Viaje del Parties: 2016 in Review

[Parties]

1. Los Panteras vs. Dinestia Navarro [intercontinental Trios Title] (IWRG, 1/17)

2. Los Panteras vs. Dinestia Navarro (IWRG, 1/10)
3. Finn Balor vs. Samoa Joe [NXT Title] (NXT Takeover: Dallas, 4/1)
4. Chris Hero/Tommy End vs. Zack Sabre, Jr./Sami Callahan [Tag Title Tournament] (EVOLVE 53, 1/22)
5. Roman Reigns vs. A.J. Styles [World Heavyweight Title] (Payback, 5/1)
6. Drew Gulak/TJ Perkins vs. Zach Sabre, Jr./Sami Callahan [Tag Title Tournament] (EVOLVE 54, 1/23)
7. Maximo vs. Kamataichi [Hair vs. Hair] (CMLL, 1/1)
8. Chris Hero vs. Matt Riddle (EVOLVE 57, 3/20)
9. Roderick Strong vs. Matt Riddle (EVOLVE 64. 7/16)
10. Virus vs. Hechicero (Lucha Memes, 5/15)
11. Roman Reigns vs. A.J. Styles [World Heavyweight Title] (Extreme Rules, 5/25)
12. Aztec Warfare II (Lucha Underground, 3/23)
13. Drew Gulak/Tracy Williams vs. Chris Hero/Tommy End (EVOLVE 58, 4/1)
14. Zack Sabre, Jr. vs. Drew Gulak [best in the World Challenge Series] (EVOLVE 57, 3/20)
15. The Usos vs. Karl Anderson/Luke Gallows (WWE Extreme Rules, 5/25)
16. Shinsuke Nakamura vs. A.J. Styles [iC Title] (Wrestle Kingdom 10, 1/4)
17. Royal Rumble Match (Royal Rumble, 1/24)
18. Drew Galloway vs. Jack Evans (PWG “Lemmy”, 1/2)
19. Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Sami Zayn (NXT Takeover: Dallas, 4/1)
20. Negro Casas vs. Hechicero (Monterrey, 4/24)
21. Tiger/Puma vs. Los Traumas [Handheld] (Elite, 1/22)
22. CIMA/Gamma/Peter Kaasa vs. Genki Horiguchi/Kagetora/Ryo Saito (Dragon Gate, 6/2)
23. Drew Gulak vs Timothy Thatcher (PWG “Lemmy”, 1/2)
24. Aja Kong vs. Chihiro Hashimoto (Sendai Girls, 1/9)
25. Katsuyori Shibata vs. Tomohiro Ishii [NEVER Title] (Wrestle Kingdom 10, 1/4)
26. Charlotte vs. Sasha Banks vs. Becky Lynch [inaugural Women’s Title Triple Threat] (Wrestlemania 32, 4/3)
27. Blue Panther/Guerrero Maya, Jr./Rey Cometa vs. Hechicero/Kraneo/Ripper (CMLL, 4/1)
28. Ultimo Guerrero vs. Valiente [NWA World Middleweight Title] (CMLL, 6/17)
29. Timothy Thatcher vs. Matt Riddle [EVOLVE Title] (EVOLVE 58, 4/1)
30. Puma vs. Esfingue [Final de las Copas Juniors] (CMLL, 1/19)
31. John Cena vs. AJ Styles (WWE Live Japan, 7/1)
32. Rey Hechicero/El Barbaro Cavernario vs. Los Traumas (CaraLucha, 1/1)
33. Los Terrible Cerebros vs. Diablo Jr./El Hijo del Diablo/Imposible (IWRG, 1/10)
34. Tracy Williams vs. Peter Kassa (EVOLVE 54, 1/23)
35. The Revival vs. American Alpha [NXT Tag Titles] (NXT Takeover: Dallas, 4/1)
36. Sami Callahan vs. Ethan Page (EVOLVE 58, 4/1)
37. Timothy Thatcher vs. Caleb Konley [EVOLVE Title] (EVOLVE 57, 3/20)
38. Roppongi Vice vs. Team Tremendous [Tag Title Tournament] (EVOLVE 53, 1/22)
39. The Bravados vs. Premier Athlete Brand [Tag Title Tournament] (EVOLVE 53, 1/22)
40. Los Ingobernobles vs. Kushida/Michael Elgin/Juice Robinson (NJPW New Beginning in Osaka, 2/11)
41. Pentagon Jr. vs. Fenix (AAW, 5/6)
42. Rey Mysterio/Prince Puma/Dragon Azteca vs. Johnny Mundo/Jack Evans/P.J. Black (Lucha Underground, 5/25)
43. Los Panteras vs. Los Terrible Cerebros (IWRG, 4/13)
44. American Alpha vs. Blake & Murphy (NXT, 1/27)
45. Tommaso Ciampa vs. Ethan Page (EVOLVE 54, 1/23)
46. Team Tremendous vs. Premier Athlete Brand [Tag Title Tournament] (EVOLVE 54, 1/23)
47. Bailey vs. Nia Jax (NXT, 5/18)
48. Los Terrible Cerebros vs. Apolo Estrada Jr./Canis Lupus/Eterno (IWRG, 1/17)
49. The New Day vs. The Usos/Dolph Ziggler (Smackdown, 1/21)
50. Tracy Williams vs. Fred Yehi (EVOLVE 53, 1/22)
51. Kevin Owens vs. Sami Zayn (WWE Battleground, 7/24)
52. Dragon Lee vs. Kamataichi [CMLL World Lightweight Title] (NJPW Fantasticamania, 1/24)
53. Zack Sabre, Jr. vs. Jigsaw (EVOLVE 64, 7/16)
54. Dean Ambrose vs. Kevin Owens [Last Man Standing, IC Title] (Royal Rumble, 1/24)
55. Rey Escorpion vs. Caristico (CMLL, 6/6)
56. Katsuyori Shibata vs. Tomohiro Ishii [NEVER Title] (NJPW New Beginning in Osaka, 2/11)
57. Negro Casas vs. Volador, Jr. [Hair vs. Hair] (CMLL, 3/1)
58. Jun Akiyama/Yuma Aoyagi vs. Kento Miyahara/Jake Lee (AJPW, 2/16)
59. Matt Riddle vs. Fred Yehi (EVOLVE 54, 1/23)
60. Negro Casas vs. Rush (Elite, 5/4)
61. Sami Callahan vs. Tracy Williams (EVOLVE 57, 3/20)
62. The Usos vs. Karl Anderson/Luke Gallows (Smackdown, 5/5)
63. Dr. Wagner, Jr. vs. El Mesias/Texano, Jr. [bull Terrier Match] (AAA, 3/4)
64. Drew Galloway/Johnny Gargano vs. Premier Athlete Brand (EVOLVE 58, 4/1)
65. Drew Galloway/Johnny Gargano vs. Team Tremendous [EVOLVE Tag Titles] (EVOLVE 57, 3/20)
66. Kalisto vs. Rusev [uS Title] (Extreme Rules, 5/25)
67. The Wyatts vs. The New Day (WWE Battleground, 7/24)
68. Chavo Guerrero vs. Cage [Gift of the Gods Title] (Lucha Underground, 5/25)
69. Sasha Banks vs. Naomi (Smackdown, 2/11)
70. Negro Casas/Blue Panther vs. Solar/Black Terry (Elite, 2/28)
71. Cibernético/Mephisto/Rey Escorpión vs Ángel de Oro/Máscara Dorada/Volador Jr. (CMLL Guerreros del Ring, 4/28)
72. Fred Yehi vs. Marty Scuril (EVOLVE 58, 4/1)
73. Drew Galloway/Johnny Gargano vs. Drew Gulak/TJ Perkins [Tag Title Tournament] (EVOLVE 53, 1/22)
74. Ricochet vs. TJP (EVOLVE 58, 4/1)
75. Tomohiro Ishii vs. Bobby Fish [TV Title] (ROH Global Wars, 5/8)
76. Rush vs. Maximo Sexy [Hair vs. Hair] (CMLL, 3/18)
77. John Cena/Enzo Amore/Big Cass vs. A.J. Styles/Karl Anderson/Luke Gallows (WWE Battleground, 7/24)
78. Chris Jericho/AJ Styles vs. Curtis Axel/Adam Rose (Smackdown, 2/11)
79. Bayley vs. Asuka [NXT Women’s Title] (NXT Takeover: Dallas, 4/1)
80. Meiko Satomura vs. Syuri (Sendai Girls, 3/11)
81. Ricochet vs. Will Ospreay (NJPW, 5/27)
82. Dean Ambrose vs. Roman Reigns vs. Seth Rollins (WWE Battleground, 7/24)
83. Matt Riddle vs. Marty Skurll (EVOLVE 65, 7/17)
84. Mini Hator/Tequilita vs. Chamaco Gurrola/Mini Difunto (Monterrey, 1/31)
85. Charlotte/Emma vs. Natalya/Becky Lynch (Smackdown, 5/5)
86. Finn Balor vs. Apollo Crews [NXT Title] (NXT, 2/3)
87. Mistico/Dragon Lee/Volador Jr. vs. Negro Casas/Ultimo Guerrero/El Barbaro Cavernario (CMLL, 1/26)
88. Charlotte vs. Becky Lynch [Divas Title] (Royal Rumble, 1/24)
89. Austin Aries vs. Baron Corbin (NXT Takeover: Dallas, 4/1)
90. Jason Cade vs. Martin Stone [uSWA Wrestlebowl Final] (USWA, 1/2)
91. Titan/Fuego vs. El Barbaro Cavernario/YOSHI-HASHI (NJPW Fantasticamania, 1/17)
92. The New Day (Big E/Kofi Kingston) vs. The Usos [Tag Titles] (Royal Rumble, 1/24)
93. Shayna Bazler vs. Colleen Schneider (PREMIER XII, 3/6)
94. Matt Riddle vs. Peter Kaasa (EVOLVE 53, 1/22)
95. HHH/Kevin Owens vs. Dean Ambrose/Sami Zayn [Handheld] (Paris Accorhotels, 4/22)
96. Cesaro/Sami Zayn vs. Kevin Owens/The Miz (Smackdown, 5/12)
97. Sam Adonis/Rampage Brown vs. James Mason/Dean Allmark (ASW UK, 2/7)
98. Bayley/Carmella vs. Emma/Alexa Bliss (NXT, 1/20)
99. Colt Cabana vs. Doug Williams (RPW High Stakes, 1/16)
100. Tommaso Ciampa vs. TJ Perkins (EVOLVE 57, 3/20)
101. Sami Callahan vs. Trevor Lee (PWG “Lemmy”, 1/2)
102. Astral/Electrico vs. Demus 3:16/Pequeno Olimpico (CMLL, 2/5)
103. Tetsuya Naito vs. Kyle O’Reilly (ROH Global Wars, 5/8)
104. Fred Yehi vs. Tony Nese vs. Chris Dickinson vs. Darby Allin (EVOLVE 64, 7/16)
105. Dalton Castle vs. ACH vs. Roderick Strong vs. Adam Page (ROH Global Wars, 5/8)
106. Chris Jericho vs. Dean Ambrose [Asylum Match] (Extreme Rules, 5/25)
107. Tommaso Ciampa vs. Cedric Alexander (EVOLVE 65, 7/17)
108. Diamante Azul/Johnny Idol/Rush vs. Cibernético/Sam Adonis/Último Guerrero (CMLL, 7/2)
109. Jay White vs. David Finlay (NJPW New Beginning in Osaka, 2/11)
110. Dean Ambrose/Neville vs. Sheamus/Kevin Owens (Smackdown, 1/14)
111. Kalisto vs. Alberto Del Rio [uS Title] (Royal Rumble, 1/24)
112. Mark Henry/Jack Swagger vs. Damien Sandow/Damien Young vs. The Ascension vs. The Dudley Boyz (Royal Rumble, 1/24)
113. Rusev vs. Zack Ryder (WWE Battleground, 7/24)
114. Timothy Thatcher vs. Marty Skurll (EVOLVE 64, 7/16)
115. The Usos vs. Fandango/Tyler Breeze (WWE Battleground, 7/24)
116. Colt Cabana vs. Kimber Lee (Beyond Wrestling, 4/24)
117. Guerrero Maya, Jr./The Panther vs. Arkangel de la Muerte/Virus [Arena Coliseo Tag Championship] (PROESA, 6/18)
118. 7-Man Ladder Match (Kevin Owens/Sami Zayn/Dolph Ziggler/Zack Ryder/The Miz/Sin Cara/Stardust) [iC Title] (Wrestlemania 32, 4/3)
119. Timmy Lou Retton vs. Jaxson James (WVCW, aired 2/13)
120. The New Day (Big E/Xavier Woods) vs. The Vaudevillians [Tag Titles] (Extreme Rules, 5/25)
121. Yuki Ishikawa/Keita Yano vs. Manabu Hara/Sanshu Tsubakichi (Kenji Takeshima Produce, 3/26)
122. Samoa Joe vs. Sami Zayn vs. Baron Corbin [#1 Contender's Match] (NXT, 1/27)
123. Los Tortuga Ninjas vs. Los Mariachi Locos [Mexico State Trios Championship] (IWRG, 5/1)
124. Total Divas (Brie Bella/Natalya/Paige/Alicia Fox/Eva Marie) vs. Bad and Blonde [Lana/Naomi/Tamina/Emma/Summer Rae] (Wrestlemania 32, 4/3)
125. Jay Lethal vs. Colt Cabana [World Title] (ROH Global Wars, 5/8)
126. Ethan Page vs. Fred Yehi (EVOLVE 57, 3/20)
127. Dr. Cerebro/Califan vs. Maximo Sexy/Rey Hechicero (AULL, 2/6)
128. Dragon Lee/Máscara Dorada/Místico/Valiente vs. La Ola Amarilla [Okumura/Kamaitachi/Fujin/Raijin] (CMLL, 3/18)
129. Kazuchika Okada vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi (Wrestle Kingdom 10, 1/4)
130. Hiroshi Tanahashi/Dragon Lee vs. Kazuchida Okada/Virus (NJPW Fantasticamania, 1/20)
131. The Usos vs. Karl Anderson/Luke Gallows (Smackdown, 5/12)
132. Jushin Liger/Tiger Mask IV/Ryusuke Taguchi vs. Kazushi Sakuraba/Gedo/YOSHI-HASHI (NJPW New Beginning in Osaka, 2/11)
133. Hiroshi Fukuda vs. Terry Boy [Hardcore Match] (BASARA, 4/14)
134. Bayley vs. Carmella (NXT, 2/10)
135. Akira Tozawa vs. Punch Tominaga (Dragon Gate, 1/11)
136. Joe Coleman vs. Jason Cade (EVOLVE 53, 1/22)
137. Johnny Gargano vs. Cedric Alexander (EVOLVE 64, 7/16)
138. Bray Wyatt vs. Ryback (Smackdown, 1/21)
139. Kalisto vs. Alberto Del Rio [uS Title] (Smackdown, 1/14)
140. Dragon Lee/Jay White vs. Virus/Hechicero (NJPW Fantasticamania, 1/17)
141. Felino/El Barbaro Cavernario vs. Los Traumas (Elite, 1/2)
142. Becky Lynch vs. Alicia Fox (Smackdown, 1/21)
143. Ryback vs. Kalisto [uS Title] (Wrestlemania 32, 4/3)
144. Drew Gulak/Tracy Williams vs. Drew Galloway/Dustin Howard [Tag Team Titles] (EVOLVE 64, 7/16)
145. Ethan Page vs. Wheeler YUTA (EVOLVE 64, 7/16)
146. Social Outcasts vs. Goldust/Damien Sandow/Jack Swagger/Zack Ryder (Smackdown, 1/14)
147. Detective Joey Ryan vs. Mascarita Sagrada (Lucha Underground, 5/25)
148. The New Day vs. The League of Nations (Wrestlemania 32, 4/3)
149. Kushida/Matt Sydal/The MCMGs vs. The Young Bucks/Tama Tonga/Tunga Loa (ROH Global Wars, 5/8)
150. War Machine vs. The Briscoes (ROH Global Wars, 5/8)
151. Cesaro vs. Kevin Owens (Smackdown, 5/19)
152. Jun Akiyama vs. LEONA (Fortune Dream III, 6/14)
153. Atlantis vs. L.A. Park (Elite, 5/4)
154. Sami Zayn vs. Adam Rose (NXT, 1/20)
155. Roman Reigns vs. Luke Gallows (Smackdown, 5/19)
156. Becky Lynch vs. Natalya (WWE Battleground, 7/24)
157. El Torito vs. Demus 3:16 (WWC, 6/25)
158. Ethan Page vs. Travis Gordon (EVOLVE 65, 7/17)
159. The Miz vs. Cesaro vs. Kevin Owens vs. Sami Zayn [intercontinental Title] (Extreme Rules, 5/25)
160. Rusev vs. Sin Cara (Smackdown, 5/12)
161. Shinsuke Nakamura/Austin Aries vs. Blake & Murphy (NXT, 5/18)
162. Jun Akiyama vs. Naoya Nomura (AJPW, 6/19)
163. Diablo Jr. vs. Leo [intercontinental Welterweight Title Quarterfinal] (IWRG, 4/24)
164. Alexa Bliss vs. Cameron (NXT, 2/10)
165. King Cuerno vs. Fenix (LU, 1/27)
166. Jun Akiyama vs. Suwama (Triple Crown Title) (AJPW, 1/2)
167. Asuka vs. Santana Garrett (NXT, 2/3)
168. Samoa Joe vs. Johnny Gargano (NXT, 1/20)
169. Rusev vs. Zack Ryder (Smackdown, 5/5)
170. Ivelisse vs. Mil Muertes (LU, 1/27)
171. Son of Havoc vs. Angelico vs. Ivelisse (LU, 1/27)
172. Becky Lynch vs. Dana Brooke (Smackdown, 5/12)
173. Masa Fuchi/SUSHI/SUSHI Kuzou vs. Osamu Nishimura/Ryuji Hijikata/Ultimo Dragon (AJPW, 1/2)
174. Ethan Page vs. P.J. Black (EVOLVE 53, 1/22)
175. A.J. Styles vs. Zack Sabre, Jr. (RPW High Stakes, 1/16)
176. Charlotte vs. Natalya [Women’s Title] (Extreme Rules, 5/25)
177. The Usos vs. The Dudley Boyz (Wrestlemania 32, 4/3)
178. Zack Sabre, Jr. vs. Will Ospreay [best in the World Challenge Series] (EVOLVE 58, 4/1)
179. Chris Jericho vs. A.J. Styles (Smackdown, 2/11)
180. Tommaso Ciampa/Johnny Gargano vs. Rob Ryzin/Danny Birch (NXT, 5/18)
181. Sheamus vs. Dolph Ziggler (Smackdown, 5/19)
182. Kofi Kingston vs. Aiden English (Smackdown, 5/12)
183. Shockercito/Último Dragóncito vs. Pequeño Olímpico/Pequeño Violencia (CMLL, 6/3)
184. Jushin Liger/Cheeseburger vs. The Addiction (ROH Global Wars, 5/8)
185. Brock Lesnar vs. Dean Ambrose [No Holds Barred] (Wrestlemania 32, 4/3)
186. Carmella vs. Emma (NXT, 2/3)
187. Chris Jericho vs. A.J. Styles (Wrestlemania 32, 4/3)
188. Baron Corbin vs. Johnny Gargano (NXT, 2/10)
189. Curtis Axel/Bo Dallas vs. The Vaudevillains (Smackdown, 5/5)
190. Ángel de Oro/Rey Cometa/Titán vs. Hechicero/Dragón Rojo Jr./Pólvora (CMLL, 1/5)
191. Toru Yano/The Briscoes vs. Bad Luck Fale/Yujiro Takahashi/Tama Tonga [NEVER 6-Man Titles] (NJPW New Beginning in Osaka, 2/11)
192. Kazuchida Okada vs. Hirooki Goto [iWGP Title] (NJPW New Beginning in Osaka, 2/11)
193. The New Breed vs. The Russians (WVCW, aired 2/13)
194. Carmella vs. Peyton Royce (NXT, 5/18)
195. The New Day/Big Cass vs. The Vaudevillians/The Dudley Boyz (Smackdown, 5/19)
196. Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Chris Jericho [Handheld] (WWE Live Japan, 7/1)
197. Dana Brooke vs. Paige (Smackdown, 5/19)
198. Triple H vs. Roman Reigns [WWE Heavyweight Title] (Wrestlemania 32, 4/3)
199. Negro Casas vs. Super Parka [Hair vs. Hair] (CMLL, 1/2)
200. Will Ospreay vs. Marty Skuril (RPW High Stakes, 1/16)
201. Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal (Wrestlemania 32, 4/3)
202. Los Terrible Cerebros vs. Los Oficiales (IWRG, 4/6)
203. Hiroshi Tanahashi/Michael Elgin vs. Kazuchita Okada/Moose (ROH Global Wars, 5/8)
204. The Young Bucks vs. re:Dragon vs. Matt Sydal/Ricochet [Jr. Tag Titles] (NJPW New Beginning in Osaka, 2/11)
205. Baron Corbin vs. Rich Swann (NXT, 1/20)
206. Enzo/Cass vs. the Jamochas (NXT, 2/3)
207. The Undertaker vs. Shane McMahon [Hell in a Cell] (Wrestlemania 32, 4/3)
208. Tencozy vs. Yuji Nagata/Manabu Nakanishi (NJPW New Beginning in Osaka, 2/11)
209. The Hype Bros vs. John Skyler/Corey Hollis (NXT, 2/10)
210. Apollo Crews vs. Tye Dillinger (NXT, 1/20)
211. Hiroshi Tanahashi/Togi Makabe/Tomoaki Honma vs. Kenny Omega/Karl Anderson/Luke Gallows (NJPW New Beginning in Osaka, 2/11)
212. The Hype Bros vs. The Vaudevillains (NXT, 2/3)
213. Bull Dempsey vs. "Raging" Alex Riley (NXT, 1/27)
214. Elias Samson vs. Jesse Sorensen (NXT, 2/10)
215. Elias Samson vs. John Skyler (NXT, 1/27)
216. Nia Jax vs. Liv Morgan (NXT, 1/27)
217. Black Terry/Herodes Jr./Súper Nova vs. Demon Clown/Los Traumas (IWRG, 1/3)
218. The Rock vs. Erick Rowan (Wrestlemania 32, 4/3)

[NotJayTabb]

Really enjoyed reading this. I assume (hope) this is something you're intending to keep up all year?

 

Just one thing I picked up on...

Bayley/Carmella vs. Emma/Alexa Bliss is four of my favorite people of the company in one match. Emma is a Most Underrated candidate right now. I have an unabashed crush on her, but she's also really good. Meltzer needs to create a Most Smitten category, where Emma can come in third behind Ibushi and whatever other silky haired fawn of a Japanese dude is tempting the WON board marks to place ads on Craigslist. Loved the heel beatdown of Bayley, but I do think the structure here is slightly off, in that your champion should be portrayed as the best worker. She gets her ass kicked and sells a ton for the heels while Carmella waits outside for the hot tag. I get why they did it as they have less faith in her as a worker, but even with the height differential I feel like Carmella should have been the FIP here. The Carmella hot tag is decent when it happens: she's very acrobatic, and can skillfully hit stuff in a way that looks like a dance routine moreso than a fight.

I think the reason Bayley was FIP is because Carmella has a title shot coming up where Bayley is the clear favourite, so they had to show that Carmella can be a winner. Carmella getting beaten up for most of the match, and Bayley saving the day, would make it look like Carmella had even less of a chance of winning the belt.

[Parties]

Yeah, thanks - that's a really good point: I'd forgotten that their match hasn't happened yet. I also watch most things with the commentary muted (or specifically tuned down enough to still hear crowd reactions but not the announcers), so some of the stories do get lost.

 

I hope to keep up with it all year as I've always found the digest "DVDVR" format to be the most fun way to read about wrestling, but I know myself and track record in past years to hedge bets. I often try a bunch of different promotions' stuff at the beginning of the year and then end up wanting to go outside by springtime. So we'll see.

[Parties]

Maximo vs. Kamataichi (Hair vs. Hair) (CMLL, 1/1)

Referee here appears to be the old man from Pixar's “Up”: good to see Ed Asner still getting work. Maximo's leg selling here is smart in a way that other workers should watch: he sells on the mat as his leg gets destroyed, but when it's time to mount a comeback and hit a springboard arm drag, he immediately goes back to selling it once he's completed the sequence. He even does his Irish whips while standing on one leg. Kamataichi was such a good heel in this. He gives Maximo so much yet remains credible throughout. The back drop on the floor was crazy awesome stuff straight out of Flair-Eaton '89. Many brilliant dives in here, including the big suicide plunge from Kamataichi and Maximo's shoulder block tope. Maximo has that Porky/Astro thing to his flying where being orb-shaped enhances its cannonball nature. Gorgeous top rope hurrancarana from Maximo. Some of the nearfalls at the end looked a little slow and botched, but seemed more a problem of Ed Asner counting the pins. But the final sequence has a great combative feel where even though it's quite choreographed, it looks like a genuine struggle in which a flying move is countered mid-air in a way that's realistic and decisive. The hair removal was beautifully shot as well, with the crowd reactions and character work from both guys.

 

Masa Fuchi/SUSHI/SUSHI Kuzou vs. Osamu Nishimura/Ryuji Hijikata/Ultimo Dragon (AJPW, 1/2)

Fifteen minute comedy match clipped to about six. Another deal where I was just curious about how these guys looked and moved. Fuchi is 62 for those keeping score. He was surprisingly good here. Perhaps it shouldn't wow me as I will probably end up being the high voter for Fuchi in the GWE poll, but his selling, playing to the crowd, and use of strikes here was a lot of fun. I can see someone else watching this and thinking it was business-exposing and weak, but we all look at our favorites through rose-colored glasses and to me this is no different than when people try to find things to like about Ricky Morton on southern indies nowadays. Definitely a deal where three guys have to work around their out-of-breath boss and make him look good, but they pull it off. Nishimura in particular has shown a great talent for making over the hill guys seem more credible than they are. SUSHI's not a great worker by any stretch, but I was impressed by his firing up of the crowd and the way he seemed to be pretty over.

 

Jun Akiyama vs. Suwama (Triple Crown Title) (AJPW, 1/2)

Let's see what a 30 minute All Japan title change looks like in 2016. Opening exchange of punches and chops to kick off every other Japanese title defense of the last ten years. Akiyama has some nice veteran tricks like his sharp mule kicks on the mat. I shouldn't have expected much from this, but was hopeful that Akiyama was still Akiyama. He may still be, but this felt like a very rote run-through of a slowed-down Kings Road match. The Exploder Suplexes are a little more gingerly paced-out, coming at a leisurely clip. Suwama continues to be a well-intentioned bore. The whole promotion is stale and this is no worse than what it's been for years, but with better opponents Akiyama has had matches much better than this.

 

Akira Tozawa vs. Punch Tominaga (Dragon Gate, 1/11)

I really liked the presentation of all this: both guys are hyping up the crowd, their cornermen are animated throughout. The wrestling itself is kind of weird in that it's all totally business-exposing, yet pretty fun if you don't take it seriously at all. Tominaga's gimmick here is taking all of Tozawa's offense voluntarily, defenseless with his hands in his pockets. He actually also keeps them in there while applying a headscissors. I can praise this not so much as a great match but as a “see it to understand it” anomaly, akin to a random 2000 Big Japan match you'd see described in an old DVDVR. It worsens once they go to a series of 2.9 pinfalls, but I did like that it really does look like two guys trying to win a match rather than hit impressive, elaborate spots.

 

Titan/Fuego vs. Barbaro Cavernario/YOSHI-HASHI (NJPW, 1/17)

I like Fantasticamania because it sort of speaks to the glory of the old DVDVR model of watching wrestling: enjoying things in a shuffle manner, and seeking out weird matchups and ephemera from the world at large. The only problem is that these matches don't always deliver even when you have amazing workers facing off. This match is no exception, though HASHI and Cavernario are a cool team who have chemistry and do work in tandem during this match. The Barbaro-Titan exchanges here have some very fun flying and spots on the floor early on. Fuego is as unimpressive as he was when I last checked in on him three years ago, except that he now does this bad caliente strutting that makes him look like a sped-up Enrique Iglasias doing locomotive arm motions. Cavernario should be commended here as one of the great talents in the business right now: aside from deciding he wants to be paralyzed by the time he's 40, he has great instincts in-ring and charisma for days. This has a wacky but entertaining finish that I dug and hope you dig too.

 

Dragon Lee/Jay White vs. Virus/Hechicero (NJPW Fantasticamania, 1/17)

If he gets the right opportunities this year, Hechicero might prove the best worker of the year. He's tremendous in this, even when he gets a little too shticky in his swagger. Jay White struggled to keep up with him, but the stuff with Hechicero and Lee was the best in the match. With his look and power offense of throwing Lee with a powerbomb halfway across the ring into the post, Hechicero's whole act felt very Mad Max: Fury Road here. Kind of a underwhelming match given who's involved, and the crowd is dead, but for completists of the rudo side, there are moments to enjoy. Highlight of the match: Virus hitting a lightning-fast J.J Watt sack directly into Lee's groin. Close second would be a stunning tope con hilo from Dragon that the Kevin Dunn of Japan nearly missed completely from the production truck.

Puma vs. Esfingue [Final de las Copas Juniors] (CMLL, 1/19)

If you aren't watching Puma right now, get to it: he's gotten really good really fast. Esfingue looked okay: he was in control through the first fall, and didn't impress me much (though he hits a crazy dive to the floor that's worth checking out in the third fall). There's a lot to like in Puma's work here: he's very confident, very assured in the ring, and has true star presence. Structurally this has a lot of the modern faults of 2016 lucha. I just don't like the way a lot of falls are booked, particularly in the middle of matches where you don't get a true segunda. It's like they've read David Mamet books and decided that second act problems can be avoided altogether. But there's much to like in the third fall, even if it ends in unsatisfying fashion. Good apuestas match between two rising stars.

Tanahashi/Dragon Lee vs. Okada/Virus (NJPW Fantasticamania, 1/20)

As you can imagine there's little interaction between the two camps here, as Lee/Virus and Tanahashi/Okada do the house show version of their respective touring matches. Lee and Okada do work together in a way that makes you think Lee should really be brought in more as an attraction who could become a recurring opponent for Okada. They worked well together and felt like equals. While I still don't buy Okada as an ace champion and find him massively overrated online, he continues to improve over time. This gets pretty dull halfway through, even though everyone's competently doing their thing. Okada at one point calls Lee a motherfucker, so they got that going for them. Against my better judgment I've actually come to at times enjoy Tanahashi in the last year or so. The stuff with him and Virus is entertaining, even if the dynamic is off and Tanahashi seems more like a heel.

NXT (taped 1/7; aired 1/20)

Sami Zayn vs. Adam Rose was short and entertaining. I maintain that Rose is a good worker. He's really effective here, sells well, very expressive in his reactions and capacity to make Zayn look like championship material. Apollo Crews vs. Tye Dillinger outright sucked. Two guys trying to be whatever it is they think the company thinks they're supposed to be, which I guess is two big dudes doing bad matwork? Crews is a great athlete with some good spots, but he's always been clueless as a storyteller and that hasn't changed. He also might have the worst punches in the company right now. Dillinger looks like a guy desperate for a push and watching this in the context of knowing he was recently injured is all the worse. Baron Corbin vs. Rich Swann was a two-minute squash. Highlight was Corey Graves saying “Swann must have been thrown ten, twelve feet in the air” off a back drop wherein Corbin barely got Swann over his head. Bayley/Carmella vs. Emma/Alexa Bliss is four of my favorite people of the company in one match. Emma is a Most Underrated candidate right now. I have an unabashed crush on her, but she's also really good. Meltzer needs to create a Most Smitten category, where Emma can come in third behind Ibushi and whatever other silky haired fawn of a Japanese dude is tempting the WON board marks to place ads on Craigslist. Loved the heel beatdown of Bayley, but I do think the structure here is slightly off, in that your champion should be portrayed as the best worker. She gets her ass kicked and sells a ton for the heels while Carmella waits outside for the hot tag. I get why they did it as they have less faith in her as a worker, but even with the height differential I feel like Carmella should have been the FIP here. The Carmella hot tag is decent when it happens: she's very acrobatic, and can skillfully hit stuff in a way that looks like a dance routine moreso than a fight. Samoa Joe vs. Johnny Gargano was a good squash that made the aging Joe look like a killer. All of his offense remains on point and I'm enjoying his transition into an nasty old heel veteran. We lost Archie Gouldie this week, and aspects of Joe here reminded me that you can be a cruel monster long after you can be the bright young thing. Gargano to his credit was good here, but this was a match to make Joe look like your next NXT champ.

Tiger/Puma vs. Los Traumas [Handheld] (CMLL, 1/22)

Los Traumas remain two of the best workers on Earth, even though they seem to be off everyone's radars and not really talked about much at the moment. Starts with some really nice Trauma II submission work. The Trauma I-Puma standoffs of slapping each other to death were pretty awesome too. Felino's kids in some ways feel akin to the Rhodes Brothers team in a good way, as you have a lot of sharp double-team work, flying from the top, and good striking. Some of this is overdone in the pacing, but if you're gonna have two teams work American-influenced overkill, at least they're really good at hitting the stuff well. Watch for a fantastic tope from Tiger, and the awesome spinning Navarro leglocks from Los Traumas.

 

Royal Rumble (1/24)

See Rumble thread for my thoughts live - less amped rewatch possibly on the horizon.

 

NXT (taped 1/7; aired 1/27)

American Alpha vs. Blake and Murphy: This was excellent in many respects even if it was Workrate City with four guys at times trying too hard, or doing things that were too smart by half at top speed. Gable moves as well as advertised. Jordan is charismatic. Murphy doing his heel shtick works even when it's very predictable. Blake's along for the ride but can at least tag Murphy in with fluidity. I enjoy the idea of arrogant jocks getting over as babyfaces at Full Sail. Nia Jax vs. Liv Morgan was bad Cinemax horror and no one cares. I'd say they finally found an A'noai who can't work, but Manu already happened. Enzo/Cass/Carm promo was awesome. I would say RAW desperately needs them, but they'll be ruined so badly that I hope they never leave. NXT circa 2035 being the home of grizzled fifty year old Enzo trash talk after his third Flair facelift will be great. Bull Dempsey vs. "Raging" Alex Riley: Wow. Riley becomes the first guy to openly do a HHH tribute gimmick in NXT. Elias Samson vs. John Skyler: I like Samson's gimmick: crazed, douchey singer-songwriter has untapped potential. Samoa Joe vs. Sami Zayn vs. Baron Corbin [#1 Contender's Match]: Good stuff. Kind of tedious at points as a spotfest of run-through moves without a story, but Zayn is great at getting his highspots over. Joe was painting a house on Zayn's face with those slaps. Thought the finish was clever even in its illogic (why would Joe do that?) and that it was well portrayed by all parties.

 

Lucha Underground (taped whenever; aired 1/27 - in spirit of the endeavor, I'm calling this season "2016" stuff)

To begin, I'll say that I've seen barely any English language LU and Vampiro's announcing is really terrible. Striker is almost endearing in comparison. King Cuerno vs. Fenix: Mediocre. Felt like a bunch of spots. Fenix hits some great dives though. Everything's well executed but utterly flavorless. Son of Havoc vs. Angelico vs. Ivelisse: I've been a real Ivelisse fan since Tough Enough, but this kinda sucked. Match has been torn apart elsewhere all week (did well here though), but I wouldn't even say the gender angle is the issue as much as it's just a bad match where no one looked good. Ivelisse vs. Mil Muertes: Just bad booking to have this happen right after the three-way. Build it for a week at least. It just felt like a dumb deal where they wanted to look progressive without actually doing anything progressive. On the contrary, this came off badly. Maybe it'll lead to something down the road, but this felt like a deal where the trigger should have been pulled later and more effectively. And to be fair, I thought the post-match angle was very good and well-produced in the hallmark LU ways. Overall that write-up sounds more negative than it should. Thought the telenovela segments were great, and the presentation and storytelling on this show is way ahead of anything else in wrestling right now. I can't call them avant-garde, but it's really well done and smartly produced. That said, I stand by the idea that these matches didn't deliver in week one, even if coming out of this show I'm dying to see what happens next and what becomes of several intriguing characters (Ivelisse, Puma, Pentagon, Muertes).

[Matt D]

I'm not sure I'm going to have time to write up the Puma/Virus/Tiger trios match from last Friday, but if I were to do so, it'd be almost solely to highlight Puma. Between the new gear and his mannerisms when he's on the apron through almost the entirety of the match, he feels a step above and beyond suddenly. You get the sense that he's trying to be more, whether or not CMLL is on board with the plan.

[Parties]

Colt Cabana vs. Doug Williams (RPW High Stakes, 1/16)
This was better than I would have expected. At this point I’d rather watch guys do goofy WOS comedy well than watch some over the top fiasco of endless 2.9 kick-outs and nothing mattering. This worsens when they start doing their own exhaustive climax, but I’ll be the contrarian here who says that this was better than the critically acclaimed prize fights later in the show. The humor here works and while Cabana can be a blowhard baby in his professional life, he reminds you here of why he developed the following that he had ten years ago.

Will Ospreay vs. Marty Skuril [#1 Contender's Match] (RPW High Stakes, 1/16)
Haven’t liked anything I’ve seen from either of these guys, but let’s give it a try. Hated the opening standoff of bows and curtsies. The loose chain wrestling and over the top mannerisms just felt like two kids cosplaying some wack steampunk noise. Everything Ospreay does looks horribly fake and contrived. Just so much “clever” (meaning terrible) wrestling. Skuril’s “Villain” tights as some kind of tribute to Regal are the kind of meta-disgrace usually reserved for Coachella. To give some credit where it’s due: I liked Skuril’s rolling surfboard and Ospreay’s corkscrew flying elbow. So much dung from bonafide dweebs. I hate to use the new cliche, but this was two geeks who were - wait for it - “playing pro wrestler.” Endless, endless finishing sequence of a million finishers that all look lame. If this is what we learned from 2007 ROH, then we learned nothing. 30 minutes that feel like an hour.

AJ Styles vs. Zack Sabre, Jr. [RPW Title] (RPW High Stakes, 1/16)
I liked Sabre tackling AJ’s leg during a leapfrog, but otherwise the opening of this is more show-off acrobatics. I was bored at times throughout, but to their credit this heats up at the end once Styles fires up and starts trying to tear Sabre’s knee off. Aspects of this are sloppy, but the finish was a very cool maneuver and this meant much more at 15 minutes than the #1 Contender's Match did at 30.

ADDED: #7) The New Day vs. The Usos/Dolph Ziggler (Smackdown, 1/21)
This is the match that should have been on the Rumble. We don’t get to see enough New Day trios, and this one was tons of fun. Ziggler wearing the paint was cool and the kind of stuff that never gets to happen on RAW. This honestly felt like a revitalized Ziggler altogether as he got over taunting the New Day chant, abusing Woods, and slowing the hell down for once. Xavier isn’t the best worker, but I liked him as the People’s FIP. Big E is awesome in this match. Stuff like a simple splash has great fire, and his heel tricks of rhymically spanking his opponents and stepping on Ziggler’s hand while tagging in Kofi were great. As was Woods doing phony rudo selling. Strong babyface finish too.

[Parties]

ADDED: 4) Katsuyori Shibata vs. Tomohiro Ishii (Wrestle Kingdom, 1/4)
First half of this: what are they going for here? Who’s trying to win this match? This is shoot style without the music, from two guys who should know better. They’re both really talented - more talented than the main eventers - yet they’re doing this? It’s almost slapstick in its violent idiocy, and for that reason there was a sequence halfway through where they’re rapidly trading kicks and suplexes that I liked. The one where they both faint and Ishii spits out his mouthpiece. Second half of this: really good as they clobber each other with purpose and hit awesome strikes impactfully. Without the lame Fighting Spirit stuff in the first half, this might have been #1 YTD. Still impressed that they put it together so well at the end.

 

ADDED: 3) Shinsuke Nakamura vs. AJ Styles (Wrestle Kingdom 10, 1/4)
This was well paced, especially for a New Japan match. They do enough to keep the first ten minutes interesting, but really turn up the intensity from that point on with good work in and out of holds. The selling here should be brought up whenever anyone starts talking that jive about how selling doesn’t matter in Japan and shouldn’t be among the criteria used in judging Japanese matches. It’s important here and it’s the difference between this and the lesser ROH, NJPW and Rev Pro stuff of late. Even the ref is working hard here. I liked the Styles Clash more than usual here as it looked like AJ - intentionally or accidentally - put his knee behind Nakamura’s head as he was coming down to the mat, which made it look less cooperative and more devastating than usual. The big tide-turning move of the match is a little choreographed, but they ended this at the right time. In a sense this was the first match of Nakamura’s big King of Pop run where he’s felt to me as big and exciting as others have made him out to be. While I haven’t been as enamored with his Tanahashi and Ibushi matches, I here thought he looked great.

Kazuchika Okada vs Hiroshi Tanahashi (Wrestle Kingdom 10, 1/4)
The opening here was pretty solid, they have a nice trading of momentum before the big dropkick of Tanahashi somersaulting to the floor. A really bad Okada chin lock soon follows, solidifying the comparisons between him and Orton. This was probably the best of their matches that I’ve seen in terms of pacing and dramatic impact. The wrestling itself wasn’t vastly superior to what’s happening elsewhere (let alone Best in the World stuff) but they did build to spots well and this felt like a big-time main event. I even liked the story of Tanahashi trying to take out Dropkick McGee’s leg. (It was totally dropped two minutes later, but hey, it’s Okada.) People have said this match was five minutes too long, but I’d say it’s more that they go to the finishing sequence about ten minutes too early, so that after finisher #43 (around the thirty minute mark) it starts to drag. But to their credit, these are two guys who pretty much only know how to work finishing stretches, and they turned up the volume considerably once it was time. It worked, I guess? Probably? Now let’s not see it again for a few years?

[Grimmas]

By the way, great resource here. Lists some stuff I needed to check out, that I missed.

[Parties]

#9: Dragon Lee vs. Kamataichi (NJPW Fantasticamania, 1/24/16)
First off, it’s amazing that this match happened a week ago, was online the same day, and that I’m watching it tonight. The future is now. That aside, the response to this match on Wrestling KO and elsewhere has been that this was sort of a heatless version of their matches in Mexico, due to the crowd/atmosphere/actual in-ring work. But I thought this was quite solid. Liked the extra aggression of the new hairless-and-mad-about-it Kamataichi. The snap on his Dragon Screw was awesome. The hurrancarana to the floor was insane, and the big tope from Lee was great. This does have one of those bad cooperative spots where the opponent has to do a pilate between two ropes and hold in place so that the other guy can do a curb stomp that takes 45 seconds to set up. They make up for it by working the best Figure-4 Leglock that I’ve seen in forever. There were some indulgences here in going for Devastating Power Moves aplenty in the home stretch, and it’s true that this might have been better worked under 2/3 Falls. The actual finish of this match is the sort of thing that would probably look awful were it was performed by Michael Elgin and Jay Lethal. But the genuine surprise and snap on what could have been a lame Canadian Destroyer instead felt like a thrilling surprise. Has anyone in wrestling had a better month of performances than Kamataichi?

NXT, 2/3 - The Hype Bros vs. The Vaudevillains: This match should have been Equipo con Equipo: losers have to get new gear. Ryder showed some fire in this, but everyone else was lacking. When brought up to the main roster, Aiden English will become the first guy on RAW to ever tap to a Fujiwara armbar from Stephanie. Carmella vs. Emma: Remember that episode of The Sopranos where Carm finds out about Tony’s glaring philandering, and throws him out of the house after utterly going off on him in their foyer? That was a good episode. Anyway: Emma does a good face plant that looks like a Flair flop at 5X speed. And her World of Sport wrist locks into nasty stretches on the mat were good too. She deserves better than being jobbed out in three minutes to a bad backslide. Enzo/Cass vs. the Jamochas: I liked Cass here - he’s figured out some big man offense and used his size well. Very enjoyable squash that reminds you why squashes can be fun and effective in rebuilding defeated fan favorites. Asuka vs. Santana Garrett: Garrett in both look and maneuvers looked like Elaine Benes on the dance floor here, while Asuka threw incredibly fast kicks that make everyone in the Divas division seem like contestants sheepishly entered into one of those creepy beauty pageants for children. #10: Finn Balor vs. Apollo Crews [NXT Title]: Initially my snarky comment was, “Yes, let’s ground Uhaa Nation in a headlock for the first several minutes of a match.” But to their credit, it made their later flying matter more. Such that Balor leaping over the ropes just to set up a move garnered awe from the crowd and Graves rightly praising it on commentary. Best match I’ve ever seen out of either of these two? In terms of sheer maturity and mat sense, I’ll say absolutely. Balor actually seemed like a champ here and really delivered in the home stretch. I was totally surprised by how well they paired together. Sublime TV title defense.

[Parties]

Social Outcasts vs. Goldust/Damien Sandow/Jack Swagger/Zack Ryder (Smackdown, 1/14)
The craziest thing about this was the way in which every guy worked like they wanted to win the match. Scrambling for pins, flying around the ring, putting on a really fun show. It was eight guys who know where they are on the card and set out to look good. Which was amazing to watch at a time when on RAW no one works like they’re trying to win, or do much more than carry out a choreographed distraction finish. Slater’s the star here, but Dallas’ selling was tremendous and any night you get to see Dustin’s power slam is a good one.

Kalisto vs. Alberto Del Rio [uS Title] (Smackdown, 1/14)
Del Rio’s beatdown at the beginning got a bit dull in its length. Kalisto was excellent in garnering sympathy, but Del Rio was in control for so much of the match that it felt dragged down. I also thought the big momentum shift was a rare moment when interference was done subtly and with skill. Barrett honestly wouldn’t be a bad manager someday.

Dean Ambrose/Neville vs. Sheamus/Kevin Owens (Smackdown, 1/14)
In general I feel like if you aren’t watching Smackdown right now, you almost don’t have a right to complain about WWE writ large. Not because RAW and the booking and the culture aren’t all shit, but because you have in the middle of it this weird smark utopia where Dean Ambrose and Neville are your top babyfaces and Kevin Owens is a main event heel. I realize it’s just one match on one show, but SD feels like such a positive contrast to RAW right now that if you aren’t watching it and find yourself shaking your head at RAW, I really think you should try it. It also helps that the matches are good. Neville hits a sweet German suplex on Owens after taking a beating the whole match. Ambrose looked better than he has of late here, and Owens had a cool counter to the Les Kellet Lariat. In the finish, the heels actually looked like badasses who wanted to hurt people for once, and Ranallo’s call made it all feel like real carnage.

Becky Lynch vs. Alicia Fox (Smackdown, 1/21)
Fox remains a genuinely good worker. She takes a crazy face plant bump and hits a cool Northern Lights Suplex on the floor in the first like, ninety seconds of the match. Ric Flair continues his weird decades-long streak of being bad on commentary. Becky was solid, but this really made you wish they were doing more with Fox.

Bray Wyatt vs. Ryback (Smackdown, 1/21)
This was solid Hoss Warfare, such that I’m surprised I hadn’t heard anything about this already. Short but violent. If this was a test drive for Brock-Bray at Mania, then the future is bright.

[Parties]

Added: #7) The Bravado Brothers vs. Premiere Athlete Brand (EVOLVE 53, 1/22)
I haven’t loved these teams in the past and Nese is still pretty weak, but this was a very entertaining indie tag with innovative moves that built well to the finish. Conley’s looked good for years, but it was actually the Bravados who stood out more here with their teamwork. Naylor is the match MVP for correctly calling the jawbreaker as Diamond Dust.

Joe Coleman vs. Jason Cade (EVOLVE 53, 1/22)
Most importantly: someone needs to tell me what Coleman’s theme song was. It is fantastic bubblegum pop and searching for the lyrics garners nada. I imagine all EVOLVE music is now just Gabe commandeering kids on Youtube and Florida strip malls to let him make them into stars, but this was on point. This was a competitive squash in which the scrawny dude crushed the giant HGH guy. Cade looked pretty fantastic here and I’m intrigued to see more of his insane flying. He basically seems like a more engaging AR Fox?

Matt Riddle vs. Peter Kaasa (EVOLVE 53, 1/22)
Another surprisingly good match. Riddle definitely has something - even though he has to iron out those MMA fighter kinks of how to give and take in a worked match, he has a natural charisma that Naylor describes as Kerry von Erich meets Minoru Suzuki. (I’d say he’s more Masa Funaki, but close enough.) Kaasa - described as Laredo Kid meets Billy Jack Haynes - is almost more intriguing, and one of those random out of nowhere new guys that speaks to Gabe absolutely eating ROH’s lunch right now in talent acquisition, esp. jacked dudes who will appear to the Vince/Hunter sensibility.

Ethan Page vs. PJ Black (EVOLVE 53, 1/22)
Also known as The Ted Cruz of Professional Wrestling vs. Pequeno Roman Reigns. Merely an OK match that was used to further this angle with Page where he’s insincerely trying to turn face. Black came off like a total heel in contrast for resorting to a cheap win. Solidly worked but not anything you need to see.

[Parties]

Added: #13) Jason Cade vs. Martin Stone [uSWA Wrestlebowl Final] (USWA, 1/2)
Interesting and effective match. Stone as heel grounds high-flyer Cade, mocking him and using mainly punches and stomps for the first several minutes. In a sense he’s working a slow, lumbering style as a means of serving as the contrasting heel to Cade’s eventual comeback of highspots. Cade remains interesting to me as a kind of Drake/Donald Glover of indie wrestling: his strikes aren’t fantastic and as such a small guy, he should probably stop doing them altogether. But he has a very natural underdog/flyer charisma that seems unique on the scene right now. The finish of this is surprising and compelling, getting over moves you see every week (powerbombs, DDTs, dropkicks) over as devastating and important. One aim of watching more stuff is to gain a sense of what’s happening on the indies and making use of Youtube, and I liked this quite a bit.

[Parties]

Added: #4) Hechicero/Barbaro Cavernario vs. Los Traumas (CaraLucha, 1/1)
Only seven minutes of this exists seems to exist online, which is tragic: not sure if it was just a short one fall match or if we only get the first fall, but everyone should check it out nonetheless. This is so what people starved for 2010-era BT Jr. footage are looking for. The opening mat work between Hechicero and Trauma II is excellent. Barbaro and Trauma I trading chops was fantastic, and here you get to see Cavernario’s gimmick in a small crowd wild man environment that only heightens his charisma. Finish is a little spotty but still tons of chaotic fun.

Negro Casas vs. Super Parka [Hair vs. Hair] (CMLL, 1/2)
Why would you have two hair matches on one show? Sub-question: why is Super Parka so horrible? First two falls are over in the first five minutes of a twenty minute match. The post-match brawling as confetti flies is really fun, but this was otherwise lousy as Parka slowly lumbers around and brings Casas down to his level. Weird that this had so much fire after the match once the seconds got involved, and was so lame during the actual falls.

Added: #14) Mistico/Dragon Lee/Volador Jr. vs. Negro Casas/Ultimo Guerrero/El Barbaro Cavernario (CMLL, 1/26)
I liked the silly fun of Ultimo and Mistico having a contest to see who can rile up the crowd more with a single raised fist. Tremendous mannerisms and chain wrestling from Barbaro and Lee. I also loved Casas screaming at the top of his lungs to start his exchange with Volador, looking like the spitting ima ge of Patti Smith in his facial expressions. Really good teamwork from the rudos to take the first fall. Mistico looked very fluid in his flying and transitions into the tilt-a-whirl flying armbar and some great armdrags: this was the best that I’ve seen any Mistico incantation look in ages. I even liked Barbaro doing the worm and the cheap distraction finish. This is a match that speaks to the genuine charisma of the competitors and workers being able to get away with some carny tricks on the strength of their star power. They’re building to Volador-Casas hair match, which is intriguing given that Volador today looks like a balding Bryan Alvarez. It’s a must-win for him!

[Parties]

Felino/El Barbaro Cavernario vs. Los Traumas (Elite, 1/2)
First fall only. You do get a great Felino elbow off the top, some good exchanges with the other guys, and the mighty Navarro Spinning Leglock. Looks like a great match. Will we ever know for sure? Le sigh.

Ángel de Oro/Rey Cometa/Titán vs. Hechicero/Dragón Rojo Jr./Pólvora (CMLL, 1/5)
The long opening of Hechicero stretching Titan wasn’t enough to justify how bad the other guys are. Highlight was Hechicero beating the hell out of Cometa on the floor. The structure of this when Hechicero wasn’t just destroying dudes was terrible and Dragon Rojo looks virtually untrained. I kind of enjoyed Cometa as a low-rent weakling babyface who looks cheap as hell without his mask. His gear feels very Liberace in a way that could get over as a face or heel. Virtually every spot in the finish is botched by the faces.

Black Terry/Herodes Jr./Súper Nova vs. Demon Clown/Los Traumas (IWRG, 1/3)
Wow, this was terrible. Black Terry wrestling in a hideous yellow t-shirt. Herodes blading a few minutes in to conceal how bad his work is. A barely mobile Demon Clown slowly walking around to lazily choke people and hit them with a chain. Los Traumas trying to keep it together but not able to do anything with their opponents or Clown. Herodes also here suffers from that thing that happens to some workers - Chris Hero being a recent example - where you gain weight and get too fat for your tights, causing them to hike up into a thong. The other big wardrobe malfunction here is that the platform heel of Clown’s boot falls off, and the camera holds on a close-up of his foot for ages. Just kind of a great moment revealing the futility of goths. Good luck at the cobbler or getting your money back at Hot Topic, bro. Even the Terry-Trauma I work here is shockingly bad. Early candidate for worst match of the year, which is really sad given some of the people involved.

Added: #10) Los Terrible Cerebros vs. Diablo Jr./El Hijo del Diablo/Imposible (IWRG, 1/10)
Interesting opening where Terry and Imposible work almost a mini-singles match to start, as they go almost ten minutes on the mat against each other. The Diablo, Jr.-Dr. Cerebro stuff was even better as they have more intricate submissions. You also get Hilo del Diablo (one of the better sleaze bags in recent wrestling history) and Cerebro Negro (the gentle, subdued Fredo of the Cerebros trio) working together in an endearing moment of two guys trying hard. Diablo Jr. is perhaps the standout here as he is really skillful on the mat and works well with all three Cerebros over the course of the match. This felt somewhat lacking only compared to the Panteras-Navarros stuff that I’d watched right before this: in full it’s well worth watching and one of the best matches of the month.

Added: #2) Los Panteras vs. Dinestia Navarro (IWRG, 1/10)
This rules. You get smooth maestro work from Navarro and Pantera I. Seriously, I was amazed at how smooth this re-masked Pantera was. He looks like modern-day Sayama if he was less fat and more agile. You get fired up Hilo del Pantera in a wifebeater looking like he wants to kill somebody and doing really fancy footwork that looks like a mix of old school kung fu and jazz tap-dancing. Like, dude is basically doing parkour off of the brick walls that are the Navarros’ chests. You get Pantera II doing good ranas and taking fantastic bumps out of the ring off Trauma II’s offense. Trauma I hits a bridging submission here that is my favorite spot of the year to date. Really fun finish that makes you want to see this brought back back again - and lo and behold, they did just one week later.

Added: #1) Los Panteras vs. Dinestia Navarro [intercontinental Trios Title] (IWRG, 1/17)
I think the story here is that the first match was non-title and that this is for the belts. This is worked and filmed completely as a 2010 Black Terry, Jr. brawl with a lot of gritty handheld footage of brawling. Everyone here is angrier than they were the week prior. This starts with more of a maestro throwdown with Pantera and Negro Navarro, and even they have a lot of heat. The Navarros spend a surprising amount of this match tearing at masks and roughing up refs. The Panteras take a serious beating, as Negro Navarro relishes punching the younger generation in the face and stomping them when they’re down. Hijo del Pantera remains a great lunatic bump freak, and the kids mount this great babyface comeback where they’re garnering so much sympathy that you really want to see them win and defy the cruel heels. The awesome arrogance of the Navarro sons during this match as they rest in the middle of the ring with their hands behind their heads after having beaten down their opponents was awesome, and should be shown in NXT training montage videos. The chaotic comeback here is three different fights going on at once, including Pantera II throwing boxing jabs at Negro that have the crowd going crazy, while elsewhere in the arena Trauma I begs off like he’s the second coming of Michael Hayes. You also get Trauma II at various points trying to fight two guys at once while jaw-jacking at them, completely willing to get his ass kicked but so filled with rage that he’s going to go down swinging. Every dive in this looks like it could seriously injure everyone involved. The crowd is great too, as they’re amped the whole time and you have lots of kids in Pantera masks. This match even has a worked ear-biting spot. A worked ear-biting spot in 2016! WATCH THIS FEUD. IT IS THE BEST THING IN WRESTLING RIGHT NOW.

Added: #13) Los Terrible Cerebros vs. Apolo Estrada Jr./Canis Lupus/Eterno (IWRG, 1/17)
This is kind of a brilliant testament of a match as you have six guys who stall for literally the first nine minutes of a twenty-five minute match. Like, no one hits a single move or starts the match at all for nine minutes. All of which is spent heeling on the crowd, posturing as if they’re ready to start fighting, debating who will fight first once they begin, and any other form of messing around to kill time. Once they really dive in around minute eleven or so, you get Estrada as the frosted-tipped douche who has to scramble his way in and out of Terry matwork, but looks pretty great in the process. This also continues the amusing present-day situation of Cerebro Negro as a guy who stopped bothering to dye his hair and has gotten kind of flabby, but seems happy and as if he’s enjoying wrestling. This has a lot of fun stooge heeling as Estrada takes a tremendous bump through the ropes off a Dr. Cerebro monkey flip, while Eterno grins at the crowd like a Mean Street Posse member. Eterno doing press slams with one arm is pretty smart smarminess as well. This has a kind of care-free indie quality throughout, but the story is that IWRG currently has at least four genuinely good and unique trios stables going right now, and the company has an air of being back in business after some rough years of bad garbage matches.

[Parties]

Added #12) Roppongi Vice vs. Team Tremendous (EVOLVE 53, 1/22)
Barry and Carr were absolutely stellar as a mix of power and unique agility. Terrible team name, especially for guys working cop gimmicks, but this was a remarkable performance against a lame, overrated one-shot team who looked outclassed. Romero and Baretta were inoffensive, executing their typical mediocrity and maybe even coming off a little more finessed than usual. But the savage detectives were the story. Bill Carr looked like one of the best workers in the country, and Dan Berry was a phenomenon in the way he combines aerial offense with his physique to give it extra KO potential. In some ways they’re actually equals who achieve on different levels. Very one-sided in its quality, but Carr and Barry were remarkable.

Added #19) Fred Yehi vs. Tracy Williams (EVOLVE 53, 1/22)
Genuinely wondering how many of the Tracy Williams “Submission Tendencies” shirts they’ve sold, and how that shirt comes across out of wrestling context when worn by schlubs in real life. These two are both doing good work here, and you can tell that they’re trying to prove themselves. I was mostly distracted by Yehi wearing one white sock and one black sock. His wrestling shoes are fantastic, and even analyzing to this degree will get me falsely portrayed as a foot fetishist in the dirt sheets, but man, the socks were a distraction for sure. Yehi’s selling was at times lacking as he was sort of inexpressive and would go from bumping right back into his next sequence, but he’s got an innate charisma that makes him fun to watch. And he had one moment where he sold checking his teeth after his strike that was like something out of Ghostbusters (in a good way). I’ve liked Williams since I saw him in his EVOLVE debut back in 2014, and he’s only improved since. Good finishing stretch that was compelling in all the kickouts and power spots.

Added #3) Chris Hero/Tommy End vs. Zack Sabre, Jr./Sami Callahan (EVOLVE 53, 1/22)
Early on I thought this was just OK given who was involved. Initially actually liked Tommy End and Sami together more than I liked Hero and Sabre. But as things progress and the Hero/End team take control, I liked the dynamic of newly fat Hero dropping Samoa Joe knee drops onto Sabre’s head. Callahan’s face wash kicks to End in the corner were truly vicious. The finish with everyone hitting stuff on each other is impressive, as you’ve got Hero going for his KO shot, Sabre breaking up pins and hitting surprisingly stiff German suplexes, End doing his flips and knees, and Callahan threatening to blow the place up with dynamite strapped to his chest. The standing senton that Hero hits on Sabre near the end is just a perfectly timed and executed moment, and their armbar-triangle stuff with at the close was fantastic.

Added #20) Drew Galloway/Johnny Gargano vs. Drew Gulak/TJ Perkins (EVOLVE 53, 1/22)
This had a fun start, as it was cool to see Galloway booked so strong. In a sense Galloway over the last year and a half has been arguably wrestling’s Most Valuable Player for his team: he’s validated the new vision of EVOLVE and has served as their powerful marquee babyface in a way that Magnum T.A., Luger, Kerry, or even Warrior did in the past. Perkins has some indulgences that get him into some goofy cooperative spots, but Gulak was very good here as a heel who’s both credible and kind of a chickenshit. A model of the “He’s good enough to not take shortcuts, but he does” angle. I'm not sold on him being in the class of the top EVOLVE guys, but he's effective in his role.

[bucky]

This is a hell of a thread you've got going here. I know how hard something like this can be to keep up, but with any consistency this will likely be my go-to guide for 2016 match reviews. It doesn't hurt that we have very similar tastes.

[Parties]

NXT, 2/10: Baron Corbin vs. Johnny Gargano: Corbin's good in his slimy berating of the ref, crowd, and opponent. He actually seems to get his gimmick, or someone backstage is giving him good tips on how to be an actual heel. Gargano is still Gargano. He strikes me as one of those guys who's boring on tape and somewhat more charismatic live.

 

Phillips and Graves have a solidly aped Vince/Jesse (or maybe more like Tony/Jesse) vibe. Graves even antagonizes him by calling him “Phillips” and asking him to justify babyface idiocy. Zayn's so natural on the mic that it makes you wonder why everyone else isn't. But the thing about playing the likable babyface is that you can kind of just be affable and honest in a way that other characters can't.

 

Hype Bros vs. John Skyler/Corey Hollis: I'm enjoying the emergence of in-house NXT jobbers. John Skyler has been there a few weeks now. Thought Ryder looked good, particularly in their double-team finisher.

 

Bliss vs. Cameron was another solid squash: I like Bliss' finisher a lot and her character of being this tiny elf who's beating the hell out of her opponents is a fun play against type that you never see in main roster WWE. Maybe it's just having more time to practice, but these NXT matches seem much better laid out than even what the veteran guys are doing on RAW.

 

American Alpha-Enzo/Cass showdown was fine, but I like the comedy where people play their characters more than the cheaply ironic zingers oneupsmanship. Performance Center should be stocking SCTV tapes before they invest in any Parks and Recreation.

 

I like the Elias Samson character, but sadly it feels like it needs Dusty's hand. Or even just Dustin's. His demolition of Jesse Sorensen was fine, but four in a row felt like squash overkill and in-ring Samson feels like an eventual Future Endeavoring.

 

Bayley-Carmella was interesting. Quite a contrast to the heel vs. heel dynamic of Bliss-Cameron, in that the crowd like both participants, even if Bayley is much more over. At its worst it felt listless and overly cooperative, particularly in the audible spot calling and asking each other if they were OK throughout. At its best it told the story of Carmella's rise and Bayley as the happy warrior. This felt like a match they'd practiced a lot on the road or elsewhere, but Carmella's athleticism shined in her topes and even in her matwork. I'm not sure if it's because she's taller or just better coordinated, but Carmella showed some mat sense and good footwork here. Smart finish too, and the supporting cast post-match all worked for me.

 

I even liked the ECW style in-camera promo that closed out the show in something of a cliffhanger. Not a hugely eventful episode, but a very good one in setting up the big moves to come at Mania weekend.

[Parties]

Sam Adonis/Rampage Brown vs. James Mason/Dean Allmark (ASW UK, 2/7)

Fun match in front of a seemingly young, raucous crowd for whom Adonis’ “Born in the USA” is a heel anthem. Starts with Mason-Rampage, and the bald Brown accusing bald Mason of pulling his hair. It’s pretty fun to see classic heel-face tag tropes get over so big with a crowd of kids and families. Stuff like a heel offering a handshake, or babyface Allmark doing a ton of arm drags, or “En-Gland!” chants (in response to Adonis’ “USA, #1!” hollering) seem huge here. Not enough Rampage in this as he’s the best of the four, but what you do get is strong, including the greatest Rock Bottom in history. Adonis actually did well too, as he can work while still playing flabby punk coward. He's got like, Bobby Eaton body. Good finish as it breaks out into a Tornado style of both teams accidentally hitting their offense on each other and some good bumps. Nothing reinventing the wheel here, but a well-played cut of the old tune.

[Parties]

Astral/Electrico vs. Demus 3:16/Pequeno Olimpico (CMLL, 2/5)
Yay, minis! While this isn’t particularly excellent, somehow the first taped minis match of the year always makes me feel like wrestling is alive and well and officially underway. They’re like the Mexican Punxitawny Phils of this great sport. Astral-Olimpico starts things off, and they’re both competently boring. Business picks up when Demus tags in, starts punching Astral in the ear, biting his forehead, then doing tiny bodybuilding poses to the delight of the crowd. Astral’s a weird guy to watch in that I can’t recall ever seeing a mini who was so clearly on the gas. He’s got Del Rio’s physique and bacne for days despite being five feet tall. One of Demus’ chief offensive maneuvers here is trying to tweak Astral’s nipple off of his chest. He fails, presumably because nipples gain strength and the ability to heal faster when you’re on the gas. I also really liked the 2nd fall exchange between Electrico and Olimpico. It was simple, but this is a week when I’ve been watching wrestling with an eye for smart, safe work. These guys worked smooth chain stuff that managed to look cool while seeming like stuff you could healthily do until you’re 60. This built well in the second half as they turned the heat up and had enough time to really wail on each other with chops and dives. And to give them credit, the technicos really have do good flying here.

Dr. Cerebro/Califan vs. Maximo/Rey Hechicero (AULL, 2/6)
You only get nine minutes of this, but the pairing is too intriguing for me to not cover it here. I’ll add that Estrellas del Ring is a vital Youtube account right now: whoever their camera operator is does an awesome job with the handheld stuff. Unfortunate that it all gets so clipped down, but you still get some great Hechicero dominance of Califan here with innovative power bombs and tosses out of the ring, a good Maximo dive, and not one but two particularly vicious Hechicero wheelbarrows. We’re denied the Cerebro-Hechicero interactions you want out of this, but hopefully it happens somewhere down the road.

Timmy Lou Retton vs. Jaxson James (WVCW, aired 2/13)
You really see EVOLVE’s growing offense here as this is two southern indie guys doing fifteen minutes of surprisingly good, stiff matwork in a high school gym. Basically a Southern indie Drew Galloway working a Southern indie Big E, if Big E played up his amateur wrestling and powerlifting background more. The focus on legwork grounding Retton was well done, as was James’ very impressive overhead belly-to-belly, getting the massive Retton up and over. The babyface comeback is cool too as a standing moonsault looks a lot better from a three hundred pound guy than it does from Kota Ibushi. By the end James is pretty openly emulating Hero and Cesaro, but this was well done.

The New Breed vs. The Russians (WVCW, aired 2/13)
I’m really impressed that a West Virginia indie is doing this good of a USSR gimmick in 2016. Their manager is named Boris Petrov and is wearing a winter hat and coat indoors at ringside. Jack Miller of the New Breed has a good corkscrew armbar here, but the match otherwise sucked until the very end, which is about 20 seconds of fun chaos.

[Dylan Waco]

Jaxson James is actually an SC guy but he works all over the place

[Parties]

Danke. I had no idea that he's had an accomplished run as a Dr. Tom trainee who's done WWE tryouts/dark matches. He even played Adam Rose's bunny at one point. Definitely a guy to watch.

[Parties]

Chris Jericho/AJ Styles vs. Curtis Axel/Adam Rose (Smackdown, 2/11)
Styles dropkicking Axel’s face off was fantastic, and the story here of the faces trying to one-up each other was really fun in the way the heels capitalized on it. Rose is downright underrated as your skeezy heroin chic gossip columnist. “Desperate Daily Mail contributor” is a perfect WWE gimmick for this moment in history. The story here was really well told, and I maintain my theory that modern-day Jericho is a smart worker who’s really good at putting together matches, even though his body betrays him through a series of botches almost every time. He’s kind of like Raven in that he knows exactly what to do and then executes it poorly. But here I would say he actually looked quite sharp flying around off the ropes, as him and Slater have a well-timed springboard spot and the whole thing comes together nicely. Again: if you hate RAW, start watching Smackdown. It’s a completely different company.

Added: #20) Sasha Banks vs. Naomi (Smackdown, 2/11)
Did someone not tell Mauro that you aren’t supposed to do play-by-play as a WWE announcer? I can’t believe how significant he made everything seem here, as it took a solid-if-unmemorable match and made it hot fire. Lynch was terrible on commentary: I almost can’t recall someone seeming so unprepared to do it, with the long pauses and repeatedly saying “OK, alright, so”. It got so awkward after the third or fourth time that the announcers tried to help her out that I just muted the rest of the match. But I was impressed at the agility of the women in the ring and in Sasha’s ability to guide Naomi around the ring. Banks takes a brutal back bump on the apron here. That was some Shawn Michaels onto a casket at Mind Games stuff. Naomi’s series of high kicks here was really fun, and the finish of this with the Banks-Tamina interaction and Banks Statement was great. It’s telling that on SD, the distraction finishes actually add to the match rather than detract.

Chris Jericho vs. AJ Styles (Smackdown, 2/11)
Is WWE some fairgrounds indie that only books like ten people and then has the guys in the opener work each other again in the main event? Are we lucky that we didn’t get the Ascension and Tamina facing off in a battle royal at the end of this show? I liked the early cutoffs in this as they fought back-and-forth for control. Styles had good flashes here and it was well-paced, though him doing Reigns’ finisher as a transition move was interesting. In truth I was bored by the end of this, and the wrong guy won. Jericho didn't have the stamina for double duty here and clearly botches a Styles Clash counter. Wouldn’t even say I liked this as much as their tag earlier in the show.

[Tim Evans]

Parties confusing Tamina for Naomi makes me sad. Jericho/AJ working double duty because half of the crew was in Germany.

 

If you want to watch a real minis match, watch this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j3UR0evr8Ls . Also Super Muneco has a match on that same show with a fake Huracan Ramirez.

[Parties]

Nooooooooooo. This is what I get for watching matches on mute. To be fair, I referred to actual Tamina as Tamina too. I just also referred to Naomi as Tamina.

 

I saw that Muneco match on Youtube and got excited, but the first couple minutes seemed wack. Is it good?

[Parties]

Mini Hator/Tequilita vs. Chamaco Gurrola/Mini Difunto (Monterrey, 1/31)
Tequilita is one of those slow fat guys who I actually enjoy because they’re slow. I surprisingly kinda enjoy Ryota Hama for the same reason: there’s a delayed inevitability to his offense. One weird side note based on a pop-up ad in this: it’s amazing that Monterrey wrestling and the Super Bowl play on the same channel in Mexico. I’m sure there’s a better explanation, but that seems like the World Cup airing on POP TV. The heated Hator-Defunto exchange 2/3rds of the way through this is where it’s at. Mask ripping and Irish Whipping a guy the full length of an entrance ramp. DIfunto trying to hack Hator’s legs off with a low running dropkick was crazy. I didn’t love all of this, as there were some listless moments, but the final deathblow is remarkable and must be seen to be believed.