[2019-03-07-wXw-Inner Circle 7] Yuki Ishikawa & Shigehiro Irie vs Timothy Thatcher & WALTER

[Jetlag]

 4 guys who can go doing their thing for 24 minutes in a garage. Obviously getting to see Ishikawa in a lengthy match in 2019 is great, but the main reason I liked this is that everyone was pretty vicious. Ishikawa clogged Thatcher in the jaw during their first exchange, no real friendy grappling, lots of punches are thrown on the ground,  Ringkampf would work over their opponents with nasty stomps and knees etc. Walter seems to understand how to not get stale as he hitting these Tenryu punts and busted out an awesome uranage. I haven't seen Irie in a while but his matwork was fun and he had these cool swinging Vader Hammers. Ishikawa was pretty much the star of the show always doing something interesting and not only grappling it out but also acting really smart. For example, he would get mount and work over Walters kidneys with glee only to get raddled by that big bear paw like austrian hand. This didn't build to something great but the action was very good throughout and there were a few highlights and smooth Ishikawa submissions to keep you happy.

[nivvad]

So there I was a few days ago thinking Yuji Nagata was the only one who I thought could be 50 years old and still put on a MOTYC, and then I watched this match. Yuki FUCKING Ishikawa man. This dude took Ringkampf to fucking SCHOOL with his grappling and technical skills. Irie was such a god damn beast here too. He didn't let himself get out-wrestled or out-brawled and really gave it his all until the end. It's hard to say anything else 16 Carat weekend beats this match, ****3/4.

[WingedEagle]

On 3/12/2019 at 2:06 PM, Jetlag said:

  This didn't build to something great but the action was very good throughout and there were a few highlights and smooth Ishikawa submissions to keep you happy.

This is basically what we have here. Difficult to call such a match with sound, skillful work disappointing, but its possible it was relative to expectations and the talent involved.  A match that unfortunately never really raised its game by featuring greater urgency or intensity.  It could've been much more.

***1/4

[Tenese Sarwieh]

An exhibition with all four guys grappling plus throwing stiff strikes with great intensity and snugness. Also throw in some mini hoss battle segments between Irie/WALTER and you have a fantastic match. 

[superkix]

This was a pretty fun exhibition tag but man, the crowd + commentary hurt this match. Annoying and awkward in both regards. I'm not big on tag team wrestling in general but there were some cool moments here. I liked the grittiness of the Thatcher/Ishikawa exchanges. Irie's a spicy meatball and the stuff between him and Thatcher on the mat was surprisingly good. I haven't seen much of Walter but he looks like a giant toddler and plays a good '90's All Japan gaijin. I dug his half crab and that big uranage throw. He and Thatcher bully Irie to finish it out. A fun series of exchanges but not much else -- could've been 15 minutes and had the same effect.