AEW WRESTLEDREAM 2024

AEW WRESTLEDREAM 2024

Adam Page vs. Jay White
One of those matches that's "mechanically" extremely solid, but just fails to capture any emotion out of me whatsoever. Solid work from both Hangman & Switchblade, but absolutely nothing to remember. A gentleman's **

AEW Women's World Championship
Mariah May vs. Willow Nightingale
Just a rock-solid match with clearly defined roles. Willow is a pretty rockin' babyface all the way through here, and Mariah is solid with her character work as well and has some slick moments on the offense. ***

AEW TNT Championship
Jack Perry vs. Katsuyori Shibata
The bits where Shibata is just kicking Perry's ass are great, and while some of Perry's arsenal looks super weak, it works well within the context of the match given the nature of Shibata's entire shtick. A super solid & a good match. ***1/4

AEW International Championship
Will Ospreay vs. Konosuke Takeshita vs. Ricochet
I am not very much into any of these wrestlers & or this kind of a match, but it definitely was a good spotfest. Everybody had big, fun moments with Takeshita looking like a beast throughout. Some silly Ospreay moments with his facial expressions & a boring finish, but other than that, this was pretty enjoyable. **3/4

Best Two out of Three Falls
Hologram vs. The Beast Mortos
Has some neat singular moments, but man this dragged & was completely heatless for the most part. It is a very inoffensive midcard number & has some cool stuff as mentioned, but its certainly absolutely nothing to remember. **

Brody King vs. Darby Allin
It is a natural pairing, and they produce some fun-ass wrestling. Creative punishment taken & dished out throughout by both men. Though as with many of the other matches on this card, I feel like it could've been better had it been a bit tighter, but alas, it's still a very good match. ***1/4

AEW World Tag Team Championship
The Young Bucks vs. Private Party
A very paint by the numbers Young Bucks match, which means that it was very solid. Private Party's comebacks (other than Zay's final moments) weren't the most exciting, which obviously eats away from my enjoyment of the match & the finish fell flat, but it was still solid. The BTE Trigger nearfall was terrific, deserves a shoutout of its own. **1/2

ROH World Championship
Mark Briscoe vs. Chris Jericho
This, at many points of the match, had such an off-vibe that most Chris Jericho matches do, but man, Mark mothafuggen Briscoe worked his ass off. Terrific energy from him start to finish & a superb babyface shift all around. Completely made the match worthwhile. This ended up being legitimately really good (which is something you rarely can say about Y2J matches), and all I can say is Mark Briscoe! What a performance, what a babyface, what a wrestler! ***1/2

AEW World Championship
Bryan Danielson vs. Jon Moxley
Aka the death of the American Dragon. Lots of feelings about this one, given it is my favorite wrestler of all-time in a retirement-type match. I loved it. It is crushing in the best ways possible. You just know he is gonna get decimated by Moxley by the end of it, but come on, Dragon doesn't go down without a fight. It is a beautiful, classic babyface performance by the greatest ever. Moxley is also absolutely superb in his current role - he comes off as such a menacing, vicious, dangerous man. Upped the violence brilliantly with his offense. There's a few moments by him that I think fall a bit flat (the bulldog choke is the biggest example), but overall he was brilliant. Him countering Bryan's dive attempt into a Death Rider on the floor was a legitimate "OH NO" holy-shit-spot. The ending is absolutely soul-destroying. Beautiful sadness. As of now, there's no guarantees on what this REALLY means for Danielson's pro-wrestling future -- meaning that there's no official word on if he will ever wrestle again, but given the billing, it is an absolutely beautiful way to end his career as a full-time pro wrestler. ****3/4

ROH MANHATTAN MAYHEM

ROH MANHATTAN MAYHEM

Colt Cabana vs. Nigel McGuinness
Loved their match from the Third Anniversary Celebration show earlier on in the year. I do think that match was better than this one, but this is a yet another very fun match-up between the pairing. Solid charming technical wrestling all the way through with a good plot in Nigel being frustrated by Cabana's usual antics. ***

ROH Tag Team Championship
BJ Whitmer & Jimmy Jacobs vs. Jack Evans & Roderick Strong
This is a very fun, fast-paced tag match. Everybody has seen a dozen matches like this by this point, but this still offers a very enjoyable viewing experience. Great team-moves, exciting pace that never lets up - it's just fun. ***

ROH Pure Championship
Jay Lethal vs. Samoa Joe
This is a really good match with its Pupil vs. Mentor dynamic. Love how Joe lost his ropebreaks with the punching, and then Lethal in all his emotion did the same thing. Good shit. Good, competitive wrestling. ***1/2

Dog Collar
CM Punk vs. Jimmy Rave
It is not the feud-ending classic it could've been, but I love this match. Punk's babyface performance is just terrific. Truly one of the great bleeders in wrestling. ****

ROH World Championship
Austin Aries vs. Alex Shelley
I keep overusing the word "competitive" when talking about these old ROH matches, but man, this was a yet another terrific match that showcased that brilliant competitive spirit that pumped in the promotions heart at the time. Exciting action with vicious offense by both men all the way through. They wrestle at such an exciting pace from start to finish, but without it never feeling too cute as there is a great sense of urgency (& you know it, COMPETITIVENESS) in everything. Just a fantastic match. ****1/4

Homicide & Low Ki vs. Jay Lethal & Samoa Joe
It is a pretty solid impromptu match, but I must say that it kinda amazingly manages to drag a bit even with it being sub-10 minutes. Enough badassery by The Rottweilers to make it worth a while for sure though. **1/2

ROH STALEMATE

ROH STALEMATE

El Generico vs. Roderick Strong
This is a banging match. Generico is already a great babyface, and he gets a lot of time here to showcase that. Roddy is of course superb as well with his destruction-fueled arsenal. A super fun midcard match, a terrific showcase for both guys. ***3/4

ROH Pure Championship
Jay Lethal vs. Spanky
Ruled. Energetic, fiery, hungry wrestling with good, compelling strategies being in play by both Lethal & Spanky. Very good. ***1/2

ROH World Championship
Austin Aries vs. James Gibson
This was quite disappointing. I enjoy Aries' work over Gibson's back - he's focused & mechanical with it, and it's good continuation from Gibson's match vs. Aries' stablemate from a few weeks back. I was very annoyed by Gibson's complete lack of selling when it came time for him to get his shit in though. It very much looked like as if Aries hadn't been working over his back the entire control seg of his. The match really is just generic 50/50 finishing gear stuff after that, with a lame finish to boot. Not a good one. *1/2

Lumberjack Match
Bryan Danielson vs. Homicide
Match #4 in their best of 5 series. Ends up dragging by the end with its finishing stretch, but this was a yet another very good match between Dragon & Homicide. There's some absolutely awesome arm-wreckage by Danielson, and I very much enjoy once the match totally breaks down and they go outside. ***1/4

ROH BEST OF THE AMERICAN SUPER JUNIORS TOURNAMENT

BEST OF THE AMERICAN SUPER JUNIORS TOURNAMENT

Bryan Danielson vs. Spanky
A terrific match here. Danielson puts on an absolute clinic at wrecking Spanky with the arm-targeting in particular being vicious as fuck. Spanky as the crafty underdog rules - I love the way he bumps, sells & finds ways to get back into things. Once he fully gets back into the thing, the home stretch is just extremely good with its exciting, fully earned action - that Cattle Mutilation-reversal nearfall was soooo good. ****

James Gibson vs. Roderick Strong
These two would go on and have a much more famous match later on in the year, so watching this is pretty interesting. It's a very good match, and works especially well in its tournament setting here. I enjoy Roddy's focused & vicious attack on Gibson's back. It sets a natural dynamic of Gibson fighting from underneath very nicely. ***1/2

Black Tiger vs. Bryan Danielson
Yeah this ended up ruling. At the start I thought some of Black Tiger's offense looked weak, but as the match went on, his strikes & suplexes were pretty great. Dragon is just absolutely lovely here with his output; he is vicious, he is focused & he wrestles with a good urgency. It's a really good match! ***1/2

ROH World Championship
Austin Aries vs. Homicide
The Burning Hammer spot is ridiculous & just flat out fucking sucks. Everything before that is extremely dull and has no interesting hook whatsoever. It is a very meh World Title match. *3/4

ROH BACK TO BASICS

 

ROH BACK TO BASICS

CM Punk & Spanky vs. Jay Lethal & Samoa Joe
Not a fan of the finish whatsoever, but this is a great tag team match otherwise. The first Punk vs. Joe interactions after their legendary rivalry are awesome & Lethal as the fip rules. The attack on the ribs by Spanky & (especially) Punk is so good. I really wish this would've ended with Punk delivering that Pepsi Plunge after the fantastic spot where he catches Lethal mid-air with that dropkick. The Stevie Richards finish definitely ended it with a sour note. ***3/4

ROH TRIOS TOURNAMENT

 

ROH TRIOS TOURNAMENT

Bryan Danielson, Samoa Joe & Vordell Walker vs. James Gibson, Nigel McGuinness & Spanky
This is just a super fun trios match with awesome exchanges between everyone. Also worth to note that it is the first time Danielson & McGuinness share a ring together! ***1/2

Bryan Danielson, Samoa Joe & Vordell Walker vs. Homicide, Ricky Reyes & Rocky Romero
Good continuation to the ongoing feud between Dragon & Homicide. Bryan is a great fip & the Rottweilers are in their element here. It's a pretty fun one! ***

ROH THIRD ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION - PART 3

 

ROH THIRD ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION - PART 3

Falls Count Anywhere
Bryan Danielson vs. Homicide
Match #3 in their best of 5 series. I think it's the weakest of this series so far, but it's still very fun. They honor the stipulation very nicely by spending most of the match fighting outside with good brawling & fun spots. I do think some of that section loses its impact since they already did it in their previous match though. The finishing stretch inside the ring is pretty good. Oh & gotta give a shoutout to Homicide's Cattle Mutilation - looked terrible, which fits him & his character perfectly. It's a good match. ***1/4

CM Punk vs. Jimmy Rave
This rules. I love Rave's heel work here with the constant cheating scumbaggery - the entire shoelace thing, which lead to the match being restarted, was so much fun. Punk is also terrific at being the ass-kicker at the 2 beginnings of the match, first at the very beginning & then when it gets restarted. He is also class at selling for Rave's work on top. It's a great match with both guys playing their roles wonderfully. ****

ROH World Championship
Austin Aries vs. Samoa Joe
Big time rematch for the title here. I must say that at first I wasn't feeling Aries acting like a comedic cowardly heel at the start of this match (even though it is fitting given how they built the match up), but it actually ended up working as the match built on that. Once Aries gets busted open & starts fighting as the bleeding underdog? Ooh it's so good. Joe's monster performance is just amazing here: nasty killer work over the cut & in general everything he unloads is vicious as hell. I do dislike the finish though, especially hate the low-blow by Aries, but it's still a terrific match. Well worth the watch, especially if you're into some prime murder-mode Samoa mothafuckin' Joe. ****1/4