soup23

Much like the minis, I feel like I say the same things about these matches all the time but this was another enjoyable entry if a little bit condensed. I still am failing to see what is so awful about Kashin besides the fact he isn't as good as Liger and probably Kanemoto. I find him comparable with Takaiwa which may be a bit of a hot take. Again, nothing I have seen in Kashin makes me think they should have built the division around him but there has been much worse choices to lead a brand (cough Jinder Mahal cough) in wrestling history. One thing that would be nice in this series would be a singles match with some time given to it. ***1/4 (6.7)

A great and fitting final to the tournament. Every match had built to this moment and even the career arc of Hamada inside of ARSION was intertwined with her performance here. As a result, the full array of emotions and technical styles was on display for the 11 minute match. They took it to the mat with neat chain wrestling and submission attempts, Hamada sold her ass off, Yoshida honed in on the back and worked it over. This match also had a sprinkling of big strikes and bombs leading to the fitting finish of Hamada overcoming the odds and gaining the biggest scalp of her career in beating Yoshida. That is pro wrestling booking 101 but it is done so ineffectively, that it is refreshing to see it weave itself out so well here. Hamada now is looking for a showdown with Aja Kong who she didn't face in the tournament and has the title she covets. I can't wait. **** (8.1)

Hamada is doing a good job selling the effects of the tournament so far clutching her back and mid section. Tamada for her part really tries to pile on a quick barrage of offense to gain a victory. Her arsenal was impactful and varied and as a result, she looked more compelling in this match than the previous one. The focus seems to move towards Hamada's neck and a dragon suplex gains a close nearfall. Hamada knowing she is in trouble has to a flurry of her own and she goes through a natural progression of high impact offense culminating in a Iconoslam from the top and an arm trap submission to advance to the finals. *** (6.2)

Something about the credible nature of these two and the way they match up make each match satisfying. They don't try to go big and with a MOTY level match but everything is so believable and logical. The matwork shows Aja's dominating size. Every time Yoshida is able to gain an advantage, it feels like a struggle. Her strikes were totally on point and brutal with the black gloves adding a smack when they made contact. The finish really played off the story of the match. The spider finally crafted a web that made it impossible for the monster to escape showing that bigger isn't always better. ***3/4 (7.4)

Really quick match to help move things along of Hamada's progression throughout the tournament. She goes for an asai moonsault outside and misses allowing Futagami to take over using chairs. Back inside, she continues the onslaught until Hamada mounts just enough of a comeback to get the flukey win and get the hell out of there. *1/2

This was my favorite of the first round action we saw. Ayako can mix in a great variety of stiff striking and high energy highspots that puts her over as credible. Shimoda also has had a really solid 2000 where she works within the LCO tag team and in singles stuff as being a prickly veteran that also has her share of flashy offense on top including the spinning windmill kicks from the top. The finish worked for me here with Ayako not getting one knockout blow but more of a flurry that dazes Mima beyond being able to continue. ***1/4 (6.4)

A good singles match from two workers we have only seen in tag settings so far this year and that I am pretty unfamiliar with overall. I came away more impressed with Omukai just based on her demeanor and accuracy of her kicks. Tamada has the energy but I didn't think she had the execution to quite get there. She advances so we will see if that improves in the tournament. From a first impression, it kind of felt like a poor person's Kyoko Inoue impersonation. **1/2

Mari rips off a powerbomb in the first 10 seconds. With a sprinty nature of this match, that is a great way to start things off. I don't know if this show or the GAEA one came first, but this has a much better pace than the Asuka match. Mari is flying around to gain the advantage but Aja has to compose herself and then takes back over with some clunky offense. Mari comes back with a sunset flip bomb and goes for a power slam but the weight of Aja is too much. Aja blocks a lariat and just smashes Mari with two of her own to advance at just under four minutes. Really fun sprint. *** (6)

We cut to the action with Lioness already having brought a table inside the ring. The action gets a lot better with the table out of the way. They have a good battle back and forth and much like the previous match, they retained their heat from two days before. The difference is that Lioness isn’t as dynamic as Devil and the Crush Gals won so there is less to prove. The match goes to the ten minute time limit and we only got about 4:45 so I will not rate but it looked like it didn’t reach the very good level like the previous match. NR.

Two days after their battle, these two ladies are back and this is a straight sprint from the gate with a 10 minute time limit. Devil is much more vicious in the early going as a showing that she does take Meiko as a threat. Meiko baseball slides to the floor and invite Devil. This was mind games as she rolls back in frustrating Devil who just glares menacingly onward. Devil’s character work here is spot on as the viewer can totally gauge her level of disgust and budding frustration. Meiko uncorks a beautiful kick right as Devil turns around on the apron. That almost gains her the KO victory but wily Devil still has an ace up her sleeve playing possum. Meiko is able to shrug off the powerbomb and climbs to the top but Devil punches her right in the mouth and then gives her a superplex for a two count. This is wonderful storytelling and the perfect way to build off of a match from the previous days. Meiko hits a DVD and tries the triangle choke but Devil is able to fight through. Both women are gassed and Devil applies a choke in an act of desperation. Meiko kicks and punches free but Devil slaps herself as a wake up call and then is able to gain a school boy victory to win. This won’t show up on my top 100 matches list at year end but it was pretty fantastic and a resume builder for both women as top 100 workers worldwide in 2000. Seven pretty awesome minutes. ***3/4 (7.6)

Evening the odds is essentially a Royal Rumble type match with a new wrestler entering every minute. These are always a good chance to get a survey of all the talent in the promotion at the time. Bill Dundee is returning on the Sept 30th and Oct 7th has Lawler back. Corey loves shouting Mr Personality. First pin in the match wins Dave explains to us which does provide a little bit of contrast. It is pretty convenient how this follows a 1 heel enters, 1 face enters structure throughout. Blade is doing double duty and he goes right after Khan. Derrick King has spent most of the time outside the ring which in a one pinfall to the finish match, it doesn’t seem like a sound strategy. After a few more minutes of mundane action with the competitors filing out of the ring, Blade picks up the win. Not an impressive showing for the roster depth of MPPW. *1/4

Nice write up, please keep these up and most of your picks would be my own as well for January.

Baxter leads out Slash. Blade has a good bit of fire today and this turned into a decent to good tv match by Power Pro standards. It still feels like there is zero juice in the tournament except to have a tournament. Ref bump is frustrating and here comes Khan and Big Nast Bill to assist Slash. Slash is able to hit a fork shot and neckbreaker to pick up the win. *1/2

AJ is getting bumped around like crazy at the start and it is a ton of fun. Boogaloo Crew is a good bruising team that is a better version of Bad Crew that we have seen. The action opens up a bit with big dives featured from JC Dazz and Onyx. Dazz takes another huge dive over a few rows of fans as we go to a break. The barn is rocking and this was a great shine sequence. Styles and Onyx are finally able to take over and they do an effective job although it appears that AJ gets legit shaken up and as a result a few of the spots look a little off. Schmozz finish was predictable but a little disappointing but the brawl to end the program is frantic. NWA Wildside has slowly changed in the beginning of the year to be a fun check in at early AJ and see the Rock N Rolls work to a good promotion with fairly exciting tv to cover from week to week. *** (6.2)

Quick match but Regal has his groove back and in the four minutes the match lasts, he takes Shooter to the mat and stretches him a bit. Shooter is a good barometer for MCW as he is competent with the level of competition but never extraordinary. Regal is looking more and more poised to have another big run in a major league promotion. *1/2

Reckless continues to have his heel persona down while also cheating, he mixes in some other unique counters to gain the advantage. The drop down and give the hand on the criss cross was especially inventive. I want to see Brookside in a long form match but so far in the MCW stuff I have lumped him in the good look, adequate worker category. I thought Reckless was more effective here at keeping the match on point and getting progressively frustrated with Robbie. Just as it looks like Brookside has control, Reckless gets a cheapshot in and then rolls up Brookside with a foot on the ropes. **

Spanky and Danielson continue to grow as workers and this 5.5 minute match was full of big moves and urgency. Spanky has that aloof demeanor down but he can execute some great moves like the top rope bulldog and fisherman buster. Spanky goes for the frog splash but gets knees from Dragon and he does a standing bearhug to gain the win. The submission looked a little rushed as Dragon was still trying to hook in the hold. Good tv match. **1/4

Zero issue with Jericho and think it is a savvy move both on his part and NJPW in general to create buzz. For my personal tastes, I know where an Omega vs Ibushi big dome match probably tops out at. There is much more uncertainty in the quality of a Jericho match. Otherwise for the show, Naito vs OKada is odd in that I love the 2012 March match between the two but havent felt fully cultivated by any of their output since. Tanahashi vs Jay White intrigues me and is a really big spot for Jay to either sink or swim. The junior four way is going to be all action and that will either be your thing or not but I have set my expectations that it will be at least enjoyable.

Its been rewarding watching Low Ki and Homicide in these humble beginnings but LIWF is the shoddiest of shoddy promotions and the level of competition in this match reflects that. As a result, Ki and Cide do some of their signature stuff but it felt pretty obvious they were taking it light compared to the other stuff weve seen them compete in this year. As a result, this is probably their worst match of the year even including the CZW debacle for Ki because it is less memorable. *1/2

I am excited for Doug Williams stuff throughout the project as I thought he gave a different flavor to a lot of the indie minutia that we will see over the years and that he gave some flashy touches from the WOS motif into a style that gets over with the fans. Wilde is a competent opponent here and Doug already had most of his established repertoire down with the Chaos Theory German and what not. Wilde has a cool rolling headbutt to Doug into the corner. Doug gets his leg worked over a bit and the figure four is used to flesh out the match. I will critique Doug as even though the leg wasn’t worked over for long, it was completely forgotten during the finishing stretch. The guys also seemed to be more lost in those final moments than at any other point. Wilde ends up picking up the win with a full nelson into a slam finisher. Good effort and nice change of pace. **3/4

Kobashi vs Akiyama rivalry is freaking sweet so far. Jun jumps Kenta on the ramp to start things off heavy here and the fight is on as a carryover from the night before. This match was worked with a lot of urgency and overall it was extremely enjoyable even if it didn’t reach the absolute peaks of the six man the night before. With Kikuchi securing the big win the previous night, the come down was bound to happen but he puts forth a valiant effort getting bloodied up in the mouth and dishing it back out at Kobashi and Akiyama. Kobashi and Akiyama in the finishing stretch are again fantastic and they are making a big push for feud of the year from August onward. Both of them are also making a push to be in consideration for my WOTY. ***1/2 (7.1)

Omori is coming off an upset loss to Izumida so his stock is currently plummeting in the eyes of NOAH brass. This was an important match for him and he gave possibly his best performance of the year besides the Carnival final. His kicks had a lot of purpose and he bumped really well off of the big Misawa elbow in the finishing stretch. They tease some dissension between Asako and Omori in the waning moments of the match and the camera actually misses the finishing move of Misawa doing a running forearm smash to Asako. ***1/4 (6.7)

I was intrigued to see how these two matched up and this was about what I expected. A good big man clunky match. They had some brawling on the outside and Taue looked pretty spry with his kicks. Taue even bangs out the DVD which was nice to see. Ikeda didn’t give a chance to do a ton but he was effective in his strikes when given the chance. Finishing run by Taue was well done and he puts Ikeda away with the Nodowa. *** (5.8)

As per usual with these deep NOAH show look ins, you are going to get a stinker with such long match times. This possibly could have been something as 3 out of the 4 guys besides Inoue at least have moments of being good workers. However, it just really slogs along and is an uninspired tag match with the lone glimmer being Morishima not looking awful and bringing some energy. The finish with Inoue winning right as Morishima kicks out and Takeshi disputing with the referee was interesting to see in a Japanese heavyweight promotion. Blah stuff overall. *3/4

I just wish NJPW had this much faith in their young lions. I can’t think of the last time they let them bust out this much and this successful of a polished match at this young an age. The work early on looked tight and the reversals were excellent. Then the match goes into a 5-6 minute extended stretch with Marufuji busting out all sorts of great stuff and Kenta kicking out until Marufuji is finally able to put him away. A strong opening match and really easy to see that these two were worthy of being blue chip prospects in the eyes of the promotion. ***1/4 (6.7)