ACH vs. Tiger Mask
Energetic & hard hitting w/ a really good flow. Especially loved those vicious kicks Tiger Mask unleashed; ACH sold them like death. ***1/2
Dragon Lee vs. El Desperado
This felt like a start of something that could very well end up being very, very special. The match slowed down & lost it's intensity once Despy started having trouble keeping the remains of his mask on, but before that, it was such a fascinating, intense battle where they just beat the crap out of each other, showcasing their dislike of each other. Certainly made me want more stuff between these 2 guys. ***3/4
Flip Gordon vs. Will Ospreay
I was expecting a dry movezfest, and while this sure did have a plenty of those MOVEZ~!, Ospreay & Flip sure let all of them breathe just enough before going to the next one. Good story of Flip pushing Ospreay to the absolute limit, forcing him to dig down deep. Good match. ***1/4
Marty Scurll vs. SHO
This was very solid. Really liked Marty's work on top during the beginning stages of the match, and as the match became more back & forth as it went on, it still remained very enjoyable. A good ol' war of attrition, if you will. ***
Hiromu Takahashi vs. KUSHIDA
As always, KUSHIDA & Hiromu delivered the goods. Hiromu with that explosive move-set of his & KUSHIDA with that always awesome arm targeting of his. The Triangle drama in the end was absolutely fantastic as well. ***3/4
Really, really, really LIKED Hiromu-Kushida IV. Not as good as their previous meetings (and very different since this match was more methodical) but another great chapter in their rivalry. Have it around ****. Gordon-Ospreay was very good and I am happy they didn't do a lot of their usual flippy shit. You should check YOH-Ishimori if you have time, best YOH singles match so far imo. And yeah, Dragon Lee-Desperado was amazing! Hoping for a rematch.
ReplyDeleteFun fact: Ishimori-Hiromu is now on the top of any matches ever in CAGEMATCH. Looking forward to your review!
ReplyDeleteOh yeah, that match has been getting crazy reviews. Just last night I saw that Meltzer called it one of his top-10 favorite matches ever. Definitely cool to see juniors getting such high honors by fans everywhere!
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