicious clotheslines. Minoru and Kashin are able to gain their bearings with a pair of flash armbreakers and Tanaka locks another one on Otani that Takaiwa has to break up. Really great sequence of missed maneuvers with Otani and Minoru after that teased finish. Kashin has hung in there and looked actively good in the match so far. I really like how they pull out these armbars straight out of their ass as a great equalizer. Takaiwa has one of his own with his trusty lariat. Things break down in the later stages and Takaiwa and Kashin get lost in the only low point of the match. Takaiwa does hit a nasty Death Valley Driver bomb to put him away. This match was a load of fun. ***1/4

Liger’s suit is boss and here he comes out with two women to put everything over the top. That said, the IWGP junior title is one of the wimpiest looking things I have ever seen. I know the narrative of dome junior matches sucking but with these two, I was still really looking forward to this one. They bump the opening mat work exchange for heated strikes and I was really on board. Liger works over Kanemoto hits a series of bombs and then wins with the brainbuster. WTF????? Why was Kanemoto made to be the sacrificial lamb here? This really actively pissed me off. 1/2 *

This suffered from being another crowd brawl at the start. By this point, I was checked out on that spot. When the match settled down, it became real interesting. The action was fierce but stuff was done with purpose for the most part and little touches like Toyota being rolled out of position on the figure four so Wakizawa couldn’t save her with a dive were nice touches. The Miho and Toyota tandem worked well together and I was unfamiliar with Miho and Kumiko’s work for the most part. The first fall progressed with pinfall attempts to bombs and finally Kumiko putting away Miho with some kicks. Second fall starts as more of the same as the Maekawa/Watanabe team is dominant over Miho hitting Fisherman Buster’s for nearfalls and some stiff kicks. Miho has one second to tag and lunges for it. I have liked Manami in this match as the most established person overall by far. Maekawa’s kicks are thrown with real abandon but they don’t always connect very flushly making the match suffer. Toyota and Wakizawa do stereo dives where they climb the entranceway to a section of Korakuen. That was a neat spot although I have had again enough with the crowd brawling especially in this match where it has happened twice. Watanabe and Kumiko take back over and hit a brutal kick/powerbomb combo to almost put Toyota away. Miho saves Toyota and they are able to win the second fall with a missile dropkick/electric chair bridge combo. Third fall starts with a good bit of desperation. Toyota accidently hits Miho from the top rope and is barely able to make the save on the pin attempt. The third fall is a full out sprint and Watanabe picks up the pinfall on Miho after an assisted kick from Kumiko. Afterwards, LCO challenges them which should be fun to watch after their domination earlier. I liked this but it never hit the next gear to become great and Kumiko and Miho took me out of the match to a degree. ***

Welcome to the HHH show. HHH announces to DX that he wants to go at things alone here. Steph’s wardrobe has evolved a lot in 16 years. I really liked the beginning of this match with Show showing his size dominance. He uses his big man offense and HHH bumps around for him doing the Harley Race bump to the floor. HHH overall has to use resources and bursts of strength to get on offense like shoving Show into the steps and over the announce table. Show’s kickout on the high knee was nice showing that he still had strength in him that HHH hadn’t worn down yet. Really close nearfall off a sidewalk slam and Show follows that up with a big powerslam for another. Show gets the chokeslamed that is bailed out by HHH getting his foot on the rope. Show takes a big chance going for a middle rope elbow and he misses. This was the first big mistake he has made and HHH capitalizes by going for the pedigree. Show is able to block that. DX rushes to ringside but is stopped by the referee. While all of this commotion is going on, HHH is able to hit a low blow and the pedigree and win the championship starting his signature run with the title. Pyro goes off and DX celebrates. Overall, this was a lot better than I thought it would be going in and I thought Show looked relatively strong in defeat here. **3/4

Welp, didn’t take long before I had my first googling Noumi and Fujii apart. Another day, another crowd brawl in Korakuen. This one wasn’t that bad either as LCO gets jumped at the bell and has a oh hell no moment where they drag around Noumi and Fujii demolishing them with chairs and whipping them into the building. Storyline here was simple but really effective with LCO just brutalizing the more inexperienced wrestlers. They do a variety of brutal moves including jumping piledrivers and stiff kicks. Noumi even starts bleeding she gets so pulverized. I know LCO is known for this style but I found this really effective in how bruising they could be without the typical Vader or Aja Kong character type. I really liked that it took Noumi and Fujii using double team moves to finally gain an advantage. Once it goes back to one on one, Shimoda takes over easily again. Noumi is able to get some flash pins but not much else until a desperation lariat. She climbs to the top but Mima stops her. Excellent spot as she ends up with the sunset flip on Mita and then tags in Fujii. End of match starts as it begin with LCO dragging their opponents around the arena kicking ass. Fujii gets powerbombed onto a stack of chairs in the ring and Mita does the nonchalant cover on the chest that the referee refuses to acknowledge. After another glimmer of hope, LCO buckles down with Mita pulverizing Fujii in the ring and Shimoda handing Noumi outside with a piledriver through a table. Mita picks up Fujii on some pin attempts and the referee finally just declares the match over. What a brutal beating. ***1/2

Ryuji Yamakawa vs Tomoaki Honma (Five Inch Spike Nail and Barbed Wire Double Board Death Match) Korakuen had a busy day between this show and the All Japan one. I will say that the crowd here looks younger and hipper than the real mundane crowd we encountered in the All Japan action i watched earlier. A feeling out process starts with some teasing of the boards that inevitably will come into play later. We then get a long crowd brawling segment which normally isn’t my thing but if you are going to do a sprawling crowd brawl, make it have some intensity. This certainly did have that with Honma having the early advantage only for Yamakawa to turn the tide and really bring the fight to Honma. Honma gets opened up and Yamakawa does a powerbomb and suplex onto the stage seating. Honma hits a great tope con hilo on the outside to regain the advantage. Yamakawa gets introduced to the bed of nails on the outside and now both are cut open. Some more teasing and the first big spot of the match results in Honma taking a rana through the barbed wire board. Honma made his comeback here a little too easily for my liking. I did like the way Yamakawa just shrugged the board off of him when Honma went to the top. Great reaction with Honma doing a rana from the top rope through the outside of the floor that puts Yamakawa through a barbed wire board as a hefty receipt from earlier. The climatic final spot to the outside felt very organic with Yamakawa going for another rana but Honma dropping down and being able to powerbomb Yamakawa onto the board and the bed of nails. This leads to a quick final section with Honma winning with a running forearm smash. Afterwards, Abdullah Kobayashi challenges Honma and Don’t Stop Believing plays as we see highlights of the match. I appreciated the restraint shown here as the 4-5 insane moves are really ingrained in my mind the way they were built to. I don’t think this is quite the MOTYC best death match ever level that some project it into but it is a great match and one that could get better the more I reflect on it. ****

With this and the previous six man, we essentially have all of the big focal points of AJ coming into 2000 besides Vader and Kawada. Kikuchi and Kakihara have a more shooty opening than the matwork in the previous six man. Action seems to start earlier in this one with Kakihara busting a suplex onto the floor and a kick right to the face of a wounded Kikuchi. After some meandering, Misawa comes in vs. Smith. Smith is a weird trajectory as he was doing pretty well in the gaijin role in 98-2000, then the NOAH split happens and his relevance falls off. He gets in some pretty good arm work on Misawa. Misawa does a nice diving headbutt off the second rope to Taue and then rolls through. Misawa looks good in the early portions of this match not taking the night off at all. Smith continues to do some arm work this time on Ogawa when he gets tagged in. Match takes more of a structure when Kikuchi starts to get worked over. Kakihara is taking the lion’s work for his team with Misawa being a nice compliment. Misawa and Taue have their hottest exchange of the match as the match nears its conclusion. Kakihara also is able to hit a nice flurry on Taue. Ogawa and Smith gives way to Ogawa and Kikuchi with Misawa chipping in again for his team. A nice spot does happen where Kikuchi rolls through the first drop toe hold attempt of Ogawa before he hits the second. Misawa also hasn’t thrown out hardly any of his big time offense showing restraint. He pins Kikuchi with a frog splash and running elbow smash. This match had some nice moments but also felt meandering for much of the time. I also thought both Taue and Ogawa were essentially non factors and those are two guys that I really like. **1/2

Funny to see AJPW embracing the late 90’s attitude with the all black faction shirts. Kanemaru is someone will we get a healthy dose of throughout the decade but he is just starting out here as Burning’s underling. Akiyama and Omori start off by taking it to the mat. This I think is a throwaway segment but actually one that feels fresh against the big talking point that late 90’s All Japan and up to the split was all about head drops. This was as 1970’s feeling out process as you could get. Kanemaru mixes in some comedy right from the beginning when he headbutts Omori in the dick. Omori doesn’t take kindly to that and they start teeing off naturally on the junior member of the match. Good to see Asako show some fire here as someone who feel off from the latter half of 1990’s footage we watched. I know I am referencing the 90’s a lot here but I do think the gradual step into the 2000’s that we know when we think of pro wrestling is gradual over the calendar year 2000. This is why we can watch this footage so I can try to hash out that theory. Asako actually gains the advantage over Kobashi for a moment and tags in Takayama. Those two have a nice mano y mano exchange and bring the crowd to life. Akiyama gets tagged in and he starts throwing forearms with Takayama but this time Taka is able to gain the advantage. Nice triple team boot attack by No Fear. We get our first bit of true control in the match at the ten minute mark on Kanemaru. Asako sends him to the outside, posts him and hits a front senton. Takayama’s kicks and forearms look on point and he seems poised to be a big force in All Japan in the new decade. Really nice hope spot for Kanemaru where he fires off multiple elbow shots but gets pulled by his shirt from Takayama before he can make the tag. Kanemaru is able to make the tag and the leg of Asako is honed in on with the Burning unit. Akiyama does a great job of ratcheting up the intensity level as he tees off on the leg of Asako. A nice flash knee with the good knee and DDT allows Asako to make the tag and we enter the final stanza of the match with some No Fear double team moves. Nearfall happens on Kobashi from an Omori missile dropkick. This makes Kenta stop screwing around and he reels off a nice combo of offense before tagging out. Kanemaru hits some more offense and mixes in some comedy bits including a big Rick Rude hip swivel after a baseball slide. Match breaks down with Taka and Kento firing away and the two junior members in the ring. Omori sends Jun into the railing and then keeps things at bay as Asako hits a Fisherman Buster and Michinoku Driver to pick up the win. A real good way to ease us into the decade. The structure was predictable as Kanemaru > Asako > Omori > Akiyama > Takayama (those two are close) > Kobashi (1b of promotion) but it is fun to see the little tinges of offense that is made by anyone below the depth chart. I rag on NJ for their young boy treatment but that usually involves the up and comers jobbing to relics like Nakanishi and Tenzan. Everyone here still felt fresh and in the peak of their career. ***

I am at the beach this week and Parv is away until July 7th, hope to record soon after that.

CWF and PWX really are great stuff and offer different vibes which is amazing considering their close proximity to each other.

Haven't watched 63 yet but agree with most of your opinions on 62 besides the Bravado match. I am admittedly down on the Bravado's and thought they were fine in the Catch Point tag but it was drawn out way too long. I get the narrative of pushing up the Bravado's as tough men but it came across to me as bloated. I had it at ***. The Thatcher vs. Hero match was great and besides the annoying backdrop suplex no sell, pretty flawless in execution. I thought that was a hugely important match for Thatcher to regain some of his momentum.

Jay White vs. David Finlay – Finlay had a good tournament for himself so it will be interesting to see if there is any difference in his positioning on the Young Lions ladder. This was the typical good match between these two with Finlay especially having some great strikes. Finlay really looked in control until Jay White picked up the flash pin. Kind of an anticlimactic finish. **1/2 Tatsu/Captain New Japan vs. Yujiro/Chase Owens – Rough pairings here. Bullet Club jumps the faces right out of the gate. Not a lot happens here of note except I do enjoy Owens being scuzzy. Yujiro predictable gets the pin on perineal jobber Captain new Japan ** Shibata/Juice vs. Nagata/Nakanishi – Another one that didn’t really get me excited on paper. Juice and Nakanishi stood mostly out of the way and again we have Nagata and Shibata firing off on each other. I don’t know if their match at Dominion will be good or not as I liked the Dontaku match well enough but this seems to be built more based on strikes. I liked the grappling aspects of the Dontaku match. The finishing sequence here had some no selling and exchanging that was annoying. Shibata kicks Nakanishi down and wins. **1/4 Kyle O’Reilly/Bobby Fish/Tenzan vs. Ishii/RPG Vice – Finally a good looking match on paper minus dead weight Tenzan. KOR and Romero start off with a good exchange to play off their match the night before. Ishii and Tenzan actually have a fun exchange too. This was a real spring at just over 8 minutes but it never went up for fresh air and provided a fun match to watch. Popcorn wrestling. *** Jushin Liger/Tiger Mask/Volador Jr vs. KUSHIDA/Ricochet/Matt Sydal – This was a showcase affair but it was a lot of fun to watch and no one looked out of place. It did accomplish the feat of me looking at all six and not minding any singles pairing that would result even stuff like Tiger Mask vs. Ricochet that didn’t light the world on fire in the tournament. Popcorn wrestling. ***1/4 Kojima/elgin vs. Omega/Fale – I know this is a match that will have their fans and I know that NJ has their hands tied with Tanahashi out. That said, I don’t give a shit about Elgin vs. Omega and while the crowd undoubtedly popped for the ladder spots, I was left cold and indifferent. That really affected the overall match because we also got a more spirited Kojima than at any other point on tour. I see how this would have praise heaped on it, but it wasn’t for me. **3/4 Chaos vs. LIJ – Here we go again. This has been a crackling feud all tour with everything coming to a head at Dominion with the single matches and tags that will play out. I thought Bushi and Gedo on the respective sides added some juice and variations here and Okada looked more fired up and pissed off than at any point prior. ***

Would definitely recommend the WCW section from this week. It was one of my favorite segments in BTS's run.

The June 2nd show was the best show I have seen since rewatching Dragon Gate semi-regularly. I even liked it better than Dead or Alive. No stinkers on the card and a lot of stuff falling into place with the Yamato/YSM/Hulk/KZY unit gelling, Brother Yasshi getting into the groove and Peter Kaasa debuting. The real standout was the Eita vs. Jimmy Susumu match which was worked awesomely and told a really cohesive story.

Day 13 Berretta vs. Liger – Short opener but one with good energy. This tournament has really made Liger shine and he has done a great job having all sorts of different matches. This was probably the most spot fest heavy type match as he has had as this was a 7 minute sprint running through a ton of spots but it was entertaining nonetheless. It sort of pains me seeing stuff like Berretta pin Liger but that is where he is at right now as the aging legend. **3/4 Bobby Fish vs. Tiger Mask 4 – A nice change of pace that was worked around grappling and didn’t overstay its welcome. I would still like to see more aggression overall from TM but Fish looked really good tonight constantly going after the finish and keeping his small hopes alive of winning the block. Solid stuff to start the show. **1/2 Chase Owens vs. Ricochet – I can see someone really invested in Ricochet being annoyed here as we had a ton of Yujiro interference and other chicanery, but I loved the way this played out as a contrast to everything else we have seen. Owens was the old school heel and Ricochet was the sympathetic babyface that is able to overcome the odds at every turn but ultimately loses out in the very end. Owens plays the spoiler role really well. *** Volador vs. Will Ospreay – I dug the spotfest with Volador vs. Ricochet and this was even better. Ospreay hit some absolutely breathtaking moves here including the flipping DDT, a SSP off the apron where he lands on his feet and a crazy finish where he lands on his feet from the top rope Spanish Fly and then hits his cutter for the win. I knew this would be a high octane style match and it delivered in really showcasing Ospreay as something special. ***3/4 Evil/Okada/Sanada vs. Goto/Yoshi-Hashi/Okada – I don’t want to repeat myself but this was in the upper tier of these matches between these teams so far. This had the added wrinkle on US commentary of LIJ giving Corino a fist bump pre match and Kevin Kelly and Corino discussing that most of the match. I also really loved the tease finish of Sanada having Hashi in the dragon sleeper and Goto making the save. That was negated a minute later as Sanada finishes off Hashi with a moonsault as Naito stares down a prone Okada on the floor. ***1/2 Rocky Romero vs. Kyle O’Reilly – Opening work here was really well done including the fake out by Rocky to the dive on the outside. Even better was Kyle being on step ahead and catching his attempt as he stepped into the ropes. O’Reilly took a lot of this match and worked on the arm of Rocky. Then just when I thought we were going to the finishing sequence, O’Reilly starts getting his arm worked over. I enjoyed the parity here and how both guys are wounded when trying to hit their final moves. I really thought the finish was upon us when Kyle locked on the cross armbreaker. The build to the upset with Romero going over was really well done and felt satisfying even though it erased O’Reilly from contention in the tournament. ***3/4 Matt Sydal vs. David Finlay – Pretty clear with Kyle losing that Sydal was going over here to set up some interesting scenarios in the final two matches. Even though the finish was never in doubt, they did a good job here showing opportunities for Finlay and areas where he could capitalize. I especially liked the fake out of the SSP and thought Finlay might have a smidgen of a chance. *** Gedo vs. Taguchi – It felt like these guys had faced each other already but I guess not. Early start with Gedo being offended at Taguchi’s insults and going right after him. We get some heel work on the floor and Gedo removing a turnbuckle pad. Taguchi makes his comeback and does a big butt dive to the outside. Taguchi having the camera pan out when he does the Rainmaker pose was funny. The reverse of the Gedo Clutch was a very clever finish. I liked this match but did think this was the worst Taguchi has looked since the very early days of the tournament. *** Bushi vs. Kushida – Loved there February match so expected good things here. Bushi starts off really hot and works well within the spoiler role. We of course get some countout teases. I wish those would pay off at some point. The arm work from Kushida was as usual really well done. Bushi had a nice flurry with the missile dropkick and keeping the selling up. I don’t know what I would say overall for Bushi in this tournament. He wasn’t bad but didn’t rise up my rankings of wrestlers for the year and felt too one note watching this many matches in quick succession. The arm submissions and finish was good even with red shoes not paying attention to Bushi having some pin attempts. This set up the mist in a great way and Bushi does a great tease of winning. One more from Bushi and he spoils Kushidas dreams. Very good match. ***1/2

Will Ospreay vs. Ryusuke Taguchi – What an electric crowd for this one. This was a complete classic match. The opening work started out really great with some intricate wrestling and mixing of one upsmanship and feeling out process. Then the match really kicks off from a storyline perspective with the leg work on Ospreay. I was nervous as hell when this happened as Taguchi did a great job of pouncing on it and Will was screaming in pain. A one legged handstand similar to the one he did vs. Kushida was an indication that this wasn’t going to be swiftly ignored. A one legged springboard elbow was a new wrinkle which was incredible to see. Ospreay still cant hit the Rainmaker and Taguchi turns that right into an ankle lock opportunity. A series of counters leads into the Blue Thunder Bomb and the match resets as we head into the final stanza. Big dive for Taguchi and you knew this being New Japan we were getting a countout tease. I did like Taguchi realizing it and then hurriedly going back in. Ospreay’s kicks looked great here and him pandering to the crowd did allow Taguchi enough time to react and get a strike of his own without it seeming like he was ignoring the damage down. Sasuke Special was a great highspot for Ospreay to pull out as a tribute. We then get a great camera angle showing Ospreay staring at KUSHIDA on commentary. Just when it looks like Ospreay is going to hit the cutter, Taguchi hooks on the ankle lock for a tremendous sequence with the crowd squealing. Corino losing his mind on commentary is excellent. Ospreay is finally able to fight out and hits Spanish Fly for nearfall. Reverse 450 was awesome and another insanely close nearfall. Now Ospreay hits the cutter and wins it. Amazing match. ****3/4

Day 12 The home stretch is in sight Rocky Romero/Yoshi-Hashi vs. Taguchi/Jay White – White’s hair continues to get weirder and weirder. This was fine but I actually expected more as all four guys here are capable and regardless of my feelings of how good Taguchi really is, he does well in tag settings picking his spots. This kind of ran through the motions and then the predictable pin on White happened. **1/2 Nakanishi/Finlay/O’Reilly/Nagata/Tenzan vs. Juice/Kushida/Shibata/Sydal/Capt – What a combo of shit and greatness on both sides. This did a good job of giving everyone a chance to shine and the shit stayed mostly out of the way. We had O’Reilly sequences with Kushida and Sydal and Nagata and Shibata continue the road to Dominion for them. Finish somehow results in Tenzan and Captain being in there and Tenzan dips into the fountain of youth hitting a moonsault for the win. **3/4 Tiger Mask vs. Trent Beretta – Block B has been much more lackluster than Block A for me and a match like this is a prime reason why. Give me Taguchi vs. Romero any day over this pairing. In fairness, they did add some new things throughout this match like Trent heeling it up more. I actually think this may be his best performance on the tour so far as I have found him pretty bad throughout. We get a big dive using the arena and some mask pulling by Trent. Finishing stretch became more of a your turn to do a big move, my turn, but overall this exceeded my expectations. **3/4 Will Ospreay vs. Jushin Liger – I was really looking forward to this one and actually thought it probably should have been the main. I was surprised that this only got 9 minutes but it was a really good sub 10 minute match. Ospreay looked good and flashy on top but reigned in when needed by Liger. Liger’s timing is still impeccable as evidence by him getting the knees up on the SSP at the right moment and having a really nice nearfall cradle as a result. Liger is a true treasure and we got the good Ospreay tonight. ***1/4 Bobby Fish vs. Chase Owens – Good match. I appreciated the dueling leg work and that each person went back to that well within the closing stretches of the match. The finish was sufficient in getting over this as the main theme of the match. A match that wouldn’t be used to carry a show but one that fills out a show very nicely. *** Volador Jr. vs. Ricochet – Pretty much the best you could hope for here was a balls out spotfest and that was essentially what he got. Some moves made me roll my eyes at their ridiculousness but others were pretty breathtaking in their execution. Overall, this lived up to my expectations and is worth watching. ***1/2 Tatsu/Big Mike/Kojima vs. Omega/Yujiro/Fale – This feud has to rage on. I really hate these matches and don’t have much hope in Big Mike vs. Omega as this set up took a more comedic tone that really missed the mark. This has been a real good show so far but this drug it down significantly. * Sanada/Naito/Evil/Bushi vs. Goto/Gedo/Okada/Ishii – A nice looking eight man to close us out tonight. I feel like a broken record but this was another good iteration in this feud. This may have been slightly disappointing like the opener given that the arsenal of the stables looked full blast here. I did like seeing Gedo and Bushi mixing it up with the others in the feud as something that has felt fresh. Sanada still is booked strong. ***

Day 11 Ricochet/Volador/Tenzan vs. Ospreay/Trent/Ishii – Man do I wish Will would shut up. The showcase sequence him and Volador have in the beginning of this match was really clumsy. Tenzan can barely run from one ring corner to another at this point. Tenzan as FIP was an odd choice but it does show that someone like Trent is far superior for me in tag settings where he can get in and out. They did save the Ricochet vs. Ospreay showdown and it was a highlight of the match when they matched up. Finishing stretch kicks off with a moonsault from Volador and big dive from Ricochet. Back inside, it appears that Volador is in control but Trent is able to secure the win with a quick rollup. A rocky start but this got better as it kept going. **3/4 White/Fish/Shibata/Robinson vs. TM/Liger/Nagata/Nakanishi – This match really depends on how shit Fish is going to talk at ringside as to whether it will be enjoyable or not. Bobby is actually pretty subdued here so the match suffers. You know the drill with these guys. Everyone does some stuff but this centers around the issue of Nagata vs. Shibata. Nagata gets a busted mouth and takes it out on Jay White to get the submission. I liked this much less than the 5/29 tag. ** Kyle O’Reilly vs. David Finlay – This may be me artificially looking into things but I really bought Finlay here because the style and pacing O”reilly likes to work really suits Finlay as well. I liken it to a Tennis star that always has trouble with someone that is a master on a surface like clay. What O’Reilly does best, Finlay also does really really well, KOR just has more overall tools in his bad. Anyway, this was a nice slugfest with some arm work from KOR and leg work from Finlay that looked brutal. Everything looked tough to take here from the strikes, submissions and throws. Finlay was given a nice kickout out of the brainbuster but then taken out with the triangle choke. I really enjoyed this one. ***1/4 Gedo vs. Rocky Romero – Really good comedy bit beforehand with Gedo promising to do the fingerpoke of Doom and having some great interaction with both members of RPG Vice. Gedo of course doesn’t lay down and the match has a great shtick vibe to it. Romero sticks the boots to Gedo and Gedo comes back against both Rocky and Trent. The Nakamura tribute spots were fun here. Gedo removing the turnbuckle was a great spot. The numbers game catches up to Gedo as he was disposing of Trent, Rocky is able to hit two huge running knees to pick up the win. Fun match. *** Elgin/Yoshi Tatsu/Captain New Japan/Kojima vs. Omega/Yujiro/Fale/Owens – We do at least get a Big Mike dive to start things off so this has been more lively than a lot of these matches between these teams so far. Omega does a Rick Rude tribute. Big Mike gets a hot tag and runs through a bunch of guys. The powerslam he does from the Omega springboard looks good. I am unsure of Elgin’s role in Dominion vs. Omega be but he looked like a beast here picking up the win against Owens. This was a big improvement over the previous matches between these guys and was enjoyable. **1/2 Sanada/Evil/Naito vs. Okada/Goto/Yoshi-Hashi – Our final never ending pairing match to fill out the BOSJ card. Yoshi-Hashi is feeling testy today and wants a piece of Sanada. We then get Goto and Evil going after each other. This series has been good but this match was a highlight so far with very strong action throughout and a really exciting extended ending sequence featuring Okada and Naito. More pressure is put on them now that Tanahashi is out of Dominion so it was nice to see them ramp up the intensity here. I said last review how unsure I was of Sanada’s opponent but it is looking more and more like Yoshi-Hashi which could be really fun even with the end result guaranteed. Evil and Sanada team up here for a slam/moonsault combo. Yoshi kicks out the saito suplex which was a nice hope spot. Evil actually has to save Sanada from getting pinned on Yoshi’s knee. We then get stereo dives and big moves from Okada/Goto allowing Yoshi to pick up a big near fall that really should have been the finish. Sanada fights through and is finally able to make Yoshi submit to the dragon sleeper. This was really good and helped tremendously by the hate that Chaos showed. ***3/4 Bushi vs. Taguchi – God, am I turning the corner on Taguchi? I actually was smirking watching him walk out here. What a troll. Bushi continues to have completely amazing attire. We saw a great BS match already with Gedo vs. Romero but this was even better and it had an extra gear of hate at the end. Taguchi trolling Bushi in the beginning was great. Even better was that Bushi has felt a little bland this tournament and he was forced to show more aggression here after being stood up by Taguchi. From there the match holds a good structure with Taguchi doing ass stuff but also hitting a nice running kick from the aisle and a big tope con hilo to the outside. The finishing sequence starting with Bushi’s low blow and culminating in him finally getting the mist was extremely well done. Bushi is able to be the spoiler here and pretty much means Taguchi isn’t going to win in my eyes. Taguchi is on quite a role. ***1/2 Sydal vs. Kushida – This is worked at a huge difference from the rest of the show in the early portion. Some simple mat wrestling and switching of moves working in and out of a headlock. They do a respect spot which wasn’t the best but did make temper flare up a bit. The crab that Kushida locks in looks brutal. Sydal’s comeback was well timed and we continued to have a hint to the early arm damage that Kushida worked on in the early going. Finishing stretch was really exciting. The Reverse Rana looked odd in set up but man did Sydal spike him in the mat. Kushida feels like the only thing he has left in him is the hoverboard and that is what he goes after. The counter Sydal does here is really good interlocking his arms in the back. Kushida does a great reversal and then locks in a sick Hoverboard to gain the submission victory and now there is a lot of stuff in play going into the final group day. ****

Day 10 Thoughts: Owens vs. Volador - Probably the most surprisingly good match of the whole tournament. Owens has been really solid throughout and Volador honestly hasn't been that annoying, but I never expected myself to like this match as much as I did. Owens really turned it up in grounding Volador and being a dick to him by wearing his mask and making a mockery of the annoying trope Volador is doing by removing the mask each match. This made the highspots that Volador ran through in the end feel earned and a justifiable receipt to this prick. *** Tiger Mask vs. Liger - In watching the whole tournament, having a match like this is very smart. *1/2 Ospreay vs. Fish - I just don't know about Bobby Fish. Him and Roderick Strong are the two most complexing workers in the world in 2016 having great performances one second and lackluster ones the next. Ospreay honestly isn't too far behind. Here, Ospreay's character work and selling of the leg really bothered me. Ospreay would wince and Fish would cut off his offense by attacking the leg, but Ospreay still ran through his gambit of offense without much harm and he weakened Fish in the process. I was really disappointed in this one. **3/4 Ricochet vs. Trent Baretta - Another match that didn't do much for me. I watched this match around 2 hours ago before Day 11 started and after watching that show, I am already hazy of the highlights to call out here. I think that speaks to the fact that Ricochet is good at adapting to others match styles at times but for every Liger match where that is a good result, we get this. Trent really has dropped for me like a stone throughout this tournament and I think he should be exclusively a tag worker going forward. **1/2

Night 9 Bushi vs. Finlay – Finlay rushes the ring and Bushi is still halfway in his suit. He hits a big dive to Finlay on the outside and then disrobes. He back and forth here worked better for me than in the last Bushi match and the teases Finlay was able to get on his rollups worked given his upset previously. The upset was not to last as Bushi picks up the win although he is out of contention with the standings overall. **1/2 Matt Sydal vs. Romero – An interesting match on paper here. I don’t think either guy has been at their best throughout this tournament but also not at their worst either. These two feel like the most net neutral of all the competitors so far. I liked the opening mat work from Sydal as he really wrenched in the attack. The flip hurricanarana looked really good and the spinning kick connected flush as well. This sort of played out the template of their tournament so far. This was a good match but not a great one. It is one that is enjoyable to watch but not something that will be retained a month down the line. *** Gedo vs. KUSHIDA – Gedo may honestly be a top five New Japan worker. I don’t think that is quite as controversial as it may sound on the surface. Him playing the Ogawa role in these matches is so refreshing and brings a different dynamic to every match he competes in. Here he sets the tone from the onset by nearly rolling up Kushida is his Clutch and then shows Kushida how close he was to winning. We just saw Gedo have an embarrassing loss but that felt like a moment that could have honestly ended the match. That versatility is a special trait. The match rolls out a nice story from there with kushida arm work and Gedo being really aggressive for him in his attack. Gedo sneaking out his huge punch was great and the pinning reversals was done extremely well to reset the match to the final moments. One compliment of both Gedo and Kushida is that Kushida misses on his kicks are really well done and narrowly miss. We get the Gedo Clutch for an amazing nearfall. Kushida fights through locks on the Hoverboard and that is a wrap to a great match. **** Oreilly vs. Taguchi – I liked O’Reilly shaking his head at the shenanigans of Taguchi in the early moments and then grinding him out on the mat. The arm work that KOR did was on point and the comeback by Taguchi had him implementing his ass stuff in the same way he did vs. Kushida in a logical way. He also did a good job again avoiding KOR’s kicks in the last second. The transition from the chokehold to the leg submissions was also done in an organic way. The rollup was a good false finish as he used KOR tropes against him. I also thought Taguchi showed really good tenacity going back to the ankle and that is rewarded for him in the finish. Great match. ****

Deuce and Domino being from the other side of the tracks is one of my favorite home towns ever.

I found the match to be pretty amazing in spite of the ridiculous springboard sault spot and Ospreay's spot calling and overall demeanor. I went ****1/2 and thought it did a great job of mixing in story to dramatic athletic display on a fairly large scale level. One thing to take into account is that I don't like how Dave threw out the Steamboat/Flair argument as the ultimate strawman of why this shouldn't be lamented. Maybe these two guys will go onto to have prolific careers like Steamboat and Flair but i am really dubious. I already feel like the door is closing to a degree on Ricochet and see him capping out in the IC title level contender on WWE. Ospreay does have more of a chance and is really young but does have injuries and will have to keep reducing certain aspects of his game in order to survive. The matches he has had surrounding this one in the BOSJ have not been spectacular as it feels like he is clearly picking his spots to go all out on. The other thing with Ospreay is his overall demeanor. I listened to the VOW flagship show today discussing the match and they talked about how you want to cheer for Ospreay because he is a dweeb and overconfident that gets in over his head. It sounded like a description of 1996 Otani. But while I love the emoting Otani does in the latter half of the 90's despite the fact that he makes boneheaded decisions time and time again, it is a hindrance for Will. I never know if he is supposed to be brash, in over his head, or aw shucks. That character development is going to be crucial to his success long term because the athletic arsenal will no doubt deteriorate over time.

Day 8 Chase Owens vs. Beretta – Continuing the trend of Block b having more matches I am eh on. This one starts on the outside with some generic brawling. Owens works over a bulk of this match but it doesn’t work for me because I don’t find Beretta compelling at all as the face. We also get some Yujiro interference to muddle things up further. Finish was generic with a back and forth exchanging of holds ending with Owens picking up the win. *3/4 Will Ospreay vs. Tiger Mask IV – Coming off his big win vs. Ricochet, I was interested to see how Ospreay would look here and how grouchy TM would be. TM warms my heart by stomping on Ospreay right away and having no time for his flippy shit. Ospreay does come back on offense and runs through his usual gambit of impressive looking stuff. I am conflicted in this match because while TM is a wily veteran, it seemed odd that he would have the perfect counter to most of Ospreay’s dynamic offense. It seemed to make them feel moot in a way. Beyond that, he gets a pretty shocking submission victory. ** Volador vs. Bobby Fish – This was worked more like a sprint which was a big contrast from the mat/control oriented matches Fish has worked elsewhere in the tournament. A really exciting match resulted. Fish does work over Volador in the middle portion but it is used as a more vicious striking arsenal than focusing on a body part. Volador taking off his match annoys me more and more with each match. Voladors comeback was full of flash with Fish trying to counteract by continuing to strike. Fish was able to secure the victory with a leg submission. Good match. *** Ricochet vs. Jushin Liger – This show has been pretty bad so far but really could use a shot in the arm. I liked Ricochet jumping Liger at the gun and going after him. Ricochet really dominates the opening portion of this match and does it in compelling fashion without relying on high spots. Liger gives a great comeback and running Shotei off the apron. Ricochet is able to return back to the neck basics and regain control. This is a great showing for Ricochet who is proving himself after a rough opening week. Speaking of which. Liger may honestly be in my top 20 wrestlers in the world right now and keeps rising. That is amazing for someone that was also in that position when I was 4 years old. Liger’s nearfalls were all well done. Ricochet again results to the brainbuster on the neck and then finishes off with a submission again emphasizing damage on the neck. A great match to finish us off tonight. ****

Ospreay/Baretta/Ishii vs. Volador/Tenzan/Elgin – Ospreay and Volador have an established sequence now to impress the fans. I thought it was odd that Ospreay and Baretta essentially worked rudo for portions of this match. Ospreay doing the Vader Time was pretty hilarious and I was off twitter for most of the weekend so I didn’t know that happened. I even dug Tenzan and Ishii throwing each other around a bit in this setting. Tenzan still makes me nervous as hell that his body will breakdown at any moment. Volador moonsault was wild with his knee banging off the table. Another enjoyable start to a NJ show. *** TM 4/Liger/Nakanishi/Nagata vs. Jay White/Juice Robinson/Shibata/Fish – Fish talking shit about them warming up in the back was funny. This match was a backdrop to set up the Shibata vs. Nagata match at Dominion. Nakanishi doing a dive off the top rope was something. This match was full of shit talking from Juice and Fish on the apron. Fish is amazing as the douche encouraging his team on. OH RICKY MORTON. Even White gets in on the action telling Juice and Fish to get em boys. Can these guys come to ROH and out dick Bullet Club? Nagata does get the last laugh isolating White and putting him away with the back suplex. Screw it, I enjoyed this match much more than I thought I would. **3/4 Gedo vs. David Finlay – A under the radar group match that I have reasonably high expectations for. Finlay can go toe to toe with anyone and Gedo shines in this setting. I also think this match has some intrigue in regards to Finlay’s future in NJPW and the fact that he is wrestling the bookerman. I don’t know if the audio is more pronounced or the lack of announcing but I am hearing a lot more audible screams of pain and dialogue from the guys as Gedo gets in on the action here. It is a nice change of pace and makes me feel like I am inside the arena. Finlay being super aggressive to start was a good pace setter and I liked Gedo retreating to the outside and resulting in cheating tactics such as using the ring bell hammer and the announce table. The count out teases where well worked here. Gedo really laid in some grinding, vicious work on top and it made for a good contrast when Finlay came firing back. The filming of Finlay barely not being able to lock in his fingers for the stretch muffler was beautiful. The finish was an excellent moment and one of the most times I have marked out watching New Japan this year. Put this match up there with Liger vs. Fish as maybe not great matches, but well worthy of a watch as you catch up on the tournament as a whole. ***1/2 Bushi vs. Rocky Romero – Bushi’s entrance is great and ominous. Overall, this match suffered from coming off the heels of the last one. I found Gedo’s offense more engaging than Bushi’s here. I do still think Bushi is much improved and care about him and I don’t think he has turned in a bad performance per say in this tournament, but a lot of other competitors have put in some varied performances and mixed things up while Bushi’s matches have been business as usual. That lessens the impact on the mist and shirt choking when watching a good chunk of stuff in quick succession. Even his opponent here in Romero has had more variety in the matches worked. Also, I don’t think we absolutely have to have a countout tease in every match. Again, it is something that was cute at first but feels like it has been overkilled here. Romero’s dropkick counter from bushi’s dive on the top rope was a highlight here. There is the mist that you knew was coming and Bushi is able to pick up a much needed win. Again, I didn’t think this was bad, but it honestly was my least favorite thing of the opening half of this show and felt the most ho hum. **1/2 Omega/Fale/Yujiro/Owens vs. Ricochet/Captain New Japan/Kojima/Yoshi Tatsu – A pretty awful match on paper and not what I wanted to see coming out of intermission. Captain NJ gets clowned and my second screen pops open. Ricochet does get in some nice sequences vs. Omega. Finish is same sequence we saw on day 6 with Omega doing his insult of Tanahashi’s big moves to his best bud. Blah. *1/2 Okada/Goto/Yoshi-Hashi vs. Evil/Senada/Naito – This feud rages on. I am not sure who Senada will be against at Dominion although I assume it will be Goto. This was more of the same as we have seen all tour. It is enjoyable stuff with Naito getting into Milano’s face and Senada being protected really well. On the Chaos side, Hashi is given glimpses to shine and Evil and Goto continue to hate each other. The finishing stretch here was exciting with everyone firing off their big moves and bodies going all over the ringside area. Evil and Goto are the two men left standing and Goto is able to secure the win for his faction showing a nice parity in the series. Afterwards we get a scuffle and I am still unsure what the pairings will be at Dominion besides Okada vs. Naito for the IWGP. *** Matt Sydal vs. Kyle O’Reilly – These guys had a really good match in ROH earlier this year and they matched that effort here. Whereas Romero vs. Bushi had the potential to be good and missed that mark, this match did have the potential to be great and they missed that slightly for me. However, in the former I felt that was a disappointing result and I didn’t feel that way here. I think the difference was in the overarching theme of the match and that this was more of a traditional athletic contest between two friends whereas Bushi and romero did try to mix in more hatred and storyline overall. This had a variety of hold exchanges and stiff sequences that resonated with me. I can see some thinking this came across as an exhibition and aimless but it really skirted the line for me which admittedly could be my preference and investment in both guys at the moment. The finish took me by surprise but made sense given the point totals of both guys. It also felt it escalated well to a fitting climax. ***3/4 Taguchi vs. Kushida – Here we go, Taguchi has a chance to really impress me on a big stage as I am feeling lonely in my disappointment with him so far in this tournament. The opening mat work here was so engrossing. The biggest issue I have with Taguchi is that I don’t buy the switch that is flipped between happy go lucky guy to pissed off fighter. That worked out well here in the opening stanza. Taguchi was once a darling of the junior scene just a few years ago. Now, he is being relegated to the comedy ranks while one of his closest buds, Kushida, has carried the torch. Taguchi knows this is his moment to prove he still belongs here in the upper echelon. The mat work gives way to Taguchi being in control and this is one instance where the butt offense works and doesn’t come off as arbitrary with him just throwing it in to get some laughs. Kushida starts to target the arm looking for the ever looming Hoverboard and gets in a big bit of offense with an armbar slam from the apron. Taguchi winces in pain in a totally legitimate and believable manner. Kushida wiffs on a dropkick and Taguchi is right back working the leg. That is short lived and Kushida amps the offensive arsenal with the huge tope to the outside. Even Taguchi doing the three amigos happens really organically with him countering a Hoverboard attempt. That also transitions into some work of the leg of Kushida. There is a really great sense of attrition at the end of this match with the sweat beating down of both men. I have no idea if Taguichi was supposed to get the slam on Kushida that leads to the finish but it works brilliantly into the storyline as Kushida catches him in the cross armbreaker leaving Taguchi no choice but to tap. Brilliant match. ****1/4